Chapter 8 : Lessons in Blood
316 Words
Dawn.
A courtyard. Sand under my feet.
Sabastian. Shirtless.
I’m dead in 30 seconds.
“Again,” he says.
My shoulder hits stone. Pain.
“Cross’s men won’t wait,” he says.
I don’t take his hand.
“I don’t need help.”
“You need lessons.” He pulls me up. “Elias will have guards.”
We reset.
I watch his feet.
He moves left. I duck right. My fist hits his ribs.
“Better.” He circles me. “Why did Elias betray you?”
“Money.”
“No.” He stops. “Cross could buy him a hundred times. There was another reason.”
I freeze.
“What are you saying?”
“Cross has something on him. Find that leverage, you own Elias.”
He attacks.
I flip him.
He lands hard. Me on top. My knee on his chest.
For three seconds, I have Sabastian Vance pinned.
Then he smiles.
And flips us.
My back hits sand. His weight on me.
“Good,” he whispers. “Now do it when you’re bleeding.”
He gets up. This time I take his hand.
Later.
Blood on the bathroom floor.
Not mine.
I follow it.
His office.
He’s stitching his arm. Alone.
“You were hurt.”
“You cut me.” He doesn’t look up. “Didn’t want you to see.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d hesitate.” He looks up. “And hesitation gets you killed.”
I grab the kit. “Let me.”
My fingers touch his skin.
“Yvonne,” he says. My real name.
“Don’t.” I step back. “Elias first. Cross second. Then we talk.”
He nods. “48 hours.”
His phone lights up.
A video.
He plays it.
A little girl. Gray room. Stuffed lion.
She looks at the camera.
“Mama?”
Date stamp: Yesterday.
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