Page 34 of Hades

She nodded absently, her gaze fixed on a spot on the floor. “Yep. I’m okay. Totally good.”

“Look at me.” My jaw was clenched, hating to see that bone-deep fear in her eyes.

Her gaze met mine, dark and filled with worry. “I’m fine,” she whispered.

“You’re not. You’re scared but I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” I realized just how much I meant those words as I stepped to the wall of windows and gazed at the world below. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her and it had nothing to do with the fact that her brother was my best friend or that my brothers assigned me to keep her safe. It was because I’d rather die than let anything happen to her.

Shit, I was in deeper than I realized.

I pulled out my burner phone and called Diesel. “Shit!”

“What is it?” she asked.

“No signal,” I muttered. I went back to surveying the surrounding area.

“Do you see them?”

I pulled my mind back to the here and now and let my gaze sweep across the land below. It was dark and raining with the moon nowhere in sight, but I spotted the outline of a car in the distance. “No, but I see a black SUV. They must have stopped by the river so we wouldn’t hear them approach.”

“Viktor’s people?” Her voice was soft and scared.

“Yeah,” I sighed. I continued my surveillance. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and three men emerged in the break between the trees wearing black tactical gear. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

“Shit,” she spat out. “How did they find us? I thought you said only Diesel, Rocky, and Falcon knew where we were?”

That question was at the top of my mind but for now, we had a bigger problem. “We’ll figure that out.” They could have followed us here. I knew that was a possibility, but I’d deliberately taken a longer, less obvious route, and backtracked on numerous occasions. I’d been sure we hadn’t been tailed. “Come on.”

“Where?” she asked, already sliding off the bed.

“We can’t be up here if they get inside.”

She nodded, snatching the handgun and gripping it tight. “Right. Got it.” Raven moved like a ghost, her limbs worked to put the guns in the bag, but she moved on autopilot. “Now what?”

I looked around. We were hemmed in. There was no way we could escape without them shooting at us. They also knew we were here, so it was pointless trying to pretend we weren’t. I glanced around the main room of the property. The door was the only way out other than the windows at the back.

“We know you are inside,” a heavily accented voice called out. “Send the girl out and we will let you live.”

I laughed at their audacity. “Over my dead body!”

“That can be arranged, my friend.” There was amusement in his voice but that wouldn’t last long. We needed a plan. A solid exit plan that would get us away from this place. Fast.

“Someone gave up our location,” Raven whispered, her voice shaky and emotional.

I didn’t acknowledge her words because I couldn’t. She was right and it was the only thing that made sense, but that was a later problem. First, we needed to survive the assholes outside. A plan started to form. It wasn’t well thought out but it was dangerous and our only shot.

“How are you with heights?” I asked.

“Love ‘em,” she deadpanned, showing signs of the old Raven buried deep in there.

“Okay, head back up to the attic. There’s a side window up there that opens halfway. We go out there and shimmy down the trellis to the ground. If they’re waiting at the front for us, we might be able to get to cover before they realize we’re gone.”

“It’s raining.”

I smiled. “Sorry sweetheart, windbreakers are in the mudroom.”

She rolled her eyes, but a ghost of a smile appeared. “Then I guess that’s my answer.” She hooked the bag of weapons around her shoulders like a backpack and stared back at me.

“You go first and when your feet hit the ground, take off running towards the trees.”