Page 180 of Like Grim Death: Part One
“Fuck!”A familiar voice curses the word as something white spills between us, sliding and scattering along the dark floors.
I step back, dropping my hands as I blink in the darkness, my eyes still adjusting to the low level of light. But I realize it’s papers fluttering to the ground, one coming to rest against the wall, curled up on the edge.
Digging in my brows, I look up and find silver eyes staring at me.
A chill graces my lower back, where my shirt has risen up a little above my jeans. Sucking in a breath, I turn my head to look over my shoulder for some reason, like Sid and I are being watched, but only darkness peers back at me.
When I look her way once more, Sid is gathering up the papers with haste, squatting down and retrieving the two or three pages, stacking them together again.
What the fuck?
It’s absolutely silent on this hall and I straighten, hands by my sides. Sid folds the papers over quickly, and she looks as if she might walk right past me without another word, but when she takes a step, I mirror it, blocking her exit.
Her shoulders tense, the papers clutched in one hand as she raises her chin to stare up at me.
I take a deep breath, my heart knocking hard in my chest as I blink, focusing on her standing in a white, ripped tank that trails down to her knees, covering what I assume is her black bikini. She has her arms folded across her chest now, her hair pinned back with bat wing clips as her silver eyes shoot daggers my way.
“Move.”One word, and she utters it with such disdain.
I glance past her, seeing an exit doorway I assume leads to the stairwell, a mirror of the one I came up on and maybe she stalked up that one. But what are those papers? Who was she talking to? Lucifer? This isn’t the hallway his room is in. We’re one floor above that.
The scent of bleach lingers on this floor, like it was just recently cleaned, but I have no idea what it’s used for.
I bring my gaze back to Sid, more confused now than I was before.
“What do you want?” she snaps, her eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing?” I counter, truly curious.
“Nothing that concerns you.” Her words have bite, and my anger starts to rise, matching hers. I think I could take her scrawny ass. So what, she shot someone last night? I think I kind ofwantto fight her. Maybe it would make both of us feel better. “Why are you up here?”
Because my boyfriend—your brother—ordered me to go away. Because everyone in this house actually hates me, besides maybe Atlas, and even that, I’m not so sure about.I don’t say any of that, of course, because confiding in Sid is impossible. She’s so guarded, her very demeanor is like spiked armor.
“Why areyou?”I ask instead. I dart my gaze to the crumpled papers in her fist. “And what is that?” It’s not as if she’s actually going to answer anything I ask, so I might as well press on.
She doesn’t speak for long seconds, and I think about just walking off. I kind of want to retreat, but a bigger part of me really does want to know what she’s holding and what she’s doing. Besides, despite her shitty attitude now, she wasn’t so bad on the ride here. I mean, she didn’t say a word to me, but still.
When I drag my gaze back to her, I see her lips are pressed together in a pout, but she’s staring at me in a strange way. Her brows are furrowed, her lean jaw clenched, and yet… it doesn’t feel like animosity she’s exuding anymore. More like she’s sizing me up.
But maybe she’s just thinking about fighting me too.
“What do you know about my husband that I don’t?” Her words come out cold and clinical, like she doesn’t care what the answer is, but the question shocks me all the same.
“Everyone has to prove their worth, Ella, and you haven’t bled for us yet.”Lucifer’s words snake through my brain.
I chew on the inside of my cheek, but I don’t let my gaze drop from Sid. She’d see it as a weakness. Worse, maybe she would read the lie I’m about to tell. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” All at once, I wish I hadn’t asked her any questions and had just moved when she told me to.
“Oh, come on.” She scoffs, glancing up at the high ceiling as if in exasperation. “You fucked him after Noctem, maybe you got closer still while I was gone—”
“No, we didn’t, all he cared about was you—”
“Tell me what you know about him.” Her glacial gaze is back on me.
I turn to glance over my shoulder, into the darkened hallway, thinking maybe I should just leave. I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t want to accidentally spill out my secrets. And after everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours, I just feel… exhausted.
But then she says, “I imagine your childhood sucked, huh?”
I freeze, still looking away, but I don’t retreat, either.
