Page 61 of Hades

His words were cut off, first by the echo of a gunshot and then by the bullet that blew half his face off. The second bullet landed in that sweet spot between his eyes, and he was dead before his body fell directly on top of Raven.

My legs took off instinctively in Raven’s direction, the sounds of her screams had my legs and arms pumping faster until I was there, on the ground beside her, helping her shove the dead Russian off her. “Raven, baby, talk to me. Are you okay?” I checked her body with my eyes and hands, making sure she wasn’t injured by my bullets.

“Hades!” she cried, the sound like my name had been ripped from her throat.

“I’m here, baby. Talk to me, tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m not hurt,” she answered when I pressed my forehead to hers, cradling her head in my hands.

“Fuck,” I growled as relief pulsed through me. My heart hammered so hard I could hardly breathe. “Fuck,” I said again and held her even tighter.

“I was so scared,” she admitted barely above a whisper.

“I got you, Raven. I got you. I’m here.” I held her close, chest to chest with no regard for the blood that splattered her clothes and her hair. Her face. In that moment, my heart settled. The world was right again.

The peace was broken by the sound of my best friend’s angry voice. “Just what the fuck is going on here?”

Sniper stepped between us, pushing Falcon back. “Now ain’t the time, man.”

“Fuck that,” Falcon shrugged away his touch. “Now is the exact fucking time. What’s going on with you two?”

“None of your business,” Raven said, her voice quiet but I heard the fire and steel in every syllable.

Anger spiked in his eyes as they met mine, daring me to tell him that I’d been fucking his kid sister behind his back. “Well?”

I couldn’t find the words to explain what I felt. How did you tell your best friend that you loved his sister and didn’t want to spend another day away from her? I froze for too fucking long, and that gave Raven time to find her anger again.

She shoved out of my embrace and got to her feet. “Nothing,” she said to her brother, but her gaze never left mine. “Nothing at all.”

My heart dropped to my stomach as I watched her walk away with Hollywood at her side. Comforting her.

It should be me.

It should be me, but I fucked up.

Chapter Thirty-One

Raven

Nothing. Hades had the chance to tell the truth to my brother’s face and he said nothing. He had the opportunity to prove that I was wrong about his hesitation, about his priorities, and all he’d done was prove me right. I never wanted to be wrong so much in all my life.

He was either a coward or really good at faking emotions he didn’t feel. Had never felt.

“Hey, you okay?” Hollywood joined me and wrapped a big, muscular arm around me, guiding me around the side of the giant mansion.

“No,” I answered with a sigh. “But I will be. Eventually.” Right now my heart was in so much fucking pain I could hardly breathe, but I knew it would get better. Pain always did… in the end.

Hollywood flashed his impossibly beautiful, yet sympathetic smile at me when we reached the front of the house. “You sure you don’t wanna wait for Hades? Or Falcon?”

My lips twisted into a bitter laugh. “Nope. I’m good.” I accepted the helmet he offered, fitting it on my head and snapping the clasp under my chin while he got settled on the seat. When he gave me a short nod, I climbed on back and I didn’t look over my shoulder once. Not for Hades or my brother, not for Viktor or Alexei. Not for any of the men who had betrayed me or let me down in the past twelve hours.

“Hang on,” he shouted over the roar of the engine. “I’ll go fast enough that you forget your worries for a little bit.”

I didn’t think that was possible, but I did as I was told and held on tight as the bike took off like a rocket, leaving the mess of my former life behind. I should have felt relieved that this nightmare was over, and I was, but more than that I felt like I’d lost something more important.

I let out another heavy sigh while my mind stared, unseeing, at the world as it whipped by. It’ll get better, I told myself with every mile we passed. I didn’t just believe it, I’d lived it for the past few years. Sure, the wicked shit Viktor did to me stuck with me, it probably always would, but every month it got a little easier to deal with. The bruises healed. The wounds closed. And every night when I fell asleep each night, the dreams were a little less vivid.

Scenery whipped by too quickly for any details to settle in my brain and before I knew it, we were pulling into the clubhouse parking lot.