CHAPTER 66: FINAL CAUTIOUS

"You hesitate, you lose."

Victor's remarks were heavy and oppressive, clinging to the air like fog. With their rifles poised, his

troops stood ready. Beside me, Jeo was silent but furious. The entire globe had gotten smaller.

I balled my fingers into fists. The spot where the bullet had skimmed my shoulder ached, but I

couldn't afford to think about it. Not right now.

"I don’t make deals with devils," I stated in a firm voice.

Victor grinned. "Then you’ll burn with the rest."

He nodded slightly.

Just one command.

His guys also lifted their firearms.

It was this.

Stop chatting. Stop running.

The final caution.

I had seconds to make decisions about who would survive, who would die, and how much of my soul I

was prepared to part up.

The Option

My ribs were smashed by my heartbeat. Life and death were separated by the length of the night.

I gave Jeo a quick look.

He would be the first to leave if I hesitated.

Victor was calculating, yet cruel. Not quite yet. He would not waste a bullet on me. I was still of use.

But Jeo? He was an issue.

"Tick-tock, sweetheart." Victor let out a sigh. "I don’t have all night."

Yes, he did. That was the issue. Watching me struggle and wait for me to fold was something he

cherished.

I inhaled sharply. "What do you want?"

Victor smiled. "Now we’re talking."

Beside me, Jeo tensed up. I kept my eyes off of him. What he would say, I already knew. Avoid doing

this.

Victor's eyes grew gloomy. "Just one job. That's all. I let Jeo walk; you do it."

I was wise enough not to believe him.

"And if I refuse?"

Victor shrugged. "Then we paint this street red."

His guys moved, their fingers gripping the triggers.

It was a falsehood. He wouldn't be standing here if he wanted Jeo dead. He was waiting for me to

break by taunting me.

I wasn't going to break, though.

"What job?" I inquired.

Victor grinned slowly and purposefully. "Nothing you haven’t done before."

I learned all I needed to know from it.

A success.

However, who?

"Say the name," I whispered, gritting my teeth.

Victor laughed. "That’s the best part." His voice trailed off as he leaned slightly closer. "You already

know them."

I felt sick to my stomach.

Joe gave a quick exhale. "Don’t listen to him."

Victor, however, continued to twist the knife.

"We'll get away with it if you kill them, Elena. Both of you, Joe."

He grinned more broadly. "But if you refuse…" He glanced at his soldiers and turned slightly. We'll

just have to find someone else to do it, I suppose. A little less conflicted, perhaps.

The significance struck me immediately.

He would still murder Jeo if I didn't accept the position. He would then look for someone else to

complete the task—someone who had no morals.

I took a deep breath.

Victor's head cocked. "You have five seconds."

Five seconds to decide between survival and blood.

It takes five seconds to choose the winner.

It took me five seconds to get worse than I was.

"Time’s up."

The Name That Made All the Difference

"Wait." Before I could stop myself, the word escaped my lips.

Victor grinned more broadly. He cherished this.

"Say it," I spoke sharply.

With a dramatic sigh, Victor motioned for one of his guys. The man reached into his pocket, took out a

folded piece of paper, and held it out.

I accepted it.

I unfolded it.

The world came to a halt.

I once read the name. Twice.

No.

My pulse pounded as my fingers grew tighter around the page.

This was incorrect.

It must have been incorrect.

"Problem?" Victor, observing me too intently, inquired.

My throat was dry when I looked up. "You’re lying."

Victor laughed. "Am I?"

I felt chilled.

This was not one of the names I had anticipated.

This was more than a job.

It was intimate.

Victor was aware of it.

Joe was hardly audible. "Elena—what is it?"

I parted my lips.

However, nothing was said.

Because it became genuine once I pronounced the name.

And if that was true...

I was already lost at that point.

The Surprise I Didn't Expect

The air was too dense.

Victor kept a predatory eye on me, anticipating my response.

That's when I came to that realization.

The job was never the issue here.

The goal was to shatter me.

I didn't have to pull the trigger for him. All he had to know was that I would.

He picked them for that reason.

Since he was aware that I wouldn't think twice about a stranger.

However, this?

This was not like the others.

Victor murmured languidly, "I'll give you a day," as though this weren't ruining me from the inside out.

"Do it, and we never speak of this again."

He looked across to Jeo. "Or... don't. And observe what occurs.

It was an obvious warning.

It wasn't a test.

The final warning was this one.

What's the worst?

There was no escape.

That Modifies Everything

Victor nodded one more time and turned, his troops following him.

They vanished in a matter of seconds.

There was nobody on the street. Quiet.

However, the harm had already been done.

Joe looked across at me. "Elena. Who is it?

I didn't respond.

I was unable to.

Rather, I unfurled the page once more.

The name gave me a nasty, piercing look in return.

A name I believed.

A name I was interested in.

A name I may have to murder.

Joe grabbed the paper out of my grasp.

He perused it.

His face turned white.

"No." He said quietly.

But the truth was known to both of us.

There was no choice in this.

The penalty was death.

Additionally, one of us was not surviving.