“Hey now, let’s all calm down,” Mike said, holding up his hands, and I screamed as Reaver punched him across the face.
Mike went down hard, and I lost my shit. “Don’t you touch him!” I screamed and started pounding my fists into Reaver’s chest. Of course, it did nothing. He snatched up my wrists and threw me down the expo line away from Mike, who was struggling to get up from the ground.
Reaver turned on the pantry chef. “I’ll deal withyoulater,” he snarled before whipping back around to face me. Shem walked into the kitchen just then and took in the scene before him. I saw him give Mike a pitying look before he turned his green eyes onto Reaver.
“What do you need?” he asked, and I sputtered. What didReaverneed?He needed to be fucking institutionalized, that’s what! Why wasn’t Shem asking whatIneeded? Or whatMikeneeded? I glared at my friend, suddenly not trusting him at all.
“Take her home,” Reaver snapped, brushing past Shem and heading to the office. “Text me when she’s there safe. I’ll link up with you after. I need to deal with fucking Rafael.”
Shem nodded and grabbed me roughly by the arm, shooting me an apologetic look.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but we have to go.”
I tried to yank away, not because I was worried my demon would kill him, but because I was worriedImight kill him.
Shem’s grip suddenly became impossibly tight, and his eyes flashed. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Lil. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you make me.”
His words rolled over me, and I felt them settle deep in my bones. I searched Shem’s familiar green eyes and suddenly didn’t recognize the man I was looking at.
“Come on, Lil. Let me take you home,” he said softly. His face was full of remorse, but I felt so fucking betrayed that I didn’t care.
“I hate you. I hate all of you,” I snapped, and he nodded sadly.
“I know. Let’s go.”
“You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.”
—KENNY ROGERS, THE GAMBLER
Turns out Shem had a car, and it was a black Jaguar. I couldn’t understand how he could afford a car like that on a host’s salary. It was a slow-moving drive through the city, considering it was relatively early on a Friday night.
He tried to talk to me several times throughout the ride, but I ignored him. My mind was reeling from the night’s events; something wasnotright.
Reaver’s reaction to those assholes grabbing me had been entirely over the top. He had shut down an entire buyout over it. I didn’t know what he had said to that man, but the look on his face made me think he feared for his life. The potential for violence he had shown tonight had shaken me to my core.
Reaver hadpunched Mikefor helping me through a panic attack, and then Shem had threatened tohurtme to control me! Something was fishy, and I didn’t like it. What I couldn’t wrap my head around was how I seemed to be in the middle of all of it. My mind was running a mile a minute, and I made the decision right then and there that I was done with it all.
I was done with Reaver, I was done with Voodoo, and I sure as fuck was done withShem.Fucking traitor.
Shem rolled up and stopped in front of my place. He looked over at me, his expression tight.
“Lilith,” he said, and I looked at him, letting him see the hatred in my eyes. We weren’t friends. He had been lying to me this whole time. I had worked with him at Voodoo forfour years,and now he was showing me who he really was.
“Fuck you, Shem,” I spat and got out of the car. He dropped his head into his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose as I left.
“Lilith, just don’t do anything stupid,” he warned, but I slammed the car door in his face and turned on my heel. I stalked up the wooden steps to my little haunted apartment, seething with rage and smarting from Shem’s betrayal.
There was a tiny package waiting for me on the porch, and I frowned at it.
Shit.It was the little spoon I had ordered for Mike…Fuck!Why couldn’t this have arrived two days ago?
Growling in frustration, I snatched up the package and walked into my apartment.
With a start, I realized I didn’t have any of my shit. I had left my coat and my bag behind. All I had was my pouch, which thankfully had my phone in it. I groaned, dropping my face into my hand. There was no way I was going back for any of that. I glanced down at the little package I still had clutched in my hand and sighed. I couldn’t go back to give the spoon to Mike either. Maybe I could mail it to him somehow…
Thankfully, I had hooked my credit card up to my phone, so I could just use that for money for the time being because, let’s be serious, I was getting the fuck out of here. I knew I couldn’t outrun Death, but I never wanted to see Reaver or fucking Shem again.
I knew there was no way Reaver would leave me alone; he knew where I lived. His behavior had been over the top and possessive as fuck. I knew the warning signs. I needed to get far away from him as soon as possible. Normally, I would just wait for Death to kill him, but I was getting increasingly more suspicious. Death hadn’t killed him and had let him get away with way more shit than anyone else ever had in my life. What if Reaver was someone I should truly fear? Was he someone I should fear more than Death himself? I shuddered at the thought but forced down the panic. I needed to focus, and I needed to work quickly if I was going to make it out of town tonight.
