Nix. (Den of Mercenaries Book 3)(19)

She wanted to feel alive.

Glancing over the balcony once more, she tried to gauge the drop before carefully swinging one leg over, checking her balance, then did the other. Carefully, she laid her palms on the stone and dropped, wind whistling through her hair as she rushed to the ground, landing with a stumble before losing her footing.

With a triumphant smile, Luna rolled onto her stomach before pushing to her feet. The blades of grass were slightly damp, though the sky was clear.

She was walking at first, content at just feeling the blades of grass beneath her feet, then she was running, away from the chateau, away from the man inside it, and away from the reminder that her life was not her own.

Luna didn’t know where she was going, if there was anywhere to go, but she ran as fast as her feet would carry her.

There was a lightness to her step as she darted across the lawn. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Luna didn’t stop until she was yards away from her new home.

Out here, the strain lessened.

She could do this.

She could survive for a little while longer until her debt was repaid.

In her haste to get away, Luna hadn’t considered where Kit’s guards were stationed. She was just coming around a marble sculpture when she stopped short, nearly running into one of the four from earlier.

His mask, or rather the glowing art that decorated it was all Luna could see—the only one that hadn’t added any design to his besides the void where the mouth should have been.

Never mind the disturbing mask he wore, he was still dressed as though he were going to war with a gun in his hands.

He didn’t speak, and she almost wished he had because the eerie silence they were standing in only made her more nervous. When she took a step back, his head canted to one side like an animal.

When she took another, he cocked the hammer back on the gun in his hand. She didn’t move another inch.

Though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell he was looking at her as he pressed a button on the side of his vest.

Not a minute later, footsteps sounded behind her. She was almost too afraid to turn around and face whoever was standing there—and despite their conversation, a part of her hoped it would be Kit, if only because he could call this man off.

Her wish was granted as she turned and found him standing there.

Was he upset?

Was he annoyed?

She couldn’t tell, his face revealed nothing. Not sure if she was in trouble or not, she remained silent, clasping her hands behind her back, though she quickly moved them back. She wasn’t with Lawrence anymore.

Kit caught her movement though, his eyes darting down a moment before returning to her face. “Perhaps you would like to go through the door next time? And don’t,” he said when she opened her mouth, “don’t apologize. There’s no need. You’re not my prisoner—you can venture where you like.”

Gaze going beyond her, he offered clipped words to the man standing behind her, but she got the gist of what he was saying as the guard stashed his gun away and started around them, though not before giving a two-finger salute as the shadows swallowed him.

Unbidden, Luna asked, “Is he always so silent?”

“T?cut can’t speak.”

“Is that a rule of yours?”

“His vocal cords were removed.”

Luna put her own hand up to her throat, looking to where he had disappeared. “Why would you do that?” Luna didn’t think that anyone would want that willingly.

“It was before I knew him.”

An apology was at the tip of her tongue, but she remembered the way he told her not to, and decided to keep it to herself.

She had been looking so intently toward the chateau that she hadn’t realized Kit was studying her until the silence seemed to echo.

“I apologize for what I said earlier,” he said, his voice a touch kinder than before. “My intention wasn’t to offend.”

Luna couldn’t remember the last time someone had apologized to her, especially for something that most wouldn’t consider a big thing. The ridiculous urge to tell him that it was fine, he hadn’t hurt her feelings that bad came over her, but she swallowed those words back down.

Instead, she said, “You don’t have to apologize.”

“When I’m wrong, I will.” Holding his hand out toward the house, he asked, “Shall we?”

He led her to a door, stepping off to the side to allow her to go ahead of him. She could smell the chlorine scenting the air wherever they were, but it wasn’t until he had the door closed once more did the lights suddenly flicker on and she could see the pool.

It was … amazing.

At home, hers had been one of those above-ground pools that was large but unsightly. This one was a beauty to see.

Blue mosaic tile lined the interior of the pool, making the water shine brighter, but it was the light fixtures on the ceiling that made the water sparkle.

“Constellations,” Kit explained reaching her side.

She had figured they were stars, but she had never been very good at seeing the patterns. “Is it the Big Dipper?”

A corner of his lips tugged, but he didn’t smile completely. “Look here.”

He pointed, tracing out the shape for her to see, but even as she smiled, she still didn’t know what he had shown her.

“The Phoenix.”