“What do you want with me?” I implored, getting closer to the couch. I didn’t dare take my eyes off her.
She stopped walking then. “With you?” she asked.
I nodded once. “Yeah, with me. Since this is my house, and it’s my dog you drugged and...” I trailed off, desperate to look at him but not willing to let her out of my sight. “And you were talking about my channel,” I finished weakly.
“Oh, yes, I can understand how you could assume that,” she nodded, the gun still held casually at her side. “But I’m not here for you, I’m here for him. More accurately, I’m here to kill him.” She lifted the gun and pointed it at Hades.
My eyes went to Hades, instantly moving so I could get between the barrel of her gun and Hades’s prone body.
The woman’s eyes flared in surprise at this as a stirring on the sofa stole my attention.
Hades’s jerked, eyelids fluttering then opening wide. He went from unconscious to disturbingly alert in a manner of seconds. He was on his feet in a couple more seconds, looking like he was going to rush toward me when the woman spoke.
“Nuh, uh,” she tsked, still pointing the gun at him. He stopped in his tracks, and my stomach lurched.
“So happy you could join us,” she cooed, her voice saccharine sweet. “Freya and I were just chatting.”
“Freya, get the fuck out,” Hades seethed, eyes hard and voice cold. He wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at the woman.
Even in a terrifying moment such as this one, something about the look on his face irked me. There was a stony fury there. One that was deep and familiar. This was not just some stranger in my house, and this was not about me. This was about them. This was about only one of them making it out of this room alive.
“You are free to leave whenever you’d like,” the woman agreed. “I was telling the truth when I said I was a big fan. I really don’t want to have to hurt you.” The gun was still pointed at Hades’s head. “But if he tries any of his shit, I will unfortunately have to kill you to punish him.” Her brows furrowed ever so slightly. “Then again, it really does seem like the surest way to hurt him.”
She sighed, focusing on Hades. “I was so sure that you were like me, that you were unable to love, that we were perfect for each other. Then you had to go and fuck that up. Then you had to live when I’d been certain you were dead. And I had to come all the way back here to finish the job. I’ve got a lot going on right now, you know. This is very inconvenient.”
She was speaking so casually, as if we were all sitting across from each other at dinner, not in some deathmatch or whatever the fuck this was. This woman was one hundred percent insane. And she seemed to be an ex-girlfriend of Hades’s.
Her eyes landed on me then, and her gaze on my skin was repulsive. “I will say, it was a happy surprise to see that you were fucking Freya Barker,” she chuckled. “When I said I was a big fan, I mean really, I am. It’s nice to meet you in person.”
I sneered at her, shaking my head in disgust. “I wish I could say the same.”
She grinned, showing perfect, white teeth. “Oh, fire. I like it. I’m sure that’s why he likes you. More than likes you.”
I was watching this woman like a hawk, looking for a moment, any moment I could get the gun away from Hades’s head. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I’d walked in the door, since I’d sent the text to Swiss. Five minutes? Ten? How long did it take to get from the clubhouse to here? Ten minutes? Fifteen? And that was only if Swiss got my text immediately and wasn’t busy choking some girl or whatever the fuck it was he did. Only if he’d taken my text seriously and was riding over here armed and ready to kill a bitch.
Three was a good chance that he wasn’t, and I could not keep stalling in hopes that he was. Hades and I could very possibly die if I didn’t think of something soon. Presumably how to kill a bitch.
I’d never had a violent bone in my body, even toward those who had hurt me in the most permanent of ways. Now, looking at the woman who had drugged both my dog and my Old Man, I was more than ready to claw her fucking face off.
“No,” the woman decided. “No, I can’t kill Freya Barker, even if that would punish Hades deliciously. Us girls have gotta stick together.” She winked at me.