"Good," he said softly. "So you're fast enough to be worth killing."
Neo's grip tightened around the twin fangs.
There it was.
The smile. The tone. The way the bastard spoke like he had already measured them, priced them, and decided how long this would take. What made it worse was not the threat itself. It was how relaxed he still looked after the spike failed.
Alice turned fully this time, axe raised, shoulders square.
The assassin gave a polite little nod, as if they had finally arrived at the proper part of the conversation.
"Now," he said, dust shifting lazily around his boots, "let's stop wasting each other's time."
Neo moved first.
Beast Strength surged through him at once, rough and immediate, a violent tightening in muscle and bone that made the world feel one step slower than it had a second earlier. He crossed the sand in a burst, the nearest fang angling for the man's throat.
The assassin slid back before the strike arrived.
