Callie shrugs. “You build software. You should appreciate collaboration when it amplifies performance.”
Jace takes a step toward her, but I block him without looking over my shoulder. He puts his hand between my shoulder blades, a fine tremble rattling through him.
“You’re not here to warn us,” I remark, my anger finally matching Jace and Silas. “And you’re not here for closure.”
“No,” she agrees. “I’m here to remind you that she didn’t fall into your lives by accident.”
The door behind us opens, and Eris emerges from the kitchen into the garage oozing confidence. She’s heard everything through the security panel on the wall.
And I have a moment of wondering if I’m wrong about Callie and Daniel being the predators in this situation. When you’re being pursued, chased, you don’t suck the oxygen from a room with your presence alone.
But that’s what Eris does.
Callie’s smile sharpens into a forced expression. “There she is.”
Our goddess of discord doesn’t slow. She just gives a lazy grin. “Here I am.”
“You’re going to act shocked now?”
“No,” Eris sings, a hint of laughter in her voice. “I’m going to say thank you.
The she-devil frowns. “Why?”
“Daniel following me. You waiting here so patiently for us to get home from the grocery store,” she says mildly. “That’s not a coincidence. That’s strategy. And I can respect strategy.”
Callie tilts her head. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry.” Eris smiles, thin and precise, as she gets so close to Callie they’re nearly toe-to-toe. This is the second time Eris has been within arm’s reach, and it’s the second time I’ve wondered if I should step in or let nature take its course.
What’s the right answer here?
Eris clicks her tongue in a way that makes me feel like I’m being admonished for bad behavior, though she doesn’t address anyone except Callie.
“I was giving you time to hang yourself, but you’ve been so delightfully sloppy, it didn’t take as long I thought. I may have given us both too much credit. I assumed my promise was enough of a warning, though I didn’t take into account that you’re not from Crimson Bay.”
Silas sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. I take my glasses off and tuck them into my pocket in case we need to intervene. Jace grabs the back of my shirt to stop me from moving toward them.
I glance between the two women and feel everything lock into place.
This isn’t about Callie’s jealousy.
This isn’t even some sort of female rivalry, cat fight type of bullshit.
It’s a mutual obsession, split between two different pseudo-predators circling the same target.
And there is no man at the center.
It’s just Eris.
Keeping everyone in her sights until she decides who gets their throat ripped out first.
“Don’t get smug,” Callie warns as she steps back, adjusting her sunglasses in her hair. “Enjoy their protection detail. It won’t last forever.”
Eris gives no reaction. “Neither will you.”
“Sure.” Callie laughs once, bright and full of shit as she looks dead at Silas. “I’ve got your crypto key.”
He goes so rigid I swear he’s turned to marble. I run through the cold storages we have and where all the hardware is, but I can’t recall anything being missing.
