AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shockingly, her eyes don’t show fear.
A glare that could give me a run for my money nails me right in the eyes. She’s not terrified, she’s… pissed off.
Keeping my eyes on her face, shadowed in her incredible hair, I try my best to ignore the fact of how I must look. Forgot to take off my leather apron, spattered in guts and bone chips. Haven’t shaved in a couple of days.
But she takes a deep breath after giving me a once up and down and says, “Are you Gavin Rorshak?”
Guts. This girl’s got guts.
In my visceral state, it riles something deep inside me in a way I haven’t felt since…
My tactical brain tells me to snap back to attention.
This woman knows my name.
My real name. Not the one on the mail I get at this address. The real name that would get me disappeared to a black site and waterboarded for treason.
Alarms go off in my head, logic telling me to kill her, dispose of the body, shut down, pack up, get the fuck out of Sanctum. But my instincts are quiet. Calm. I’ve always trusted my instincts. It’s why I disobeyed unforgivable orders and went dark.
“I’m only going to ask you one last time. Who are you? What are you doing here?” My hand drifts to the Glock holstered at my hip. She follows the movement before looking back at my face.
Where do I know her from?
“I–I was told you could help me. My Aunt Rachelle…”
It hits me like a freight train. Those eyes.
His eyes.
Damon Michaels. My best friend.
“Good God. You’re…”
“Hellena. Yeah. She thought it was about time we met.” Is that a smirk curling the edge of those supple, round lips?
I catch myself, jabbing the tip of the skinning knife in my left hand into my thigh to stay grounded. She’s my best friend’s kid.
That realization settles into my skull with a thud.
But it does nothing to relieve the wonder that keeps my heart pounding at this beautiful creature standing in my driveway. The voice that gives orders in my head is shouting off in the distance that I’m off the deep end and need to go to bed.
She’s a stranger, for all intents and purposes, but I can’t seem to get my gut to believe that.
Memories filter into the mix as I slide my blade back into its sheath. Memories of her dad through great times and the worst I’ve ever lived.
None of that should have any bearing on meeting her, but it does.
Sighing, I carefully raise my hands to show her I’m not going to hurt her. It doesn’t seem to have much of an effect. Hellena’s standing with her arms crossed, holding herself rigid.
Fuck, she must be freezing out here.
“Come on inside. It’s too cold out here to talk.”
Some clarity settles in as we step into my living room and I become even more self-aware. If I don’t strip my gear off and shower, the whole house is going to stink. Sweat, gore, bleach, and ammonia. They’re common to me, the usual smells of my job. Now, they stink my eyes and burn my nostrils.
“I’ll, uh… be right back.” A quick trot to the garage leaves the worst of the items in the disinfectant tub, and I step back into the warmth of the house to find Hellena sitting on my couch like she belongs there.
“Why are you, um, covered in blood?” She’s staring at me like I just killed someone, which technically isn’t true. But.
