The other man was too gone in his pain to focus so he stepped back, walking to the door, seeing Howard trying to get off the bed toward the bathroom. Before he could set his foot down, the Shadow Man took flipped the lighter again, the lighter with the snake insignia of The Syndicate—an ouroboros, to be precise—and threw it on the bed, watching in satisfaction as flames erupted on the soaking sheets, spreading to the boundary of the bed, burning the man alive inside and out, his screams grating on his senses.
He left his lighter behind so the message was clear to everyone in the system—he knew their symbol, he knew who they were, and he would not hesitate in doing to them what he’d done here. She was off-limits.
This time, he left through the main door, keeping away from the cameras, taking the fire exit stairs out of the building.
Things had changed.
He needed to finish his final mission before he took her home. He needed to get her home, get her trust and her loyalty before he opened the door to her past.
But that was later. He was leaving breadcrumbs to figure things out, and that brought him enough time.
For now, she’d be safe, she'd be unharmed, and he could live with that.