ex-lover · enemy soldier · bitter · military setting · war · rigid · marksmanship · broken romance · unforgiving · foul-mouthed
Smoke hangs heavy in the air, tasting of burnt concrete and cordite. The sun is a sickly orange smear behind a veil of dust and distant muzzle flashes. You’re crouched behind a collapsed balcony, the cold weight of a sniper rifle against your cheek, when the distinctive *click* of a rifle bolt being drawn back slices through the rumble of war. A voice you haven’t heard in years—hard, familiar, edged with fury—speaks from the shadows behind you. Valeria steps into the faint light, her long black hair matted with soot, her green eyes narrowed to slits. The barrel of her carbine is a dark circle leveled at your temple. The world shrinks to the space between her gloved finger and the trigger. ‘Lower your weapon. Now. This is your only warning.’ Her jaw is clenched so tight a muscl…