Page 22 of Reaper & Ruin
Yeva stared at me like I was a cockroach in her kitchen. I didn’t blame her. She had a kind of hate behind her eyes that didn’t come from nowhere.
Switching to Russian, I asked the question that first popped into my mind.“Did you belong to The Company? You have that darkness in your eyes they’re brilliant at carving into you.”
Her glare hardened as she spat,“I belong to nobody.”
My gaze slid over her, noting the tension in her shoulders, the way her jaw locked like it had to hold back words sharper than knives. I took a small step back, not out of fear. Out of recognition. I knew that kind of rage, and I was nice enough to give her some space so she might have felt more comfortable.
Then I saw it. The tattoo. A small pomegranate inked on the inside of her wrist. I knew what that meant. Knew why she was edging for the knife strapped to her thigh.
I took another few steps back, once more showing restraint as I treated her with care, rather than with violence.
“Ah. Not my kind of monster. Just another one, broken differently.”I hummed.“I’m not your enemy, Yeva. I’m just here for a favor from a Montana.”
“I’m not doing favors for men,”she snapped.“Let the door hit you on the way out.”
She turned and walked off, shoes clicking, muttering something in Russian I decided not to translate with the sweet present company.
Ruby sighed, clearly understanding how our conversation had gone even if she didn’t speak Russian. “Yeva’s a nice girl. She’s just… mad. At a lot of things. And people.”
“I’d be worse,” I replied honestly. “If I’d lived through what she did.”
Ruby froze for a moment and then nodded before she motioned toward the nearby lounge. “Settle a minute. I’ll deal with her. Then you can ask your favor. I’ll convince Beau to play nice for a few minutes.”
“Sure, I appreciate it.” I didn’t move from the doorway. There was no need to make pretend pleasantries or act like I was here for afternoon tea. I wanted a plane; they had multiple. Beau and Reaper were sort of friends, so he knew me well enough to know who I was and what I was doing. That was all.
Then I felt a presence to my side and spun on my heel, wondering if perhaps Beau wasn’t as smart as Gio made him out to be and was about to murder me for pissing off his latest daughter.
It wasn’t a rough man’s voice that muttered,“I was stalking you from your car, but you’re not a bad man if you’re friends with Ruby, so now I think I should say sorry—I was going to hit you with my zapper.”
I turned towards the source of the softly spoken Spanish. A tiny girl stood hidden behind a large plant, brown eyes shining in her tawny face. Her long black hair was tied back with a pink ribbon, and she was holding a phone in one hand and a taser in the other.
She looked like Silver. Only smaller. More dangerous, somehow. It made me smile more than the fact she was carrying a weapon most would have thought she was too young for, and had apparently been debating using it on me.
“Hello, tiny human,”I drawled in Spanish, making her smile, and her shoulders relax a little.“Thanks for not zapping me. I don’t enjoy it.”
“I like your skin drawings,”she said seriously. “Who are you?”
“Thanks.”I answered in kind.“Atlas. What’s your name?”
Her smile widened as she stepped closer to me.“I’m Diamond. My other name is Montana. I have two names now. Not zero.”
“Both are good names. Perfect for inciting fear in monster’s hearts.”
“I don’t like monsters,”she declared, as a pair of kittens shot past us, darting between her legs as they chased each other.“They make my tummy hurt.”
“Me too,”I agreed, crouching to her height, even if it was no easy feat.“That’s why I’m here. I need to borrow a plane to fight a monster.”
“What’s a plane?”
“Like a car. But it flies.”There were plenty of cars on the driveway, so I knew she would understand the reference.
Her jaw dropped.“Why not use a zapper or a knife?”She held up her taser.“My best friend Angel gave me this so I wouldn’t use knives anymore. He said zappers are for bad guys; knives are for adults, and I’m not an adult. I’m too small to be one yet.”
Though not normally a fan of being so emotional, I grinned.“Because the weapon I need is far away. I need a plane to get there. But I need permission to borrow a plane so the other adults don’t get mad at me.”
Once more it was Gio’s thoughts, not mine. I would have stolen a plane, perhaps left a note with a smile drawn on it. But he insisted we played nice and asked.
Diamond cocked her head.“What’s permission?”
