Page 24 of Sweet Revenge
“Who the fuck do you think sent me, dumbass?” she replied, her words slightly slurred, but the fire still raging in her as usual.
He gave her a hard shake. “That’s not what I asked, you ignorant bitch. I know Alexander La Rosa sent you to kill me, but how did you know where we were?”
“Ask him!” Raven sounded like she was in severe pain, like she was about to give up or die. “He told me where to find you. I don’t ask questions.”
Raven began to whimper, and for a moment, I thought she might actually cry or beg for her life. But then, out of nowhere, she swept her good leg around, knocking Daemon’s feet out from under him. Even with two broken limbs, she somehow managed to catch him off guard and flip him around. Now, she was poised on top of him, her good arm wrapped around his neck as he leaned into her, his hands clawing at her arm, trying to break free.
He could probably manage all by himself, I figured. She wasn’t as strong as him, and he had four working appendages. Still, the meek little girl who cowered and tried not to get involved was long gone. Seeing my man in trouble, I looked around the room for Raven’s gun.
Black gloss shimmered from across the room by the end table. I dove for it, grabbing it in my hands and standing. Approaching the window, I pointed it at Raven’s head.
She grinned at me, that devilish smile I’d seen a thousand times before as we grew up together. It usually meant she was about to rip the head off one of my dolls or forcibly take one of my hotels in Monopoly. That sort of thing wasn’t happening today.
The possibilities of me actually shooting her in the head were slim to none. The chances of me taking a shot and accidentally killing Daemon were pretty good, though. His face was beginning to turn purple as Raven somehow managed to hold on with whatever strength she had left.
Only one choice remained. With her other arm hanging there like the limb of a retired mannequin, I knew she didn’t stand a chance. Locking eyes with Daemon, I did what I could to help and tossed the gun in his direction in a slow arc.
It was a lob really, and he plucked it out of the air with no problem. Raven’s eyes widened in horror as she realized she couldn’t let go of him to catch the gun in time and her other arm was useless. Daemon’s fingers gripped the pistol, but rather than sinking a bullet through her skull like she deserved, he rammed the butt of the gun into her cranium.
Her dark eyes rolled backward as she tumbled over, losing her grip and landing on her arm with a crunch.
The pain from her arm must’ve woken her up because I heard her voice again as I ran to the front door and joined them in the yard. “Motherfucker, you killed my brother,” Raven slurred.
When I reached their location, Daemon was standing with the gun pointed at her head. “And how many brothers have you killed?”
She didn’t answer.
“I’m going to give you one more chance to tell me how the fuck you knew where I was,” Daemon said.
Raven was mostly out of it, but that fire still burned inside of her. “Go fuck yourself, Petrov.”
Daemon cocked the gun. “Are you telling me you don’t know? This is it, Raven. If you want to live, you’re going to have to prove you’re useful to me.”
“Go to hell, fucker.” Her voice was just a whisper like she was mostly dead already.
My heart lurched into my throat at the sound of the single round firing off. I’d heard a thousand gunshots in my lifetime, but this one still startled me, though I knew it was coming. Raven twitched a few times and then went still.
Exhausted and clearly in pain, Daemon turned his head to look at me. I had to wonder how much of that blood was his own. Had he pulled his stitches free as he came to save me for the third time? Careful not to do further damage, I moved toward him, and he stepped over Raven’s twisted legs to wrap his arms around me.
My body betrayed me as a slight tremble wracked through me. I fought it. I needed to be strong, and crying like a baby was no way to show Daemon how much I’d grown, how much I’d matured.
He pulled away from me. The look of irritation on his face made me think he was annoyed at my emotional reaction, so I wasn’t prepared for his question. “Who the fuck did you tell we were here?”
I stared at him, disbelief making my jaw drop open. “What? Me? No one. God, Daemon, I don’t even have a fucking phone. Why do you just assume that I’d do something like that?”
“Calm down, baby. I wasn’t implying you meant to give away our location.” He shook his head like I was overreacting. As if he’d never falsely accused me of choosing my family over him. “You had to have spoken to someone. You didn’t take my phone? Make a call or text? Send an email?”
“Fuck no.” Even though he’d said he didn’t think I’d betrayed him on purpose this time, I was still upset that he’d assumed it was me. “What about you? How many people did you call?”
“No one,” he said dismissively. Releasing me, he started walking toward the cabin at a fast pace.
“Well, that’s not true. I saw you call your brothers more than once.”
He strolled inside, heading for the back bedroom. We stepped over several bodies on the way. The story of what he’d done to get into the house began to unfold for me, though I still had a million unanswered questions.
In the back room, he opened a secret panel in the wall and began to pull out shit we’d need, tossing it on the bed. Money. Guns. An ID with his picture on it and a different name.
“Listen, my brothers wouldn’t tell anyone where we are,” he said, shaking his head. “It had to be someone else.”