Page 253 of Entangled

“No. I know whatI’mdoing here. This is payback. I’m here to make this right.” Her hand falls away, and she nods, looking at me expectantly, like she wants me to confirm it for her.

I raise my brows. “Which is it? Payback? Or are you here to get your friends free? I only ask because they seem like very different agendas.”

Wherein lies the crux of my concern. If Heather compromises this mission because of her need for revenge, I don’t think she’ll ever forgive herself.

Heather stares at me hard, then her breath swings out of her. She tilts her head back, and in the mid-morning light, her hair is russet, caught through with strands of fire. There’s still the barest hint of blue from Lucky’s dye.

“I’ll follow the plan, Eden.” She’s grim and serious, and her demon lurks in her voice. “I just want them dead. The captives come first, I know they do, but if I get a chance at Sam, or Mateo, or.. .him... then I need to take it. I had them right where I wanted them, and I got sloppy. I should have taken the fucking kill.”

Heather breaks off, her voice turning ragged, and she swallows hard.

I swallow too, and I can taste her rage. My guilt. All of it mixes together until it goes down bitter and lumpy.

She didn’t get sloppy.Idid.

I didn’t make sure Sam got his soup. I let Alastair and Mateo free. We had the opportunity to carve off three heads of the hydra, and I let my feelings get the best of me.

Never again.

I’m not the best person for this fight. I know I’m not. But Dom didn’t even argue to keep me out of it this time, just said I have to keep behind him. I’ve been debating whether I should sit this one out—I want to help, not be a liability—but Heather’s face decides me.

She deserves her revenge. If someone had taken mine from me when I thought my brutes were dead, I would have killed them. She’s owed Alastair’s life, and I returned it to him twice over.

I need to fix it. I need to be the one to fight by someone’s side for once... rather than stabbing them in the back.

I look up at her, determined. “We’ll take the kill tonight, Heather. I’ll do whatever I can to help make that happen.”

Heather’s eyes shine. Then she blinks hard, nodding. I take her hand, and she squeezes it.

“You’re a good friend, Eden.”

I close my eyes against the roll of self-hatred and squeeze back, knowing that I am anything but.

“Heather, I?—”

With a sudden, blinding punch, an arrow spears through the door beside us, landing with a hard thud against a faded “Hang in there” poster. I flinch back at the abrupt burst of activity, right as Dom fires off a quick flurry of bullets, shattering the windows to our building in an ear-splitting crash, and Heather releases my hand, shouting at our group to stay down.

It’s chaotic, frenetic, and I’m tensed to move, toact, when a voice booms from outside.

“Stop! Stop, you assholes! It’s us! We come in peace!”

Dom curses and stops firing, swinging the end of his gun up to the ceiling, and I move my finger away from my Beretta’s trigger.

In the resounding silence, a white swathe of fabric unfurls dramatically from around the vibrating arrow.

Dom’s head slowly ticks around to stare at it, then he lets out a long, hard breath.

“Bentley?” he snaps.

Moments later, Bentley and two bow-wielding men peek into the building, then move in, their footsteps crunching on the broken glass. Bentley towers over the others, a colossal monolith with a giant sword sheathed at his hip and a scowl on his face. His dark brown hair flies free, turning him especially wild.

Half a dozen guns are trained on the newcomers, but Bentley ignores the threat, pointing at the white fabric. “White flag meansdon’tshoot!”

Dom squeezes the bridge of his nose, and Heather gestures for everyone to relax. Mutters ripple over the group, and Aaron glares at Bentley, his face turning as red as his hair.

“Nothing says peace like a sudden, rapid assault on your allies,” Jasper mutters, neatly slinging his gun.

“Youshotyour peace flag at us?” Lucky jumps up to go and examine the arrow, and he snorts a laugh. “You’re officially my new hero.”

---