Six(93)

She looked over to the fight. “Nine!”

I followed her gaze and tried not to gasp. Six was on the ground, struggling to get up, with Nine standing over him. My chest clenched while my stomach turned.

I knew the order. Nine was the best.

But Six, my Six, was better. He had to be.

He had to win.

Nine’s bloodied and bruised head snapped over, anger and contempt flashing across his face. “Really?” He tsk’ed. “You’ve gone downhill, One, to be beaten by an ant. I’ll squash her as soon as I’m done with my brother, but you’ll probably be dead by then.” There was no emotion in his tone, none of the affection I’d seen in the past or indication that she would be missed. More annoyance that the pawn in his game had been defeated.

Behind him, Six rose to his feet, blood dripping down his face from multiple cuts. He ran forward, gripping Nine’s neck with one hand while his other arm swung out, fist colliding with Nine’s ribs with a dull thud.

I turned back to One. Her hand was outstretched, reaching for another gun, but it was too far.

“Looks like he doesn’t care about you after all.” I smirked down at her.

Her lip curled up as she sneered at me. “You can’t pull the trigger.”

“No?” I asked as I moved my finger down.

“You’re not a killer. You can’t finish the job from your shot of self-defense and preservation.”

I gave a small shrug. “Maybe, or maybe Six has rubbed off on me.”

She scoffed. “You’re nothing more than a little toy. A * to play with, to f*ck, before he kills you.”

“Think what you want. It won’t stop him from killing Nine, from me killing you, and the two of us leaving together. After what Nine said it’s obvious who the toy is, and it isn’t me.”

I took sick pleasure in the sadness that filled her expression when she realized I was right, then I pulled the trigger.

The shot rang out just after the bullet pierced her skull and exploded out the back. Her face relaxed, her eyes dimming as she slumped over onto the ground.

Ringing filled my ears, cancelling out everything else but the reality before me.

I killed her.

I killed One.

Bile rose up my throat and my hand shook, radiating up my arm and throughout my body.

Inside I screamed at myself that it was okay, because she’d been trying to kill me for months, but it didn’t change the fact that what I’d done was still so wrong to me on many levels. I’d spent my working life around death, but dealing it myself, especially in such a cold-blooded manner, was different. It didn’t feel good, but there was also no stopping the sheer relief that flooded me.

A cackle exploded from my mouth, my muscles released the tension I was holding as the stinging pain in my arm from my wound made itself known.

One was dead, and Six would finish Nine.

We’d finally be free from all the running.

Six.

I had to force myself to stop staring at her body to find him.

Shots filled the silence, and fear rocked my body. My eyes were frantic as they searched for the last man standing, praying it was Six.

I let out a hard breath at the sight of Six standing in the middle of the room, Nine on the floor a few feet in front of him. He let the empty gun drop, clanking as it hit the floor, and turned toward me.

He was beaten, badly, and barely standing, but from the evidence on Nine, minus the bullet holes, it was an even match.

I ran forward, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Six!”

He stumbled a bit, his breath coming out hard.

“Are you okay?” I reached up and visually took stock of his injuries.

He shook his head. “But I will be. We need to destroy this place and get out of here, now.”

“Is the bag in a good place?” I asked, glancing at it across the room.

He nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out the small detonator. “There’s enough explosives to level this building and leave it a blazing mess for days.”

All evidence long gone.

“Can you walk?”

“Not my first show.” He took a few unsteady steps before resting one arm on my shoulders. “Maybe I need a little help. Worst show ever.”

“Good ending, though.”

He quirked his brow at me. “How so?

“You won.”

“Was there ever any doubt?” he asked, brow scrunched up.

“Doubt?” I shook my head. “No. Fear? Yes.”

He grabbed my chin and tilted it up, his lips pressing to mine. The rusty tang from the blood on him couldn’t stop the fluttering of my heart.

“Come on.” He pulled me to the door, bending down to pick up one of the stray guns on the floor as we walked.

I took one last glance back to the bodies of One and Nine. I half expected them to get up, but it wasn’t going to happen.

Six killed his brother in order to save not only himself, but me and the other Cleaners.

I expected a firefight trying to get out of there, but it didn’t happen. Nine and One had minimal security personnel, and Six took care of most of them on our way in. Still, it was eerie, especially since we knew one of them was still alive and seemed to have disappeared or was hiding.

We got in the car like nothing happened. That we hadn’t just killed two of the government’s best killers.