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It seemed to take forever before the trunk squeaked open and the duffel thumped inside. The driver gunned the engine, and Octavio sank onto the seat beside me.
As the car pulled onto the road, he glanced over at me, barely holding back a glower. “You good, chica? I told you to put that assholeinthe ground, not just on it. Lost your nerve?”
I stared right back at him, letting my anger at being jerked around burn away my nausea. “Put him in the ground, and we leave the Hellborn rioting. Send him back to them with a message about what they get for defiance carved right into his skin, and no one fucking forgets. I think my mom will approve, whether you do or not.”
His mouth twitched, but he didn’t call out my implication that the order hadn’t actually come from Mom. Even if he realized I thought he might have attempted to betray me, he was smart enough not to force my hand by pushing the issue.
As we settled into a tense silence, my burner phone buzzed in my back pocket. I yanked it out before another alert could go off.
Several texts came through in quick succession from a number I’d labeled as BH from my brief exchange of texts with the Blood Hunter after the Storm had filled her in on my concerns. Remembering the strength that the slim, dark-haired woman had emanated when I’d met her in the coffee shop, I couldn’t help thinking she could be the key to holding Mom at bay, but she’d been noncommittal in our initial conversation.
She had a lot more to say tonight.
I think I might have some evidence for you to build your case. This was one of my front businesses.
That opening statement was followed by a link that took me to an article on a news website. The headline had my eyes widening.Sports Club Littered With Bodies After 21 Die of Food Poisoning,the title read.
My eyes widened. Twenty-one people all dead in one go—from food poisoning, of all things?
The article went on to report that the twenty-one people in question had all been employees or long-time regulars of the club. They’d stayed late into the evening for some kind of event, and the bodies had been found the next morning. Tests indicated they’d been the victims of severe food poisoning from a source that hadn’t yet been definitively identified.
But one line in particular jumped out at me.The Riverside Sports Club has been a long-time fixture in this suburban neighborhood, with sprawling grounds on the edge of the Rosewood River.
A chill wrapped around my lungs. The Rosewood—Mom had said something about that in one of her calls. That they’d put “something in the water” but “not right in the Rosewood.”
Something that would look like death by food poisoning? But why?
The Blood Hunter’s following texts held the answer.All of the dead were important employees of mine not far from my main base of operations. This feels like an attack, not an accident. And it can’t be to simply take over territory. No one has made a move to claim the club or anything in the surrounding areas. I get the impression that for now they’re just aiming to weaken my manpower.
I’m increasing security and prodding the Deadly Rose in my own way to see if she’ll reveal more, but I have no direct proof she was responsible. If you can do more with this information than I can, feel free. I’m not liking the direction this situation appears to be heading in.
My heart thumped for several halting beats before I typed out a hastyThank youin response. After a moment, I added,I’m sure my mom was involved, but I don’t know if it was her people or a co-conspirator.
The Blood Hunter deserved to know that much. There was no doubt in my mind that the “they” who’d set out to weaken the Blood Hunter was Mom and her allies.
Now I could prove that one part of a conversation I’d recorded was definitely Mom plotting to attack a fellow Devil’s Dozen member. I hadn’t gotten anything so concrete before. I couldn’t say it was enough to upend her plans, but it felt like a major step forward.
A smile tugged at my lips. But as I tucked the phone away, I caught Octavio eyeing me suspiciously before he tugged his gaze away. His expression stayed dark as he stared out the window instead.
My smile faded. Had I really made the right call by ignoring his instructions? Now he knew that I definitely didn’t trust him… which meant he’d be working even harder to displace me before I earned any more of Mom’s trust.
I was balanced way too precariously already without throwing more problems into the mix.
I folded my arms over my chest, just shy of hugging myself, and held my posture straight. But my fears and misery in the life Mom had dragged me back into closed in around me with the whir of the car’s engine, on the verge of suffocating me.
NINETEEN
Luciana
As Jasper loweredme from the final lift, a twinge ran through my ribs. With our last few moves, it deepened into an ache. I hit our ending post with a hitch in my breath.
Jasper’s gray-green eyes darkened with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I rubbed my side instinctively, and his mouth tightened. He’d been there, rushing to my aid, when Sheeran’s men back in Boston had battered my side with a flurry of kicks. “Maybe I just need a short break—and some water.”
“Always good to stay hydrated,” Niko piped up from where he was watching near the boards.
Jasper slid his arm around my shoulders in a quick but tender embrace and kissed my forehead. “We’ve been at this a while. Take all the break you need, Punk.”
