Ryuji acted as Obi’s careful assistant. The two of them spent hours on the work. Every so often, Ryu would lean down to my ear and tell me to leave, but I’d shake my head and plant my feet. Obi didn’t once turn around.
Finally, Obi took a step back from his work and released a long breath. His tense shoulders sank even as his eyes burned brightly.
“Kill me,” Kofler rasped. I’d probably never understand how he was still alive.
Ryuji handed Obi the cloth they’d used to periodically wipe their hands.
“He’s done,” Ryu said, clasping Obi on the shoulder. “Finish it.”
Obi nodded, placing the short knife down. Ryu handed him a longer, thinly pointed one.
“Obi.” My voice cracked, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Obi.”
He paused, but he didn’t turn around. He still wouldn’t look at me.
“I will kill him.”
At that, he did finally look at me. Blood splattered his face, deepening the color of his beard and tinging it a sticky red. “No.”
I stepped forward. “Let. Me.”
Ryu stepped between us. “Are you sure?”
Kofler moaned wordless sounds. I gulped, but wiped my palms on my jeans, and then stretched out my hand.
“Give it to me.”
“You will not carry this darkness, Leona.”
I stepped closer, careful not to slip in the blood coating the floor. “Darkness is our life, Obi. We are the Shadows.”
I held out my hand again. I was strong enough to do this. He needed to see that. To trust me.
A flurry of his emotions passed over his face in quick succession. But at the end of it he stared at me withanguishin his eyes. “I cannot let you taint yourself.”
With his words, a huge part of him became clear to me. The hesitation. The holding back. He was afraid the darkness within them all would settle over me and stain me.
What he didn’t realize was that I was already steeped in it. Nobody needed to protect me from it.
I reached up with both hands to touch his face. “Obi, you will always be my shield. But I want to be yours, too.”
His eyes closed, and he shuddered.
“It’s my choice,” I said, resolve hardening my voice. “It’s my responsibility to kill him. I will not stand behind you. I need to show the world that nobody fucks with Leona Vero.”
My hand closed around his grip, and I pulled the knife free.
Ryuji stared at me with dark approval in his eyes. From the very beginning, Ryuji’s darkness had called to mine. All our sass, all our banter, was just our shadows dancing with one another. He knew this was necessary just as much as I did.
“Here, Leona,” Ryu said as he pointed to a spot on Kofler’s chest. “Hard. Strong. Careful of the ribs. You want to slip right between them.”
I nodded, eyes locked on the spot. I looked down at the husk of a man. “You hurt me and my men. Nobody gets away with that.”
The knife slipped into his chest much easier than I expected. I pushed it deep, like Ryuji instructed. Then I yanked it free.
He was dead.
Blood drenched my hands.
