All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,57

and Harley, but I don’t really need to know about it.

I just need to know he got the job done. “He’s definitely dead? Where are the fingers? If you say you have them on you I’m probably going to need at least a month before you attempt to touch me again. How do you feel about sitting in a bathtub of bleach for an hour or so?”

He smirks at me and gestures for me to follow him out. I appreciate the distance he puts between us both because there is no fucking way I want to touch him right now.

I’ve hit my limit.

I’m confident enough in myself and the value I bring to any table to admit that. I don’t need to kill things just to stay relevant and keep my place as the Queen Aodhan and Illi keep insisting I am.

Aodhan seals the shipping container back up, snapping on a series of padlocks just to be sure we don’t get a missing body on our books, and then I follow him out into the sunlight.

I know as soon as we see the car that something is wrong. Aodhan pauses, his back stiff, and then he growls out a stream of vicious curses under his breath. I glance around him to find another photo of me with my eyes crossed out pinned to the side of the Impala, a knife sticking out from between my eyes in a clear threat.

Jesus H. Christ.

I glance around at the docks but there aren’t any security cameras in sight and Aodhan had been careful to make sure that we didn’t go in there until there was no one around so I can’t remember having seen any cars or homeless people.

Aodhan grabs the knife by the handle and yanks it out with a terrible screeching noise that only lasts a second but sends shivers down my spine regardless. He hands me the photo and then opens the car door, pausing for a second and then says, “Step back, Queenie. Lemme check there isn’t a fucking bomb on board before you get in.”

A bomb.

For fuck’s sake. I should have thought of that, especially after what happened to Harley’s Mustang back in junior year at Hannaford, but it’s as though my brain is still rattled from the entire mess of a day and I’m not thinking how I normally would be.

Aodhan crawls around the car on his belly until he's sure there’s nothing there and then he checks every possible crevice and corner of the interior before he lets me take my seat, a grim look on his face.

“I’ll call Illi once I’ve got you home safe. Are you sure the security there is legit? Nothing getting through it? Because this asshole is persistent, I’ll give the creepy fuck that,” he says as he pulls out of the parking lot and cuts through the slums to get me home through the quickest route.

I nod and pick the photo back up to look it over, swallowing down the bile in my throat. “Jackson redid the entire property this time, there’s no way anyone can get through it. Aodhan… this photo is from the gala.”

His jaw is tense like he’s grinding his teeth. “I know, Queenie. Whoever is doing is fucking stalking you and I’m not gonna let that shit fly. I’ll check over that mansion of yours and then I’ll go hunting. There’re a few leads I can try and I’m sure Illi will have an idea of where to go next. Have you told the Wolf about this yet?”

It’s strange that he always reverts to calling her by her street name but I nod. “I’ve been keeping her updated. I… gloss over it a bit more with the guys. Harley has already commented on how hard it’s been to keep Ash on the tour and if he found out that the photos are new ones and not just high school?”

Aodhan nods. “You’d be wrapped up in bubble wrap the moment he got back.”

I nod and fuss with my purse, just little soothing movements that settle my nerves down enough that the need to scream doesn’t overwhelm me. “The whole point of me staying behind was to find myself… and to prove to myself that I don’t need to hide behind my brother. If he comes running back here now then it’s all been for nothing.”

When we get back to the mansion Aodhan pulls up outside the front gate while I call the Coyote to review the security