Fear and Fate(poly)(bxb)

Fourteen

I have a really bad feeling.

Days go by in the hotel. It remains pristine but sometimes, faintly, I can smell blood. Before long I'm outside again and back in fight mode. I really don't want to and I wish they couldn't make me. I try to get Seven to empathize with me. Then he says something so cryptic it sticks with me.

"You won't have to do it for much longer." I don't remember Seven's eyes ever looking so dark before.

I wasn't paired up with him on this mission and lucky me. The guy who does never makes it back. Even when Seven comes out unscathed, his partner comes out in a body bag.

I'm with Von because he refuses to let me leave his side. There's no need. Even with three guys on me, I'm stronger. I haven't lost any of my skills. On the other hand, as the leader, Von is becoming a major target.

Watching him expand and bulk up these last few months, he must've known he would need it. He knows how to take down the men coming after him. Four of them are unconscious when he spares the fifth, seemingly, then uses him as a human shield against the gunshots coming at him.

I shoot the source of the fire, so quickly I barely feel the recoil. It's a headshot. Blood splatters on a few of our shelves. It coats the loose nuts and bolts beside our smaller car parts.

I want praise when I'm done. The auto shop still looks pretty clean after the novice attack. There are bodies on the floor though. It looks nearly the same as it did the first time, when I was still in high school.

Kimori joins us in the front of the shop after finishing up on his own. He's unscathed, but then again, our black clothing doesn't allow us to see blood. Instead I see how slim his waist is compared to his broad chest. His brown eyes are alert and inquisitive.

"Did you hear that scream at the beginning? It sounded like one of our own," he asks.

Von is assessing the damage to the front of the shop. His eyes scan everywhere except where Kimori is standing as he replies, "It was."

Kimori looks back toward where he came from. The door swings open. There's the front of the shop, the hall leading into the storage room, or where he was the longest and the lankiest enough to put up a fight. Then there's the storage room and the back of the auto shop where we would smuggle cargo.

Seven emerges next. He looks spotless save for a few drops of blood here and there and the bloody tire iron he's holding. With his free hand, he pulls down the black mask covering half of his face and hiding his soft beauty.

"Where's Jaden?" Kimori asks.

"Who?" Seven raises an eyebrow genuinely confused.

Kimori looks so offended that I start to feel bad I don't know who that is either.

"We don't call them by their names, Calamari," Von says as he passes him and approaches the back door.

Kimori watches him walk by then joins him in focusing his attention on Seven. Von skims his body after having seen a few too many of the other gang's men slip back there. Seven had the most crowded part of the shop.

"Good," Von says as he tilts the younger's chin to get a look at his delicate features. "Let's keep going."

I wouldn't have heard it if I couldn't read his lips. His intense blue gaze holds Seven close as he responds with a quick nod. Seven's promising eyes reflect light to Von's darkness.

"Did he die?" Kimori asks, staring at the ground beneath us.

Seven snaps his head in his direction. Von keeps his hand suspended for a second. I start to feel sick, bile accumulating in my stomach.