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We move silently in a line, Ares creeping close to the house. We stop when Ares raises his hand. He waits for a second and then pokes his head into the doorway, looking through the glass window that affords him a view of the inside of the house.
He glances around and then looks at me, his eyes tightening.
Ares holds up a hand indicating that there are five people with guns inside the house that he can see.
He looks at the hired gun, sucking in a breath. I motion to kick in the door and then usher them back a few steps. I kick in the door as hard as I can and brandish my weapon.
Immediately, there is heat on me. The first movement I see, I aim at, and then the second I know for a fact that it's not Penny, I shoot.
The armed guard I shot at manages to get a round off first, firing and missing me by only millimeters. But that's what I get for being hesitant and trying not to shoot until I know what I am actually aiming at. I know that I am opening myself up to a lot more gunfire than I otherwise would be.
But Penny’s life could hang in the balance.
In less than a minute, Ares and the guard have taken out the other four armed men, spraying the entire roof with bullets. I throw out an arm, gesturing for them to stop.
“We don't know yet if Penny is upstairs or downstairs or even right behind the flimsy walls!” I hiss.
Ares stops, licking his lips.
“Aye,” he says. “Lead the way.”
I listen hard for footsteps, trying to sense where other people may be hiding or even heading to confront us.
But I'm surprised by the soundless entrance of a man and a woman. The man looks like he has seen better days; dark, ruffled hair, bright blue eyes, maybe fifty-five years of age. The woman looks exactly like Penny but older. Raven hair, milky white skin, and a distinctly hectic energy around her.
These must be Penny’s parents, then.
The man holds his hands up, clearly unarmed.
“You must be the young man that has ensnared Persephone.” He touches his head, giving me a measuring gaze. “I’m Ben. This is Marcia, Persephone’s mother. It seems to me that something can be worked out here. Perhaps a price? I know you are a businessman, not unlike myself…”
I don’t even pause. Without even thinking about it, I shake my head. “There’s only one way that I am leaving here today. And that’s with Penny at my side.”
Ben crosses his arms and his lips twitch. “You are stubborn. I’ll give you that. Constantine said that you would be difficult to talk to.”
“I’m going to kill Constantine..” I fold my arms and give her parents a look to let them know that I’m running out of patience.
Marcia clutches Ben’s arm and pales. “That’s too bad, we had great plans for Persephone and Constantine. They had a future together.”
“Constantine raped her. He killed her friend. And he pushed her off a cliff. Hell he left her for dead. I don’t see what there is to talk about. Penny’s mine now."
Marcia stares at me. “We don’t want you near Persephone. You’ve already tried to ruin her life. Just leave. We will put the baby up for adoption.”
“I don’t think that ye’ve even taken into account the fact that Penny wants to be with me. We’re in love.”
“Love?” Her dad scoffs. “Persephone wouldn’t know what love was if it bit her in the ass. She is still young. Plenty of time to find a suitable companion, someone that we approve of.”
I glanced at Ares, giving him a little look.
Are Persephone’s parents serious? Are they deluded? It’s hard to tell.
Ares speaks up. “We’re not leaving here without the girl. So ye can either hand her over or die. I won’t really pretend that it matters to me, honestly. I imagine that my brother won’t want to see ye die, but if we have to kill ye to get to her, we will. It’s not a problem.”
The hired gun brandishes his weapon, clearly edgy and itching for action.
“How much will it cost you just to forget all this? Fifty thousand dollars, perhaps?” Ben offers.
Ares lets out a laugh and Marcia curls her lip at him.
