Page 37 of Rising from the Ashes

Suck it up, bitch. You train, you fuck, you kill. If he wants to lie to you, then you kill him.

Gathering my composure, I peek my head back in their direction, listening to the rest of their conversation.

“You can’t help who your family is, Shado. Demassi’s off the board now anyway, stop chasing a ghost.”

Demassi was his father? Is that why he took him out that night? He wasn’t even there to save me?

Everly would never have gotten into bed with someone wanting to take out her organization. He had to have fooled her, too.

Blocking out the rest of their conversation, bile begins to rise in my throat as I try to put the pieces together, pieces of the puzzle that I may have missed about Shado. Coming up with nothing, I feel as though my throat is tightening as anxiety and nausea wash over me.

Knowing I need to make myself scarce as I am unarmed and surrounded by crime rings that I have targeted the last year, I swing my leg over my bike and turn the key in the ignition. The engine roars to life as I spin the wheels and peel out of the alley, not caring if any one notices.

Hauling ass back to my safehouse, I need to try and figure out what I should do.

***

Walking into my house, the air feels heavy. The emotions rolling through me take me back to the night where I was chained to the wet concrete floor as I saw my father and Silas standing before me.

Betrayal.

When was he planning on making his move? When was he planning on killing me?

I turn down the hallway back into my room where Shado’s bag is lying on my floor. My legs feel like jello as I stride over to it, kneeling down, and begin pulling out the contents; a bunch of clothes, a first aid kit, and bullets for his glock. I start to think there is nothing of importance stashed away until my hands brush across a piece of paper. Unfolding it, I find a note dated from when I first started my mission after leaving the league, with my old name scribbled in a man’s handwriting.

“The Huntress…?”

Collapsing back on my heels, the realization washes over me that he has been tracking me all this time; that him joining The Society was an act. He knew more about me than he ever let on. Crumpling the note into my pocket, I scoot back against the wall, bringing my knees to my chest. A knot begins to form in my throat as my sobs that have been threatening to escape erupt from my mouth as my tears cascade down my cheeks.

My vision begins to blur, as my world around me distorts. My mind is struggling to distinguish between the truth and the lies, the reality and the act. I find myself engulfed in a raging sea of betrayal, and a simmering, all-consuming anger starts to brew deep in the pit of my stomach.

Breaking through my sobs, I hear my phone ping. Pulling it from my pocket, I swipe the tears away from my eyes to see a message from Everly.

E: Meet me at your persuasion room.

Rising from the floor, I inhale deeply, holding the air in an attempt to ground me. Exhaling, it’s as if a switch flips in my brain. It is time to work, to do the one thing I know I excel at. Grabbing my quiver, I strap it snugly to my back. After this job for Everly, I will terrorize the night until I find Shado.

If it’s The Huntress he wants, then I will give him The Huntress.

Chapter twelve

Shado

Ice cold water is overtaking my lungs, and I can feel a strong grip at the base of my skull. The water tastes salty and my face feels like it is on fire.

They’re going to kill me.

The hand yanks me backward as I gasp for breath, hearing a familiar voice.

“What did you tell Drake Reign?” I can hear heels click as they walk around me.

Gasping for air, I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to blink away the water.

Opening my eyes, a dim light is shining above me, but I can see a light shadow of the man holding my head back. His face is flat and his eyes are dull. I know if Everly said so, he would not hesitate to kill me right here and now.

“Nothing he didn’t already know.” I choke the words out. My face is burning, my lips feel on fire and swollen.

Before slamming my head forward back into the water, I feel the sharp sting mash against my temple, the unmistakable feeling of brass knuckles. Unable to register the pain, I feel my head being pushed back down into the water before I am able to close my mouth. Water invades my lungs as the man behind me holds my head down.

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