"Time," Ares repeats, the word draped in an unspoken threat. "How much time?"
"Their system... the SSL... it's unlike anything I've seen. Whoever designed it knew what they were doing. This isn’t the same guy who set up your system," 404 murmurs. "But there’s no way we can get camera footage of who had access to our computers four years ago. So, it could’ve been anyone.”
Ares places a hand on 404's shoulder, and I watch the hacker flinch beneath its weight. "I expect progress, not excuses."
I’m just about to step in before Ares actually crushes 404 to the ground, but just then, my god turns to face me. I swallow a knot that I hadn’t realized had formed in my throat, then look at 404. "Did you check on that message I sent a couple of weeks ago? About the kid?"
I can feel Ares’ eyes on me.
404 nods, fingers pausing over the keyboard for a second. "Yeah, I checked." His voice drops lower, like this could still be our secret. "The kid's okay. Police returned him to his family. He's in counseling now, getting the help he needs."
Relief floods through me. At least I did one fucking thing right.
"And Cynthia?" I force the name past my lips because I feel nothing but repulsion for that woman.
"They found her three days later," 404 continues. "Nearly dead from dehydration. Now she's facing life after they discovered evidence at her house. She'd been making... videos. With minors."
I close my eyes for a second, realizing there aretwothings. I’ve done two things right during this whole madness in finding Elias’ killer.
I know that doesn’t balance everything else, but it makes me feel less of a loser right now.
"Life," I repeat, the concept feeling somehow insufficient. "Is that enough?"
Ares makes a sound, and when I look up, his eyes flash that pitch-black darkness. "That’s what Kharon is for."
His words never made more sense, his game as well, because there are monsters far worse than him out there. Monsters that don’t deserve redemption or the privilege of life, even behind bars.
"Back to work," Ares commands, as if he’s trying to spare me from saying anything nice in return. He just turns his back on me, his attention returning to 404 and the screens in front of him. "I want to know who it is. Every fucking detail, every fucking name."
404's fingers resume frantically tapping across the keyboard as Ares watches him like a predator assessing his prey.
We spend another hour in the room waiting for 404 to get something, while Ares never stops tapping his fingers against the desk, like he’s competing with 404. We both know there’s nothing the two of us can do. At least not here, not when it comes to computers. We’re warriors, not geeks.
I can tell Ares is growing more and more impatient, muttering something about his precious balance, while looking at me like all of this is my fault.
I’m one step away from giving him attitude. It’s because of me that he found out he has a leak in the system. But I can’t rub that in his face without it exploding in my face seconds later. So, I bite my tongue, for now, secretly knowing I did three good things.Three.
Ares orders his men to take 404 to a different location where he’ll have access to servers, more computers, and everything else he needs to get to the bottom of this. Then he gets out of the room and starts walking down the corridor, like I’m supposed to know what to do. But the very next second, I wish he had just left me here because I have a feeling someone will pay for all of this. And I’m the only one left around.
“Come, Brynn, I need to take the edge off.”
What the fuck doestake the edge offeven supposed to mean?
thirteen
-Brynn-
I have a bad feeling about this, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. I just follow Ares down the hallway, then limp my way up the stairs, each step sending stabbing pain through my injured leg. Not that he fucking cares. He doesn’t even look back, doesn’t offer to help, and he’s probably right anyway because I’m not the kind who would accept it.
The bastard strides ahead, knowing I can’t keep up. “Could you slow down?” I mutter under my breath, “Some of us are limping here.” I snap, knowing I’m gonna lose him sooner or later, and I’m not in the mood to go wandering through the whole house looking for him.
He ignores me completely, like he didn’t even hear the sound of my voice, or perhaps he’s trying to control me with some kind of power play.
He wants me to hobble behind him, struggling to keep up like a wounded animal. I could never be that person. Except, right now, our circumstances are… special, and I know deep down he won’t forgive me before he gets his revenge. That’s exactly what I would do.
I swallow the bitter taste of humiliation and force myself to walk faster, refusing to give him another reason to do something stupid. Especially since I have a bad feeling that he’s already set his mind on something.
I watch him walk down the corridor and disappear inside his office. There’s nothing much left for me to do than to follow his trail. Still, I pause at the threshold like something inside me is warning me not to follow.
