Chapter 20 #4
I move over, more than happy to let him go ahead of me, hoping everyone will go straight to their rooms for the night.
Despite how tired I feel, I have no intention of going to bed, but I do need coffee.
The stairs creak, and I know Rick is in the kitchen; I intend to follow him, but even having decided that I can’t make myself move.
Before I can really put much thought into it, I head back to the space Zander and Jade just occupied.
I look around to ensure I’m alone before I crouch down and grab the book that had Jade’s undivided attention.
Shockingly enough, it’s a book I’ve read.
I’m not sure why I expected it to be something dodgy or weird.
Well, I know why, but finding out that the tiny demon assassin is reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix just wasn’t something I was prepared for.
I chuckle at how dumb I sound, even to myself, because if it were so easy to pin her as a threat to us, I would have done it already.
“Can I have that, or did you need it to show the world just how evil I am?” Jade’s voice sounds from behind me, and I turn on my heel quickly enough that I almost lose my balance.
Holy shit, she’s quiet. Zander stopped being able to sneak up on us years ago, mostly, which means I either really need some sleep, or she’s fucking good.
I hope it’s not the latter.
It takes me a moment for my brain to process what she said, and I don’t really get it until she looks down, raising a brow at the book I still hold in my hands.
I shove it toward her with a little more force than necessary, but it doesn’t seem to phase her. Instead, she grabs it and gives me one of those fake smiles before turning on her heel and heading back out.
Before I can stop myself, I’m reaching out, my hand closing around her wrist. She stops but doesn’t turn around, looking down at the place where my hand circles her wrist, but she doesn’t say anything.
“Did you have anything to do with his death?” The words are out of my mouth so fast that I didn’t have time to process them.
I didn’t think that she did before this moment, but now that I’ve said it, I realize that’s what bugged me about her smile earlier.
The timing seemed odd. While she could have just been at a part of the book that she enjoyed, I highly doubt that's what it was after watching her read before and during the rest of the conversation.
She seems to read with complete indifference, which makes me believe she was paying more attention than she was letting on.
Now, she does turn to face me. She turns herself in a way that allows my hand to stay in contact, though she could have easily broken the hold if she had turned the other way. It unsettles me for some reason, and I find myself pulling my hand away.
“Why would you think that?” Her voice is even, with no hint that she knows anything or been caught. But among the things we have learned about her, I know her ability to hide things is top-tier, so it doesn’t mean much.
“If you did, I’m not going to let it go away.
I’ll make sure to let Rick and Zander know, and I might even take it to Froggie,” I tell her, my voice coming out harder as my anger builds, but I’m talking out of my ass here.
Froggie wants this gone, and even as desperate as I am to prove she’s not who she says, I don’t have a death wish.
Which means I’ll be doing exactly what Froggie said whether I like it or not, and I have a feeling I’m not going to like it at all.
“Well, to do that, you’ll have to find proof now, won’t you?
” she asks, and this time, the smile on her face is not only real, but a bit sinister.
It pisses me off that she’s baiting me, but it pisses me off even more that something in my chest unknots itself at seeing her lose the mask, no matter what emotion she throws at me.
It's better if it's real. This is the version of her I want to know, the real one.
“You seem to need a lot of proof, yet you don’t seem to get very far with it.
Tell me, how’s your search into my past going?
Did you discover all the deep, dark secrets that will make Zander drop me, and Mr. Boss Man put me out?
” Her tone is teasing and heavy with sarcasm.
It makes me want to scream at her all over again, but instead, I shake my head at her like she’s some small child who doesn’t know any better.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll find everything I need soon enough, and when I do, you won’t be able to run fast enough or far enough to escape Froggie's wrath.” She throws her head back and laughs, like a genuine laugh, not just those little giggles she usually gives Zander.
The pure look of joy transforms her features, making her look younger.
I have to grit my teeth against the anger it makes me feel that she would dare laugh at any threat I give—especially one involving the man who runs this city, who allowed her to keep breathing.
After finally getting herself back under control, she wipes her eyes to clear the tears that gathered from her laughter.
“I’ll be waiting,” she says with a wink before turning away to head out again.
This time, I let her go, my brain fried between my anger and lack of sleep as I watch her walk away.
She stops in the doorway and looks back at me before digging around in her pocket. I can’t see what she pulls out, but it’s something small that easily sits in the palm of her hand.
“Oh, and next time you want to bug a room that Kratos cleared to speak to me, either do a better job at hiding it or just don’t.” Without warning, she tosses whatever it is to me, and on instinct, I catch it. “Next time, I’ll give it to him instead of you.”
I look down to find one of my custom-made mics in my hand. It’s been smashed to bits.
She had to have smashed it after talking to Kratos because I was able to hear their entire conversation without issue, but if she found it and didn’t say shit, she must have known it was there the entire time.
Why let me listen?
I look up to ask her, but she’s gone.
That's fine. I don’t need her to tell me anyway because I’m pretty sure I can guess the answer now that I really think about it.
Because she can, that's why.
This was a power play, and I’ll be damned if I let her win.
Fuck. I need some coffee to get to the bottom of this she-demon before she pulls apart everything we have worked so hard for.
One thing’s painfully obvious: the longer she’s here, the more apparent it becomes to me.
She could undo it all, and it wouldn’t even be fucking hard for her to do it.