Badass in Disguise (Shadow) novel Chapter 243

Chapter 243

The Princeton library was unusually crowded for a Thursday afternoon. I sat drifted to the thin, dark haired figure hunched over textbooks three falles away.

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at at a corner table, pretending to read while my attention

Silas Murphy.

“Is that Jade Morgan? In the library?” A whisper floated from a nearby table, followed by a chorus of hushed voices.

“I’ve never seen her here before.”

“Maybe she’s here for the new guy.”

“He’s cute in that mysterious, brooding way.”

I scrolled through messages on my phone. Ethan had texted again, asking about my eyes,

Better. Stop asking.

closed My vision had improved enough to read without strain, though distant objects still blurred around the edges. I glanced up as Sillas c his books, meticulously arranging them in his worn backpack. His movements were efficient, almost mechanical.

He checked his watch–a cheap digital model with a cracked face–and frowned. Seven o’clock. He gathered his things quickly and headed for the exit.

I waited exactly thirty seconds before following.

The public bus dropped Silas at the edge of Princeton’s poorest neighborhood–a labyrinth of crumbling apartment buildings and narrow alleys. I trailed him silently through darkening streets.

Silas turned down a narrow passage between two buildings. Even with my compromised vision, I could tell something was wrong when he suddenly stopped. Voices echoed between the brick walls.

“Well, well. Look who’s here. A stocky figure stepped into Silas’s path, followed by more shadows–at least a dozen. “Been looking for you, Murphy.

what do you want?”

Silas’s shoulders tensed. “What do you

“Your piece of shit father owes my cousin three grand. Plus interest.” The leader stepped closer, streetlight glinting off something metallic in his hand. “Then there’s the hospital bill for Joey’s broken nose.”

“I don’t have money,” Silas said, voice flat.

“That’s too bad. Guess we’ll have to take payment another way.” The guy tapped a metal pipe against his palm. ‘How about we start with your legs?

The others laughed, moving to form a circle around Silus.

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12:27 Sat, Sep 27

Chapter 243

I expected him to run. Instead, he swung his backpack, ratching the leader squarely in the face. The man stumbled back, cursing

“Get him!”

Two thugs rushed forward. Silas dodged the fast swing, landing a sollid punch to one guy’s throat, but the second caught him across the back with a pipe. He staggered but stayed on his feet, ducking another swing

For someone who looked half–starved, he moved well. Street lighting. not trained combat, but effective enough. Still, the odds were impossible–one against twelve.

ging with him.

A second blow caught his shoulder. A third glanced off his forearm as he blocked. They were toying

The leader stepped forward, pipe raised for a blow that would shatter bone.

“Hey!”

y!” I called from the alley entrance. “Twelve against one? Pathetic.

Heads turned. I picked up a discarded pipe and twirled it experimentally.

“The fuck are you?” the leader spat.

I didn’t answer, just walked forward. Two moved to intercept me. The first swing was telegraphed so obviously I could have dodged it blindfolded. I sidestepped, brought the pipe down on his wrist–felt bone give way–then drove my knee into his groin. He dropped, screaming.

The second barely had time to register what happened before my pipe connected with his temple. Down.

The others rushed me together. A mistake. In tight quarters, they blocked each other, got in their own way. I moved through them knife through butter–precise, efficient. No wasted movement,

Seven seconds. Seven bodies on the ground.

The leader backed away, eyes wide. “What the fuck

like a

1 closed the distance before he could finish, drove the pipe into his stomach, then brought it down on the back of his neck as he doubled over. Not hard enough to kill, just enough to make sure he wouldn’t get up anytime soon.

The remaining thugs scattered, leaving their unconscious friends behind.

Silas stood frozen, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead.

I walked toward him, pipe still in hand. His eyes widened as I raised it and swung.

The metal stopped an inch from his face.

“Just kidding,” I said, dropping the pipe

with a clatter. “You looked like you needed help.”

He stared at me, chest heaving. “Why were you following me?”

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I wasn’t. I was getting tacos.” I shrugged. “There’s a Mexican place around the corner, right?”

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Chapter 243

Silas clutched his arm, wincing. “Right,”

He looked at me for a long moment, then turned and headed for a rusted door set in the brick wall.

“Hey,” I called after him. “I just saved

ass. A thank you‘

would be nice. Or at least show me where to get tacos.

Silas glanced back, eyes unreadable. Without a word, he jerked his head, Inilleating I should follow.

Am

lly in a notebook. I set my

The next day, I spotted Silas in the student dining hall. He sat alone, food untouched as he scribbled frantically tray down across from him.

*Late for class?” I asked.

He looked up, startled. “What?”

1 gestured to his notebook. “You’re writing like the world’s ending”

Silas went back

k to his notes

s without answering. The dark circles under his eyes had deepened overnight.

I placed a small tube on the table between us. “Sports medicine. For bruises and muscle strain. Better than whatever over–the–counter crap you’re using.”

His pen stopped moving. He stared at the tube but didn’t reach for it.

dering if I’d miscalculated. Then he returned with a

After a moment, Silas closed his notebook and stood. I watched him walk away, wondering tray of food, setting it in front of me.

“How much?” I asked as he sat down.

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