MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Masked Woman
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The peace lasted three months.
Three months of waking up beside Keifer. Three months of watching the garden bloom again. Three months of Alex standing in Lyra's corner, his hands in his pockets, his face slowly, slowly healing. Three months of Care's hands steady, Cole beside her. Three months of Percy's laughter echoing through the halls, Aries's hand in his, Yuri's memory a ghost that lingered but no longer haunted.
Three months of believing the war was over.
The attack came at midnight.
Jay was in the study with Keifer, going over the final reports from Ava's network, the accounts that were still being traced, the people who had been working for her. Mica was on the screen, her face tired, her voice steady. Calix was beside her.
"There's something I don't understand," Mica said. "Ava's money. It didn't all come from Keizer. There was another source. Someone else. Someone who's been funding her for years."
Jay's hand tightened on the mouse. "Who?"
Mica's fingers moved. "I don't know. The account is sealed. Encrypted. I've never seen anything like it. Every time I get close, the system—"
The lights went out.
The screen went black. The house went dark. The silence was sudden. Complete. The kind of silence that came before something terrible.
Jay stood up. Her knife was in her hand. Keifer was beside her, his gun drawn, his face calm. They had been through this before. They knew what came next.
The window shattered.
Bullets tore through the study. Jay dropped behind the desk. Keifer was beside her. The glass was everywhere. The books were torn. The walls were marked. The men were outside. Ten. Twenty. More.
Freya's voice came through the radio. "We're under attack. Front gate. Back gate. The roof. They're everywhere."
Jay looked at Keifer. His face was steady. "How many?"
"Too many," Freya said. "We need to move. Now."
---
The house was chaos.
Percy was in the hallway, his gun drawn, his face hard. Aries was behind him, their hands steady. Ci N was with Felix in the kitchen, barricading the doors. Care was in the medical room, her bag open, her hands ready. Cole was beside her. Grace was at the back door with Denzel. Kit was with Mayo at the side entrance. Rakki was with Erdix at the front.
Jay ran through the hallway. Keifer was beside her. The bullets were everywhere. The windows were breaking. The walls were falling. The house they had built was being destroyed.
They reached the living room. The front door was open. The men were there. Ten. Fifteen. Their faces were covered. Their guns were raised. Their eyes were empty.
Jay raised her knife. Keifer raised his gun. They were outnumbered. They were outgunned. They were not going to run.
The first man fell. The second man fell. The third man fell. They fought. They fought like they had always fought. Together. Back to back. The way they had learned in the garden. The way they had learned in the war.
But there were too many.
Jay was on her knees. Her knife was gone. Her hands were empty. Her shoulder was bleeding. Keifer was beside her, his gun empty, his face pale. The men surrounded them. Their guns were raised. Their eyes were cold.
A man stepped forward. He was tall. His hair was dark. His face was sharp. His eyes were black. He was smiling.
"Sato," he said. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."
Jay looked at him. Her face was calm. Her hands were steady. "Who are you?"
He knelt in front of her. His face was inches from hers. "I'm the man who's going to kill you. I'm the man who's going to destroy everything you love. I'm the man who's going to finish what Ava started."
He raised his gun. His finger was on the trigger. His eyes were on hers.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Watson," Sato said.
---
The shot came from the darkness.
Jay heard it before she saw it. The crack of glass. The whistle of air. The sound of something moving too fast, too close. Sato's gun fell. His hand was bleeding. His face was white. He turned. He looked at the shadows. At the place where the shot had come from.
"Who's there?" Sato shouted.
The woman stepped out of the darkness.
She was tall. Her hair was black. Her mask was black. Her clothes were black. She was a shadow. A ghost. A weapon. Her gun was raised. Her face was hidden. Her eyes were visible. They were sharp. They were steady. They were cold.
She walked toward Sato. Her steps were silent. Her hands were steady. Her gun was aimed at his chest.
"You're going to die tonight," she said. Her voice was low. Her voice was familiar. Jay couldn't place it. She couldn't remember. She couldn't think.
Sato laughed. It was a cold sound. "You think you can kill me? You think you can stop me? I have fifty men. I have—"
The woman fired. Sato's shoulder exploded. He fell. His face was white. His hands were empty. His men raised their guns. The woman moved. She was faster than them. She was faster than anyone. She fired again. And again. And again. The men fell. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. They didn't have time to fire. They didn't have time to run. They were dead before they hit the ground.
Sato was on his knees. His face was pale. His hands were empty. His men were gone. His army was gone. His war was over.
"Who are you?" Sato whispered.
The woman stood in front of him. Her gun was at his head. Her face was hidden. Her eyes were cold.
"I'm the one who's going to kill you," she said.
She pulled the trigger.
Sato fell. His body was heavy. His face was pale. His eyes were open. His hands were empty. The woman stood over him. Her gun was empty. Her hands were steady. Her face was hidden.
She turned. She looked at Jay. At Keifer. At the people she had saved. At the house she had protected.
"Who are you?" Jay asked.
The woman didn't answer. She walked toward the door. Her steps were silent. Her hands were empty. Her mask was black.
"Wait," Keifer said. "Who are you? Why did you save us?"
The woman stopped. She didn't turn. Her back was to them. Her hands were at her sides.
"Because someone had to," she said.
She walked out the door. She disappeared into the night.
---
The morning came.
The house was destroyed. The windows were broken. The walls were marked. The garden was torn. The steps where Jay and Keifer had sat were covered in glass. The corner where Lyra used to stand was empty. The house they had built was gone.
But they were alive. They were alive because of her. The woman in the black mask. The woman who had appeared from the shadows. The woman who had saved them. The woman who had disappeared.
Mica was at her laptop. Her fingers were moving. Her face was pale. Calix was beside her.
"I've been tracking her," Mica said. "The cameras. The street. The gate. Nothing. She appeared out of nowhere. She disappeared into nowhere. There's no trace. No record. No nothing."
Jay stood at the window. The garden was destroyed. The steps were broken. The house was gone. But she was alive. Keifer was alive. They were alive.
"Who is she?" Jay asked. "Why did she save us? Why did she—"
Keifer stood beside her. His hand was in hers. "She knew us. She knew this house. She knew where to be. When to be there. She knew—"
"She knew everything," Jay said.
---
Percy was in the garden. He was standing where the steps used to be. His hands were in his pockets. His face was pale. Aries was beside him. Their hand was in his.
"She saved us," Percy said. "She saved all of us."
Aries looked at the house. At the broken windows. At the destroyed walls. At the place where they had almost died. "She saved us."
Percy looked at the gate. At the place where she had disappeared. "Who was she?"
Aries squeezed his hand. "I don't know."
---
Care was in the medical room. Her hands were steady. Her face was calm. Cole was beside her. He was cleaning the wounds on her arm. The glass had cut her. The bullets had missed her. She was alive. They were alive.
"She saved us," Cole said.
Care looked at the door. At the place where the woman had stood. At the place where she had killed Sato. At the place where she had disappeared.
"She saved us," Care said.
Cole looked at her. "Who was she?"
Care didn't answer. She didn't know.
---
Alex was in the corner. Lyra's corner. His hands were in his pockets. His face was blank. His eyes were on the window where she used to watch. He had heard the shots. He had seen the woman. He had watched her save them. He had watched her disappear.
"She saved us," Alex said. "She saved us for Lyra."
He looked at the window. At the street below. At the place where she used to watch. "Who was she?"
The window was dark. The street was quiet. The corner was empty. There was no answer.
---
The days passed.
Mica searched. Freya searched. Rakki searched. Honey searched. They searched everywhere. Every camera. Every street. Every house. Every face. There was nothing. The woman in the black mask had disappeared. She had vanished. She had become a ghost.
Jay sat in the study. The walls were bare. The windows were boarded. The desk was empty. Keifer was beside her. His hand was in hers.
"She's gone," Jay said. "She saved us and she's gone."
Keifer pulled her close. "She'll come back. If she saved us once, she'll come back again."
Jay looked at the window. At the boarded glass. At the darkness outside. "Who was she?"
Keifer kissed her hair. "I don't know. But I know one thing."
"What?"
He looked at the door. At the place where she had stood. At the place where she had saved them. "She's one of us. She's always been one of us."
Jay looked at him. His face was tired. His eyes were dark. "How do you know?"
He smiled. It was small. Tired. Real. "Because she was there. When we needed her. When no one else was. She was there."
Jay leaned against him. Her head was on his shoulder. "She was there."
She closed her eyes. She saw the woman. The black mask. The steady hands. The cold eyes. The voice that was familiar. The voice she couldn't place. The voice that was waiting.
She opened her eyes. The window was dark. The house was quiet. The woman was gone.
But she would come back. Jay knew it. She felt it. The woman in the black mask would come back. And when she did, they would be ready.
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END OF CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN