Page 152 of Shadowblood Souls
Too late now, I’ve already committed.
I force a smile. “We were hoping we could ask you a few questions. Because… we think you’re kind of like us.”
The woman’s gaze flicks over the five of us. Her scowl deepens.
“I’m not an info booth,” she says in a dry rattle of a voice.
I hold up my hands, tuning out the increased ache in my side at the motion. “I understand that. But we’ve been pretty out of the loop when it comes to… unusual stuff. Things those people wouldn’t understand.” I wave vaguely toward the pedestrians sauntering by on the other side of the road.
Andreas must be able to tell I’m floundering a bit, because he comes around beside me to join in with his smoother warmth. “We don’t want to make any trouble for you. Just to get a little advice on using certain skills that we wouldn’t want the average person noticing. You have some experience with that, I’m guessing?”
His smile looks a lot less stiff than I’m sure mine does. His eyes stay their normal dark gray, not attempting to scan her mind.
He doesn’t want to freak her out either. We don’t know whatshemight be capable of.
The woman studies us again, her tongue flicking over her lips, and a shudder ripples through her pudgy frame. She pushes abruptly to her feet.
“I’m not having anything to do with you.”
“Wait!” Jacob snaps, lunging forward.
As the woman rushes backward, away from us, his hand snatches at her arm. An instant later, his fingers close around nothing but air.
The woman is gone, wisped away as abruptly and completely as the man in the alley.
Jacob glares down at his hand and then at the spot where the woman disappeared. “Seems like they canallgive us the slip just like that. Fucking hell.”
Dominic shifts his weight on his feet. “It’s getting late, and we don’t really know what we’re dealing with. Maybe we should head back to the apartment, get some rest, and do some new planning tomorrow morning.”
My throbbing waist thinks that’s a great idea. All I want is to flop on a bed away from the guys and will my emotions back into order as well as my body.
“Dominic’s right,” I say.
His glance my way looks a bit startled, but Zian nods too, if with apparent reluctance. “We’re not getting anything done like this.”
Jacob sighs. “Fine. There’s got to be a way to make these pricks stick around and talk.”
Andreas cuffs him lightly on the shoulder. “We’ll figure it out, Jake. We haven’t come this far for nothing.”
The Airbnb he was able to arrange for us is located in a dingy neighborhood on the outskirts of the city proper, which is probably why it was available on such short notice. But it’s got three bedrooms with four beds between them and a pull-out sofa, so at least there’s enough space for all of us.
One benefit to my guys’ newfound sense of generosity is that they announced that I should take the main bedroom that comes with its own ensuite bathroom. The moment we’ve stepped into the boxy three-story house we’re renting the top two floors of, I pull the pistol out of my waistband to leave it with the duffel of weapons and make a beeline for the stairs.
Even after sitting still for the drive, my side is still aching. As I reach the staircase, I adjust my backpack on my shoulders, careful not to let too much weight rest on that side.
I mustn’t be as subtle about it as I intended, because Dominic speaks up from behind me. “Are you feeling okay, Riva?”
“Yeah,” I say quickly. “Just tired and kind of disappointed. I’m going to go take a bath and chill out.”
In theory, that should stop any of the guys from insisting on keeping me company. In actuality, Andreas follows me up the stairs to the door to my bedroom.
When I pause with my hand on the doorknob and raise my eyebrows at him, he holds up his phone. “I figured out how to download music onto the prepaids. I could show you if you want to have some tunes going with your bath.”
There’s something so hopeful in his dark eyes that my stomach twists with my refusal. “That’s okay. I think silence might be good right now.”
I just want to get away from all of them, to have some space where I don’t have to keep my vulnerabilities walled off. Where I’m not constantly having to remind certain parts of me that these guys are as likely to hurt me as help me.
Andreas nods, his face only falling a little. “Maybe later.”
