Page 105 of The Devil's Hunt

“I don’t want your money. I have enough of my own.”

“Then why would you help me?” No one in our world did favors for free. She had to have an ulterior motive.

“I want out, and the only way I can do that is to deliver Mila to you. I know who you are, Archer. I’m well aware of the reach The Brotherhood has. I know that once Mila is safe, you will get your revenge. And when you do, I want to watch you burn him alive. I want to be free of my brother and The Collectors once and for all.”

“You want me to kill your brother for you?”

“There’s no love lost.”

I eyed her skeptically because the last girl Kai trusted worked for Alexander the entire time. “Can you excuse us for a second?” I asked her, gesturing toward Kai and Theo.

“Of course. Take all the time you need,” she responded, disappearing into another room.

“What are you thinking?” Kai asked me.

“I’m thinking the last time you trusted a woman, she helped kidnap Mila.”

“I’m sorry, man. I feel terrible enough as it is. I didn’t know. But I wasn’t looking for anything other than pussy with Maddie, so I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

“How do I know it’s not pussy clouding your mind again?” I raised an eyebrow.

“With Haven? Come on, man. She’s Alexander’s sister,” he whispered, blushing.

“She turned you down,” Theo chuckled.

“Shut up. That’s not why we’re here. Look, Haven is nothing like her brother. She’s ruthless and cunning, but I trust her when she says she can help us.”

“How do I know it’s not a trap?”

“You don’t,” Haven interjected behind us.

I looked over my shoulder to see Haven emerging from her room with a large black bag slung over her shoulder.

“Sorry to rush you. I just got a text from Alex. He needs me to pick up a shipment and bring it to work tonight for some of his buyers,” she sighed as she moved through the house, grabbing a jacket and her keys.

“A shipment?” I questioned.

“Yeah, a shipment. I’m sure Kai has filled you in on my role in The Collector hierarchy,” she snapped.

“Not yet.”

“I’ll explain later. For now, you’ll have to settle for the cliff notes,”she stopped in front of us, breathless. “I sell his drugs to high-end buyers at my place of employment.”

I studied her face, evaluating her for any signs of deception or fear, but she remained stoic and tapped her foot impatiently.

This girl was a spitfire.

“If you don’t want to use me, that’s fine. If you need more time to think, so be it. But you need to go. And I need to go. He doesn’t like it when I’m late,” she urged us toward the front door, following closely behind and locking it as we stepped out. “Listen, when you make a decision, Kai knows where to find me.” She hurried down the hallway and disappeared into the elevator.

Once the elevator doors had closed, I asked, “Jesus Christ, Kai. Is she the best option?”

“I like her,” Theo chuckled.

“She’s ouronlyoption,” Kai replied.

43

FORTY-THREE

---