Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“Nothing?” Andris perched on the lip of his desk as he addressed the group who staked out all night. I slunk into the room when I saw they had returned, curious to hear any news.
“No,” Maddox replied, appearing completely exhausted. “Triple the guards were there, but not a thing moved in or out all night.”
“Then we try again tonight.” Andris folded his arm.
“Sir, I think it will be a waste of time, and I think you know it. They understand it has been compromised.” Scorpion was in the same position as yesterday, leaning against the wall, his eyes bloodshot, but of course, it worked on him. “They won’t be using that place again. We lost our chance.”
Andris let out an exhale, his shoulders dropping with frustration, scrubbing his hand across his bushy brows. Begrudgingly, he concurred, his disappointment screaming over his features.
“We’ll start from scratch again tonight. We have to find this place and shut it down.” He rose from the desk, strolling around to the other side. “All of you, get some rest. Send in a few who can do a market run. We are already low on food.”
“I’ll do it,” I spoke up, every head twisting to look at me.
“Fuck, no.” Scorpion huffed. “You are not exactly anonymous. You’re still on the cover of every newspaper and on the most wanted list.”
“Scorpion’s right.” Andris was already going through the files on his desk. “You’re too noticeable. And with your leg . . .”
“It’s fine. Ash put some herby-crap on it, and it feels better.” I crossed my arms, my stubbornness ticking back my shoulders. “I will wear a hood and be careful. I didn’t leave HDF to sit on the sidelines. I’ll take Ash, Kek, and Luk with me. Let me do something.” Or I’ll go insane.
Yesterday, I ended up sleeping most of the day.
After Ash rubbed some magical herbs on my injuries, I crashed in his room because I was too afraid to be alone.
My mother, the nectar, Warwick, Killian, Caden and Hanna, Zander, Simon and Eliza, all the things I couldn’t solve or fix, rolled round and round in my head until Ash had me drink something stronger so I’d sleep.
I woke to Opie braiding my hair with Ash’s herb leaves and Bitzy still high, trying to catch dust.
Andris tapped on the files, and I could see he was on the verge of breaking. His stress was on high, and the fourth day without much sleep was getting to him. And I was not above using it.
“Please, Nagybácsi.” I exploited the voice I used on him a lot as a child to get what I wanted.
His lids shut for a moment, and I knew I had him.
“Fine,” he replied curtly. “But you better be so cautious and careful.”
“Of course.”
“I mean it, Brexley. You stay hidden, and if there is any trouble, and I mean a whiff, you get the hell out. Do you understand me?” He came back, using a tone I heard a lot from him as a kid, my method biting me in the ass.
Touché.
“Yes.”
“Are you serious?” Scorpion flung up his hands in disbelief.
“She’ll be fine.” Andris defended me. “She was raised to be a strong soldier. One of the best.”
“Don’t be a douche, Scorp. I’ve seen her. The girl can take care of herself.” Birdie leaped off the cabinet she was sitting on. “Now, this girl needs some food and sleep.” She high-fived me on her way out. Everyone followed her.
Scorpion stopped in front of me, his cheek twitching.
“Yes?” I arched an eyebrow.
“You’re not . . .”
“What?” I tilted my head, aware he was probably going to say I was just a human now, but he shifted on his feet.
“Just be careful.” He grunted and stomped past me, knocking my shoulder.
Andris smirked, his head shaking.
“What?”
“I think I’ve heard Scorpion talk more since you arrived than I had in the five years I’ve known him. He was always an excellent soldier, but now he’s becoming a great leader.”
“And you think I had something to do with that?”
“I do.” Andris didn’t hesitate. “And maybe I don’t know Warwick enough to say, but I think you’ve done the same to him as well.”
“Done what?”
“Found life in them. Their soul,” he said to me. “Made them better men.”
“You know I could take this.” Kek tossed up a bruised apple from her palm. “Just put on a little demon show and walk right out of here with a box full of these crappy things.”
“But you won’t.” I dug into my pouch, taking out some coins to pay for the bundle I got, smiling at the old lady working the stall.
Kek groaned, rolling her eyes, frowning at the rain clouds moving in on the cold day. “You are taking all the fun out of this.”
“I never said it was going to be fun.”
“It was implied.” She huffed like a surly teenager, turning away from the fruit stand. “You said we’re going out. Which I thought meant something like taking me to that whore house with you this time.”
I rolled my fist around the bag, forcing myself not to look in the direction of Kitty’s. We were only a few blocks away. And even though I couldn’t actually feel Warwick, his presence was still there, making me constantly think I saw him out of the corner of my eye.
“Here.” I shoved the apple bag into Lukas’s hands.
“I’m starting to think you brought us to carry shit.” Lukas and Ash were already loaded down, their bags stuffed with items as Kek and I continued to add more.
“Like a donkey,” Ash grumbled.
“More like two firm asses.” Kek glanced over her shoulder, winking at them, her blue eyes darkening with lust.
I wasn’t sure if I was reading into it or if there really was a lot of tension between them, but everything they said felt like some double meaning.
Kek was always like that, but something was different.
I couldn’t tell if it was between two or all three of them.
They did a good job of hiding any signs of their fun marked on their skin under their clothes and hoods.
“We need potatoes, onions, and meat,” I stated, checking off our shopping list. So far, the trip had been seamless and quick.
“I’ll get the meat.” Kek ginned, turning around to face us, walking backward. “Which one of you wants to come with me?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Ash? How sweet of you to volunteer.”
He chuckled, the side of his mouth tugging up, his head wagging as he stepped up with her. She looped her arm in his, craning her neck back to us.
“Don’t wait up, kids.”
“Be back here in ten minutes.” I pointed at the spot.
“Thirty.” She shot back, their forms getting lost in the busy market throng.
“Ten!” I shouted. “I’m not kidding.”
I heard a cackle of laughter only Kek could make. Shaking my head, I chuckled too. “Kek.” I said her name like it explained everything as I tucked my own arm in with Lukas’s.
“Yeah.” He breathed out as a slight pink colored his cheeks.
“Lu-kas?” My voice was full of meaning and suspicions.
He didn’t look at me, acting like he didn’t understand, but by the twitch in his jaw, I knew he did.
“Come on, tell me.” I shook his arm. “I know something is going on.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Seriously, how dumb do you think I am?”
He huffed out a laugh, still not answering.
“Please. Right now, there is not much good around. I need a little happiness.” I prodded him in his side, tapping on his healing wound. “Something juicy and naughty.”
He laughed louder, his head falling forward as he sucked in a breath.
“Tough day. Things needed to be let out.” He shrugged, walking toward the stall, making me recall it was pretty close to what Ash had said to me.
“You and Ash?” I stood in shock, gaping. “And Kek?”
He continued to walk on, not saying yes, but not saying no, either. He was suddenly very interested in the produce.
“Holy shit!” I was right. I had teased Ash, but I didn’t know I was actually right about the who. Plural, in this case.
Reaching his side, I couldn’t help but bob on my toes, clapping giddily. The feeling was euphoric in all the heartache. “I can’t believe this.”
“Stop.” He pushed down my hands. “It was nothing.” He muttered, glancing around cautiously. “A one-time thing. A lot of emotion and loss that night.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course.” I replied in a mock serious tone. “Sure. Will never happen again.”
“Nope.” He picked up a bundle of onions, putting them into our pouch.
“So?” I rolled a tomato in my hands. “How was it?”
“Brex,” he warned.
“I’m just asking. I mean, you were with a girl too.”
“I’ve been with a girl before.”
“What, when you were hitting puberty? This is different. Or was she not in the middle?”
He breathed out, giving money to the seller and turning away, his mouth brushing my ear when he strode by me.
“We took turns.”
A squeak came out of my throat. “Damn, that’s hot.
” I breathed out, realizing how tense I was.
The need for my own release pulsed my thighs.
But the thought instantly dropped me back down.
There was only one I craved, just one my body even wanted now.
He ruined me and my ability to desire anyone else.
Twisting to follow Luk, a shoulder slammed into mine, stumbling me back on my ass onto the cobble.
“Ouch.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” A woman, her face mostly covered by a dark wool cloak, reached out for me. “Let me help you.”
She yanked me up, pulling me closer to her than was normal. Her voice hissed in my ear. “Meet me at the Lantern Pub. I have information about the warehouse you seek, Brexley Kovacs.”
I sucked in when I heard my name, freezing for a moment in fear. Then she was gone.
I whipped around, searching the crowd for the woman, but the sea of dark clothes and jackets blended her into the tide of bodies.
“Hey? What’s wrong?” Lukas came back up to me, taking in my expression, the frantic movement of my body.
“That woman, did you see where she went?”
“What woman?” His brows furrowed, his demeanor shifting into defense, his instincts taking over.
“The one who helped me up.”
“I didn’t see anyone.”
“She knew me.” Panic fluttered in my chest. “Knew my name.”
“Like she recognized you from a magazine or paper?”