Page 75 of Marked by the Demigod

"And a god can't be friends with a man." Vanya finishes, as if this is a thing they said to each other all the time. It crawls with so much bullshit and pride that her stomach flips over.

"Is that what you are? Gods?" She asks, staring hard at the church. For a brief second she catches a glimpse of Katya's black bob in the church doors, before it turns away and is lost again.

"Well, yes, and we --" Pieter says.

"We know who your man is and he's not a blond guy from Hawaii." Vanya says, face still stone cold. "And we want to know why."

The feelings going out of her feet. "Dave says he must've been scared," she says, her mouth feeling loose, like she's talking from far away. "I didn't know him before."

"I believe you in that." And Vanya places a cold hand on the back of her neck. Her heart jumps, painful, skin crawling to hunch away from his touch.

Iakov could probably do this as well, and her skin crawls anew at the thought of him doing so.

"So tell us where our brother is," Pieter says, and he's still talking as if he's in a casual conversation with a friend. "We know you know."

"I don't know," she blurts out, beyond her control. It sits heavy in her stomach, how easy it comes out, as if they have a block on her for lying and...

Katya appears at the door of the church, locks eyes with her across the parking lot, and freezes. Aimes doesn't know if she can see her, but she widens her eyes as much as possible to see if she can convey the fact that she really needs some fucking help.

Katya's hand drifts to her side, and thank god she's wearing her gun, even in a church, even at a funeral.

The twins exchange glances between the two of them. "He doesn't tell you?"

"Not at all," she says, her mind racing. "Never tells me when he's coming or going, I never know when I'll see him."

Vanya sighs, as if weary. "So he's being smart." His hand doesn't exactly tighten on her neck, just sort of gets heavier, as if he’ pressing down harder.

Katya takes that moment to stride out, waving at her. "Hey Amy!" She yells. "Librarian photo!"

Aimes flinches at the not name, and Vanya immediately drops his hand, and the pressure holding her feet down evaporates. She stumbles; she has been straining against the pressure and the sudden lack leaves her dizzy.

"Don't think we don't know who that is," he snaps. "Don't think we don't know where you are, where you live, and what you do."

Pieter leans in close. "Don't think we won't kill you to draw him out."

Katya approaches, a blotch of color high in her cheeks, and the twins abruptly disappear.

She staggers, the sudden lack of pressure on her neck like a bruise, and Katya all but catches her.

"What did they say to you?" Katya hisses. "Did they say they killed Dave?"

Aimes shakes her head, putting way too much effort to stand up straight, her legs trembling. "No, they...they just wanted to see who showed up. They said --"

Katya immediately starts examining the back of her neck, brusque, almost a pat down. "Did they touch your car?"

She nods. "They were sitting on it when --"

"Then we're leaving it here and I'm taking you home." She gets close, too close. "Did they touch your clothing?"

Her mind swims. "They might've brushed against the jacket --"

"Take it off and leave it here." Her voice quavers, a little bit, and Aimes realizes that Katya isn't just scared, she's furious.

Aimes complies, shedding the jacket and laying it on the car. "They said they knew about Iakov --"

"No shit." She snaps, holding her by her arms, bracing. "Text him. Text him now."

Hands shaking, Aimes pulls out her phone. "They said they would kill me --

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