Page 61 of Kill Feed

Leo wasn’t with them. I registered it but couldn’t care any fucking less.

I told Lucas I was done for the night. Told him that we should go look for Amani and get the fuck out of there. He frowned, started to argue, but it was late. Soon after, we found Amani near the food trucks scrolling on her phone, looking more bored than impressed. Thank God she didn’t protest either.

At that point I just had to get home and regroup my thoughts.

The ram skull psycho ending up being Dante threw me, but worse than that, what really threw me was the fact that I never realized. Not even fucking once did I consider the possibility as we grew close.

I replay the moment clinically in my head. The way his hand felt at my throat. The way he counted down like it was a game. The way he could’ve finished me off right there and then… but he didn’t.

Not that I’m mistaking that moment for pity, fuck no, he only postponed my inevitable. Huge fucking difference. Relief would imply I believe I’m safe, which I’m not.

I tighten my grip on the throttle at the mere recalculation of it.

He wormed himself into my routine. Into my daily life. Into my fucking head. That’s the true betrayal. It is about the access he gained.

The light turns amber, but I don’t slow down.

The words Dante uttered have not gone forgotten either. It is seared into my mind the moment that phrase left his lips. Kill Feed. The coils are working overtime, slotting each variable into perfect shape like a game of Tetris.

Coincidence is no longer valid.

Kill Feed is a term that I’ve heard one time too many in different settings. So that’s where I'll start. Lucas brought it up that night at the bar, so interrogating him will be the first step—adding that I've not forgotten Leo’s reaction to it either—but if anyone knows anything, it’s Lucas-fucking-Anderson.

If I understand what Xavier was looking at, I understand why Dante was sent to erase him. And if I understand that, I’ll know how to kill him.

I pull into the street near my favorite café, engine idling low before I cut it. I remove my helmet and scan the street automatically. I invited Lucas out this morning under the impression that we’re catching up. Yet all I’ll be catching is information.

I swing off the bike and lock it, adjusting my jacket before heading inside.

If Dante is watching… and he probably is. Let him. Fuck that guy.

The bell above the café door chimes as I step inside. Warm air rushes to my face as the smell of roasted beans fills my senses. Soft lofi music hums in the background like a backdrop. Lucas is already at the counter, half leaning over it like he owns the place, talking animatedly with Emily, who looks politely trapped.

“-and I’m telling you, if they’d just let me redesign the interface-”

“Morning,” I cut in, pulling off my gloves.

Emily’s eyes shift from Lucas to me, and something in her expression changes. “Hey,” she says, a little too quickly.

Lucas spins around. “There he is! The man, the myth, the emotionally unavailable enigma.”

I ignore that.

“What are you getting?” I ask, glancing at the menu I’ve memorized years ago.

“Double shot cappuccino,” Lucas says. “I need caffeine after last night. Went drinking with Ryan after you rudely pulled me from Nightfall.” His eyes trail back to Emily. “We were at a Halloween event. Special passes and everything.”

Emily cocks a brow as a practiced customer-service smile spreads across her face. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as she turns her attention back to me. “The usual for you?”

“Yes,” I state flatly, and she smiles brightly.

Lucas pays before I can argue, muttering something about “making up for terrible choices,” and we move toward the window seats. I sit at my usual spot, back to the wall with a clear view of the entrance. The reflection in the window gives me the space without turning my head.

Lucas drops into the chair across from me, legs stretching out under the table.

“You look better,” he says, studying my face. “Less murdery.”

“I wasn’t murdery.”