"You pick the next one," says Nikolai. Valentina rests against his shoulder, her muzzle pointed downwards.Â
The pair are perched on a rooftop of the tallest building in the city together, murderers staring down at the darkness below. Except to Nik there is only ever darkness, in different depths and textures, and to Carrion's predatory eyes all the shadows may as well be lit with floodlights. Really, they've made it too easy.Â
With sweet words Carrion chooses her target, her voice tickling his sensitive ears and Nik lets the darkness echo back to him the shape and location she specifies and he shoots, the gun itself echoing back to him the trueness of his shot. And her bladed hand rests carefully and briefly over his as she tells him he hit a bullseye, baby and he's sure that he's never in his life life felt so damned happy.
And then the sirens start wailing, and Nikolai knows the fun has to end. He looks up at Carrion, his bloodthirsty beauty, and smiles. "Same time next week?"Â