“Okay.” He turns to hand me both a pistol as well as an AR-15. “All three of them are going to test me? Even Teddy?” I ask.
“Why? Are you scared of Teddy?” he asks in a serious tone, brows furrowed.
I just snort, “Of course not. Amazed? In awe of? Absolutely. But scared? Hell no.”
“Now you’re the stupid one.” Max laughs, yes, a real fucking laugh. The sound is so rough, but silky that I might as well call it catnip for my pussy. My pride will never survive in this house, I just know it.
I clear my throat to shake the thoughts out of my head. “Possibly. But for some reason, I just know Teddy won’t hurt me.” I shrug.
“Don’t get too comfortable too quickly.” he warns as he grabs an MP-40 for himself.
“No, I’m serious.” We begin to grab boxes of ammo. “I see the same darkness that exists in me is in him. Like recognizes like. He won't hurt me, not really anyway.” Max only hums in response when he opens another door that leads us into an indoor shooting range, he doesn't say anything for a moment when he leads me to a stall.
“Okay, Harpy.” Max grunts, “Show me what you got.”
12
Constituents and Interactions
Dean
“Can we hurry this up, I’d like to get home to see Z.” Teddy whines in the passenger seat.
I rolled my eyes for the tenth time in the last twenty minutes. All he cares about is seeing Z. It’s obvious that Zoe has become his new obsession, and to say I’m worried would be an understatement. When Teddy locks onto something, or in this case someone, he can become lethal when he doesn’t get what he wants. It always ends with him breaking the item in question. And we can’t afford for Zoe to be broken, not with her joining the team.
I trust Max’s judgment, so if he thinks she can handle it-- then she most likely can. All we truly know about her is that she’s The Sparrow, so she is a killing machine, and she is the offspring of the most ruthless and unpredictable man to walk this earth.
“I’m sure we can make quick work of it at the laundromat. Just do thatthing.”I tell Teddy. I look over to what he’s focusing on, and he is watching the in-home security cameras on his phone, and he’s zoomed in on Zoe. I shake my head and focus back on the road.
I don’t care what happens to Zoe. All I care about is my brothers surviving. We’ve been through so much. Being infoster care, then on the streets, then when we were taken in and inducted by Kahl; I can’t imagine a world without them. I know having Zoe a part of our team could be helpful in the long run, and she can be our secret weapon to destroying the Cambions, but Zoe is merely a chess piece in this game. If she is the reason that something happens to my brothers, I will have to kill her.
Kahl was merciless, in every sense of the word. He tested us, trained us, and broke us apart then put us back together. In some ways he was like our father, but in other ways, he was our destruction.
“Which thing?” Teddy cuts through my thoughts as he flicks a butterfly knife through his fingers. “I have a lot of things. It could be the bat thing, the dog thing, or even the skinning them alive thing. I need you to be specific, or I might just make Max angry.” He sing-songs.
I shiver at his suggestions, “Fuck. No, Teddy. I’m talking about that thing you do when you stand way too close to people. I can do the countdown, and you can take a step closer until Carl caves.” I explain, seriously praying internally that he doesn’t try to do the dog thing.
Teddy’s only response is a single nod, but I don’t miss the disappointment written on his face. I know once we are there, he’ll focus on the job we have to do, but he is distracted by the thought of Zoe today. I think we all are. I’m thinking about how I’ll be testing her. I know Max is testing her on physical combat and shooting today, but he’ll also be testing her at the event for the art museum this evening.
All I plan to do is to bring her to our gym and train her on muscle. I couldn’t tell where she was in strength training by justlooking at her so I’ll need to see how she can handle herself on the weights.
Once we park in front of the laundromat, I push all thoughts of Zoe away and focus on the task at hand. “Let’s go.”
We step through the front door and Carl is already standing at the front desk. “Good morning, how can I-.” His sentence is cut short when he looks up and sees us instead of a customer.
“Look, I don't have the money yet. It’s been a slow few months and I just can’t swing your price right now.” He holds his hands up and takes a step back.
“We know you have it, Carl. Let’s take the easy route today. Teddy’s patience is very thin.” I explain. I look over at Teddy who was standing beside me but has somehow managed to get on the opposite side of the front desk and is now standing a few feet behind Carl. Carl tracks the movement of my eyes and jumps when he notices Teddy standing calmly behind him, flicking his butterfly knife.
“Let me make it clear for you,” I start as I step closer to the desk. “You always seem to forget that we see everything. We know the Cambion’s were here, and we know they offered you another deal. If you can afford their protection fee, you can absolutely afford ours. Did you also forget that The Karma’s were the ones to buy this property for you, so you didn’t get shut down?” I ask.
Carl freezes and doesn’t respond. “Great. So, I will give you until the count of five, and if you don’t hand over what you owe us for this monthandlast, then Teddy here will have to make an example of you.” I shrug. “One.”
Teddy takes a single step towards Carl, “Okay, okay. I have the money I owe from last month. Please I just need a few more weeks to pay for this month.” he sputters.
I make atsksound with my tongue, “That’s a lie. We know you have it.” I adjust my shirt to flash him the gun I have tucked into the waist of my jeans. “Two.”
Teddy makes another step towards Carl, and I can see Carl beginning to shake. It’s like he’s vibrating, and if I’m not mistaken, I’m sure I can see tears welling in his eyes.
