Page 97 of The Hate We Breathe
My voice comes out soft, steady, and soaked in venom. A challenge. “Maybe you should find out.”
Her eyes widen a fraction. She tips her head, suspicion obvious in her gaze. “I think that’s enough explanations,” she deadpans. “Get away from him.”
“Or what?”
She shrugs, unbothered by my attitude. “I shoot him again.”
“Juliet…” Lex says as I pull my hand off his chest. He reaches out for it, but I shake him off and gently pry his arm off my shoulders. “Juliet, no?—”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. Even if he hadn’t been able to get in touch with the guys, they’ll come looking for us if no one shows up to the meeting place. They’ll know we’re in danger if they can’t get hold of us. I just need to stall a bit more.
“Baby, please?—”
“I’d really listen to her, if you know what’s good for you, Alexio,” Roquel interrupts him. “Besides, it’s notlike you actually give a shit about her.” She shakes her head. “Be real with me—you were just fucking her because you liked the challenge, didn’t you?”
She flicks a look to me, but I press my lips together and merely stare back. Her grin is triumphant, as if she’s hurt me. She can’t hurt me, though. Well, not my feelings anyway. That gun, however, can do a lot of damage.
“Is that what you think all guys are like?” Lex asks as he starts moving, shuffling his feet to the side, wincing as he limps and I walk a few feet in the opposite direction, towards the half-wall barrier surrounding the roof.
Roquel snorts. “Of course not,” she says. “Morpheus wasn’t like that.”
“It’s fine,” I say, forcing a false confidence into my tone. “She won’t shoot me.”
Roquel whips her attention to me and scowls. “I’ve got a gun, don’t I?” she argues.
“Yes, but that’s just to threaten us with,” I tell her, tilting my head to the side. “Isn’t it?” Her lips twitch, the corner tipping up for a split second before evening out. As if she wants to smile, but also doesn’t.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because I know you, Roquel.”
She blinks at my statement and then laughs. An icy wind whips over the rooftop and the sound of music and cars honking in the distance plays into the night sky like a forgotten melody of someone else’s story. My heart races against my breast as I stare back at Roquel’s dark eyes. After several beats, she swipes an uneven lock of black hair from her face and smiles at me.
I don’t like that smile. It’s the same one that she’d given me the first day we met. The one that reminds me that I once confided in her. That we werefriends. Now, she’s my potential murderer.
“I’ll give you that one, Jules,” she says, still chuckling. “That’s funny as hell. You’re saying you know me when I’m standing in front of you, planning to kill you?”
Lex is watching her, eyes wide and focused as she uses her gun hand to gesture about with her words. I silently plead for him to just remain where he is. He’s already been shot once and I won’t be able to fucking watch him get shot again.
“Idoknow you,” I insist, taking a step forward and capturing both hers and Lex’s attention. Lex looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Who knows, maybe I have.
“You’re not going to use that gun on me because then that would lead back to you,” I say.
“It’s not my gun,” she reminds me, smirking, “how could it lead to me?”
“Your fingerprints are on it.” I nod down to her bare hand holding the grip and her renewed amusement drops away. “You’ve gotten away with everything this far because you’re smart.” Smart enough, at least, to convince Morpheus to do all of her dirty work.
Roquel straightens, her shoulders coming down as her smile falls away.
“I do have one question, though…” I watch her and when she doesn’t say anything, I just go for it. “If you loved Morpheus so much, why did you kill him?”
The question comes out intending to shock her—and also as a guess. Her reaction tells me I’ve hit the mark.
Face reddening, Roquel stomps towards me as if she’s ready to pistol-whip me in the face. “That wasyourfault!” she shrieks.
“How was it my fault?” I flick a glance to Lex who’s looking between us and shifting on his one good leg. While Roquel’s entire focus is on me, his focus is on getting closer to her. To take her down? Yes, probably. To get the gun away? Most definitely. I just hope he can do it with his wound.
“If he’d just let you go, then everything would’ve been fine.” Roquel grits out the words through clenched teeth. Her knuckles turn white with how hard she’s gripping the gun. It almost makes me second-guess my assumption that she won’t actually use it. Even if using it isn’t her intention, it’s still there. A threat.
