"Do you normally make-out with the people you're hired to kill? It doesn't strike me as very professional."
"Put the gun down," Gabriel panted, not answering her.
"Why on earth would I do that?"
"Because you're not going to shoot me," Gabriel rep...
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The relentless pounding in Ash's head forced her awake. As her eyes reluctantly fluttered open, she realized that the car had stopped moving. She sat up, concerned, until she noticed Gabriel still sitting next to her and calmly looking out the window.
"Are we there?" she asked him quietly.
Clearly not expecting her to wake up, Gabriel turned sharply at the sound of her voice. "Not yet," he answered. "We had to stop for gas and Levi was convinced we needed snacks."
Gabriel's face softened even more as he looked at her. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently.
Would he ever stop trying to get in her head? She didn't even want to be in her head right now-she sure as hell wasn't accepting visitors. He probably just wanted to know how to hurt her. He might not want to do it now, but someday he would, and she would shove a nail through her foot before she gave him an instruction manual how to do it.
"I don't regret killing Alexander, if that's what you're asking," she snapped.
"It's not," he replied. He continued to look at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.
How did she feel? She did what she had to do. Alexander killed her parents. She killed Alexander. It was simple.
So why did it feel so much more complicated than that?
"Did you enjoy it?" Gabriel asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Did I enjoy it?"
"Killing him. Did you enjoy it?"
What kind of a question was that? She didn't enjoy it the same way she didn't enjoy doing the dishes or brushing her teeth. It needed to get done, so she did it.
"No," she answered.
"Are you upset?"
These questions kept getting more ridiculous. Why would she be upset that one of the men who killed her parents was dead?
"No."
"So what do you feel?" Gabriel pressed.
God, couldn't he just leave her alone? She obviously didn't want to talk about this. And the pressure in her head kept building to the point where she thought it might explode.
She shouldn't feel anything. Emotions were useless. And yet, she did feel something. Gabriel brought out the worst in her. She lost her ability to be completely calm and rational around him. Her life had been so much simpler before Gabriel crashed into it.
Ignoring his question and trying to keep herself from thinking about everything that just happened, she closed her eyes. Stop feeling. Stop being weak. Stop thinking.
Stop everything.
"Ash?" Gabriel asked.
Ash let out a shaky breath, willing herself to be numb. It didn't work.
