Page 71 of Hunted in the Shadows
He whistled under his breath, giving me a leisurely scan before settling his gaze back on Sylvia. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were sweet on her, Nowak. I haven’t seen someone so excited to volunteer for something since they invented dick pics.”
My mind raced with lies and excuses to explain away Sylvia’s vicious protectiveness.
“Don’t get it twisted,” I said. “She’s nothing but a trophy—a useful one. We caught her a couple months back and turned her glamour against her. She’ll tear you apart if I tell her to.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt she’s a loyal little thing. But the rest? Bullshit. You’re too high and mighty to be toting around a trophy.” Rhett flicked his tongue, smiling as he gestured toward me with the barrel of his pistol. “No… You’ve got a soft spot for her. Hell, if I’d known how attached you were, I would’ve called off the fight before it started. You could’ve just given her leash a little tug.”
To my surprise, he lowered the gun and held up his other hand in peace. He shifted his weight, looking up at Sylvia. “Look—for the record, my money was on you, Miss.”
Fuck, I wanted to end him for daring to speak to her.
Sylvia didn’t budge from her brash stance midair, exhausted or not. “I heard exactly what you wanted,” she said, her voice all venom.
Rhett softened like he genuinely meant to console her. “Forgive me for all that talk back there—I didn’t think you were a friendly one. Can you blame me? You set a siren loose.”
“She was innocent!” Sylvia snapped.
“And you believed her?” He laughed like they were having a chat by the office cooler. “A fairy with rose-colored glasses. You’re really something else.” His eyes flickered to me, then to Cliff—bearing that same unsettling glint as before. “If you thought being theAppalachian Reaperswon you admiration before, wait till word gets around that you can tame fairies. My client happens to beveryinterested in her kind.”
Sylvia shuddered bodily, but he didn’t seem concerned about her magic having a second wind.
“Look, get it through your thick skulls–I'm not your enemy," Rhett went on. "I want the same thing as you guys: less monsters hurting innocent people. You're coming at me for not doing it the way you want, wrapped in a bow? Go fuck yourselves." His jaw ticked, blue eyes flicking from face to face. “We can clear everything up back there as a misunderstanding, so long as you boys start playing nice and come with me.”
He reached behind him—not for another weapon, but for a burlap satchel slung over his shoulder. Metal clinked within as he tossed it on the ground between us.
“Silver,” he declared. “See? I’m fair. You just need to hold up your end. What do you say?”
“I’ll let you guess,” Cliff said. “It rhymes with ‘get fucked.’”
“You sure you don’t wanna at least hear what I could offer you?” Rhett didn’t waver, but his grin tightened a fraction. “How’s that nest egg treating you, Everett?”
Cliff inhaled sharply. “How the fuck do you know about that?”
Rhett seemed to revel in how Cliff’s face drained of color. “My client has eyes and ears everywhere. He can be generous, too. Hey, he might even let you keep your fairy if that sweetens the pot…”
“I’m not a bargaining token!” Sylvia shouted in a strangled voice.
“I don’t think you have much of a say in the state you’re in, darling.”
“Don’t fucking talk to her,” Cliff spat. “We don’t work with psychopaths.”
Glancing at me, Rhett smirked. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“Cut the shit and shoot him already!” Gwen interjected, glaring between us.
Uncertainty rippled from her when Rhett shifted his focus to her. His fingers rested loosely on the strap of his flamethrower. “What about you?” he said with feigned concern. “Gwen, right? Surprised you’re backing the Reapers after what they did to you. What do they got on you—some dirty photos? Whatever it is, I’m sure we can work it out. I’ve got people behind me now. They can protect you, too. I mean, now all those folks back there know you’re not dead—and that you’re a dirty little traitor to boot.”
Breathing hard, Gwen sneered. “Bite me. I don’t need shit from you.”
Rhett groaned, shoulders slumping dramatically as he looked to the sky. “The swear jar around here must be overflowing. Trustme—I’ll change your mind eventually. Everyone comes around once I find their soft spot.”
He smiled, and that severed the tentative restraint Gwen clung to. I knew that kind of rage—terror not for yourself, but for what you stood before.Hannah–just miles away, blissfully unaware of Rhett's vendetta.
“You fucker,” Gwen seethed, straightening on her good leg, grip tightening on her blade. She drew back her arm, gaze narrowed on Rhett’s chest.
I couldn’t move in time—couldn’t react as Rhett’s arm lifted. Before she had taken two painful steps, a gunshot rang out. Gwen staggered, sprawling onto her side. Blood seeped from a bullet wound in her right thigh, a morbidly black mark blossoming down the dark fabric.
Shock rippled through me.
