Page 28 of Hell Hath No Fury

He looks down at his undershirt, frowning, and after a moment’s pause, yanks it from where it’s tucked into his pants and pulls it over his head. He holds it out to her, and she doesn’t immediately take it from him. She, like the rest of us, is too focused on one side of his bare chest.

Having never seen Darius unclothed, I can only assume from their wide-eyed, shocked responses that what I’m seeing there must be new.

He shakes his shirt in Agatha’s direction, and she blinks and then takes it from him. She wads it in a ball and then, still staring at him, asks quietly, “What the fuck happened to you?”

Darius raises a brow at her in confusion and then looks at Tony, who is also still staring at him. His eyes move, so he’s looking down at himself, and then he laughs as he replies, “I died.”

Agatha’s eyes move from his chest to his face, and a minute later, she nods. “Well, I’m glad you weren’tdeaddead.”

Without saying anything further, she grips the shirt in her hands and then rushes by him, quickly walking out of the room.

Then we stand there silently, Tony still staring at Darius’s scarred chest, and then from behind me, Matt says, “No, really. What the fuck happened to you?”

Darius sighs heavily and shakes his head as he puts his arms back on his white shirt, leaving it hanging open. “It’s a long fucking story.”

“Pretty sure we’ve got fucking time,” Tony retorts. “But first, we probably should have you get cleaned up.”

At Tony’s words, I take a closer look at Darius and see quite a bit of the blood from Antoinette is now streaked along his skin and clothing. Darius nods, but then a ping has him pulling hisphone from his jacket pocket. He glances at the screen and says, “Well, perfect timing.”

Tony asks, “Perfect timing?”

Darius ignores his question, pockets his phone, and turns to walk down the hallway, with all of us following behind helplessly. He opens the front door, revealing a youngish-looking man standing there with his hand raised as if he was about to knock on it.

From just behind me, Matt questions, “Ivan?”

The hand that Ivan was still holding in the air turns into a wave. Darius steps back, and with a sheepish expression, thisIvansteps into the room. Since I seem to be the only person who doesn’t know who Ivan is, I step back, figuring the truth will be revealed in good time. He glances around the room and then focuses on Darius. “Did you find her?”

Darius nods but then motions over toward us. “They need an update, and I’m going to leave it to you.” He then points to his bare chest and adds, “You’ll know more about this than I would, so tell them whatever they want to know.”

At Ivan’s nod, Darius turns back to us. “I’m going to get cleaned up. I’ll answer any additional questions later.”

He doesn’t wait for us to respond. He takes off in the opposite direction, which Antoinette would have gone in, likely wanting to put some distance between them while he processes what’s happened.

We watch him disappear down the hallway, and then Tony and Matt immediately head toward the living room. I motion for Ivan to proceed me and then follow along behind him. It only takes a few moments for all of us to be situated, and then Ivan sighs and asks, “What do you want to know?”

Tony leans forward in the chair, resting his forearms on his knees, his expression serious. “How is this even possible? Wesaw him disappear. We searched and searched with no sign at all.”

Ivan presses his lips together, and just as he goes to respond, Matt interrupts, “Yeah, how were you even there? The last I saw of you, you were taking Seamus off for safekeeping.”

Ivan grins and then replies, “Camilla’s car was blocked in, so I did the only thing I could think of at the time. I stole a boat.”

Matt shakes his head. “But I didn’t see you anywhere out there.”

“You wouldn’t have. If you’re gonna steal a boat in a busy harbor, you do it inconspicuously. Right?”

Matt expels a laugh in a rush. “So, just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Is that what you’re saying?”

Ivan nods, leaning back in his seat as he stares off into space. “I saw people falling off the container. I couldn’t see who was who, but it turned out Darius practically fell into my lap. I managed to fish him out, even though I was almost certain he was dead, and then I got the hell out of there.”

“Why didn’t you wait around?”

Ivan stares at Tony like he’s the biggest idiot in the world. “When you find yourself in a stolen boat with what could possibly be two dead bodies, the last thing you do is stick around.”

Tony frowns, and then, after a moment, his eyebrows raise, and he nods. “Well, that makes sense.”

“Believe me, it was touch and go there for a while. I had the remains of a dead man at my feet already. And I could tell, with a few glances, that Darius wasn’t dead, but since I couldn’t drive the boat and tend to him at the same time, he was getting closer and closer to it with every moment. And that pissed me off because I quite literally risked my life saving him shortly before that, and then, I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place and had to escape while also saving him again.”

“Then how did you manage it?” I ask.

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