Page 45 of Ravaged
CHAPTER 14
Ethan
I kept the gun aimed at the woman. Short hair, cut in a bob at her chin. Fringy. She was the complete opposite of Teagen. How were they friends? Best friends? She glared at me, her eyes full of fire. Teagen pulled her hand.
“Come on, Iris,” she said. “Not tonight. Not like this.”
“You need to leave,” I said, my eyes locked with the friend, Iris. “You can’t stay here.”
“Fine,” Iris scowled. She closed the knife and stowed it in her back pocket. With my free hand, I opened my palm, motioning for her to give the knife to me. “Seriously?” I bent my head to the side. As if there was any possibility I was going to let her keep a weapon when she had tried to punchandstab me. After grunting in anger, she slammed it into my palm and trudged towards the door. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she said to Teagen, then she turned to me. “This isn’t over.”
She reached for the handle, about to turn it.
“Stop,” I said. She went still, then turned her head slowly. Teagen’s chest rose, as if she was holding her breath. “You can’t go out that way.”
“What?” Iris bit the inside of her cheek. “Why not?”
“If anyone finds out that you’re here? All three of you, Dahlia included, are dead.”
Teagen gasped, and Iris crossed her arms, leaning against the door.
“You’re bluffing,” Iris said.
“I’m not,” I said. “You’re on Adler property. What you’ve attempted to do is a crime against the family.”
“Trying to save my friend is a crime?” Iris lifted a black eyebrow.
It was more than that. “You went behind our backs,” I said. “Dahlia could have sent someone to drop off the harp, but you both came, tried to trick us into believing that tonight was about negotiation, despite our arrangement.”
“Our arrangement?” Iris asked. “Do you mean, like, Dahlia’s payments for the Adler’s protection, or that this,” she gestured at Teagen, “was somehow an agreed-upon arrangement?” Before I could open my mouth, Iris continued, “Don’t tell me Dahlia knew about this. That she knew you were going to take Teagen.”
“She knew,” I said. Iris stiffened and lowered her head. Teagen rubbed her arm, the chains of her restraints rattling below her.
“Come on, Iris,” Teagen said. “You know Dahlia doesn’t care about us.”
“She does,” Iris said, “in her own way.”
“She might care about you, but not me.”
Iris’s chin shifted back and forth, like she was too anxious to think clearly. I knew it hurt to be betrayed by someone she respected. She ground her teeth, and after a minute, she looked up.
“What do you suggest we do then, if I can’t go out the door?” she asked.
“You must have had a plan worked out with Dahlia,” I said. Iris nodded. “Dahlia can use that cover for your sudden disappearance. I’ll sneak you out.”
“Yeah right!” Iris said. Noise erupted from the dining room, loud and emphatic, interrupting Iris’s outburst. They must have been playing a game, or perhaps Dahlia was telling another story, giving Gerard another fit of laughter. I would have to figure out my own excuse for disappearing.
“Can you talk some sense into your friend?” I asked Teagen. Teagen eyed the gun and tilted her head. Fine. I could do that. I decocked the gun and stowed it. Teagen mouthed her thanks and turned to Iris.
“You need to listen to him,” she said. “If you want to stay safe—if you want meandDahlia to stay safe, then you need to do this. You need to listen to Ethan.”
“I can’t stand the thought of leaving you here alone.”
Teagen lifted her brows. “It’s not like I’m getting tied up by the double beef patty man.” Iris snickered, and Teagen continued, “Ethan brought me the harp.” She gestured to it at the foot of the bed. “He feeds me. Lets me shower. And, you know.” Teagen made a face, pinching her lips together mischievously, a facial expression that only Iris could decode. Iris smacked her arm.
“You skank!”
Teagen shrugged. “Point is, I’m okay. But hey, if I die,” she tilted her head behind her, towards me, “go ahead and kill him.”
