Chapter 6: The Blood-Stained Vow
Everything fell apart at the time. A bullet smashed through the strong glass and the world around Eva just fell to pieces. It was like time stopped moving. That rush of excitement she knew well from being on a movie set the thrill of adrenaline in her veins came back all at once.. This was not a movie set. There was no safety net, no one to yell "stop" and let her walk away without a scratch.
So Eva moved fast her red dress a blur as she let her instincts take over. She crashed into Kevin and they both fell to the floor. Another shot ripped through the air right where Kevins head had been a moment before.
"Stay down!" Kevin shouted, his voice shaking her much as his arms did. He rolled over covering her with his body. Like a shield, all muscle and expensive clothes.
The red emergency lights in the room were flashing, beating like a heart. The rain was pounding against the window. The wind was howling. Eva looked up at Kevin, her breath caught in her throat. Blood was leaking from his forehead running down his face.. He did not seem to care. His eyes were burning with a look.. Scared.. Protective.
"You saved me " he said, his voice quiet and rough with emotion.
Eva tried to make a joke. It came out all wrong: "I told you I am the only one who gets to hurt you Kevin." Her grip on his jacket got tighter.
He did not say anything. He just pulled her in. Kissed her. A hungry desperate kiss. The taste of blood and rain was between them.. The knowledge that this kiss might be their last it was all so real. It was not a kiss it was a collision. It was the way they could stay alive.
The Descent into Shadows
They kept moving through the villa the air thick with smoke and the harsh smell of electricity. Kevin led the way barely talking, pulling Eva behind a shelf and into an underground bunker that looked like it cost a lot of money: there were screens and sleek machines and lights blinking all over the walls.
It was quiet here. The only sound was the computers humming. Kevin sat down on a metal desk his breathing slow coming down from the rush.
Eva did not wait. She got a first-aid kit from the wall her fingers shaking, even though she had handled explosives with steady hands.
"Sit " she told him her voice cracking.
He watched her without blinking while she cleaned his wound. Every time she touched him it sent sparks through her body; the air between them was so thick she could barely breathe.
She kept her eyes down as she talked. "The contract, Kevin. The part that was blacked out. What did my father trade me for?"
He closed his eyes let his head fall back against the cold steel. "Your dad was not a regular stunt coordinator. He kept secrets for some people. He had a key. The kind that opens accounts that you wish you never saw. The men who crashed the party they are after it. They think I have it. They think you can lead them to it.. Your father. He knew he was running out of time. He made one deal with the one person more dangerous than his enemies."
She barely breathed. "You."
"Yes " Kevin whispered. "He sold his silence. He traded everything for your protection. He wanted you to be safe. Not in the movies not. A ghost. Invisible."
His fingers brushed her jaw, soft and slow. "But I was selfish " he admitted. "I did not want a ghost. I wanted the Eva. So I watched you. Every stunt, every call. I kept you alive from the shadows for three years."
It hit her. Hard and cold. Her luck on every movie set every call, every time she should have died but walked away. It was never chance. She was his obsession. His secret, before that bracelet.
The Breaking of the Master
"You watched me?" Her voice was. Tears were running down her face through the soot and blood. "You watched me mourn my father? All that time?"
He winced. "If I had shown myself they would have known you mattered. You had to act normal until I could keep you safe for real."
"Some protection " she spat. "My dad is dead there are assassins outside. I am locked away with you. The man who 'saved' me into a cage."
She tried to get up. Kevin pulled her back wrapped her in his arms. He was shaking. Barely holding it together.
"Do not go " he begged. "Hate me. Hit me. Just do not leave me. You are all I have left. The world there. It is black, Eva. You are the light."
She should have left. Run towards the bullets traded one monster for another.. As he held her her resolve slipped away. She wanted him anyway. The monster was home.
She turned in his arms looking at that tired face. She saw love. The kind that hurts the kind that never asks nicely.
"Show me " she said softly. "Show me why I matter."
No hesitation this time. He took her to the computer typing fast; the screens came to life. Her face was everywhere. Photos, headlines, reports, all the steps she had taken all the risks, cataloged and kept.
"You are not my trophy " he said, his voice raw, standing close behind her. "You are my religion."
The Final Surrender
Something changed. It was not about who was hunting them or what her father had done. It was the two of them finally alone.
Eva faced him her hands on the buttons of his shirt. One by one she undid them never looking away. His chest, all scars and old pain warmed beneath her hands.
"Kevin," she. He picked her up. The torn red dress spilled around them no movie screen, a small bed and cold survival.
When he laid her down his eyes worshiped her. His lips touched her bruises, her hand, her jaw. As if he could heal her with his touch
"I will kill for you " he whispered. "I will burn everything before I let anyone take you."
She pulled him down heat roaring between them. "Then burn it " she said. "As long as we are left standing in the ashes."
So with the computers humming around them and death waiting they stopped being hunter and prey. Two hearts, frantic. Two people, no lies left. Every touch said something that words could not. Every sound was a promise.
When morning finally came Eva lay on his chest her heartbeat finally steady. The hunters were still coming. Her fathers mess was still waiting.. For the first time the fall did not scare her. She believed in someone catching her now. No matter how high she jumped.
The Approaching Storm
A red light flashed on the computer. An alarm, sharp and loud.
Kevin sat up fast cold and ready. He checked the screen his jaw set tight.
"They have found us " he said, gun in hand.
Eva was already moving, putting on a vest over her torn dress. Her handgun clicked as she checked the bullets.
"Let them " she said, a crooked dangerous smile on her face. "I have been practicing my act."
He took her hand his grip fierce. Fear was in his eyes and pride.
"If we die today -"
She cut him off pressing her lips to his. One wild kiss. "We are not dying " she whispered. "The director has not called 'stop' yet."
The bunker doors started groaning, steel straining under the weight of whoever was waiting. The war was here. No acting no more pretending. For the time Eva was the lead. And she was ready, for action.