Page 53 of Lawless
"I'm not privy to that knowledge, sir. But he requested that you come alone." Her eyes fell to Hades, who gave her a low, rumbling growl. "You may bring your animal companion if it suits you."
"It does suit me," I carefully ashed my cigar. "He goes everywhere with me. Tell Mr. Fischlin I'll be up shortly."
She left to deliver my message while I observed Hades’ behavior. He was in full-fledged guard dog mode, which set my own alarm bells ringing. And wanting me alone? How obvious could Fischlin be?
I left the lounge and considered swinging by the pool to signal the guys something was up, but Fischlin's marksmen in the corridors made me think twice.
They looked casually posted enough but I felt their eyes raking over me like a woman's hands. A stolen glance told me a few of the higher-ranking ones already equipped the ceramic arrowheads we gave them yesterday. These fuckers didn't waste any time. If I tried to alert my men, they'd return our gifts right through our hearts. I wasn't about to take good men down with me, so I headed straight for Fischlin's office.
I kept my pace casual, my face neutral, while I tried to form a plan. Even Hades was able to relax his body language walking at my side. If only I knew what that brain of his sensed in the air.
It didn't help that Fischlin's office was at the far end of the building, away from all the rooms and public areas. Alerting anyone without some big commotion would be nigh on impossible.
My gaze turned skyward, looking through the columns lining the outdoor walkway for Horus. Gunner and his bird seemed to have a similar bond as Hades and me, although I wasn't entirely sure what that entailed. If the raptor was out there and saw me, I could only hope Gunner would know, or feel, something.
With no sight of the bird, I looked ahead to Fischlin's office door. My heart rate picked up and I fought the urge to quicken my pace.Steady, steady.
I never made it to his office.
Hades stopped in his tracks, bared his teeth and started barking wildly. His raised hackles gave him a humpbacked look.
"Easy, boy," I murmured to him, watching the marksmen nock their arrows in my peripheral vision. "Calm down. What is it?"
He kept fucking going. I never heard him bark so loudly before. It echoed off the columns and I had no doubt the others at the pool heard him.
"Hades!" I said with more force in my tone. "Quiet!"
He lunged at me in response, jaws open wide.
"What the—"
I was fucking stunned watching him come at me as if in slow motion. What the hell happened to my dog? He never attacked me. Even knowing full well how powerful those jaws were, I could never bring myself to hurt him. Not even to protect myself.
So I let him lunge at me. His teeth closed around my shirt and he twisted, pulling me to the ground with the strength of a two-hundred-pound man.
Not half a second later, the force of an explosion sent me rolling blindly across the desert ground. Heat singed the hairs on my skin as glass and rubble rained down on me.
Nineteen
MARIPOSA
"Gunner, no!" I shrieked, flailing my arms and legs wildly. "Don't you dare!"
"Come on," he laughed devilishly. "The water feels amazing."
"I'll get in, just give me a second."
"No." His eyes flashed with the thrill of a predator on the hunt. "Now."
He lunged and I tried to dodge, but he was too fast for me. I only ran a few steps on the pool deck when his arm caught me around the waist. We spun around from the momentum until he leaned us over the edge, and we crashed into the crystal-blue water.
I remembered to hold my breath at the last possible second before the cold shock hit me. With how hot and dry it was, the water probably did feel good. I wouldn't know, not with the panic surging through my chest.
Rather than fighting Gunner in the cool, quiet underwater world, I clung to him like a raft. It must have been seconds, but felt like an hour before he kicked up to return us to the surface.
"See?" He flipped his hair back and grinned that pearly, boyish smile at me. "Feels great, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, about that." My legs wrapped like a vice around his waist, my arms clinging to his shoulders. "I can't swim."
