Page 110 of He Who Sleeps

But right now, she had to wait...and watch...and be patient.

Looking up to the ceiling, the open beams done in a rich chocolate brown, dusty but well kept. She could smell the scents of oil soap. She could see the place was well taken care of, but not completely. He had specific things...like the floor was swept and not sticky but it wasn’t gleaming. And the walls were clear but the paint wasn’t fresh. The furniture was clean but older, and the kitchen wasn’t updated but there was the scent of cleaners.

She needed to figure this all out. He was selectively proud it seemed, and she needed to be able to capitalize on this.

Night had fallen while he was showering and changing and the shadows were creeping across the floor. He hadn't left the light on for her when he came through on his way to the kitchen, all freshly washed and comfortable, and she hated him all the more for it, but it meant that her eyes were adjusted to the gloom well enough to see the face popping up at the window and ducking down again. It had looked an awful lot like Leo.

Were they here? Hoped surged in her chest as she stared at the dark space, hoping he'd give her some sort of sign. She only heard the clicking of the lock at the front door because she was on high alert, but it sent her heart racing. It had to be them. No one else would be breaking into a cop's house in the night.

Slipping her wrist a little in the cuff she felt the give go, and slowly pulled free, changing her seat, so whatever was going to happen, she would be ready for. Free of the metal, she rolled the straight pin into her hand, and pulled the jar he had left her closer, as she was not discounting any of her possible weapons.

The asshole was in the kitchen, the water on as he muttered to himself. He didn’t hear the door slide open, nor did he see the two bodies that melted into the shadows of the room. But she did. The gleam of scales, and the bone white of the ghost she knew so well.

Swallowing, she went on red alert, ready for whatever was going to happen.

More shadows streamed in behind them, heading to other parts of the house. She could have told them there was no one else around, but she didn't dare make a sound. Besides, knowing them they'd have checked anyway. They were thorough, her men. They didn't leave a threat at their backs if they could help it.

Leo slipped into the room and came to her side, eyes anxiously checking her over in the near dark to make sure she wasn't injured. His eyes narrowed at the chain and if he hadn't looked murderous before, he certainly did now. He made a hand gesture to the other two and they crept toward the kitchen where their unsuspecting victim was sizzling something on the stove.

Gods, she was glad to see them. She wanted to jump into his arms and fall apart, but there would be time for that later. Right now, she was pissed.

Pulling both her wrists up, she showed him she was free and then pointed to the sandwich and then shook her head, letting him know she had not eaten anything. And she was slightly weak, but something else was happening inside her, a thrumming, as adrenaline started. They would not let what happened to her go unpunished.

Jack in his Goblin mask came into view and she watched as Carter and Emerson, his mask not lit, stood in the shadows close to her. Which meant that Easton and Rix were with that asshole, but where was her Devil?

He stepped out of the gloom with a finger to his Devil mouth and then offered her his hand, helping her to rise. She did, wobbly as she had spent a lot of time on her ass, and smiled to herself as Leo was right behind her, holding her steady. Devil’s fingers went to her cheek, where she knew the bruise bloomed from where he hit her. The rigid stance of her Devil told her so much, but she had her own ideas.

“You okay?” Jack murmured to her. She nodded. “We need to get you out.”

“No,” she said, voice barely a whisper, but they heard her. “I am staying and I’m going to scare the shit outta this asshole.”

She looked beyond, seeing Easton and Rix just outside the bright glow of the kitchen lights, and rolled her shoulders before she walked forward, and into the light. She stood there, quiet, behind the asshole cop, and got ready for war.

“Officer Douritz,” she said softly, knowing the asshole would turn around when he heard her voice.

"You little bitch." He turned the burner off and spun toward her, ready to swing.

She ducked and stepped back, knowing her guys were there, behind her, waiting to see what she would do.

“Wonderful thing to say to the woman you wanna wife up,” she said and rolled her eyes, just out of his reach. “Ah ah... Don’t take another step, shit bag. I got out of your shitty cuffs, you don’t think I wouldn’t have a plan...” Standing her ground, she felt the slide of something heavy into her back pocket. So much for the pin idea, she thought as she put her arm behind her back and gripped the handle of the knife. Rix.

“Now we are going to have a discussion about how to treat women...though I don’t know why I’m going to bother, you won’t last the hour...” And they would see to that.

And then it all went to shit. Apparently, the fucker had a concealed holster in the small of his back because one second he was holding a spatula, the next he had a gun pointed at her face. "You're only wife-material when you've learned your place," he sneered, "and I haven't even begun to start beating that into you."

She smiled and shook her head. “My place is anywhere I wanna be,” she said defiantly, “with my Seven.” She felt them step forward, and heard the cock of a gun, though she didn’t know who was holding it. “Not with anyone else. And you done fucked up.”

"Put the gun down," Devil said, his voice deathly quiet and the cop swung the gun toward him, only for Leo to casually snatch it him from his hand in a move Petra had only seen in movies.

Officer Douritz put his hands up, backing toward the stove as he searched for a way out of the situation, but there were too many of them. "I didn't know you were this much of a whore," he spat at her.

“I’m happy to surprise you,” she said with a smile. “My guys are...well, a bit pissed you had the audacity to even consider this...touching what’s theirs.” She felt Emerson wrap his arms around her waist and pull her to him, holding her close, the brightness of his mask hitting at the corner of her eye. “And I owe you for that slap...”

Douritz reached for the pan behind him and, had he been faster, the cast iron would have made a formidable weapon. But Carter was faster and laid him out cold with a single punch that Douritz didn't even see coming.

"String him up," Devil said. "I left the rope and the buckets by the back door."

"You ready to kill your first man?" Carter asked her quietly as the others began to move, dragging Douritz into the living room and preparing to string him upside down from the beam.

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