Page 42 of Cruel Pawn
“I should thank Arden McFadyen,” Icarus remarked in a low, unenthused voice as he strolled closer, his heavy boots tracking dirt into the living room. He was the kind of man who didn’t get excited for anything, not even killing. Droll and dull and harsh, like a drill sergeant. “He’s made my job easier.”
“Your job being…” I prompted, little frissons of warning shooting across the back of my neck and down my spine, shivering across the fine hairs on my arms. I had no plan beyond finding a weapon and defending myself. I was dressed in a loose shirt, chained with restricted movement, and I was fucking commando. This wasn’t going to end well for me.
“The Lynch family weren’t satisfied with how you handled Frederic Lavigne.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I hissed and threw my hands up. “That wasn’t even me. That was Arden’s brand of insanity. I just found the unfortunate sod—”
Chaos exploded all at once. Aegi startled when I threw my hands up, leaping into the air with a throaty hiss as she set herself upon Icarus. Huh. I thought she’d be more of a run and hide kinda girl.
I took advantage of his distraction to not only bend and grab a sharp ceramic piece but snap up another knife from the drawer. In seconds, I was in motion, jumping over the sofa to land beside Icarus’s intimidating form, driving the coffee canister shard into the wound I already opened in his shoulder.
When he roared and swiped at me, I swung the knife up, but he was fast, and wickedly strong. I’d planned it to pierce his stomach, or best-case scenario find that sweet spot under his ribs that allowed me to stab his heart, but neither happened.Rough hands ensnared my hair where it fell loose around my shoulders, and he dragged me forward.
I managed to keep my balance, forcing my feet flat to the rug, grounding myself as a coiled fist drove into my stomach, punching the air from me. Aegi wasyowlingnow, that horrific sound cats made when they fought in the street at three in the morning. Cats fought over territory, I remembered from my hasty research when I met Arden the first time. And Icarus had stepped into Aegi’s territory, so she propelled herself at him with claws unsheathed.
A smirk flickered on my mouth even as I fought to remember how to breathe, the pain a star exploding through my middle.
“You’re messy, Rook,” Icarus said in that dull, uneventful voice. I rolled my eyes. “With all the traces you left at the scene, you were far too easy to track here. Did you and the McFadyen whelp kill Freddo together, before running off to this love shack?”
“A) I did not kill him. Iplannedto kill him before my target was rudely stolen from me by a psychotic madman who’s horribly in love with me. B) Love shack? Do you not see these fucking shackles?”
I rattled the chains, and his eyes went right to them. It was human nature to look at something when it was shaken in front of you. Chains, maracas, boobs—they all worked. I drove my fist into his stomach while his focus was elsewhere, a nice feeling of revenge shooting through me like adrenaline, like euphoria. I might have resented my killer upbringing, but fuck I loved fighting.
I danced back, a grin on my face as Icarus’s face contorted with pain and fury.
“How about this,” I said, biting back a wince, “I pay you double what your client did, you unfasten my chains and walk away from here a rich man.”
“I’m already a rich man.”
So why kill people? It clearly wasn’t for the thrill, and if it wasn’t for the money—nope, he was coming at me again and I didn’t have time to ponder this. I jumped across the coffee table, accidentally knocking off the copy of Alice in Wonderland, and skidded across the wall.
“Take Arden’s hit too, then,” I tried, my skin tightening across my face, my back. My heart pounded without restraint now, sweat beading across my skin. “That’s worth a hundred grand.”
“I’m not here for him,” Icarus replied, sidestepping the destruction in the kitchen, trying to read my intention. He expected me to run, and that was supremely tempting, but I had chains and nowhere to go.
“You have to know you’re not making it out of this shack,” he said, letting me back up further, my feet hitting the cold floor between the sofas and the bed.
“Cottage,” I corrected, and threw the knife, aiming true this time. He swerved at the last damn second, almost like he was taunting me, and my nostrils flared as I exhaled. Hard. Probably not my smartest move to throw my only weapon, but I was a resourceful woman. I’d find another. And at least I had more slack on the chain over here. “Are you scared to get up close with me, Icarus? Almost like you know I’ll win in hand-to-hand combat.”
He scoffed. “Try to seduce me more like.”
I shrugged. “It’s entirely possible I’m not wearing underwear right now.”
His eyes dipped. Sucker. I danced back and grabbed the heavy lamp from the bedside table, sparing half a thought to wonder if Arden kept knives in the drawers.
A shadow fell over me. Shit, he was fast. I raised the lamp and only had enough time to drive it into his ribs, not his head like I’dplanned. I expected the blow to knock Icarus away. My mistake. He grabbed my arm, shaking the lamp from my hand, and threw me onto the bed, using his weight to pin me beneath him.
“You’re really, really not my type,” I said through gritted teeth, a flicker of camaraderie in my chest as Aegi yowled that threatening sound again. Closer than I’d expected.
I latched my legs around Icarus’s waist and threw my weight up into him, trying to knock him aside. Failed. Shit. That cold prickle of warning moved through me again as his hands wrapped around my throat, meaty and powerful, but I gritted my teeth and tried to push him off me again.
Actually, strangulation was a good idea. I threw my arms up and crossed them, forming a lovely little cradle for his throat, yanking the chains tight. Alarm and surprise flashed in his blue eyes. I wanted to taunt him about flying too close to the sun and giving himself a dumbass name—unlike Rook, which was the coolest name—but his hands tightened, cutting off the last of my air, and I wouldn’t waste what I had in my lungs on a taunt.
But seriously, what contract killer calls themself Icarus?
My face began to burn, my lungs protesting the sudden scarcity of oxygen, but I cinched the chains tighter around Icarus’s throat, and smirked at the bastard, daring him.Kill me and I kill you, too.
I threw my knee up, but the angle was all wrong for kneeing him in the dick. I tried to flip him off me again, but he was too damn heavy, and I was beginning to grow weak. But so was he. Desperation made him punch me. Both my hands were occupied strangling him so I couldn’t exactly repay the move.
