The moment all the pieces clicked together, Logan knew what was coming.
Evelyn was sharp. Too sharp. It was only a matter of time before that mind of hers started pulling at the threads.
He exhaled quietly and let his gaze drift to the dim corridor ahead of them.
"I'll explain everything once we're out of here." His hand found hers, fingers curling around soft, delicate ones. "Right now, I just need to get you somewhere safe."
She looked at him. Really looked at him.
Logan could see it happening in real time, the flicker of surprise, the ripple of confusion, the quiet war between suspicion and something she hadn't decided what to call yet. For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Then she nodded.
He pulled her forward and kept moving.
They ran for thirty minutes through winding underground dark, nothing but the sound of their breaths and their footsteps to keep them company. Logan was almost certain they were nearing the tunnel's edge when he heard it.
Hushed voices. Close.
He stopped dead.
His arm shot out, catching Evelyn before she could take another step, and he dragged them both against the tunnel wall. Her body pressed against his, her breathing warm and shallow against his jaw.
"They've found the exit," he whispered.
Her eyes searched his. "What do we do?"
He didn't answer yet.
Slowly, carefully, Logan edged his head around the corner. Three figures stood at the tunnel's mouth, silhouetted against the faint outside light. They weren't rushing. They weren't advancing.
They were waiting.
He pulled back. "Three of them. And if I had to guess, reinforcements aren't far behind."
Evelyn watched him steadily, waiting.
"I'll draw their attention." He held her gaze. "When I give the signal, use your origin weapon to take them out. You can't access your ability or your energy right now, but your weapon is a different story."
The silence that followed was immediate.
Her pupils shrank.
"How did you..." The question died on her lips before it finished.
She stared at him with something that had moved well past curiosity. But whatever she was thinking, she kept it locked behind her eyes. She'd collect her answers later. Right now, she reached inward and accessed her origin space.
As one's rank grew, the ability to create an inner dimension came with it. A pocket of personal space to store weapons, treasures, anything that wasn't alive. Evelyn's was no exception.
Logan gave her one last look, then stood up.
'God help me.'
He stepped out into the open and raised a hand in greeting.
"Gentlemen."
All three spun toward him.
The one closest went rigid, eyes scanning him with sharp wariness. Then recognition hit, and the wariness became something else entirely.
"It's you," the second one said, voice rough.
They spread out slowly, circling, their movements practiced and instinctive.
"You walked out on your own," the third said. "Why?"
They were stalling. Waiting for backup to arrive.
Which suited Logan perfectly.
"Honestly?" He started toward them at an easy pace. "Running gets exhausting. I figured switching sides was the smarter play. What do you think?"
That actually gave them pause.
One of the men cleared his throat. "That's... not the worst idea you've ever had. Surrender completely and I can personally guarantee your safety."
He said it with such conviction that, for a split second, Logan almost felt the pull of it.
Almost.
"And why would I trust that?" He closed the remaining distance between them, moving unhurried, like he had all the time in the world.
The man's composure cracked. Two daggers appeared in his hands. "Stop. Don't come any closer."
"See," Logan said, frowning lightly, "that's exactly the problem. You're asking me to trust you, but you don't trust me."
The man didn't have an answer for that.
Logan stumbled. Just slightly. Just enough.
His fingers closed around a fistful of sand from the tunnel floor, and in the same motion, he flung it straight into the man's face.
"Now!"
The word cracked through the tunnel like a gunshot.
Evelyn moved.
Whatever she had lost, her strength, her energy, her rank, her instincts were untouched. Years of combat had carved them too deep to vanish overnight.
Whoooosh.
A sharp whistle cut the air.
The sound that followed it turned Logan's stomach.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Two more. Clean. Efficient.
The two who had been standing died where they stood. The man in front of Logan twisted fast enough to survive but not fast enough to escape clean. The dagger caught him in the leg and he crumpled, teeth clenched, blood already staining the ground.
For an assassin, that kind of wound wasn't a setback.
It was a death sentence delivered slowly.
Logan walked toward him.
"You lied to me," the man gritted out, both hands straining around the weapon in his leg. Blood had found its way to his lips.
Logan stopped beside him and crouched down.
"You should never trust the words of a stranger," he said. "Carry that lesson into your next life."
He pulled the dagger free. Then he drove it home.
The nausea hit before Logan had even straightened up. A cold, crawling wave that climbed from his gut to his throat. He held still and breathed through it until it passed.
[Congratulations, master! You ha—]
'Not now, system.'
Silence.
Logan turned back to Evelyn. "We're out of time."
She was looking at him strangely.
"That was your first kill," she said. Not a question. The certainty in her voice was quiet, almost careful. "Wasn't it."
She'd expected someone else. Someone who wore that kind of act without flinching. But what she'd seen in the moment after was something she hadn't been prepared for.
Logan didn't confirm or deny it.
His hand found hers again and they moved.
Less than a minute later, the tunnel spit them out into open air. A wide stretch of dark grassland opened ahead, still and quiet, no buildings anywhere in sight.
Logan looked up.
The stars were out. Faint, but enough. He read the sky the way he'd read enough of this world's lore to manage, tracing the direction of the nearest settlement.
They moved fast. Faster with every step, the gap between them and the mansion growing with every breath.
Behind them, the massive structure loomed, silent and lightless against the dark. Like a thing that had already forgotten they were ever inside it.
[Congratulations, host, on successfully completing the mission. I honestly didn't think you'd pull it off...]
'Even you doubted me.'
Logan let out a short, quiet laugh.
'When we reach a safe town, show me everything I've earned.'
He kept walking, Evelyn's hand warm in his, the stars steady overhead.
The mansion disappeared behind the tree line.
And with it, one version of Logan he had no interest in being anymore.