Page 31 of The Blood Widow

“Nope. I’m not going first.” I couldn’t. Whatever magic they had in this fucking alcohol was potent. I needed time to sober up before I said something stupid.

“Fair enough.” Ezra closed his eyes and groaned. “Do you guys remember the time we found the skin-trade warehouse on accident?”

The others nodded with a similar groan.

“How do you stumble upon things like that by accident?” I knew how, the Blood Widow had just done that on her last mission, but I wasn’t supposed to be her, right? My mind was getting muddled up.

Ezra turned his gray eyes my way. The alcohol made them lose some of their clarity, but it still felt great to have his attention. The sad smile he gave me wasn’t as great, though.

“We had a rescue mission that ended up deeper than even our buyer knew. The fucking Sinisters had fifty people in cages. We tried to help them. After fighting for what felt like ages, the fuckers blew up the place. Only half of them got out alive. To this day, I still hear their screams in my nightmares.”

I didn’t like his lost tone. It sounded like there wasn’t any good left in the world. It sounded like defeat.

Before I knew what I was doing, I crawled over to him. My body was wobbly, so someone grabbed my hips to keep me from falling, but they didn’t stop me. Ezra froze as I snuggled up to him and wrapped him in my arms. I didn’t even remember why I shouldn’t be doing this. It felt great to hug him.

“Looks like you’re a lightweight as well,” Ezra said and kissed the top of my head. “Thank you for the hug. I’m not sure when the last time I was hugged by someone that wasn’t family.”

I snuggled deeper into his warm embrace. “Welcome,” I mumbled.

A foot nudging my leg caught my attention. I moved to let go of Ezra, but he tightened his hold on me, so I snuck a look at the other two. Dominic had a bright smile on his face while Cole was drowning in another cup. Worry pinched my heart, but he glanced my way and winked at me, so I relaxed again.

Maybe I could go to sleep like this?

“Hey, you owe us a story,” Dominic said, making me open my eyes again.

“What was the question?” I asked with a yawn.

“Leave her alone. If she’s tired, let her sleep.” Ezra’s chest moved as he spoke.

Dominic’s lower lip puffed out. “I wanted to hear more about her. The worst job she’s been on will tell me a lot about this little crush of mine.”

I couldn’t help but snort. “You barely know me. I don’t know why we feel so drawn to each other. It doesn’t make sense.”

Dominic jabbed Cole with his elbow. “See. Told you she felt the same way about us,” he whispered, but I heard him.

Wait, what did I say? Oh well, they wanted to know my worst job, I’d tell them. Even if it’d give me nightmares like it always did when I brought it up.

I licked my lips. “Mine isn’t as big as yours. Only one person died, but there were more feelings involved.” I sat up.

Ezra’s arm didn’t leave my side. It grounded me enough I could continue. “Before I became the good guy, helping people. I was tricked into being a monster. Killing became a game, a sport, to me. Until they asked me to kill a little boy.”

I closed my eyes tightly trying to get rid of his image. His innocent soft face with big brown doe eyes. He was so fucking small.

“Who?” Ezra asked.

I bit my lower lip, hating to say their name. “New Age Organization.”

They gasped, so I tightened my closed eyes. The rumors about that place were almost like the Blood Widow’s. No one knew they were true, but the name created fear. The Organization went int hiding when I killed their seer, but they had never stopped killing, or hunting me.

Cole’s spicy scent got closer to me. When I finally opened my eyes, his green ones were filled with encouragement.

“I wanted to tell you so many times, but I couldn’t. I…” I shook my head slightly. “Anyway, I hid that kid for almost a year, but the organization had a powerful seer on their side, so I could never get out of the city with him. I found so many rebellion factions willing to help that were blocked by magic. It was the only reason we survived. Finally, we had a way out, but right before I could get him through a portal, we were attacked.”

Tears stung the back of my eyes. Cole’s grew glossy with me. “Why didn’t you portal yourself out?”

I gave him a sad little smile. My Cole was always so caring. If he really knew what I had done back then, those worry lines around his eyes wouldn’t be there. His face would be riddled with disgust. He grabbed my hand to get me to finish. I did. I would do nearly anything for Cole.

“It was before I knew what my powers were. The place that held me kept me drugged, so I couldn’t mature. Max was the reason I saw the truth, and I lost him. It was why I became the Blood Widow to protect people like him. To be better. To pay back this city for what I did to it.”

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