Chapter 36
Jackie,
But please do not worry about me. As I said, I am perfectly safe.
Love,
Kae
MALAK
Ihope this girl opens the door.
I’m already risking my mission timeline by not hounding the 144k right now, but it’s the least I can do for Kae.
Hell, it’s probably the last thing I’ll ever do for her.
Abaddon—jealous and brooding as he is—will never let me near her again.
But if he makes her happy, then so be it.
Good for them. I just need some time to get over it, to forget about her. ..
I walk up the front porch and knock on the door.
When Jackie doesn’t answer immediately, I tune my senses up, remembering to dull my glow while I’m at it.
I think I hear footsteps, but I can’t be sure if it’s her.
What are the odds the Adversary could nabbed her and set a trap for me?
Kae didn’t mention if her friend is in any specific danger, actually—
The door flies open with a surprising force, revealing a tan-skinned girl with long, sleek black hair, dressed in cutoff jean shorts and a revealing tank top.
One of her hands holds the door open, while the other is firmly placed on her hip.
She looks absolutely furious, like I’ve woken some ancient sleeping dragon.
Great. I’m going to have to improvise.
“Hi, Jackie.” I clear my throat. “I’m Matthew, a friend of Kae’s. She wanted me to stop by and check on you—”
“Cut the shit, Malak. I know who you are.”
I blink through my surprise. “How—”
“Did you have something to do with this?” She shoves the door the rest of the way open before thrusting a piece of paper out, aggressively waving it around in my face, and proceeds to go completely off the rails.
“Do you think this is fucking funny? I haven’t heard from her in weeks!
I’ve been worried sick! And then to get this bullshit? ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tilt my head to the side. If she’s already heard the news, then maybe they’ve been planning their engagement much longer than I thought. Which… stings, but okay. “Did she write to you already? What did she say?”
“Oh, no. Kae did not write this.” Taking a step back, she waves an expectant hand towards the hallway behind her. “Get inside, now, and start talking. And know that if you try anything stupid, I am not afraid to shoot your ass.”
I know Kae said her best friend was outspoken, but that seems to be a generous understatement.
It’s moderately impressive, actually. And a bit humorous.
A gun will do very little to harm me, especially now that I know she has one.
Not very smart of her to tell me about that, but I admire the confidence.
I put my hands up in surrender, letting Jackie take a good look at me. After inspecting the empty street behind me, she motions for me to follow her inside the house, and I comply.
The first thing I notice is all the family photos hanging on the walls. Jackie’s sister looks a lot like her, but her mom looks noticeably more ethnic than the two of them. Chinese, I think? And there’s no father figure anywhere—
“Quit looking at our pictures, you fucking creep, and go sit on the couch.”
“Alright, alright. Don’t shoot. I’m walking.” It’s a good thing my back is turned to her. I’m sure my grin would royally offend the feisty little thing.
It doesn’t take me long to find the living room, considering it’s a straight walk from the front door. It looks like Jackie’s alone, thankfully, but I still send out a minuscule extracorporeal pulse to verify.
All clear.
I plop down onto the couch, immediately taken with how comfortable it is. It’s one of those squishy, older ones that swallow you up.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” the viper snaps.
She eases into an opposing recliner, crossing her legs. Her spine is ramrod straight, and her eyes promise death. If I were human, I might even be afraid of her. Intimidated, certainly.
“May I?” I nod towards the letter, earning an even deeper scowl from Jackie. I can tell she doesn’t want to give it up, and I fail to stifle my sigh. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what she said last.”
“Who says I need your help?”
I raise my eyebrows, unimpressed. She’s worried sick about Kae. She even said as much already. Come on, now. “You did, actually, when you told me you needed answers. Letter, please?”
“Fine.” She hands it over, and I pretend to need longer than two seconds to read it.
My chuckle is genuine, though.
“I’m a stalker now, huh?” I look up from the letter, meeting the girl’s dark brown eyes. “You’re right, this isn’t from Kae. She’d be much more creative if she wanted to insult me.”
“I told you already, this isn’t fucking funny. Start. Talking.”
Yeah, I can definitely tell they’re best friends. Kae did say once that she gets her swearing from this one.
“How about we call a temporary truce? You stop acting ready to kill me, and I’ll tell you… what I can… about Kae’s situation.”
“She’s mentioned both of you before this, you know.”
“Oh?” My face twitches, refusing the urge to frown. Kae is marrying Abaddon. Not me. It means nothing that she told her best friend about me. “Did she say who the better kisser was, at least?”
It’s too easy to get under this girl’s skin. She looks ready to bite my head off.
“I swear to God, I’m going to actually hurt you if you do not shut up with the snide comments and say something useful.”
“I mean, if that’s what you’re into…” I trail off as her face turns into a dramatic look of disgust. Ah, shit. I’m not even trying to flirt with her. It just comes out naturally!
“You really are an asshole, you know?”
“So I’ve been told.” I shrug it off, changing the subject. “I don’t see what’s so worrisome about this letter.”
“You mean other than the fact that Kae didn’t write it?”
“Well, it’s obvious who did.” I roll my eyes. “This reeks of her newly betrothed and his rampant jealousy.”
Jackie jumps out of her seat, screeching, “Her fucking what?”
“Ah, shit,” I wince. “I thought you already knew.”
She clasps her hands behind her neck, looking like she’s about to lose her shit. “No, no, no. There’s no way. I know Kae, and something is seriously fucking wrong here. How do you not see it? Are you… You’re fucking covering for him, aren’t you?”
Her eyes jerk to me, looking fully prepared to kill me. I don’t think she’s faking it, either. I’ve seen plenty of murderous people before, and this girl genuinely has the look of bloodlust as she takes a step closer.
She drops her voice to a vicious growl, “Tell me what the 144k’s done with her.”
Ooh… She’s so close with that one. Normally, I’d laugh at the irony. But out of respect for her efforts, I look her in the eyes with complete seriousness to tell her the truth: “Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
And now there’s a gun pointed at me.
Joy.
I rub the back of my neck, wondering how I’m going to talk my way out of this.
“Ah… I don’t mean to insult your interrogation skills, darling.
You’re doing a great job, and I’m sure Kae would do the same for you if the roles were reversed.
But unfortunately, I am telling the truth.
The 144k have nothing to do with this. I’m only here because she was worried about your safety.
Truly. It was the last thing she said to me before Abaddon whisked her away. ”
“I don’t believe you.” She’s so confident, even her aim doesn’t sway. “Tell me exactly what she said, how she said it. Don’t even think about lying to me, either.”
That would be a lot easier if I weren’t worried about controlling the ricochet of the bullet she thinks would kill me.
“Exactly as it happened: We had just finished a long work meeting, where I was assigned a particularly dangerous and important deployment. It was also a couple of hours after I found out about her engagement, and her husband-to-be is not too excited to have me around anymore, so… I was saying goodbye. Kae was upset, but she mentioned your name. I asked if you were in trouble and needed rescuing. She nodded yes, then Abaddon kicked me out, and I haven’t heard from her since.
That was… two days ago, I think? I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t slept, so my days are running together. ”
Jackie stares at me for a moment.
I wait.
It’s a rather long moment.
Finally, she lets out one of the deepest, most dramatic sighs I’ve ever heard. If I wasn’t convinced she’s part dragon before, I am now.
Slowly, she holsters her gun back in her waistband.
“You. Fucking. Idiot!” Her eyes flare open again.
I have a single second to be surprised before she’s throwing things off the coffee table at me.
“Stop, please.” I duck, a TV remote narrowly missing my forehead. “I know, I know. I fucked up. But believe me, she’s better off without—”
“No, you fucking dumbass fuck! She is not okay! Have you never met an abused woman? EVER? Tell me, did she actually seem happy the last time you saw her, or did she have new social anxiety? How, exactly, did she act around this Abaddon guy? You know, the one she’s only known a few months, who has somehow convinced her to marry him, suddenly and without her telling anyone who matters to her? ”
I bite my lip.
Come to think of it, Kae didn’t look happy at all for someone who just got engaged. I thought she was upset over me leaving, but… she could hardly even look me in the eyes the whole day... and the engagement was quite sudden…
God forgive me. I’ve been so vain.
Sensing my hesitation, Jackie goes off the deep end.
“You come into my house, my mom’s house, of all people, and—and—” She pauses to scream in primal female rage. “Stupid! So stupid! We have to go get her out, right fucking now!”
I blow out a breath of hot air. I’ve royally fucked up. Way more than I thought possible. “Well, Jackie. I’m all for breaking Kae out, but that’s a bit easier said than done.”
“Why? Because she’s in Israel? Or is she somewhere worse now?”