His gun was pointed at me, all of their guns. Every single one of them.
I could fix this. I would fix this. Phil would live.
“Put down the gun,” he instructed.
I adjusted my hands, pressing the gun back against Phil’s temple as I looked between the masks again, quickly. Cracked porcelain, a skull, a rabbit, masks that only covered the top half of their faces or the bottom half. All of them dressed like they were going to a fucking meeting or something.
Attack of the lawyers.
My gun swung back to the male who said my name, my eyes hardening. Drop my gun? Not on my life.
“Phil and I are leaving,” I told them. “We’re leaving.”
One of them stepped closer, the woman with the cropped dark blonde hair.
I whipped that revolver back, pressing it against my own temple. “Stay back!” I snarled, finding her eyes. “Stay back. He said no more scars. No more damage. If he wants me in one piece, then stay fucking back.”
“I see a new species of rose blooming in the woods,” I heard a devilish voice hum, pulling my eyes over.
The man with the Devil blue eyes and cracked porcelain mask was watching me with a creepy yet oddly comforting sharp smile. He wasn’t carrying a gun, but it looked like he had the most blood covering him. As if he had enjoyed the killing, the carnage. As if he had gotten off on the smell of it.
My brows pulled together, strange thoughts sliding through the cracks in my broken mind.
I shook my head, pressing the gun hard into my temple. “Stop that, stop it,” I said, trying to force the thoughts away, trying to focus. I had to focus.
“I am Olivia Kingsmen, I am a writer, I am unbreakable, I am Claimed,”I thought to myself, trying to recenter. I had to recenter.
“Holy shit,” I heard Phil say under his breath. “Holyshit,” he said again. “Listen to me,” he shouted, my eyes finding his before they lifted back to the group. “They killed her and brought her back to life 10 times. Ten times, they stopped her heart, okay? Her mind is broken, she can’t remember things the right way. You have to show her your faces. You have to put some pieces back.”
Confusion filled me, my head spinning. “Shut up, Phil, fuck. I’m trying to think.”
“You have to stop,” he said, looking back. “Olivia, it’s Everett. He found you. He kept his word. It’s Everett.”
My gun was still pointed at the man in the glossy mask, my eyes finding his. No, no, it wasn’t. It wasn’t. Everett couldn’t find me, so I had to grow up. I had to become stronger. I had to become this. Everett moved on.
Those icy blue eyes watched mine unblinkingly. Fierce and chilling to the bone, sending fire skittering across my skin. “Guns down,” he ordered his people.
And as if they had rehearsed it, every single one of them lowered their weapons at the exact same time.
I readjusted my grip, keeping it pointed at his head and the revolver on mine.
I watched, my heart slamming as he shoved his gun away. “Stop it,” I ordered.
He reached up.
“I saidstop,” I snarled.
“You think you can order me around, pup?” he asked, pulling his mask off.
My breath caught, my mind sparking in confusing thoughts and images as I took in his face. The scar across his eye, the set of his jaw, those tattoos.
“It means Hades, Conqueror of All.”
I shook my head, my eyes filling. “No,” I said through my teeth, my lip curling. “No, that’s…it’s a lie. That’s a lie.”
“Hello, pup,” he greeted, taking a step forward.
“No,” I shouted, pulling the trigger, the bullet hitting the ground at his feet, forcing him to stop. “No, you couldn’t find me. This is a trick. It’s a trick. You’re lying. I know when people are lying, I can see it. I can feel it like sticky honey. You’re lying. It’s alie.”
