Page 57 of Hades

“I know,” I sighed. “I don’t like it either, but we are where we are.”

He nodded. “And exactly where the fuck are we?” He looked around the mansion as if he was only seeing it for the first time now.

“Some mansion on the other side of Vegas. We might be in Henderson or beyond. The driver took a lot of turns, probably to confuse me.”

“Not like you know the area all that well,” he said sarcastically.

“Right.” I nodded, running my fingers along the split in his lip and the bruise that was forming around his eyes. “Are you okay, Falcon? I mean really, and don’t give me any of that tough guy bullshit.”

“But I am a tough guy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, what the fuck happened?”

He sighed. “Danny, the prospect? He fucking sold me out. The fucker stopped me at the gas station. I was filling up the bike when he approached me, distracting me from the guy who came up behind me and knocked me out.” He shook his head, anger taking over. “They didn’t knock me out completely, so I heard Danny talking to one of them like they knew each other.”

“Shit.” My mind raced to all the weird vibes I got from Danny over the past few weeks. “He must’ve been the one who gave us up at the safe house. Both times. I couldn’t figure out how they found us, but now it makes so much sense.”

“The prospects got the houses ready for you. They got multiple houses ready, which means they probably hit ‘em all looking for you.”

“That asshole,” I growled. “But, why?”

“Who knows,” he spat. “Who fucking cares? Could be blackmail or extortion. Anger. Dissatisfaction. Could be a lot of reasons, none of them make this shit all right.”

“Why are you so fucking calm?” It was unnerving, especially when I was freaking out on the inside.

“Because I’m thinking. I can’t think straight when I’m fucking furious, which I am, by the way.” He glared like it was my fault that he was furious.

“Oh. Okay. Good. I thought maybe you were losing your mind.” I scanned his body just to assure myself he was fine, while he kept on glaring at me. “Are you hurt badly anywhere?”

“No. Just what you see.” He studied me for a long minute before he shook his head. “How did it go at the coffee shop?”

I shrugged. “It was going to plan until he showed me the video of you tied to this fucking chair.” I told him about the deal. “He promised he would leave you alone, all of you, if I go with him.”

“No way, Raven. No fucking way.”

I sighed. “I knew you’d say that. I knew everyone would say that, which was why I didn’t ask. This is my decision.” It wasn’t like I wanted to hop on a plane to god only knew where with him, but I knew the carnage he’d leave in his path if they tried to protect me. “What other option do I have?”

He let out a bitter laugh. “So you’re just going to give yourself back to that asshole? To endure the same hell as before? Un-fucking-believable.”

“It won’t be the same,” I whispered, just in case Viktor was listening. “This time I won’t be as docile or as accepting.”

He scoffed. “So, what? Your plan is to get yourself killed in exchange for all of us?”

I looked away. “This is all my fault, which means it’s my problem to fix.”

“Bullshit. That’s not how we do things.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, that’s not how you all do things, but we both know they only tolerate me because of you. This is a fair deal.”

“You are full of shit, and you know it.”

I refused to meet his gaze. “Fine, think whatever you want. Maybe I just need a change. This is happening.” If the Steel Demons didn’t come through for us before morning, I would get on that plane with Viktor to keep my brother alive. “Try not to do anything to get yourself killed before morning.”

“What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing,” I answered quickly.

“Seriously, what’s up? You’ve been weird all week, staying in your room and avoiding everybody.”