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I pull out of his grasp and almost stumble over the body of a very dead hunter in the process. “Okay! I can walk, Lex.”
Sounds of fighting and death are still coming from the club, but he doesn’t turn in that direction. Instead, he opens the door adjacent to where we came from that leads to another, shorter hallway. There’s a red EXIT sign above a solid metal door at the end of this hallway, and Lex shoves it open.
I’m immediately blasted by cool, night air, which is a relief to my heated skin. “What about Scarlett?” I ask, breathing heavily as we walk down an alley until the sounds from inside grow quieter.
“She’s human. They won’t hurt her. Plus, she has a gun behind the bar and is a pro at Krav Maga.”
“Holy shit,” I mutter. “I want to be her when I grow up.”
Lex laughs, though it’s not his usual easygoing one that I’ve become rather fond of, and I understand why. Tonight was a complete shit show. And it really doesn’t bode well for any sort of negotiations we might be trying to plan with the hunters.
* * *
The house is quiet when we walk through the front door, but the hair on the back of my neck is standing straight up.
We make it two steps inside before Atlas is there, slamming the door shut with pure fury etched into his sharp features.
Lex and I exchange a quick glance before he sighs. “Here we go.”
16
Atlas
In my many decades on this earth, I cannot recall ever being so unreservedly furious.
Feeling this way toward two of the most important people to me makes it significantly worse.
Lex and Calla are covered in blood—some of it theirs, most of it not. They’re completely disheveled but otherwise appear to be okay. Because they got fucking lucky.
Lex has the sense to look apologetic as our eyes meet, and the icy glare I shoot him makes him drop his gaze almost immediately.
“I will deal with you later,” I growl at him, grabbing Calla by the arm and dragging her down the hallway.
I throw open the bedroom door and shove her inside, storming in after her and slamming the door behind me. I close my hands into fists at my sides to keep myself from grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the wall. “Do you have any idea how incredibly stupid what you did tonight was?”
Her heart is hammering in her chest, her eyes a mixture of panic and anger. There's dried blood on her chin, and I can see the tips of her fangs when she opens her mouth to scowl at me. “First of all,” she says, “tonight wasn't even my idea, and even if it was, I'm an adult. And last I checked, you’re not my dad.”
A muscle ticks along my jaw as I tower over her. “I want to know every single detail of what happened.”
She stares at me a moment, then sighs heavily. “Seriously? It was an ambush, Atlas. What more do you want me to say?”
“How many did you kill?”
She shakes her head, lowering her lashes as her gaze falls from mine. “A few.”
There's a part of me that wants to pull her into my arms and comfort her, but I can't bring myself to. I grab her chin, forcing her gaze to mine. “It was you or them, right?”
“Yes,” she answers in a tight voice.
“Then forget about it.” It's as close as I can get to comforting her when the anger in my chest still burns so hot. “If you ever do something like that again—”
“What?” she snaps, cutting me off. “What are you going to do? Lock me up? Lock Lex up?”
I lean in, lowering my voice. “If that's what it takes to ensure you don’t go out and get yourself killed, you're damn right I will.”
She shoves my hand away from her face, baring her fangs as she says, “You do that, and I can't speak for Lex, but I won't forgive you.”
“This isn't a game, Calla. This is real. This is war.”
