Badass in Disguise Chapter 244

Several minutes passed in the quiet hotel room. Ethan remained motionless, afraid any movement might disturb Jade's fragile peace. Her breathing had steadied, but her skin still burned with fever against his chest.

"Ethan."

Her voice came so softly that for a moment he thought he'd imagined it.

He leaned down. "I'm here," he murmured, relief flooding through him at this brief moment of lucidity.

Her eyelids fluttered, struggling to open. "We can't... stay here long," she managed, each word clearly requiring tremendous effort. "Shadow... tracking abilities... too good." Her fingers loosened their grip on his shirt. "They've... probably... traced us already."

Before Ethan could respond, her eyes closed again, her hand falling limply to the bed. She'd slipped back into unconsciousness, the brief moment of clarity gone as quickly as it had appeared.

Ethan carefully buttoned the rest of her hospital gown, his fingers steady despite his growing anxiety. The hotel's thin walls did little to muffle the sounds of guests moving through the hallway outside. Each footstep, each casual conversation set his nerves on edge.

Any one of those people could be a Shadow operative.

Ethan called the hotel staff, requesting fresh clothes be brought up and a car prepared at the back entrance. While waiting, he carefully dressed Jade in the new clothes, wincing at every involuntary sound of pain she made during the process.

Ethan carried her through the hotel's service corridors and out the rear exit where the car waited.

Within an hour, Jade was settled into a bed at a small private clinic on the other side of town. IVs delivered fluids and medication into her system while Ethan maintained his vigilant watch.

His body was approaching its limits, exhaustion clouding his thoughts, but he refused to sleep. Every doctor and nurse who entered to check on Jade's condition was met with his intense scrutiny.

Thankfully, the night passed without incident. By morning, Jade's fever had decreased to less concerning levels, though she remained unconscious.

Just before noon, his phone vibrated with an urgent message. His surveillance team had spotted Shadow operatives arriving in the city.

Ethan didn't hesitate. By the time the doctor arrived for morning rounds, the room was empty.

At a new hotel across town, Ethan settled Jade into bed. With her injuries and unconscious state, his only option was to hide and evade, constantly changing locations to stay ahead of their pursuers.

A shadow silently slipped into the hotel. At the front desk, the night clerk dozed, oblivious to the fact that the security cameras had mysteriously stopped recording. The dark figure moved through the corridors with practiced ease, searching methodically until reaching the door to Ethan's room.

Within seconds, the door unlocked with a soft click. The assassin entered silently, scanning the darkened room.

Around the corner, Ethan clutched Jade's unconscious form to his chest, heart pounding. The moment the intruder entered the room, he slipped out through the stairwell, carrying Jade down to the ground floor.

A hotel courtesy car waited at the rear entrance. Ethan carefully placed Jade inside and was about to close the door when a hand shot out, gripping the edge with inhuman strength. Simultaneously, a thud sounded on the roof—another assassin had leapt down from above.

Ethan reacted instantly, delivering a powerful kick to the hand gripping the door. The assassin withdrew just long enough for Ethan to slam the door shut.

"Drive!" he commanded the driver.

As the engine roared to life, a shadow appeared on the hood—the roof assassin now aiming directly at Jade through the windshield. The terrified driver bolted into the darkness.

Thinking fast, Ethan tossed a blanket at the windshield, momentarily blinding the shooter. In that instant, Ethan lunged forward into the driver's seat and kicked out, forcing the assassin to jump clear.

He slammed the driver's door shut and locked the rear door just as the second assassin tried to open it. When Ethan reached for the ignition, a gun barrel appeared at his window. He jerked backward—the bullet missing him by inches as it shattered the side glass. The assassin thrust his arm inside with a punch that Ethan caught, but couldn't break due to the attacker's skilled counter-move.

They struggled through the broken window, the confined space of the car severely limiting Ethan's movements while also keeping the two assassins from coordinating their attack effectively.

The passenger door suddenly opened. The second assassin entered with a knife in hand, putting Ethan in immediate danger from both sides.

The first assassin struggled to aim his gun while Ethan gripped his wrists. Sensing the knife-wielder behind him, Ethan made a split-second decision. He forced the gunman's hand downward and pulled the trigger himself. The bullet grazed his own shoulder before hitting the second attacker's arm.

The knife-wielder recoiled in pain. Ethan tried grabbing the gun, but the first assassin backed away. After quickly locking the passenger door, Ethan attempted to restart the car—only to hear his tires being shot out. With no escape by vehicle, he had no choice but to step out and face them.

His attacks were vicious and targeted vital points. These assassins, while not at Eclipse's level, were still Shadow operatives—far more dangerous than the mercenaries from Venezuela. After realizing how formidable Ethan was, they shifted their focus to their primary target: Jade.

The injured assassin smashed the rear window and reached for the door handle. Ethan vaulted over the hood, using the glass-covered surface for leverage, and delivered a powerful kick to the assassin's chest.

Taking advantage of the assassin's wounded shoulder, Ethan concentrated his attacks there, overwhelming his defense. A perfectly executed elbow strike to the face sent the assassin reeling backward, disoriented and bleeding.

The gun-wielding assassin positioned himself in front of the car, aiming at the unconscious Jade through the broken windows.

A split second before he pulled the trigger, Ethan's hand appeared, forcing the assassin's arm upward. The bullet shattered another window as Ethan drove his knee hard into the man's abdomen.

While the assassin doubled over in pain, Ethan wrested the gun away. He pulled the trigger without hesitation, only to hear the empty click of a spent magazine.

Rotating the gun in his hand, Ethan slammed the butt against the assassin's temple, quickly neutralizing his attacks. Gripping the man's head, Ethan took two large steps backward, smashing his skull against the wall with sickening force.

Blood splattered across the concrete.

The rear door opened. The knife glinted in the darkness as it descended toward Jade's exposed throat.

Just as the blade was about to pierce her skin, a hand intercepted it, gripping the falling blade itself.

The knife tip stopped mere inches from her neck. Blood ran down the blade from the hand that held it, dripping onto Jade's throat in a thin crimson line.

When the night returned to silence, only two bodies remained by the hotel's back entrance.

An undamaged courtesy car drove away from the hotel.

Inside, Ethan steered with one hand while using his mouth and other hand to wrap a strip of cloth around his bleeding palm. The makeshift bandage quickly darkened with blood, but he continued driving, determined to put as much distance as possible between them and the hotel.

He glanced repeatedly at the rearview mirror, checking on Jade in the back seat. Her face remained deathly pale in the passing streetlights.

Before dawn, Ethan reached the next town. Wrapping Jade in his coat, he carried her into another hospital, his pace urgent but steady.

The doctor noted Ethan's deep hand wound needed stitches. When Ethan refused to leave Jade's side even for treatment, the medical staff reluctantly tended to his injury at her bedside.

Looking at Jade's ashen face, Ethan felt crushing guilt for failing to protect her adequately. Recalling how close the knife had come to her throat, he still trembled at the thought.

He sat beside her bed, clutching her hand in his bandaged one, his eyes closed in exhaustion but his senses still alert to any danger.