Black and Brown: Raven Assassins (Ravens #1)

Chapter Six

Mirage

Matthew glared hard at the man who had his father and sweet mother killed.

Had his dad gotten to hold her during her final moments? Had they gotten to look into each other’s eyes and promise to search for the other in the next lifetime?

Or, God forbid, had they been on opposite sides of the hospital and died alone under burning rubble?

Matthew tasted bile. Emotion blocked his airway.

“I’ll allow you to make the kill order, Dr. Adams.”

What?

“He dies right here, right now, at your command. Or we deliver him to the US Embassy to be given a fair trial.”

Time seemed to stand still while he grappled with the enormity of the choice before him, the decision pressing down on his soul like the weight of a ten-ton boulder.

Could he do it? He was eight thousand miles away, holding the fate of another man’s life on the tip of his tongue.

Did he have the right to play God?

His first thought was to call his father for advice.

Remembering that he couldn’t…ever again, Matthew’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces before it disintegrated into ashes. In its place now was a titanium box, protected and empty of compassion or forgiveness.

Matthew’s blood ran cold as he scowled at the screen.

“Kill. Him.”

His voice sounded like a villain in a horror film.

I like this feeling.

The man beside him—who’d yet to tell Matthew his name—spoke into his watch .

“Blacks are a go. Eliminate target.”

The warrior in front raised his firearm and aimed the business end at the leader’s forehead.

Matthew prepared for the deafening bang the bullet would make when exploding from the chamber.

Dembe Ngoimgo looked to be begging for his life as he steepled his hands in front of him.

The black-clothed cheetah left Ngoimgo suspended in anticipation of death for several torturous seconds before his partner snuck up behind Ngoimgo, gripped him under his chin, and snapped his neck with a quick jerk to the right.

Matthew didn’t even flinch, feeling numb to the brutality he’d just witnessed.

“You no longer have to worry about the woes of this life, Dr. Adams. There’ll be no prison sentence to serve, no record of you going AWOL. You’ll simply disappear without a trace.”

Now, Matthew was intrigued.

“I assume you don’t visit every patient in an institution.” Matthew exhaled a long breath. “Why me?”

Mr. Fancy Suit didn’t laugh, but he did cock up one side of his mouth.

“That’s true. You intrigued me because you have a distinguished resume, a respected career, and unwavering discipline as a combat medic. Yet you had the ability to snap when faced with such gross injustice. Despite all you had to lose, you still beat a man half to death in the name of what was decent and fair.”

I wanted him to die…still do.

“And your education, combined with your levelheaded calmness to provide medical aid on the battlefield, means you’re able to be effective in the midst of chaos.”

Matthew’s goal in life had always been to help and heal. He hadn’t known he had that kind of violence buried inside until he was given a reason to unleash it.

“When we enhance the intellect you already possess, you’ll be an invaluable asset to the Ravens organization.”

Ravens .

He’d never heard of it.

“While it’s true that a lot of people snap, they rarely do for the right reasons. Most often, it’s for selfish or ridiculous shit or a simple lack of intelligence.” The suited man closed his laptop. “Ignorant people don’t make good assassins, Dr. Adams.”

Assassin. Holy fuckin’ shit.

“And I’d just disappear, huh?” he muttered.

“Nations wouldn’t know you existed, Dr. Adams. But the impact of your actions would be felt in every corner of the world.”

This guy could sell water to a drowning man.

Matthew gave a solid nod.

“Don’t worry about repercussions when my team and I walk you out of this building because there will be no record you were ever here. It’ll be like you never existed. There one minute and gone the next…like a mirage.”

The guy pointed to the coat lying on the mattress.

Matthew put on the brown trench with the oversized hood, allowing it to swallow him whole before he followed the stranger out the door and into the vacant hall.

Where the hell is everyone?

Never mind, he didn’t care. He only wanted to know one thing.

“Who were the men in black?” he asked.

The stranger looked him in the eye and answered, “They’re the first-generation Ravens assassins. The Blacks. Code names Ex and Meridian.”