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Chapter Start:

Shadows fill an empty heart.

The words of a book had never mattered to her before.

Can't we make it to the dawn?

They never spoke of a love she could have had for another, perhaps, the only one she could have, with the only person she could truly trust. The Dawn was never coming.

"Andrew plus one." He said as he tightened the arm around her waist. She smiled endearingly playing the part handing over her fake ID. If anyone noticed that she wasn't his wife they didn't say anything. They walked in together after being searched. She didn't mind the search, even acted a little shy; it wasn't as if she would have been stupid enough to bring a weapon with her through the front door.

What about now? What about today? What if a simple joy would make you all the man you were meant to be?

The room was beautiful, with high arched walk ways and decorated tables that made them seem like royalty. She sat at the table with Andrew after politely waving to the people he waved at and grabbed the napkin on the table using it to polish the cutlery in front of her. Her gloved finger ran over the dull edge of the steak knife on the table as she turned it over in her hands.

"Going to gut them like steak?" He suddenly said, slightly angry. "What's stopping me from turning you in right now?"

"Other than being arrested for being an accomplice," she paused as if that was her answer. Still looking at the knife she nodded as if in thought. "your mother might have a poison cooking in her dinner that only I would be able to tell them about."

"You bitch." She turned to him putting down the knife, eyes cold.

"You've done what I need, and the only thing you would walk away with today is the knowledge you saved your mother, just sit down and shut up, and be happy you're moving up in the company." His eyes widened, she was going to kill the entire board. He nodded face going pale, and turned away from her grabbing a glass of champagne.

"Good luck." He said after he downed it. "Don't you let anything happen to my mother."

No matter what there is no point you can't come back from.

.

"Christian Harten." Raven said, using a fake name as he handed over the ID. They found the name he added to the list last night and let him in with a smile. They didn't find his gun, as he knew they wouldn't, they only had metal detectors, and his was special. He tried his best to hide his malicious smile.

It all ends tonight.

.

She left him at the table to use the bathroom, and he waved with a grimace. She pulled at the blonde wig atop her hair when she entered, and made sure the colored contacts were in place. Andrew didn't know what she looked like; she was never foolish enough to show the enemy her real appearance. She narrowed her eyes as she locked the door and took off her heels. She stepped up onto the sink and gently pushed on the tile above it. She slid it over and reached for the pistol she hid there a few days ago. She felt the cool metal and gripped it tighter and pulled it down.

She replaced the tile and jumped down.

Unlocking the bathroom she walked towards the room she knew the board members would be meeting in later today. She knew there would be security in about an hour and she had to get the gun in here now. Opening the door she spotted a cabinet that could be moved without suspicion. She slid it towards the door and placed the gun in the top draw in a flap meant to hide documents in the top. Perfect she thought as she smoothed down her dress.

She made her way back to Andrew shortly after. He narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the still very alive board members and back to her.

"Darling," She sweetly starts "Don't look so worried," she reaches out a perfectly manicured hand, blue, to match her eyes and her dress. "Dance with me."

He takes her hand and leads her to the floor, where two other couples are giggling as they try to dance. Andrew surprises her by knowing the waltz, and she split her attention between avoiding his feet and watching for the leaving board members. She had to detach her feeling from this until the very end; otherwise they would only hinder her. This was like any other mission before.

Then Marty would be avenged.

Then she would be able to mourn.

See the book was wrong. There was a certain point you couldn't come back from, and she crossed that border with confident strides a long time ago. She knew revenge by first name, but had never been introduced to forgiveness, and she was all the woman she would ever be. Cool, confident and beautiful, and deadly.

.

He watched them all as he took sips of the complimentary champagne. The board members would be leaving soon and he was sure she would follow. She left Andrew before, probably to move the gun she stashed here. She was gone way too long to have been going to the bathroom like she claimed, although her entrance and exit were so quick he had almost missed her and he had been watching carefully. Marty had mentioned once that not everyone got to work with someone like Panther and now he knew why.

Panther was dancing with him, trying to appear seen, so even if they figured it was the blonde people would say that they had seen her. She always wore disguises, he had only seen the real her when he met her. Even then, she may not be a brunette with hazel eyes.

She was planning to leave Andrew alive too.

He wouldn't want to kill everyone, but they had been to the base, there was no safe way to get out of it. Panther must have made these mistakes a lot, this must have been the reason Marty was killed. No one would be able to know where she was if she didn't bring them to their base. This was all Panther's fault. Marty's death, his early involvement in this world, the impending death of them all.

It was all her fault and she would pay for it with her life.

.

He smirked as he saw her dancing with some pretty boy who had probably gotten her in. She lacked the connections he had. When you weren't scared of authorities you could act in your own name and make connections for times like this. He cracked his knuckles as he scanned the people in the crowd for the man who hired him with pay.

The man who had hired him to take out the snake they mistakenly referred to as a panther.

He knew Christie, and that she wouldn't be affected like they thought. She would be able to follow through and kill them all if he didn't get to her first. She wouldn't wait and lunge at them like they thought she'd sneak in and poison them; take them out in a way that takes people days to realize her crime. She's managed to get this close this quick and he doubted that she planned to let anyone live past tonight. It was simply the way she worked.

He knew this would be the night, everyone was so tense about getting into Japan that they wanted as many people here as possible, and that's where they made the mistake for her to sneak in. It was easy to hack a computer and change a list, not for someone like him, but for a tech partner it was easy.

He knows her history, and that Helena was the only target she ever let go, and that was because the person who ordered it died before the final payment. The only thing she'd leave behind is a corpse and an identity.

Like a snake's dead skin it would be useless to anyone who found it and it would mean nothing to her.

He respected her very much in that aspect, and regretted that she was his target but a job was a job and he always got the job done.

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