Page 74 of Reaper & Ruin
I shot him a glare. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“I’ll get out when I’m dead,” he called from the kitchen, rummaging around like a nosy raccoon. He pulled out a bag of chips, inspecting it as though it held the meaning of life. “Are these expired? Or do you actually stock up this murder cabin properly, with more than weapons and dog toys?” He kicked one of Mali’s balls over toward her, and she pounced on it.
“Stop raiding my kitchen!” I yelled, my voice higher-pitched than I wanted it to be. “You’re not a guest here, Rowan! It’s my stuff, not yours.”
He’d always had a bad habit of stealing my things. Clearly, he hadn’t grown out of it.
Clearly, I also hadn’t grown out of my teenage urge to throat punch him, either.
He shrugged, unbothered, popping a chip into his mouth and crunching loudly. “I’m family. And I’m starving. You want me to stop, then come over here and make me.”
Before I could strangle him, Silver shook her head and turned to me, the seriousness back in her eyes.
“I need you to tell me everything about what happened. Every detail, no matter how small.” She said. “I saw the bodiesoutside. They look like hired guns, and I don’t recognize the faces.”
I took a deep breath, my pulse still erratic from the whirlwind of emotions. But I knew she needed the information. I needed to give it to her if we were going to have any chance of finding Gio and Atlas. So I started talking, telling her about the cameras, the running and the man in the woods. She took all of it in, listening without a word until I mentioned the woman and what she did for me.
“Wait.” Her face flickered with something I couldn’t work out. “Describe her to me.”
“Tall. Hot. Black hair and eyes. Super pale, like Atlas. Even sounded a little like him, too. Russian, but like she’d spoken English for long enough that her accent had faded.” I pictured her in my mind. “She was giving tortured artist vibes. I reckon she keeps a diary and writes in it about how much she hates her mom or something.”
Silver snorted. “Did she look like she couldn’t care less about living or dying?”
I nodded. “And she killed the guy after me without blinking. Then she showed me this funny mark on her arm and—”
Silver’s eyes grew colder, and she cut me off as she lifted her arm, flashing the exact same tattoo on her wrist. “This?”
My eyes widened. “Yeah! Exactly that.”
She cursed. “Sounds like you met Danika.”
“Who is she? I mean, I know she’s like you. But why would she be here?” My assumption that she was like Atlas was correct. It was nice to know how great my observational skills were. I was like a detective or something.
It was a great career option for me if I wanted to branch out from a stripper/hitwoman combo.
“Atlas’s older sister.” Silver replied, her words casual despite being anything but. “Half-sister, specifically. Not likeme. They actually shared a father.” She sighed. “He was a piece of shit. Fucked half their town. There are more mini-Atlas’ out there, but none that I’ve found yet. Their village was so small that it’s hard to find people unless I really try. And I haven’t exactly got the time to spare right now to spend a few months in Russia.”
“What?” I frowned, pouting. “Atlas never said he had a sister.” I couldn’t imagine one, let alone an army full.
“Because he doesn’t know.” Silver bit her cheek. “I found it out about a year after we ran away from our employers. I knew if I told Atlas, he’d want to go back for Danika even more than he already did. And I…” She wiped her hand over her face. “I was selfish and didn’t want him to die for that. So, I never told him. Obviously I should have, and no, you don’t need to keep it from him. I’m woman enough to own up to my shit when I see him.”
Her words hung heavy in the air, the weight of them pressing down on my chest as she quickly changed the subject, asking if I knew who would have paid Danika to come take my men.
I crossed my arms, leaning back against the kitchen counter as my mind jumped to the only logical conclusion. “Giorgio De Luca—Gio’s dad. He’s a piece of shit.” I explained everything that had happened so that she would understand.
Silver nodded. Her gaze stayed fixed on me, as if she was piecing together a puzzle only she could see.
“I called Emilio,” I added, suddenly desperate to be more useful. “He said he’d find out what he could. He’s supposed to call me back soon.”
“And what do we do in the meantime?” Rowan’s voice cut through the tension.
I turned to see him sitting on the counter, drinking milk straight from my carton, a smirk tugging at his lips. He lookedfar too relaxed for someone who’d been in hiding for the last few months since his ‘death’ in a prison riot.
“I don’t know. I’m hungry and I’m tired.” Plus scared. But I didn’t feel the need to share that.
“Then we eat breakfast and drink coffee,” he said. “I’ll make a top quality meal, Lucky—cereal.”
I couldn’t help the snort that escaped me, despite the knot still twisting in my gut. “Oh, wow. Really pulling out all the stops, huh?”
