nice to throw knives." I read the not-even-slightly subtle message from the obituaries and looked up to meet Zed's eyes. "In case there was any doubt, the attack on Seph was payback for me throwing a knife at him."
Zed grimaced and shook his head. "I'd bet he already had this plan up his sleeve. He just tweaks the details to make it seem like it's a direct retaliation."
I folded the newspaper up, having finally lost my desire to read the obits. "Well, whatever. Either Cass and Demi find her today, or—"
"Or nothing," Zed snapped. "You're not fucking going to meet Chase tonight."
Linking my fingers together in front of me, I gave Zed a cold glare and drew my Hades mask on as easily as a pair of old socks. "Don't presume to tell me what to do, Zayden. Just because we fucked a couple of times, that does not give you any power or control over me. Let me be perfectly clear: I wasn't asking your permission. If Cass doesn't find Seph by eight tonight, I will do whatever it fucking takes to get her freed. End of discussion."
Zed glared back at me, his eyes blazing with rage and his hand balled into a fist on the counter. But he knew me. He knew damn well when I could be pushed and when he needed to back right the hell off before shit turned nasty.
So he gave a frustrated, angry snarl and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the dishwasher door shut on his way toward the gym.
"Shit," Lucas groaned. "He's going to take that out on me, you know." He offered me a small smile to show he was joking, but I was still too hardened to reciprocate.
Zed's voice boomed down the corridor a moment later. "Lucas! Get your ass in the gym!"
Lucas gave me an exaggerated pout with puppy eyes, and it was just enough to crack through my Hades shell.
"You're adorable," I admitted, giving him a weak smile back, "but I'm not rescuing you. Zed needs to learn that I'm not one of his cheap fucks and I won't fall in line to his manly opinion just because he's been inside my panties. Nothing changes; I'm still the boss."
Lucas nodded his understanding, then leaned in to kiss my shoulder where my sleep T-shirt had slipped off. "You sure fucking are, Hayden. Zed will work it out. In the meantime, I suppose I'll let him work out some of that rage on me."
I scoffed. "You secretly love his training. Don't think you have me fooled."
Zed roared Lucas's name again, and I smacked a quick kiss on Lucas's lips. "Go. I'll come join you soon."
Lucas grinned. "Can't wait." He leaned in to kiss me back properly, then took off running toward the gym and his enraged trainer.
I took my time finishing my coffee, staring at my blank phone screen the entire time, silently praying for it to light up. But by the time I got to the bottom of my mug, I had to admit I was being pathetic. With a heavy sigh, I slid off my stool, carried my mug over to the dishwasher, and finished the task Zed had started before his temper tantrum.
Just as I was setting the wash cycle, my phone chimed, and I practically threw myself across the kitchen, my heart racing.
It wasn't Seph, though. Nor was it Cass or Demi. Hell, I'd even settle for a call from Archer and his boys, if Cass hadn't put them all in hospital for letting Seph get taken.
Pressing a hand to my chest in a useless attempt to slow my frantic pulse, I opened the message.
Dallas: Found something about NP.
I frowned a moment before I understood who NP was. Then my eyes widened, and I quickly tapped a reply.
Hades: Come over to Zed's.
Because even though Dallas had worked some impressive security on all our phones, I didn't trust Leon not to have somehow hacked our server. If he had felt inclined to keep tabs on us to make sure we had dropped our guild research, it didn't seem out of the realm of possibility.
Dallas: Yes, sir. Be there in 20.
Tucking my phone into the pocket of my sweatpants, I hurried upstairs to get dressed for business. Maybe my day wouldn't just be sitting around waiting for good news after all. It wasn't the news I'd wanted, but it was better than nothing. I hoped.
Dallas arrived exactly twenty minutes later, and I led him through to the