Exquisite

You're Chilly

~Damen~

Cassien's mouth hung open as she helped both of us out from under the table, her eyes flitting to the door every second. Her grenade had done it's job perfectly - all the men who had come into the room were lying around like runover dogs.

"There are more of them outside," She said as she bent over and picked up a machine gun, passing it to Cassien before doing the same for me. It felt cold and alien in my hands and I had to consciously grip it to stop my fingers from shaking.

Neith, on the other hand, held it as if it were an extension of her own arm. "Cassien, cover us from the back. Damen?" She looked at me, willing me to hold myself together with her eyes. "Stay between us, okay? We're getting out of here, alive. All three of us."

I nodded, shaking my head a little to clear the daze as well fell into a line, Neith leading us through the complicated corridors. "Where is your car parked?" She whispered before suddenly stopping, grabbing my hand and pulling us into an alcove just as we heard footsteps cross us.

Cassien leaned forward to bring his mouth close to her ear. He said something and she nodded, pulling us out again as we followed her blindly through the smoke. "The back entrance will lead us right to the garage." She whispered to me. "It's okay, we'll be fine."

I gripped her hand a little tighter, unable to say anything else. A sudden shout made me shiver but Neith was faster than I could have ever imagined as she swiftly got down on one knee, her aim perfect as she shot the assailant in the head.

"Take Damen to the car." She said over her shoulder as she relentlessly shot down two other people without missing a beat. "I'll give you cover."

Cassien seemed to hesitate but Neith shouted again. "Go! I've got this."

I felt my brother tug me towards the open grounds, the sound of gunfire providing us the motivation to run faster. My eyes, however, were fixed on Neith as she ducked and shot back with the grace and skill of a trained assassin.

Cassien started the car, taking a sharp reverse as Neith ran towards us. I watched open mouthed as she slipped through the shower of bullets, nimbly avoiding any injury as she shot inside the car next to me. "Go, go go!" She shouted, shooting through the open window as we raced out of the driveway onto the road.

"Who the fuck were they?"

Cassien slammed his hand on the steering, finally sure no one was following us. I was trying to get my breathing back under control, my heart thudding so loudly in my chest that I felt it would break free from my ribcage.

"I will rip them apart." He vowed. I could see veins popping on the back of his neck, his anger hitting us in tangible waves. "All of them, every single fucker."

He turned a little in his seat, shrewdly taking in the woman in the yellow knit dress who was crouching in the backseat next to me. "We owe you our lives. I -" His voice broke. "I can never repay the favor you've done to us today. I know how useless it is to say but ... thank you."

I shifted in my seat to face her, my eyebrows creasing slightly as Neith winced when she tried to move. My eyes widened, focussing on the red spot blossoming on her dress.

"You're hurt."

Without thinking, I reached out and pulled her to me. Her skin was warm under mine, scorching as she gasped and clutched at her stomach. "Just a - just a bruise." She shook her head but I couldn't stop my hands from shaking as I helped her lie as best as possible in the confines of our car.

"It's a stab wound, Cassien." My voice was louder than I had thought it would be as I touched my fingers to her wrist. Her pulse was steady and I took a deep shuddering breath. "We need to go to a hospital."

Neith smiled, her eyelids fluttering as she laced her fingers through mine. I shivered but didn't pull my hand away, tightening my hold as if it would fix her. "You're so chilly." She murmured.

I ran a thumb back and forth on the back of her hand as I realised that the stab wound wasn't her only injury. There was a gash on her thigh that was oozing blood all over the car seat and she was holding her left arm at strange angle.

"That's all you can think of right now?" I said softly, brushing back hair from her face the way I had wanted to last night. "That I'm cold?" She chuckled - a low, tired sound. "It's feels nice." Her voice was just above a whisper.

Lifting her head gingerly, I laid it in my lap to give her more space as her eyes fluttered shut. Cassien was saying something and I wanted to hear it, but the roaring of blood in my ears made it almost impossible to.

All that paralyzing fear that had gripped me back there was gone. I wasn't scared anymore.

I was livid.

"She could have left us there, Cass." I said slowly, combing through her hair to control the fury that was rising in my blood like an angry fire.

"She came back. Risked her fucking life and came back. We can't let anything happen to her." She shivered and I pulled her closer, covering her with what remained of my jacket. "I won't let anything happen to her."

My brother was quiet as we raced at an inhuman speed on the almost empty road. "This is the girl, isn't she?" He finally said, his eyes meeting mine in the rear view mirror. "The girl you were asking me about?"

I nodded stiffly. "Neith. That's her name." I paused. "I didn't know she was Jordan's daughter."

Cassien nodded, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel as I watched his jaw clench. Neith's pulse was heavy and reassuring against my fingers as I wrapped her tighter in my jacket. "We owe her big time, D."

"She must have seen her father die." I said quietly, my heart lurching to a stop as I remembered Jordan's bloody body on the chair. "We're all she has got now."

Cassien nodded. "If Valdez was right and she's the only child Jordan has, there's no way in hell she would be safe alone. The minute the news gets out that he has been killed every fucker in the city with a gun will try to get to her."

He suddenly chuckled. "Not that she can't handle herself fine on her own though. Never thought Nerdy would turn out to be a fucking commando." He was right. The way Neith had taken down those men could have only been a result of years and years of training.

Looking down at her in my arms, the smooth colour of her skin and the silk of her hair I instantly knew that I had to find out who she was. This woman was unlike anyone I had ever seen before and I wasn't ready to let go of her so soon.

"D?" The change in his tone made me look at him. He turned, his eyes burning into mine with a promise that I instantly knew he would readily die to keep. "You're not to lose her."

I felt the cold grip on my heart loosen a little at the unsaid implication of his words.

She's one of us now.