Page 65 of Painless
“Hades?” I repeated. “Hades, the dog?”
“Part-time dog. Full-time lord of the underworld.”
“…What…the…”
“I suggest you make your decision soon, Jandro. I would hate to open my gates to you prematurely. Unless,” he paused, his tone changing as if talking to someone else, “you’d be interested in taking him, dear? He did fall in battle, after all.”
A second figure materialized, this one definitely feminine. Like the masculine one, I only saw the rough outline of a waist and hips to die for. She may have had long hair, I couldn’t tell. If the weight of their presences didn’t feel so heavy and real, I would’ve been convinced I was hallucinating.
Fuck, for all I knew Iwashallucinating. Didn’t mean it wasn’t real on some level.
“No, darling, I can’t take him,” the feminine figure protested. “It’s far too soon. He’s too young and handsome.”
“Precisely what I was saying,” Hades muttered.
“And who are you, the tooth fairy?” I asked. “An angel?”
The feminine figure chuckled, and I swore soft fingertips caressed my cheek. “Perhaps you’ll recognize me with this sound?”
A rumbling purr filled the air, the fingers on my cheek now digging in like tiny claws.
“Freyja?” I whispered, dumbfounded.
“Oh,Alejandro,”she murmured, with a perfect Spanish accent. “You have so much love to give, beautiful children to make. You’re a fighter, handsome. Fight for what matters. Don’t let go yet. We’ll be here when you’re ready.”
“Wait,” I protested as both of their presences started lifting away, like anchors being pulled up. “I can’t feel shit! How am I supposed to fight?”
But no answer came. Both of them were already gone.
Twenty-One
SHADOW
"Like hell I'm going wait and see if my wife is fucking dead!"
Reaper was like a rabid dog, face twisted behind his mask with a murderous expression. I always knew he had a temper. Anyone could see the rage he carried just below the surface. In situations like these, he always unleashed it on his enemies. It was one of the reasons our club had a reputation for such violence and ruthlessness.
But today our enemy was invisible, and his rage was aimed at whoever stood between him and his woman.
"Shadow, if you don't let me go, I fucking swear I'll shoot you. She needs me!"
"Jandro has her," I reminded him, tightening my grip on his cut. "President, we need to spread out. Once everyone's contained, we need to get on the rooftops. Get above the smoke so we can—"
A nearby blast sent us crouching to the ground as pebbles and debris showered down on us.
"Fuck, I think that was my house." Reaper waved his hand in front of his face, trying to clear the smoke, to no avail. "Noelle might be inside."
"Go." I slapped his shoulder. "Check on her. I'll swing around to the front of the compound."
"Find Mari. Please," he begged. "I need to know she's okay."
"I will, president." Truth be told, I too found myself concerned about the pretty medic.
It shocked me, this burning need to see for myself that she was unharmed. I never worried about Jandro, he could take care of himself, but he was the only other person I cared about to an extent such as this. A woman I barely knew now occupied more of my headspace than my best friend of several years. This worry was unsettling.
I took off in the opposite direction as Reaper, with only the few feet of road ahead of me as my guide. The rough shapes of roofs and streetlights all looked the same in the dense fog. And with the sun blocked out, it was impossible to tell which direction I was going.
I jogged blindly down the street, trying to listen for the drone propellers, but these aircraft were nearly silent. They had to come into my line of sight before I shot them. I took down three as I ran, all with their grenades already released. Fuck, this was bad.
