Page 63 of Raine
I move around the lounge, avoiding the shattered flat-screen, and walk through the arch doorway, my back to the wall as I do so.
Another crunching sound draws my attention to the left and I creep through the dark house, barely being able to distinguish two steps in front of me.
As I approach the staircase, I look over my shoulder and make sure I’m alone. I can hear Acheron downstairs interrogating the man, and I smirk when I hear a loud slap followed by a scream.
Moving up the stairs slowly, I tread softly, not wanting to give anyone notice of my arrival. When I reach the top, the first thing I notice is that the door at the end is closed, but the rest are wide open.
A sliver of moonlight peaks through the skylight as I glance around at the mess, noting that it looks as if there was a fight up here. The pictures that were once hanging on the walls lay smashed and broken; a table that looked like it was against the wall is in pieces.
I shake my head and move toward the end room, checking the others before I creep any further. A sound has my head snapping in front of me in time to see a crazed man with ripped clothes and a dirty face coming at me with a knife in his hand.
“For Draconis!” he bellows, and I’m momentarily stunned before I register his attack coming and counter it, clicking the hidden button on my bracelet cuff and driving the blade up straight and through his jaw. My gun hangs at my side as I continue stabbing the fuck out of the bottom feeder.
A creak draws my attention up, and a man rushes toward me with a battle scream. I pull my gun from my side and shoot him between his eyes before returning my focus back to the man under me.
I start stabbing him all over again, and his eyes pop wide, blood spurting, and I breathe in the heady feeling for a second before I wrench it out and do it over again and again.
Iron infiltrates my nose, and I can feel his blood all over me, cooling and drying on my skin. Even as I look at the man drenched in crimson with stab wounds littering his body, my mind is fixed on the words that left his mouth before he attacked. He’d yelled for Draconis, but what the fuck does that mean?
I step back, watching his body quake in shock, the blood spilling and sputtering from his lips as he takes his last breath. I grimace; the stench up here worse than the bottom floor.
The drugs are happily swimming through my veins, and somehow I feel more vigilant and on my game than I do without the bitter pills.
I wipe the blade from my bracelet on my skirt, sheaf it, then cock my gun and walk toward the last door, stepping over the other dead body. I bring my tank top over my mouth and nose to try and alleviate some of the stench, but it does little to curb it.
It smells and feels like death up here, and I know once I open this door I’m going to find carnage. I step again, feeling heat behind me but not worried because I can smell Acheron’s familiar cherry and cigarette smoke as it envelops me. He’s like a fucking ninja; I can never hear him coming.
“You got them good, Rainey,” he drawls, and a shiver races down my spine. “Let me go first.”
I shake my head, gun cocked, and close the distance to the door. I move to the side, place my gloved hand on the handle, and push it open.
We both aim our guns inside the dark and horrid-smelling room, coughing, spluttering, and cursing at the offensive smell coming from within.
My hand slides up and down the wall next to the door until I find a light switch and flick it. My brow creases, and I look at Acheron, seeing him no doubt mirroring my expression of what the fuck?
Stepping into the room, we drop our guns and glance around the room. There is blood fucking everywhere, but we don’t see any bodies.
I move around the bed toward the foul stench and cough again when I see the dead cat and dog beside it. No wonder it stinks in here.
“What is it?”
I point down with my gun. “Dead cat and dog.”
“Fucking hell.”
We search the upturned room for another five minutes and come up empty. Acheron calls Justyce and informs him of what we found, and he tells us to leave, and he’ll send one of the detectives we have on the books to further investigate.
We leave the way we came and walk to Acheron’s car. He unlocks the doors but stops me before I can open my door.
“Want to head out to the club?”
“Clandestine?”
He shrugs. “Yeah. I need to blow off some steam, and I’m fucking amped after that kill,” he croons, showing his teeth in a smile and causing his scar to pull tight on his face.
Images flash through my vision and I see Gabe looking back at me. I’m not ready to face him after last night, especially knowing he wants to see me again.
“I’ll pass.”
