Chapter 18
Anita
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L ocation: Hollow City bookstore
I let out a cough, clutching my stomach. “Way to introduce yourselves, ladies,” I croak as my lungs regain oxygen. “What the hell are you trying to kill me?” I'm still groaning as my legs rock slowly to the side to manage the nausea. I could puke all on their shoes just for that.
Eve laughs with that ominous shrill. Her ice blonde hair flows to the left side of her face. “I thought you would’ve blocked the hit.”
Scarlette extends her hand with a smile I could see through the moon's shine, her radiant dark brown skin glowing. “I’m actually surprised you didn’t block it.”
I glare at them, slapping my hand into Scarlette’s. I swallow the bile as she pulls me up. “Maybe next time I’ll just slice your leg off.”
“Oh, there’s the Venom we know,” Eve drawls, dipping her eyes at me with a curled smile.
The lights flicker on, dimmed and moody. My eyes shut from the transition, wincing from the tiny stabs happening in my sockets. I recover and open them once more.
Kyra is by the light switch with a faint smile on her lips, her blue, and black neck-length hair giving her a subtle and pleasant look. It fits. That’s Kyra. Unapologetically her.
I place my hand on my waist, taking in the view before me. Emotion rising in the pits, replacing my previous nausea. I gulp it down as best I can as I look at each of them. After a few seconds, we embrace into a deep hug. Our arms find a way to wrap around our bodies like football players huddling for the game.
I smile bright and hard. Something I never did with them before. I've never chosen to hug them. That sentimental gesture felt too raw to me, to at home in my heart. Because the last person I ever willingly hugged was my brother. Then Ronan. And now, it's the one thing I need and crave.
You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone.
I fight back these tears, and I don't know where they’re coming from. Serpents don’t conduct this way. And yet, I can’t help it.
A hot tear rolls down my cheek. The joy setting solid into my core. I sniff to contain the others.
“I missed you ladies,” I admit, tightening my hold around them.
Eve breaks apart first, brushing off her blue denim jacket and plaid shirt. It’s not snug on her whatsoever. “None of that,” she sneers, but I can see the liquid pooling in her icy blue eyes.
Scarlette sniffs, wiping a tear. “That's a first for you. Who are you and what have you done with our sister?”
I send a faint smile. This is me in the flesh, apparently.
I could ask her the same thing. Eve is the tough one, but Scarlette bottles up her emotions worse than I do. Unlike me , with her, she keeps a classy smile on her face and sings out soft encouraging words with her English accent.
She sweeps her long thin braids over her shoulders. “We missed you, too,” Scarlette says with a soft smile.
I glance at Kyra, who’s watched the entire ordeal; she doesn’t cry at all. I do see her weak smile again with a hint of solace in her dark green eyes.
“It was her idea to come,” Kyra responds dryly, glancing slowly at Scarlette.
“Budapest was fun, but we had to check on you,” Scarlette counters, her slanted deep brown eyes looking at me.
“You mean chopping off those assholes fingers wasn’t fun?” Eve adds with a grunt. “I enjoyed it”
I chuckle a little, rolling my eyes to the ceiling. Eve is a special kind of crazy.
“How is it going here, anyway? You didn’t tell us much but—” Eve takes her blade out and swirls it around with her wrist.
“Did you kill him?” Scarlette asks, cutting Eve off.
My eyes bounced from both ladies. Her asking me that question only makes me want to hurl. Nothing went as planned. I tell them how much shit didn't go my way, and that not only did I start working with the man I despised, but I don't hate him anymore—and that he fucked me until I cried genuine tears of euphoria.
I won't add that last part.
I walk through the opening gap in the mini circle and to my dagger. “About that,” I start off slowly, turning back to them after grabbing it from the floor. I’m not sure why I’m nervous. Maybe it’s because you planned this revenge for years, marking his death no matter what. They knew the severity. But, like the weather, things changed.
Eve dips her hand to listen. Scarlette crosses her arms over her black coat, her tongue digging into the side of her mouth. Kyra only watches with a blank stare.
My finger grazes over the scales on the handle. “He actually was after the same men who killed my brother.” I pause, eyeing them to wait for comments. They continue staring. “So, we teamed up together.”
Scarlette’s eyes blink, trying to register what I said. Eve's head cocks back confused.
“I saw this coming,” Kyra says blandly, stepping back to lean on the wood table topped with neatly placed books.
I snap my head to her, my brows denting inward. “Saw it coming?” I huff with offense.
“Teamed up?” Scarlette asks, ignoring my bewilderment.
I slowly glanced at Scarlette and then Eve again, chewing on my lip to think this through. I need to lean on a wall. Shit. “We started working together.”
“And that’s all?” Eve steps closer, her blade swirling around still. And that’s all?
Flashes of our first kiss, him watching me, the dirty whispers he would say in my ear, the way he grabs my throat, him fucking me into pure oblivion all shudder through my mind like pictures and videos. Before, I can either confirm or deny, Eve's mouth drops. And my heart does, too. Her hand stops mid-spin, and she narrow a deadly stare at me. “She’s fucking him.”
Shit. What gave it off?
You really are smitten, look at your cheeks.
“You’re what?” Scarlette's head twists to the side like it’ll snap off her shoulders any minute now, her cheeks blowing out when she says ‘what.’ That’s how you know she’s not happy with the ‘news.’
My cheeks flame, as though a fire brushes against my skin. I hold my hand up. “Before you go off—”
“Go off?” Eve snarls like a bull, walking around me and sniffing like she can smell the lust on me. “What the fuck are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking just fine,” I contest, nudging her away from me. Heat rises further and further up my neck.
“Are you sure?” Scarlette adds with a raised brow. “Because the Anita I know wouldn't compromise a mission or plan to get into bed with the enemy.”
“That’s right,” Eve continues with anger on her face. “If you needed dick that bad, there are plenty of men who could please you.”
Never. Ronan is the only.
“I’m aware of that,” I grit.
“Months—shit, for years, you hated this man. What did this fucker do to you?” Eve asks, sweeping her furious gaze over my body. Her arctic eyes are freezing me, colder than the air outside.
An unsettled ping sits in my throat. “He’s not a fucker . His name is Ronan.” Shoot me in the foot. I bite down on my teeth, shocked at myself for defending him in this way.
Eve's brows raise with a smirk appearing now. Scarlette’s stare the same as before, with confusion and some judgment, and Kyra finally shows an ounce of expression with her faint smile again.
“Okay, Ronan ,” Scarlette draws out. “What changed Anita?” Her voice is soft. My heart thumps with the use of my real name coming from her lips. That’s when I know she wants a heart-to-heart.
“I don't like him. He’s a fucker, like I said,” Eve rants.
I ignore her, shaking my head at the ceiling.
Everything changed.
My father was wrong. Ronan was not who I thought he was, he turned out to be...a dark, brave, and courageous fucking disaster of a man. Willing to do anything and everything to protect what’s his and destroy the men who destroyed us .
“He’s not who I thought he was.” The most cliché phrase in the entire book of red flags. But it’s true. I don’t know how to explain it, but when I look at him...my stomach skyrockets like I'm falling off a building. It's extremely unnatural, and I may need help.
Scarlette lets out a breath as the other two watch me firmly, their protectiveness shining bold and loud. I guess this is what it feels like to have sisters that care. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Even if we aren’t blood.
“Do you trust him?” Kyra asks with her normal dry tone.
I glance at her. “Yes,” I say without hesitation. Although he’s never confirmed with me whether he trusts me or not. Does he trust me?
Does he still see me as a threat to his school and to his team? The fact that he’s never told me if he finally does or not churns my stomach. Am I a loose cannon to him that he needs to be tamed? I have to factor this in—
“Someone’s fucking whipped.”
My head snaps at her. “Fuck off. I’m not whipped.” Seriously. I’m not, it was a simple moment. We had sex, that's all.
“What the hell is he doing to you? The Venom I know takes men by the balls and yanks them from their body,” Eve boasts, the tip of her blade grazing over her bottom lip like she’s ready to eat. Fucking barbaric. Although she’s right.
“Oh, I'll still do that, Viper. Just with more class than you, of course.”
Her smile grows wider as she swirls her knife again.
Scarlette steps closer, her tall and curvy frame swaying as she walks to me. I lean off the wall to steady what’s coming. Her brown eyes glisten like jewels. She grips my hands into hers; I’m wearing gloves, but I can sense the warmth exuding from her. She’s always been that way, bringing me the comfort I never realized I needed. “Either way, we do this because we care for you, Anita. We don’t want you to get hurt or figure out he’s not who you think he is. I know how that feels, and I wouldn’t—” She looks down at her skin, her collarbones indenting slightly. She swallows, looking back at me, her fingers gripping tighter. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” she whispers, the pain clear on her tongue.
Scarlette never mentioned her prior love life. It’s always been us—maybe it happened before? However, her words sting, the fear resurfacing.
“Just be careful. Because once your heart is involved, it'll be hard to see or think clearly. And it’ll stay locked with only his key to open it; it’ll have no place for anyone else,” she says in a way that’s spoken from experience.
“There’s nothing to worry about. That vessel won't be involved in anything,” I reply, although the muscles under my tongue stiffen once I say it. “I’m leaving once it's all said and done.”
She’s right. Her statement sits in my mind like a new-found treasure.
Once your heart is involved.
Instead of golds and precious jewels, inside only resides my fear of being hurt or losing someone I care for through murder.
Can you look into teaching the self-defense combat class?
More unsettling pangs twists in my belly as everything starts to swoop in like a murderous wave.
Noticing my silence as my thoughts swirl in my head, she gives a comforting smile. “Besides that. We trust your judgment. You also don’t do anything without taking everything into consideration.”
“Ugh, stop with the sappy shit. When do we get to meet this guy? Does he have a team? I bet they suck ass.” Eve hops in with her remarkable ability to humiliate someone. She takes aim at a book, her knife landing right into the sole and dropping to the floor with a thud.
Scarlette’s eyes roll to the ceiling as she shifts with her shoulder to face Eve.
I shake my head, moving around Scarlette to get the book. “You might meet him, soon. He’s very...protective of his compound.” I pick it up. “And as for his team. No, they don’t suck. If they did, I would’ve left the first chance.” I yank the knife out, putting the book under my armpit. I’ll leave money for the owner.
“Mal was practically a bitch to me,” I start until Eve steps closer, her eyes turning black like coal. “Not anymore, we are cool now,” I say with my hand swiping up and down to bring her level from a hundred to a zero.
“Boone is basically a killing machine robot who barely says a word to anyone. Bedford is sweet and—”
“Did you say Boone?” Scarlette cracks, her voice, unrecognizable like a ghost replaced it.
Our attention is fully on Scarlette now, whose face is pale, like she actually saw a ghost. My brows tilt down as I push the blade into Eve’s chest.
“Yes, Boone. He’s Ronan right hand—”
“How does he look?” She steps closer with a spooked expression.
My curiosity is on full alert now. “Ginger hair, Manchester accent.”
She sucks in a breath like someone punched her in the gut. I continue, “Green eyes. Scarlette, are you okay?”
It makes me think back to when Ronan asked me about Scarlette. Fuck, I totally forgot about that.
Her eyes drift off into somewhere deep and far away because she wraps her arms around herself, as if there’s a chilly breeze coming into the library. Eve, on high alert, walks to Scarlette like a protective shield.
Kyra and I are next to approach to her. Her lip quivers, and her eyes roam around beneath her. Her chest is visibly rising and falling, like her heart is ready to take a run for it. Worry sets in seeing her this way. I never have. If Boone, the man who is practically mute, can do that to her, then something is very wrong.
Anger floods me. “What’s wrong Scarlette? Did he hurt you?” Dread veils me as I think about the guy I’ve fought besides having the capability of hurting her in a way unimaginable.
Her head shakes slightly. “Not...in that way.” That’s all she gives. Her voice, it’s barely audible. Eve wraps a hand around her shoulder, her height not matching Scarlette by much, but her energy levels it out. I glance at Kyra and Eve, worry filling our eyes.
The phone buzzes in my back pocket. Crap! My stomach rolls as I look at my phone.
Wicked Witch of GenCre: Headman is almost here. You might want to hop in the carriage, Cinderella, and get your ass here now.
I click out the message to see another message from Ronan. Thirty minutes ago.
Ronan: On my way.
“Shit.”
Only Eve and Kyra look at me. I don’t want to leave Scarlette in this state; it’s tearing me in half. But there’s something bigger at play. And I’ll get to the bottom of it. Boone's head may end up on a stick. Sorry, Ronan.
“I have to go,” I say quickly, pushing my phone to the back of my pocket.
I glance at the girls with guilt in my eyes. “Until next time.” I send a somber smirk before digging into my pocket and placing a one-hundred-dollar bill on the check-out desk next to the damaged book. Then, I rush out the back door.
I make it to the truck, pressing on the unlock button on the remote. Before my hand touches the knob, my name is called.
“Anita!”
I turn to see Scarlette running up behind me. “Please.” She breathes hard and her skin is flushed. “Please don’t tell him or anyone you met with me.”
Fear is obvious in her voice. I step to her. Now I’m really worried. “Scarlette, what’s going on?” My voice rises in hope she’ll tell me something.
She shakes her head, the long braids ruffling on her coat. “Just, don’t mention me. Please.” Her eyes beg for my help. A secret. “He cannot know.”
I touch her shoulder with compassion, my head nodding. “Of course. I won’t say a word.”
She releases a breath of relief and then hugs me. “Until then.”
I squeeze one more time before jumping in the truck and skidding off.