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“Where is she!”
“D-ea-ad,” he croaks, and I roar, my fingers squeezing into his neck.
“You’re lying!”
A strangled laugh comes out of him, and I can’t stop my fists from flying. I’m vaguely aware that I’m screaming, hitting him again and again and drowning out the sound of the flames. Voices are in the distance telling me to get out, but I ignore them.
Fire can’t fucking stop me.
My fists are drenched in red, but I don’t stop until my head swims with smoke and dizziness, and I feel myself start to fall; my last thought being…I failed her.
46
Atlas
Heavy is the Head
“Atlas, what the fuck happened?”Ivor spits through the phone.
“It was a mess,” I tell him, “but I can confirm that Eli is dead and the body is disposed of.”
There’s a pause while I wait for his reaction.
“I told you I wanted him brought to us.” Ivor’s voice is low with a subtle edge to it.
“I tried. There was nothing I could do,” I reply, keeping it as simple as possible.
“I’m sure,” Ivor says. For a moment, he’s silent, and I look at my phone, wondering if he hung up, when he speaks again, “Do you require anything else from us for the cleanup?”
“No,” I reply, “but….”
“What is it?”
“My woman, she died in the same fire that killed Eli,” I manage to get out, swallowing deeply. “I could use some...comfort. If I come by…”
“The brothel is back up and running. Feel free to find yourself a new girl, and my condolences on your loss.”
I end the call as quickly as possible, far from interested in Ivor’s useless and fake platitudes. I have no interest in any ‘comfort’ from any of his whores, but I had made a promise to Riot.
I getto the headquarters in short order, the security back to its normal standard. Makes me wonder how often fuckers go off the deep end in this organization, but I suppose I’ll find out myself over time.
Because you don’t leave the Iron Elite—that much is clear.
I getto the brothel and the familiar smells of incense and sex wash over me. As usual, the girls are draped in various positions around the room and my eyes scan each of them. They all sort of blend together to me, despite their varying sizes and shapes, but I recognize one from before.
“This one,” I say, taking the girl’s arm. She looks up at me with a seductive smile, but I see the wariness in her eyes when she looks at my face. There are bandages on my face and around the fresh burns on my arms and I know I look even more frightening than ever. I give her a small smile, and she seems to relax as we make our way toward one of the rooms. I nod to the guard, Mark, as we pass.
We get in and the girl turns to me with a smile, but before she can open her mouth, I ask, “Is your name Jaime?”
The girl’s eyes widen and she shakes her head, and I feel my shoulders deflate. Fuck.
“No, I’m Reyne,” she tells me, giving me a questioning look. “Jaime isn’t here anymore.”
“Shit,” I mumble, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
“Umm, if you’d rather I get someone else—” she starts to say, but I shake my head.
“Fuck, no, I’m not here for that.” Her eyes widen. “Can you tell me what happened to her?”
