The girl didn’t move for a full second. Then she spun, rifle coming up, stock pressed tight to her shoulder. Her finger hovered over the trigger.
Her eyes jumped from his face to the sword in his hand, still wet, then to the side entrance where Marcus had gone silent.
"Who the hell are you?" Her voice cracked on the last word. She was tired. Running on fumes.
"Someone who just did you a favor."
"Where’s Marcus?"
He tipped his head toward the aisle behind him. The body was out of sight, but the blood had started to spread past the shelving, creeping across the concrete.
She didn’t need to see it. Her jaw tightened. She understood.
"You killed him."
"He was going to kill you. I needed him out of the way."
Her grip shifted on the rifle. Not quite aimed at his chest anymore. But not lowered either.
She was doing the math in her head. One stranger, one sword, and a dead man on the floor. She didn’t know what to make of him.
"Do you expect me to thank you?"
He glanced at the rifle. "Not particularly."
Outside, Cole’s voice cut through the atrium again. Louder this time. "Marcus! Answer me, damn it!"
She turned toward the broken storefront. Her attention split. Half on Cole, half on him.
He watched her. "Looks like your friends are coming to visit."
"They’re not my friends."
"Then we agree on something."
Boots scraped on concrete. Cole was moving. His voice dropped low, talking to the other two men, giving orders. Then a shape appeared at the side entrance. Cole, hunting rifle raised, stepping over the threshold with careful strides.
He stopped when he saw the blood.
His eyes followed the trail to Marcus’s body. For a moment, he didn’t speak. Shock crossed Cole’s face before rage took over. His jaw tightened as he stared at the blood leading to Marcus’s body.
"Who did this?" he shouted into the store. "Who’s in here?"
Zarek didn’t answer. He’d already moved, sliding behind a rack of camping gear, using the narrow aisles to break up his outline. The store was cluttered. Tents, sleeping bags, shelves of small items. Good cover. Bad sightlines.
Cole gestured sharply. One of his men stayed near the front, keeping the girl pinned behind the counter. The other followed him into the side corridor with a shotgun raised.
"He’s behind the shelves," Cole said. "Flank him."
The shotgun wielder moved right while Cole approached from the left.
The girl fired from the counter. The shot went wide, punching a hole through a rack of jackets, but it did its job. Cole threw himself behind a display unit, cursing.
Zarek used the noise. He slipped between two shelves, came out behind a freestanding rack of kayaks, and waited.
The shotgun man appeared at the end of the aisle. Young. Maybe twenty-five. Sweating. He swept the barrel left and right, breathing through his mouth.
Zarek waited until the shotgun pointed toward the opposite shelf.
Then he closed the distance. The man heard him approaching and started to turn, but the narrow aisle left him little room to bring the weapon around. He drove his sword beneath the ribs.
SPLASH
Zarek pulled the blade free. The body slumped.
That feeling again. Warm. Bright. Like a light switching on behind his eyes. He didn’t stop to enjoy it this time. Cole was still out there, and the last man was somewhere near the front.
"Tommy!" Cole shouted. "Tommy, answer me!"
No answer. Just the echo of the shotgun blast fading.
BANG
The girl fired again. Her shot hit the display unit inches from Cole’s head. He ducked, scrambled backward, and shouted at the remaining man.
"Fall back! Back to the atrium!"
More footsteps. Then silence.
Zarek moved to the storefront, sword low, and looked out. Cole was running across the atrium, the last man right behind him. Neither looked back. They disappeared through a corridor on the far side, their footsteps fading.
Zarek let them go. Chasing armed men through a building he didn’t know was how you got shot in the back.
He turned.
The girl stood behind the counter, rifle still raised, aimed at his chest.
"Are you going to kill me too?"
He looked at the rifle. Then at her. She was steady. Tired, but steady. The barrel didn’t shake.
"Have you given me a reason?"
She didn’t lower the weapon.
He found that funny. The corner of his mouth twitched.
He turned away from her and walked to the display case near the register. Glass front. Locked. Inside, three hunting rifles sat on a rack, clean and oiled. Boxes of ammunition stacked beside them.
He checked the lock. Simple. He’d need something to pry it open.
Behind him, her voice came out sharp. "Those are mine."
He didn’t look back. "You defended the store. That doesn’t make it yours."
"I was here first."
"And now I’m here."
He crouched by the display case and studied the hinge. A pry bar would pop it in seconds. Elsa had one.
"You’re really going to rob me? After you killed those men?"
He stood and faced her. "Those men were going to take everything and probably kill you. I killed two of them. That doesn’t make us partners. It makes us two people who happened to want the same thing."
She stared at him. Her finger hadn’t left the trigger. But she hadn’t fired either.
"What do you want?"
"Right now? Those rifles. After that, I haven’t decided."
The system notification still hovered at the edge of his vision. He’d ignored it long enough.
Potential Assessment.
The system responded immediately.
The information appeared in front of him, cold and clean.
Name: Ayesha
**Condition:** Exhausted. Minor bruising. Mental strain from prolonged combat.
**Potential:** High
**Growth Capacity:** Exceptional
**Combat Potential:** High
**Investment Viability:** High
He read it twice. Exceptional growth.
Ayesha shifted behind the counter. She’d noticed his eyes go distant. "What are you doing?"
"Thinking."
"About what?"
He looked at her. Really looked this time. The rifle she held like she’d been using one her whole life. The position she’d chosen, smart and defensible. The fact that she was still standing after holding off four armed men alone.
She was worth something. Maybe a lot.
He smiled.
Her grip tightened. "Don’t come closer."
"Relax." He dismissed the assessment and turned back to the display case. "I’m just deciding whether you’re worth my time."