30. Choke on a Dick
Chapter 30
Choke on a Dick
I stole a glance at my two Hunters, deciphering the confusion, the hostility, the apprehension before Phillip spoke up, “I guess you’ve always been an enemy to the Organization, but you’re hardly trustworthy. The Hunters you killed—”
“Oh, like you haven’t killed Hunters?” Her eyes could pierce flesh. “Like me, you’re on the wrong side of it now so you’re forced to make a choice. I made mine a long time ago, and I’m not here to argue with you about the morality of it. Or about what you Hunters did to those of us who crossed over.” Jo locked her arms against her chest, eyebrow raised in challenge. “You, better than anyone, should know how easy it is for them to control the narrative. What makes you think you know anything about me other than what they told you, Hunter.”
I mean, she’s not wrong.
“I’m sure they’re already crafting clever lies to make you three targets—the rebellious few, the scourge of the Hunter code, the virus taking hold. So yeah, save me your self-righteous bullshit. I’m only bothering with you because of her. You’re an unfortunate byproduct of a partnership with this tide-changer. If I had it my way, you and I would figure out who was stronger today . But she seems attached to you, so…you get to live.”
Phillip scoffed, not bothered, and my eyes flicked between them in growing interest.
We just met, but I liked Jo way more than I ever expected to. Anyone who put Phillip in place with logic was a bona fide god to me. Not only that, but what she said made perfect sense.
The Organization had total control over the narrative, and nothing I learned over my years as a Hunter could I trust. Not when they were responsible for breeding and experimenting on all sorts of creatures. Not after learning about my own genetic makeup and the facilities they used to lock us up like animals. Not after they murdered my parents for no other reason but that they were close to learning the truth.
Jo’s gorgeous shape was on full display in the skin-tight body suit even I didn’t know how she got into. Either it was painted on or she used magic to get it on. Whatever she did, it was impossible not to stare.
She noticed me gawking because her eyes dropped down to mine and her lips tilted sensuously. “I can help you control your power,” is all she uttered.
I opened my mouth, hope rising, but Phillip was quick to cut in. “Like I’d let you touch one hair on her body,” he growled low in this throat.
Sloan’s fingers tangled with mine, and I turned to look at him before he finally said something, surprising everyone, “I think we should let her. If we’re honest with ourselves, the Organization made targets of a lot of Fae for no other reason but they refused to comply.”
Cassius swallowed and put up a finger. “I, for one, don’t want to be on the wrong side of this woman, so whatever she wants is what we should give her.”
Classic Cash .
Phillip grunted, his arms crossing angrily against his chest, outnumbered, and I realized it was down to me when his eyes slid over to mine.
Oddly, the vibes Jo gave me didn’t make me hesitate at all. What she said about the Organization wasn’t wrong either. I was confident in my snap-judgment of her that she had every intention of making the Organization pay. She gave me vigilante vibes, and I was into it.
Why not risk a little? Who could we really trust in this life, anyway? Tiff convinced me at one time she was a friend, and then she tried to quite literally stab me in the back.
Jo sounded like she had every reason to hate everything the Organization stood for, even though I hadn’t gotten the full picture on her beef with Eros. And we really couldn’t afford to be picky right now.
“I take it you’re pro Organization destruction?” I finally asked, trying to keep my eyes on her face instead of wandering down her body. Not really sure why I struggled so much to keep my eyes to myself, but something about Jo hit different than any other woman I’d met.
Jo’s eyes darted over to the corner of the room. It happened too fast for even my superior eyes to track when I heard the telling thud of bodies hitting the floor. By the time I looked over, ash burst in a great cloud and several vampires were destroyed.
“Oh yeah, every person at the top and the blind Hunter minions working for them can choke on a dick,” she answered bluntly, summoning the magic-wrapped blades to return to her with a flick of her wrist. “Look, that asshole with the tattoos and get-fucked-air can get bent, seriously. Fuck right off, asshole. Cash can also choke on a dick,” she said pointedly at the Dark Fae.
He put his hands in the air. “I deserve that. ”
Jo sighed and stole a reproachful glare at Sloan. “I don’t know you, don’t really care to either, but…” Smirking, her eyes took a stroll down my body, and it made my heart thump for an entirely different reason than fear. “You, V, let’s just say that I’ve heard things, and I think you’re worth my time. I’m not the type to strike a bargain with just anyone, and I always keep my promises.”
My eyes strayed over to Phillip, then Sloan. By the sheer body language these trained Hunters displayed, it was evident they didn’t really trust her. Sloan seemed more open to letting her join, but it was all there in his body he’d rather not be entangled with the mysterious woman.
And I had no reason to trust her at all, but why did I want to? Why did this woman coming to our rescue—an enemy of my enemy—make me want to trust a little? Take a chance? Be a little crazy and let her join? My gut told me that we needed her. I needed her. And my gut had gotten me this far in life—to a weirdo love triangle, a crazy unfolding of fuckery, but alive—so I’d take a chance today.
I’d follow my gut.
“I’m V,” I greeted her, reaching my hand out.
Jo’s lips twitched and she took my hand, jerking her abyss-deep eyes between Sloan and Phillip. No, but seriously, what sort of lotion did this gorgeous woman use because touching her was like running my hand over nothing but flower petals.
“Jo. Or as the Organization likes to call me, Fae Assassin Number Two—responsible for over a thousand Hunter deaths.”
Not ominous at all.
Phillip audibly groaned as I cracked a smile and blamed my fucked luck for this weird middle-of-mission moment.
Jo was more than happy to help us finish off the vampire leaders in a mesmerizing display of her magic-paired weaponry, and then we were back where we first met her, in the large antechamber.
Her eyes swept across the room before she addressed Cash, who was eyeing the tunnel that led to the surface, “You.”
It was hilarious to watch the Fae turn his head while magic swirled around his hand and illuminated his gorgeous face in a majesty of sparkling color. From his expression, he expected her to be speaking to another asshole behind him, and then he pointed to himself and swallowed. “Me? I mean, yes?”
“You’re the talented enchanter Eros threatened into working for him, if I remember correctly,” Jo clapped back, twirling a dagger through her fingers.
Cash flipped back his hair with one hand, acting cute. “I’m honored you’ve heard of me.”
“A coward who does whatever he’s asked to avoid pain,” the blunt woman continued, and I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing when Cassius’s face fell with disgust. “Well, whatever. My guess is you keep at least one summoning stone on you,” Jo said, not asking. “With the number of skilled killers in this room, it’s now or never. Time to summon that bastard you call master and end his terrible reign.”
In no small way, I was obsessed with Jo already. Something told me that she didn’t mince words, certainly hadn’t from the first moment we met, and she wasn’t one to play games. It was a nice change of pace .
“I do, but to summon him you’d—” Cash started matter-of-factly, not at all convinced it was possible by the curl of his lip.
“You’d need this?” Jo interjected and lifted a vial in her hand, a few thin strands of hair locked inside of it.
Cassius’s face slackened, and his mouth popped open like he was a cartoon character, drawn overdramatic for comedic effect. “You’re a terrifying woman. I can’t believe you have that.”
Shrugging, Jo stared at the vial, twisting it inside her fingers. “Eros is cocky. Cocky people tend to make shameless mistakes,” she voiced, dark eyes directed at Phillip. “No one is invincible.”
It was clear to anyone around her that she wasn’t talking about Eros anymore. Phillip and Jo locked eyes, saying nothing but everything in the silence.
Sloan cut in, asking the question I also was curious to know, “I agree that trapping him here with this many would leave him with little options but to succumb if you can summon and bind him. I suspect that’s your aim. But am I sensing a desire to interrogate him as well? Eros will never talk.”
Jo flipped the vial in her hand, lips sliding up knowingly. “We have a Royal Siren in our midst. We’ll get it out of him. It’ll be a good opportunity to teach V how to call on and control her power.”
“What makes you think you know how to control ancient Fae power?” Phillip hissed in a voice full of hostility. His body shifted in agitation, the muscles along his arm flexing. “Who are you getting your information from?”
Sighing, Jo crossed her arms over the shiny body suit she wore, the gleam magnified by Cash’s nearby magic. “It doesn’t matter how I found out, only that I did. And let’s just say I have a history with Royal Sirens. We’ll leave it at that.”
She had a history? Wouldn’t that make her old as fuck? I had so many questions, but I was eager to learn more about my power and how to control it. I’d do anything to make that happen.
After nearly killing two people I cared about, I wanted nothing more than to bury my head in the sand. The idea that it was possible I might never have to worry about hurting anyone I didn’t plan to hurt again was too tempting to deny. It was risky, but my gut told me I could trust her.
Then it hit me. The bracelet. I peered down at my ankle where it was hidden.
As if reading my thoughts, Jo went to a knee and made both of my companions go for their weapons. She tsked them with her tongue and shook her head, lifting her eyes to my face.
“Worried about this?”
With gentle hands that teased my skin, giving me the oddest sensation in my stomach, Jo removed the bracelet Cash gave me earlier.
Both Sloan and Phillip reacted visibly to the sight of it. I had to keep my eyes on Jo to avoid their accusatory stares.
“Clever, but easy to remove. I’ll return this after Eros is questioned and cut to pieces,” she promised with a wink. Standing, the gorgeous woman offered me a quiet look before saying, “But this is a band-aid, V. Learn to control it and you’ll never have to question the way others feel again, though it won’t resolve that other small problem of who for you. But what I can say about that is it’s okay not to know. Live messy. Do what you want, and don’t apologize. That’s what life’s about, right?”
Holy shit .
I stared at her like I couldn’t make sense of her or her words, too shocked to control my face and it gave all of my feelings away in an instant. It was literally crazy-sauce how intuitive and insightful this woman was, who I’d only just met. But it was as if she’d seen right into my heart and said the things I needed to hear. As if she knew the struggle eating away at me the last couple of days.
It struck deep, and it struck hard.
But the craziest part was that instead of mortified, I felt seen. Understood. Supported by her words. A stranger, someone I didn’t know, resolved a month-long dilemma in only a few sentences, and it made it difficult not to bend her ear and ask more questions that’d plagued me all this time—relationship issues I was desperate to understand.
“Live messy. Do what you want, and don’t apologize.”
I wasn’t sure what the usual protocol was for worshipping someone, but I’d do it for Jo. To me, she was a goddess and my new source of strength. It was obvious she lived by those words herself, based on the short half hour I’d known her.
Phillip’s gaze intensified on the woman standing directly in front of me. “What makes you confident this plan will work?”
As if the spell had been broken, I quickly cut my eyes over to Phillip, who didn’t seem the least bit convinced.
“It’ll work, Hunter,” she rebuked, her voice full of disdain. “Don’t be bitter it wasn’t your idea…or your trap.”
Did she know about our plans? How informed is this woman?
“I think we should do it,” I finally asserted, pleading Phillip to play nice with my eyes.
His jaw relaxed, and he brushed back his hair in resignation. “If you so much as hurt a hair on her head…”
The mysterious vixen standing beside me laughed to herself and twirled a dagger in her hand, not at all put off by his icy tone. “I’m not expecting any of you assholes to trust me right now, and I really don’t care if you ever do. My only goal is to convince V I’m here as her ally. You three can go get fucked.”
Ruthless was the only way to describe Jo. And I wanted to be her when I grew up, seriously.
I barely kept it together as Cash outright gasped in insulted horror. Then, grumbling to himself about scary women, the Dark Fae dug into his little bag of tricks and handed over a stone that looked like every other one he used.
How did he know one from another? All I saw were rocks.
Taking it, Jo rubbed the smooth stone between her fingers, and her lips tilted. “I’ve waited a long time to put that bastard six feet under, and it seems fitting it’d be with the girl who’ll be the reason the Organization burns to the ground and disappears forever.”