Wired (34 page)

“This isn't business. It's personal.” He gestured up the stairs with his gun, and I did as he wanted until I hit the landing. There he gestured me onward toward my bedroom, and I realized what he was doing. He meant to let me go through the motions of escape, but intended me to die alone in my bedroom, shades down, lights off. He'd disappeared me before and wouldn't hesitate to do so again, even if we had
briefly shared . . . something. At heart he was all about him.

I could sense him harden with every step as he backed me across the threshold of my room. I tripped on a pile of dirty laundry and fell back on the ground. Landing against the corner of the closet door, I opened it enough to crawl back into the darkness. Leo gave a small laugh. I guess he thought I was still helpless.

I stared up at him. Behind my back, I tipped the lid off the shoebox, praying. I was in luck. It was there.
You've picked up the gun, Roxanne. Now shoot him. It's finally time. No other option
.

I heard Leonardo cock the trigger. “You see, Mason is—”

Mason is mine
. I whipped the gun out from behind me and twice blasted that son of a bitch Leonardo Kaysar clean through. He blinked once and toppled backward, revealing a wide-eyed Mason standing in the doorway, his own gun, still unspent, raised high.

Heat roared through the room. I turned my head to the side, my eyes squeezed shut, the enormity of what I'd done already beginning to sink in. The heat faded, and I finally looked back at Mason. My hand started to shake. I dropped my gun and he dropped his.

He saw that I was fixating on the droplets of blood spattered on his white t-shirt. He peeled the shirt off his body. Together we watched it hit the ground, Leonardo's blood vanishing into the folds of the fabric.

Leo's blood vanishing . . . Leo was vanishing, for his body no longer lay on the floor between Mason
and me. All that remained was the faint scent of cloves lingering in the air. I'd disappeared him. And when I found the courage to go downstairs, I was almost certain that I'd find Kitty had disappeared too.

Tears filled my eyes as I looked up at Mason. He slowly held out his hand, and I ran to him.

Three months later

I come off the treadmill and press my heart rate monitor, nodding in satisfaction at my latest results. I scribble the number down in a folder I keep next to the new fish tank. I drop a little food in the bowl for Kitty's fish and he swims quickly upward to catch the flakes as they drift down through the bubbling water
.

“I've been working out really hard,” I tell him. “Lots of cardio. So don't you worry. If I can undisappear, so can she. I'll figure out how to get her back. That's what sisters are for. You have the family you make
.”

I pick up the reader Mason gave me and look. There's a red light by her name. I focus on how I'm going to get things back to how they're supposed to be—getting Kitty back, but without hurting anyone
.

The doorbell rings. The sound still makes me flinch, but this time I pocket the reader and smile.
Because this time I know who is behind the door—Mason, as always, carrying a bouquet of flowers
.

I flick the light switch and the apartment goes dark. I turn my back on it as I fling open the door and step over the threshold. The thing is, you've always got to open the door, no matter what. Like I always say, it isn't about tomorrow. It's about right fucking now
.

My name is L. Roxanne Zaborovksy. I go outside all the time. My body is lean and mean, my mind is as sharp as a knife. I kick ass, I have fun, I love, I trust. I live life
.