15. Thalia
Chapter fifteen
Thalia
“Thalia?” Reed questions, attempting to pull away.
I tighten my hold on him, dragging his face down into my neck as I smooth a hand between his shoulders. The deathly calm of a hunt washes over me—my pulse evens, muscles loosen, every distracting emotion burns away until only precision remains.
As I pinpoint the exits and plan our best route of escape, Reed is oblivious to the shift in the atmosphere as he nips along my flesh. I gasp when he bites a tender spot, causing specks to dance in my vision.
I place my hands on his cheeks and push him back until our noses brush. “You’re so perfect. Wait here for me, okay?”
His brow furrows. “Okay? Where are you going?”
Not far, my pet.
“Lady’s room!” I shout over the crowd as I stumble off the dance floor. I bump into a few people, causing a stir as I loudly make my way to the bathroom. It does the trick, because as I near the doors, I see half the bar scowling at me.
Perfect.
Because among that crowd are the three men currently scrounging every booth and table for something that may or may not be shaped exactly like me. One of them makes eye contact with me as I duck into the bathroom, and I take my time.
I step up to the mirror, pull my lipstick from my boot, lean over the sink, and hum to myself as I reapply a layer to my lips. I count down the seconds in my head as I fix my makeup.
Three.
Two.
One.
The door flies open and I whip around, using a hand to cover my chest with a fake gasp that definitely isn’t winning me any Oscars. In the doorway, a big, bearded man glares at me with an ugly snarl. He’s easily over six feet, and built like a biker on steroids.
Easy work.
“Oh, good. You found me. I was getting bored and considering arson.” I shrug innocently with a smirk as I shove my lipstick back into my boot.
The man’s expression darkens. “You think this is funny?”
I glance toward the mirror like I’m considering it seriously. “A little. Have you seen yourself?”
He takes a heavy step forward, shoulders squaring as the swing door glides closed behind him.
I sigh softly, already rolling my shoulders back. “God, and I just fixed my lipstick too.”
There’s a beat where our eyes connect in the mirror. Everything slows as my mirth fades to something chilling. His arm shoots out as if he plans to grab my bicep before I duck and step back, switching our positions so fast he barely has time to blink before I’m on him.
My arms wrap around his thick neck as I use my momentum to kick my boots up onto the wall of the nearest stall. His hands shoot to my wrists, but I’m strangling him so tightly that it’s making a wicked vein pop out on his forehead.
I use my feet to push myself upward until I’m straddling his shoulders and my thighs replace my arms as they squeeze.
He doubles over, clawing at my legs hard enough to leave scratches and bruises as I lock my ankles together in an attempt to crush him with pure muscle.
My fingers tangle in his hair as I rip his head backward and use it to control him.
“Have you ever watched that movie about the rat in Paris who learns to cook?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer (rude) as his face begins to turn a deep violet shade. He swings us around in an attempt to get me off him, but I hold strong. He’s stumbling around wildly, his hands reaching for anything he can use against me.
I’m enjoying the ride as he falls past a stall door, his knees hitting the tiles roughly. His head hangs over the toilet, and an idea strikes me as I hear shoes scuffing closer to us. Whoever my friend is here with is getting closer, but not before I show him God’s divine light.
Saliva is dripping from his open mouth, and I’m pretty sure I’ve fractured something irreparable within him as his body shakes. He can’t suck in air properly as he gives me a slow, bloodshot stare from the corner of his eye.
I lift my knee high, my brows rising as I smirk. “I wish I had my phone on me. Atlas would eat this shit up.”
I don’t even give him a chance for last words as I bring my boot down with all my strength.
The heel dips into the delicate flesh at the back where his poor cerebellum is, crushing it.
The sound of his bone jaw snapping, along with the porcelain cracking, makes my smile stretch even further as blood begins to taint the toilet water.
RIP bathroom assassin. You would have loved getting folded by a girl half your size and then drowned in toilet water.
The door swings open, revealing another man. This one is slightly younger with long limbs covered in lithe muscle. He’s tall, but only a few inches above me in height. His eyes widen a little as they ping-pong between the man whose head is still shoved inside the toilet bowl and me.
“Doesn’t anyone know what privacy is?!” I shriek before grabbing the back of Toilet Guy’s shirt and dragging him out of the bowl. Water and blood drip to the floor, soaking my shoes as I shake him around like a rag doll. “We’re fucking busy!”
New Guy’s surprise quickly fades to boiling rage as his face sets and his scuffed jaw twinges. “Brooks knew better than to send only one person after you.”
“Oh, yeah?” I tilt my head with amusement playing across my features as I drop the body at my feet with a wet slap. “And I’m going to send each of your nuts to him in a nicely wrapped gift box so he can suck them in his spare time.”
The man’s eyes narrow before the corner of his mouth twitches. “Your friends seem nice. Would be a shame if they didn’t make it out of here alive.”
Red.
I see fucking red.
If they saw me with Reed and his friends, then that means the last guy is still out there, monitoring. It’s time to go and get them as far away from here as possible.
The only person ever allowed to hurt Reed is me. And I’m going to keep it that way.
I shove my knee up, quickly retrieving the nail file from my boot before pointing it at the chest of my victim. “Wish I could say the same for you. Your head would look so adorable mounted over my fireplace.”
I charge him, going for an obvious move that makes him lift his hands in defense before I drop to the floor and slide between his legs.
I use my momentum to kick up, successfully smashing his family jewels before I hook my ankle around his and take his legs out from under him.
He falls forward so sharply that he doesn’t have the chance to catch himself before his nose crunches against the tiles with a sickening sound.
“Ouch,” I hiss, pulling my lips over my teeth as I sit up beside him.
There’s only a split second of pain on his part before he rolls, extracts his gun from its holster, and aims at my face.
I stab him. With the nail file. In the meat of where his thumb meets the rest of his hand.
His eye twitches with the pain as the gun falls to the floor. I’ll give him credit because he doesn’t make a single sound as he glares at me with blood dripping down his face.
“You might want to get that checked out!” I shout as I scramble away, closing the bathroom door behind me. My arms swing at my sides as my spine straightens, and I burst out of the connecting hallway. My eyes ping off every surface until I find Reed back at our table with Taryn and Emma.
“There you are,” Emma says as I near them.
I grab Reed’s elbow, hoisting him up as I spot the last guy across the bar. “Time to go.”
“What’s wrong?” My date whispers with concern as our final friend notices me and rises from his booth.
“I need you to trust me right now,” I urge Reed, all playfulness leaching from my face. My hand tightens around his thick bicep in a plea.
There’s a knee-jerk reaction from him—concern morphs into question, but he doesn’t push me as he motions for Emma and Taryn to follow us. They grab their coats and I practically push them outside.
“What’s going on?” Taryn asks, throwing a glance back at me.
I pin her with all the seriousness I can muster, channeling my inner Rowan as I guide them towards my car. “I’ll explain later. We’re taking my car.”
Emma frowns. “But what about—”
“Later,” Reed says as he presses a hand to the small of my back. “We’ll come back for our vehicles in the morning.”
He glances down at me, and I see an array of emotions in him that I’m not fully prepared for. He has no idea why I’m rushing them away from our nice night out, but he’s trusting me. And I think that’s the most insane part of this.
He trusts me.
Fuck, I could kiss him right now.
Okay, maybe a little making out once I successfully bury these fuckers alive without exposing my secret. Easy peasy, right?
“I’m right over here,” I lead them to my car, which is parked on the opposite side of the lot. As we move, I keep an eye on the door of the bar, my heart leaping when it swings open and our friends step out into the night with every intention of ruining the good mood.
Reed notices my reaction, of course he does, and turns to follow my gaze. “Do you know them?”
The assassins stalk closer, and my buddy from the bathroom yanks the nail file out of his hand before tossing it to the gravel.
“What the fuck?” Reed mutters in disbelief. “Did someone stab him?”
I shove him, making him walk faster. “I don’t know, but he probably deserved it.”
Reed snakes an arm around my waist, tugging me closer. “We’re going to talk about this later.”
“Uh, huh.”
Fuck. Me. Sideways. In the ass. In my ear. Everywhere.
“There’s no way you drive a Corvette…” Taryn mutters in awe as she pauses at the sleek black hood.
“Who do you assist? Batman?” Emma jokes.
I give an awkward laugh as the heat of Reed’s stare cuts into the side of my head. After tonight, there’s no doubt he’s going to start piecing things together.
“Just someone wealthy,” I say through clenched teeth as my eyes snap to the space behind us only to find it empty.
That sends ice down my spine. No more footsteps or voices. Nothing.
“That’s weird,” Emma murmurs, glancing around. “Weren’t those guys just here?”
No kidding.