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The three men behind me sucked in a collective breath.
They shifted on their feet again, backing away from me and making the floorboards creak-creak-creak-creak with their jerky, hurried movements. Well, it was good that my reputation had preceded me. Perhaps when it came time for me to kill Grimes and Hazel, these fools would cringe and cower instead of getting in my way. A nice thought, but I wasn't going to pin my hopes and dreams on it.
But once again, the brother and sister seemed completely unconcerned by my moniker.
"The Spider?" Hazel sneered. "Really? You're the big, bad bitch who took out Mab Monroe? I don't believe it. "
I shrugged. "Believe it or not. Doesn't much matter to me. "
"You're lying," Grimes said. "The Spider would never come here. She would never waste her time on some ill-advised rescue mission. "
"Oh, I wouldn't say that it was so ill-advised, seeing as how I'm standing here and Sophia isn't. " I grinned. "Y'all didn't catch her, did you?"
A muscle twitched in Grimes's cheek, but he returned my shrug with one of his own, as though the fact that
I'd stolen Sophia right out from under his nose was of no consequence. "This isn't the first time that Sophia has escaped. She'll be back here where she belongs soon enough. "
Hazel let out a derisive snort, then rolled her eyes. "All you've done for the past several months is talk and talk about Sophia Deveraux. I don't see what you find so fascinating about her. She's just a dwarf. Not even a very pretty one at that. Did you see those tacky clothes she had on? Not to mention that horrid spiked collar that she was wearing. You could do better, Harley. So much better. At the very least, we can find you a college girl who will clean up much nicer than Sophia Deveraux ever could. "
From the evil glint in her eye, what she really meant was some poor girl whom Hazel would have an easier time torturing, an easier time breaking. It wouldn't surprise me if Hazel got even more enjoyment out of using her Fire magic on their victims than Grimes did. Sadistic bitch.
Grimes studied her a moment, as though he were considering her words, and a hopeful smile curved her crimson lips. Grimes stood up and walked around his desk, and Hazel turned to meet him. She held her hands out, reaching for his -
Grimes slapped her across the face for her trouble.
Hazel stumbled away, hitting the doors at the back of the office hard enough to make the glass rattle in the panes. She whirled around, her mouth open wide in surprise, a hand pressing against her cheek as if she couldn't believe the growing red welt there - and the fact that
Grimes had hit her, his own sister, as casually as he would hit anyone else.
"Sophia is mine ," Grimes growled, his brown eyes darkening with fury, as though the answer to Hazel's question should be obvious. "She's the only woman I've ever met
who's strong enough to be mine. She's the only one who's never been cowed by me or backed down from me. All the others who have come through here over the years have been weak, foolish creatures, crying to go home, cringing at the smallest little thing, begging for mercy until I give them to my men just to be rid of their incessant whining. Every single one of them has displeased me, disappointed me with her weakness. But Sophia never has. "
Fletcher had said in his file that Grimes was sick and twisted, but I was beginning to realize exactly how warped he really was. Harley Grimes imagined himself to be the king of this little mountain, and he took whatever and whomever he wanted, brought them here, and expected them to serve him in any way that he deemed fit. And when someone displeased him, when she cried, screamed, and sobbed at the terrible torture that he inflicted on her, then the fault was hers, and off to his men she were sent, to suffer that much more.
"You're right," I said. "Sophia is strong. She's certainly stronger than you, you sick son of a bitch. And as long as I'm alive, you will never lay one hand on her again, not so much as one fucking finger . "
Grimes took a menacing step toward me. I clenched my hands into fists, bracing myself for what was to come.
Because as soon as he was within arm's reach, I was going to lunge forward, grab the revolver out of the holster on his waist, and shoot him point-blank in the chest with it - even though I knew that I'd die in the attempt.
Either the men behind me would put a couple of bullets in my skull, or Hazel would scorch me to death with her Fire magic. And of course, there was always the possibility that Grimes's gun was empty of bullets, the way it had been when Sophia had tried to shoot him with it. But
I didn't care. I'd bludgeon him to death with the thing if I had to. All that mattered was making sure that Sophia and Jo-Jo were safe from Harley Grimes forever. And if I had to sacrifice my life to save theirs, well, it was a trade that I was happy to make. For them and for Fletcher too.
But Grimes thwarted me without even realizing it, because he stopped and smoothed down his suit jacket, obviously trying to rein in his temper. His hands went to one cuff, then the other, pulling them down. As a final touch, he fingered the brim of his baby-blue hat and then the matching feather stuck there, as though making sure the fedora was still securely perched on his head, his peacock's plume perfectly on display. When he raised his eyes to mine again, he was cool, calm, and in control once more.
Grimes gave me a pleasant smile, the sort a shark would give a guppie before it snapped the smaller creature in two with its many teeth. "Well, then, Ms. Blanco, or whoever the hell you really are, it's a good thing that you won't be alive much longer, isn't it?"
I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what I thought about him, hoping to distract him long enough to surge forward, grab his gun, and end him. But Grimes snapped his fingers, and two of the men behind me stepped forward and clamped their hands on my arms, while the third shoved his gun into my back again.
"Take her outside to the usual spot," he ordered. "And call the men together. We all might as well have a little fun before we go back down to Ashland to find Sophia and bring her back here where she belongs. "
Chapter Twenty-one
Grimes turned his back on me, dismissing me from his thoughts, at least for the moment, and strode around behind his desk, putting himself well out of range of any desperate lunge that I might make at him.
Hazel moved over to Grimes and laid a possessive hand on his shoulder. She smirked at me. "Don't worry, now, sugar ," she drawled, using the same mocking tone that I had used earlier. "We'll be with you in a few minutes. "
