ASSASSIN FOR HIRE; Mated By The Rodriguez Twins

Run!!. Always run if you ever get caught." Victor always used to say it like it was some kind of prayer, or maybe a curse. The words echoed as I half-slid, half-stumbled down the snowy slope toward the ravine, boots kicking up powder that whipped back into my face. The helmet pressed too tight across my temples, fogging in the dark. I yanked it off mid-stride, nearly losing my balance, and stuffed it under one arm. That damn squirrel. If I’d seen it earlier.... just a flicker instead of that sudden twitch, my finger wouldn’t have jerked on the trigger. I’d been focused on the crosshairs, on Leo Rodriguez’s silhouette against the lamp pole, shoulders hunched like he was arguing on the phone. Six years of clean shots. And I just missed Leo Rodriguez. No one crosses him and walks away. He’s the more brutal twin. I was undone by a rodent. Victor always said emotions were a liability. Apparently, he was right. People? I could put them down without a second thought. A squirrel? That was apparently where my training had holes. The earpiece crackled. "Mission status." "Compromised. Target is alive." The silence that followed stretched, cold and heavy. Never had I said those words before. Target is alive. It felt wrong, like forgetting how to tie my own shoes. The ravine opened ahead in jagged shadows. Trees crowded in until I could barely see three meters. Snow fell heavier, fat flakes stinging my lashes and melting into the collar of my gear. My hands ached. I’d pulled off my gloves earlier for a better grip, thinking the cold wouldn’t bite this fast. Numbness crept in, my fingers stiffening, and I flexed them, hoping it would help. "Any extraction route available?" I asked the system. "Calculating… Calculating…" The voice lagged, dragging as if thinking too hard. "System error. Unable to...." Dead silence. My only advantage was gone. The ground shifted under my boots. Loose snow. Hidden rocks. I slowed just enough to avoid breaking something vital. Muscle memory screamed at me, don’t be an i***t. I didn’t see the edge. One moment there was solid ground, the next.... nothing. I grabbed for a branch. It snapped. I fell. Snow and trees blurred. Branches snagged my pack, tearing strips from the fabric. My shoulder slammed a rock, then my hip. My head hit a rock. Pain exploded.... white, blinding, everything else gone for a second. I landed hard in a drift. Snow packed against my face like a cold, unforgiving mask. For a long moment, I just lay there. Leo Rodriguez was still up there. Alive, and he knew. I flexed my hand. It responded slowly. Victor’s voice whispered in my memory: Run. Always run. "Yeah," I muttered, tasting blood in my mouth. "Just… not in the right direction." The snow kept falling in it quiet, heavy form. Was I afraid? Yeah. And the cold worsen it, twisting my focus. Leo was up there, alive, and my lungs burned just keeping pace. Then the world began to blur. Something in the air shifted. Not the wind. Not the trees. A presence. Close, watching. A footstep that seems to be coming closer. My body froze, muscles locked in instinctive terror. Heart hammering, ears straining, every nerve screaming to get up and escape. Darkness dragged at me. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t move. And somewhere above, the man I’d been sent to kill still breathed.