Chapter 14

The Face Behind The Ghost.

‘FUCK!” I hissed, ducking behind the rusted bedfame as a boot crashed through the cheap hotel room door, splinters of wood flying like shrapnel. My hands flew across my keyboard, fingers dancing on muscle memory alone. Nico’s screen flickered, and I saw his face just as I shifted the feed. His brows drew together in confusion, then alarm, he could hear it. The crash. The scream of gunfire. The rasp of my breathing.

“Ghost?” His voice cracked through the feed, sharp, low, terrified.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. A shadow moved at the door, tall, fast, trained. My mark. He found me. I’d been too careful. Too quiet. I’d tracked him, cornered him. But he doubled back. He fucking doubled back. A blade whipped past my shoulder, embedding itself in the mattress. I slammed my palm against the laptop, pivoting the camera as I rolled out of the way, bringing my knee up hard into his gut as he lunged. The laptop toppled, the camera still catching snippets of the fight. Conner’s voice filtered through, words I couldn’t hear as the fight for my life continued… and he would be seeing this in real time, blurry flashes of bodies, of blood, of me. I couldn’t shut the feed. I didn’t want to. He needed to know. The guy was fast, former spec ops, maybe merc turned contractor, but I was faster. Dittier. I didn’t fight pretty. I fought like I meant it. He drove me back against the wall, forearm at my throat, but I jammed a blade into the side of his knee and twisted. He pulled his own blade, ramming the hilt into my face before I twisted his arm brutally and he dropped it right into my palm. I lunged it into his ribcage. He howled. Collapsed. I didn’t wait. I kicked the side of his head so hard he slumped against the bedpost. Not out. Just dazed.

“Fuck!” I swore again, panting, blood dripping from a cut at my temple. My laptop lay open on the floor, camera skewed, but still connected. Conner’s panicked voice filtered through.

“Ghost! Are you…What the hell is going on?!”

I grabbed the laptop, brought it close so he could see my face.