Brynleigh remained curled up on the seat as Ryker cut the engine. The silence was sudden, and her heartbeat roared in her ears.
Soon, she wouldn’t have a heartbeat.
Maybe then, she would be at peace. Maybe then, she would be done.
A door opened, and a cold breeze rushed at her. Her arms broke out in goosebumps. Would death be cold?
“We’re here,” Ryker said briskly from outside the vehicle.
Brynleigh shouldn’t have expected his voice to carry any trace of kindness, but the lack of warmth still sent tears to her eyes. She refused to let them fall, though.
She would be strong, even in this.
Unfurling from her ball, she pried open her eyes. Her brows creased.
This was… not where she’d expected to die.
Ryker had brought her into the woods.
Pine trees towered above them. Water lapped at a distant shore. Leaves rustled. Branches cracked. And the air was clean. There were no exhaust fumes, no factory emissions, and no scent of blood.
In fact, there was no sign of Golden City at all.
It was just the two of them.
And then she looked behind him.
Confusion was tart on Brynleigh’s tongue. Had she hit her head during the car ride? This didn’t seem like a good killing location. If anything, it seemed… almost serene.
She frowned. Wondering if she was hallucinating, she shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath before opening them again.
The scene remained the same.
A small blue bungalow was nestled in the moonlit pines, partlycovered by the trees. A wooden porch wrapped around the home, a flourishing garden sat out front, and a birdhouse hung on a nearby tree.
It looked… nice.
Of all the places Brynleigh thought she would meet her final death, this wasn’t one of them.
All her earlier bravado burned away like an early morning fog kissed by the afternoon sun. She was mistaken.
She wasn’t ready to die.
Thinking that Ryker would kill her in the dungeon or in a cold, dark place where death reigned was one thing.
But this…
There was a cruelty to dying in a serene location like this, and she didn’t want any part of it.
Ryker opened her door, and Brynleigh stared up at him. He seemed so much bigger, with her inside the car and him looming over her. It was like he was a giant, and she was an ant.
Squishable. Breakable. Easy to kill.
Frigid fear coursed through her, and she gripped the leather seat. Her newfound will to live froze her in place.
She met his gaze and blurted, “Please don’t do this.”
Begging for her life was fucking ironic, considering that she always hated when her marks whined when she came to kill them, but she couldn’t stop the words from leaving her lips.