There was still an hour left before sunrise when Nox woke up from a confusing dream, her eyes instinctively drifting toward the person curled up in the corner of the room, wearing a discomforted expression. Rising, she saw him mumble something unintelligible and shrink further into himself; the woman simply threw a sheet over him and walked to the bathroom.
Viktor was sitting with both hands wrapped around a steaming cup. When Nox entered the kitchen, they exchanged a glance, both aware of the reason they were up so early. Occupational hazard, their eyes seemed to murmur. She went to the coffee machine and brewed a fresh pot. The aromatic scent quickly filled the kitchen.
"Did you sleep well?" Viktor asked.
"Strangely, I've been sleeping better these past few days than I have my whole life. Must be the meds," she said, sitting on the stool across from the man with glasses.
"Your body seems to be healing fast. That's great," he observed, looking at her face. It still showed slight swelling and a few bandages—on the bridge of her nose, her right brow, and one cheek—but the overall appearance was improving quickly.
"I'm like Wolverine, man. Built of steel," she replied with a joking tone, and Viktor shot her a skeptical look.
"Where's your wife?"
"Hospital. She'll be back before nightfall. Have you thought about what you're going to teach Maxin?"
"The basics. He should at least know how to hold a gun."
"An assassin teaching a target how to defend himself from assassins, huh? Times really have changed. Just admit it—you care about him."
"It's not that Maxin is important to me... I just don't want him to die like a coward."
"Sure, I totally believe that," Viktor chuckled, sipping his green tea. "And your arm? Driving is one thing, holding a barrel is another."
"Mariah didn't hit my dominant arm, so I can shoot as much as I want. I'm even thinking of shooting Maxin and telling him it's part of the training. That kid is kind of a pain sometimes," she sighed and drank her bitter black coffee.
"Ha, I bet my glass eye you won't do it."
"You want me to take the other one too?" she said, feigning anger as she pointed a serrated knife at her friend.
Viktor laughed even harder. The two of them enjoyed the slow dawn, each lost in their own thoughts. Especially Nox, who seemed genuinely absorbed by the view outside the window. At some point, she wondered how long it had been since she'd last seen the sunset.
Maxin woke up, made his bed, and walked to the shower with a sleepy face. Half an hour later, he returned wearing another set of the clothes he'd been given and headed downstairs. Nox was sitting on the couch with a cloth, quietly cleaning her gun, gently rubbing down the polymer of her Tanfoglio. She could feel his eyes on her.
"Go eat breakfast. We're heading out after," she said without lifting her gaze from the revolver. Maxin nodded and disappeared down the hallway.
Turning his head toward the mid-sized window to the left of the kitchen, he saw Viktor hanging some sheets in the backyard. So he'd left the assassin life behind to become a househusband? Maxin wondered, shaking his head. His eyes landed on the lovely breakfast spread across the six-seat table. He sat in one of the chairs and slowly began to eat—still wary.
The region where Viktor's house was located was mostly surrounded by forest or farmland, with considerable distance between homes. The sky held only a few clouds, and the morning was slowly warming up. Nox's car drove for less than half an hour before reaching the forest park.
They got out of the black Toyota and walked in the opposite direction of the main trail. Because the path was steep, its dark earth still wet from the previous night's rain, Maxin timidly grabbed the hem of Nox's shirt, silently begging her to be careful not to slip in the mud.
Nox looked at him with one eyebrow raised, and he gave her a sheepish smile. Without a word, she surprised him by touching his hand and placing it on her left forearm. The tips of Maxin's ears turned red.
"Why are we here?" he asked when they reached a clearing.
Unlike the descent, his feet—covered in worn All Stars—now stepped on fresh green grass. Like a circle in the middle of the forest, the area was open, tall trees with dark green leaves enclosing the perimeter. In the distance, beyond the chirping birds, the sound of falling water could be heard. Blinking, Maxin remembered the sign at the park's entrance, which said there was a five-meter-high waterfall.
"Training." Nox replied calmly, her gaze fixed on a tree two meters away—close enough to be safe, but not too close."Training? For what?"
"Is your tongue big because your brain is small?" She snapped, turning to him with a stern expression. "I'm going to train you, kid." She sighed and drew the gun from the waistband of her pants. Unlike the one she cleaned earlier that morning, the Ruger SR22, with its lighter caliber, was perfect for beginners.
Maxin quickly stepped back, raising his hands and shaking his head.
"No... I don't want to be a killer," he murmured in fear. "I don't need this." he insisted, swallowing hard as he faced Nox's increasingly dark expression. Her sharp eyes felt like stakes, piercing him without remorse.
"Oh, so you don't want to be a killer... I see," she said ambiguously, her voice eerily calm.
"So... What's your name?"
"Maxin..." he replied, confused. "Maxin Romanov." He repeated it louder this time, stunned by how strange it felt to speak his real identity after so many years.
"Exactly. Your name is Maxin Romanov—the target of the most dangerous assassins in the country." She stepped closer. Maxin took another step back, cornered. "The question isn't whether or not you want to be a killer, Maxin. In this world, you either kill or get killed." Her voice dropped into something low, nearly threatening. "Because of you, I killed two comrades. That's considered treason. Can you imagine what they do to traitors?"
"K-kill them?"
"Bingo!" she grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes. Maxin trembled, completely at a loss.
His greatest wish had always been to live a quiet life, earn a decent wage, and have a roof over his head. He never imagined finding himself in a situation like this. In fact, he'd never even considered learning to defend himself. Maxin was good at running away and pretending nothing had happened. His mother abandoned him? It happens. His father was murdered? Wow, how sad. The boys at the orphanage beat him? That's more common than people think. What matters is moving forward.
He didn't know where this desire to survive came from. His life had always been crap, but he never felt the need to blame anyone or fight back. If things were bad, complaining or lashing out wouldn't help, so better to stay quiet and wait for it to pass.
I don't mind tending to my wounds or crying in secret. So why does she have to do this to me? Why does she have to force me to face things? I don't want this! I don't want it!
The woman in front of Maxin, indifferent, felt her fingers twitch as she watched him drown in a sea of repressed emotions. His shoulders shook, his eyes became desperate, and his breathing turned too rapid, leaving his cheeks flushed red from boiling blood.
Nox, overwhelmed by the sight of his broken, impulsive figure, took a step back. Her breath—soft as the breeze rustling the leaves—blended with the sharp sound of Maxin's body trembling. Nearly in tears, he heard her command:
"Look at me." When he did, his body froze. "You know, even though I'm an assassin, I can still be generous. So I'll give you... hmm... ten seconds to beg. Starting now."Under the aim of the SR22, Maxin heard her cock the hammer.
That same feeling he'd had the first time they met returned, ensnaring and suffocating him within seconds. Imagining the final moment of his life, Maxin's body began experiencing something akin to a hyperventilation attack. The color drained from his face, previously flushed, and a cold sweat slid down his spine. A tingling crept through his limbs. The symptoms triggered a shortness of breath as severe as asphyxiation. His head drooped, his vision blurred. But before he could fall, he felt arms wrapping around him.
"Damn it," her voice echoed in his mind. Close to her, he breathed in her clean scent until his nerves began to settle. "I told you to beg, not suffocate yourself. Damn disobedient kid," she scolded after pulling away, though her tone was strangely gentle.
"I thought you were going to kill me..." he confessed, eyes fixed on the grass. "Why are you doing this to me, Nox? Why?" The first time he said her name, it carried pain, echoing from a tear-streaked face. There was a moment of silence until a hand landed gently on his shoulder, like a butterfly.
"Protection." she said suddenly. "Because I want you to be safe, Maxin."
If he knew how hard it was for her to say those words, Nox's target might've understood just how much damage he was doing inside her.