Marry or Kill

02

M I N A

Sol's golden hair dances in the air as she veers her knife in my direction, a glint of challenge in her eyes. Reacting swiftly, I dip my head underneath the cold blade, feeling the rush of air above me. Seizing the opportunity, I land a well-aimed kick to her side, and she lets out a loud sigh as she rolls to the side on the soft mattress.

Sol and I have known each other a bittersweet while—more than two years now, ever since her arrival at The East. In that time, she's woven herself into the fabric of my life, becoming closer to me than anyone else.

"Elias is a damn bastard," Sol declares, hooking her knife to her belt with a practised motion. She swipes a bead of sweat off her forehead, her breath steady despite the physical exertion. "If you're going to beat him, you'll need kicks a hundred times stronger than that."

I shake my head, taking a few steps back and pacing around the fighting room. "There's not a chance in hell I'll win a fist-to-fist. A clean gunshot is what it's going to take."

Sol unbuckles her boot, the sound echoing in the room, and sighs out in relief as she shrugs them off. "I'd damn well hope not, Mina," she says, her voice quieter now. "I mean, if it comes to that."

I pause, looking at Sol with a mixture of determination and frustration. "If it comes to that, I'm done for, and there's no point, Sol. Elias has been tossing around death like it's spare change since he practically crawled out of the cradle."

The room seems to tighten with tension as Sol and I exchange glances, the weight of the impending confrontation settling heavily on our shoulders.

Suddenly, Sol's lips twitch in a wry smile, as she leaps onto her feet.

Across the room, articles sprawled out all over the table, where we searched relentlessly for any weaknesses other than this hot temper. The articles were all found through a private database, which I spent hours unlocking for something so useless.

Sol, a smirk playing on her lips, interjects with a tone thick with both amusement and mock sincerity, "You know, he's quite the catch for a notorious killer. Perhaps you two wouldn't make such a terrible pair."

I can't help but snort at the unexpected twist in the narrative. "Women might fawn over him if he didn't have a need for murdering anyone who so much as glanced at him the wrong way." My smile slightly drops. "We need to burn these at some point—the way I got this information is punishable."

"And we will, right after we figure out a foolproof way to bring down Elias."

Suddenly, an image of Elias catches in the corner of my eye in the article, he's handsome—there's no denying that. A sharp, cutting jaw, and dark, brown eyes that mimic the shadow of sparkling blackness in his heart. Framing his face, his blonde hair looms, seemingly making his features just a tad softer.

I shove the article to the side as we walk through the glass doors and outside the building. Moonlight bathes the remnants of snow silvery, stealing away the colour from the green grass. Dewiness clings to it, creating a subtle luminescence.

We walk through the small descent of wood before we reach the large opening of the garden.

Seizing the moment, I surprise Sol, swiftly pivoting to land a carefully aimed elbow in her stomach, momentarily disrupting her with a sudden burst of action.

Sol cocks her head in challenge, momentarily in shock forward at the impact, before a loud, sharp crack sounds. Almost whip-like, that it startles Sol midway through a strike to my ribs with her elbows.

Both of us pause, whirling around to where the noise emanated from, the wind whispering through the trees like a ghostly confidant.

A man, smiling wickedly, saunters toward us through the dim trees, his gaze filled with ominous amusement as he takes slow deliberate steps, avoiding the moonlight from fully revealing the intricacies of his face.