“Good boy, Hades,” I rasp giving the dog a quick pat. His butt wiggles with the praise, and I release him from guard duty. He quickly puts his nose to the ground, sniffing around the containers, while I listen and keep my eyes peeled for any problems.
A low, but sharp, whine of pain has me whirling, just in time to see Hades fall to the ground, a dart with a feathered pink tip sticking out of his neck. I bring my gun up, but it’s not fast enough. I feel the prick of pain before the instant burning sensation fills the veins in my neck.
I try to fight it, but it’s too quick, and I can feel myself falling.Fuck.
I wake with a start,my heart pounding and my body quickly pushing me into fight or flight mode. I’m on my feet, reaching for my gun, but realize quickly it’s not there.
Shit.
My eyes scan the room, registering that I’m inside a container with surprisingly bright lights, but the metal walls are covered with plastic, and wait, is that soundproofing? Every instinct is screaming at me to get the fuck out of here. Grim determination coats my gut.
This is a fucking mess.
A soft whine behind me makes me whirl, and it’s then that I notice that Hades is in the back corner of the container.
And he’s not alone. I stare at the woman sitting there, Hades’ head in her lap as she gently strokes him, her blonde hair falling softly over her shoulders. She almost curls in on herself, avoiding my gaze. She’s wearing a pair of black pants and a dark red t-shirt, but I don’t see any marks on her. Who is she? How did she get in here?
Gentling my voice, I ask softly, “Hey, are you alright?” She doesn’t answer, and that’s when I realize she’s humming. Softly, barely a whisper of sound, but I can just make it out as I slowly approach her. “Cara mia, are you okay? I’m not going to hurt you,” I try again, careful to keep a couple of feet away just in case I spook her. She doesn’t answer, keeping her head down and continuing to stroke Hades. Shit, is she traumatized? Did Timur take her and put her in here?
I crouch down, trying to make myself smaller. I reach out my hand, careful to keep the movements slow and cautious. “Hey,it’s alright. You’ll be okay, and I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll get you out of here.”
“Y-Y-You w-w-will?” the soft voice finally whispers, still curled in on herself.
“Yes, cara mia. I promise we’ll get you out of here and back home. My men are coming, and they’ll find me.” A soft sniffle. “Can you look at me? Let me make sure you’re okay?”
Slowly, she lifts her head, and I see the blue of her eyes first. I also see the flash of dark amusement, making my danger radar blare, but it’s too late. I see the gun, but it’s not quick enough, and it’s pressed tightly to my forehead before I can back away.
“You,” I rasp, trying to control my reaction, but I can feel the twisted rage covering my face.
“Yep, it’s me,” she says brightly, lips curling into a wide grin, proud to have gotten the drop on me. She looks nothing like she did, but now that I know what kind of darkness lurks under whatever disguise she wants to put on herself, I’ll know every time. Her hand is steady, the gun not even twitching.
“What did you do to him?” I hiss out between gritted teeth. If she’s hurt Hades, I’ll kill her. Rori will never forgive me if I let anything happen to him.
“He took a nice nap. Despite what you might think of me, I don’t kill animals just because. He’s been a very good boy for me, and we’ve been getting acquainted while you’ve been sleeping off the tranqs. Which reminds me, I need to start adjusting the dosage for giants like you. Now, get your ass up, and if you make any funny moves, I’ll make sure that you can’t get the hell out of here without a few bullets in a few painful places.”
My hands itch to take the gun from her hands, but I can’t guarantee that she doesn’t have another one at the ready to kill me, or someone waiting outside that container to take me down. I have to play this smart.
I tighten my grip on my anger and slowly push to my full height, body tense, and my hands fisted at my sides. I want to look at Hades to know that he’s alright, but I can’t chance it. My teeth grind when I hear her coo, “That’s a good boy.” She’s looking at me as she says it, but she’s petting the dog and gently moving his head from her lap as she gets to her feet.
Something tells me that she’s deliberately trying to goad me. I won’t give her the satisfaction. She’s the only link I have to Rori.
I take her in, seeing that she’s changed her appearance beyond just her hair and eye color. Her lips look fuller, her nose smaller, and she looks taller. Instead of the five-five height she had when we met her with Amara, she’s now closer to five-eight.
How the fuck did she manage that so quickly? Either she has access to the best plastic surgeons in the world that can change her appearance that quickly, or she’s just that fucking good at doing this that it’s like second nature to her now.
Neither option is a good one.
“I’m starting to realize that the blood doesn’t flow all the way to the top with you, does it, big guy?” she mocks, looking up at me with an assessing stare. “Did you not hear my warning not to follow? Or do you want to die?”
“Where is Rori? What have you done with her?”
“Again with the not listening,” she huffs. “I’d ask you if she fucked the brains out of your head, but clearly you don’t have them to begin with. She is no longer your concern. You being here and getting in my way, however, is. And I really don’t like when people get in my way.” She cocks the gun, the sound echoing loudly in the space, and it points directly back at the center of my forehead, her face turning into a hard mask. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right now, Cattaneo, and be done with it.”
13
ALONZO
Maybe others would cowerto her, considering who she is, but I find that I don’t care. I stare down at her, unmoved by her threat. I’m not arrogant enough to think that she won’t kill me, or that I can take her down and immobilize her, but if she were going to, she’d have done it already.
