Page 5 of Powerless
"Rightfully so becauseyourboss was going to kill them first," I shot back. "Don't act like your side is so innocent in this."
"All we do is cook! We don't have much of a choice in what side we pick."
"Then put the gun down," I told her. "Because we're not your enemies. Shoot that thing at me or the bikers and you'll make enemies, though."
Her wide eyes darted with indecision as the barrel lowered just slightly. I couldn't blame the girl for feeling conflicted. Like me, she probably made it this far by not trusting anyone.
When she didn't lower it fast enough, Hades made an attempt to speed up the process.
By biting her hand.
"Ahh! Get it off!" she screamed as the gun clattered to the floor.
I held my breath as I watched the weapon fall and then kicked it away. Hades immediately released her hand and sat on his haunches like a good boy. He returned my bewildered stare with innocent, large eyes. The damn dog really was just making sure she'd drop the gun.
"I'm fucking bleeding!" the girl wailed, curling her hand to her chest. "Get the bandages!" she yelled to her friend, quiet as a statue still sitting on the floor.
"Let me see," I reached out for her arm and gave her an annoyed look when she pulled away. "You're lucky I'm a trained medic. If you want to handle a dog bite on your own, be my guest."
She stared me down with her best defiant look before relenting, holding her injured hand out to me.
"Let's wash it in the sink," I suggested, walking around the island counter. "If you have a first aid kit, you can grab that," I told the other girl.
"This doesn't mean we're going to service any of those men you came with," the injured woman hissed through gritted teeth as I washed the blood off.
"You're not expected to. Just do the same kitchen work you've been doing while we stay." I looked up and met her eyes. "Like I told your friend, they won't touch you."
Her eyes narrowed at me. "You shouldn't stay long, anyway. Our food stores are low."
"Really, now? When you're this far into the mountains?" I countered, scrubbing her puncture wounds with the soap bar. "You had an awful lot of eggs from what I saw."
She squirmed a little. "We have good relationships with farmers in the area. They make regular deliveries to us."
"In exchange for what?"
"Why are you so fucking nosy?" She pulled her hand from my grip. "I'm just saying your gang should leave if they don't want to starve. They're too big and have too many mouths to feed."
"It just doesn't make sense," I said coolly as I shut the water off. "A place this isolated would be a lot more likely to have its own food sources. You can't getthatmany fresh eggs without a chicken coop nearby."
"We don't have a chicken coop!" she insisted. "Those are to last us until the next delivery in a week. We just don't have enough for you, your dog, and all your men."
"And I think you're lying," I crossed my arms. "So how many chickensdoyou have? Any other livestock?"
"We don't haveany—“
A clatter of metal on metal announced that her friend just returned with a first aid kit and dropped it on the counter. But it was the soft flapping sound that followed that drew mine and Hades' attention to the open window.
"Ahhh!" both girls screamed as Gunner’s falcon, Horus, flew into the kitchen and skidded across the counter with his limp victim in his talons.
"What is that?" the first girl whimpered as Horus began plucking at his bloodied carcass on the kitchen counter like this was his roost all along.
Hades let out an excited bark, propping his front paws on the counter to sniff out his feathered friend's conquest. Horus had already made serious headway on tearing his prey open, but the downy feathers in the air, scaly feet, and short beak gave it away.
The falcon caught a chicken for dinner. And Hades gave him puppy eyes like he was asking him to share.
I turned slowly to the kitchen girl whose face paled as she watched the scene before us.
Maybe it was rude of me but I was completely unable to help the smugness in my voice.
