Crowed (Team Zero #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,18

breeze. The cool smell of the ocean fills my lungs, and dampness forms a sheen on my skin. I stand in front of the house and inhale deeply.

When I was on Omega, I never noticed any of this. The smells. The mere feel of the air on my hair and skin. All those basic human sensations were swallowed by the drug. Even pain. It varies amongst Team Zero, but we barely felt anything worth remembering. The only consuming emotion was determination about the need to spill blood.

Not anymore.

I strap on my helmet and straddle my bike. My shoulder aches in protest. It’s still sore, but tolerable.

Cheerio watches from the window with sad puppy eyes. The dog is as lonely as her owner. It almost makes me feel bad.

Almost.

But I don’t have time for that.

I need to go to town for the third night in a row to search for the traitor. Or Paul. Whom I’m starting to think is the traitor.

I weave my bike through the twisted dirt roads that lead to the village. Instead of thoughts about ending Paul as painfully as possible, only Eloise’s image occupies my head.

That petite face and those doe green eyes keep barging into my thoughts uninvited.

Three days ago, when I found out Doctor fucking Johnson was her father, my first thought was to kill her. Rip her head off those pretty shoulders for all the suffering her father made me endure. For turning me into a nobody who couldn’t even remember his own name.

For the hell Team Zero lived and continues to live through since we were teens.

But those were mostly the withdrawal symptoms speaking. The Omega trying to kick in. Once the effects subsided, everything cooled down. What’s the point in killing her? Just because she’s Doctor fucking Johnson’s daughter? She’s probably never seen him since that picture. It’s not like revenge would bring back Team Zero’s dead members.

Revenge is something that relies too much on emotions, and therefore, it’s pointless. I refuse to stoop that low.

Team Zero doesn’t share my philosophy about revenge, though. If they find out that Doctor fucking Johnson’s offspring exists, they’d torture her for months, maybe years, before granting her the courtesy of death.

My chest twists at the image.

The thought of that beautiful skin marred doesn’t sit well with me.

Someone like her isn’t made to be tortured.

I’m fucking hard just recalling her soft curves trapped in my arms and under my mercy. So delicate, but also a bloody fireball. There was a foreign look in those bright green eyes. Not numbness or indifference. No. It was anything but that. It was a burning mixture of want and confusion and... excitement.

At that moment, every inch of her came alive. And fuck me if that didn’t turn me on.

It took everything in me not to rip that nightgown and take her right there and then. Deepen that look. Fuck the numbness out of her until she screamed my name.

As much as the temptation to reincarnate that look plagued me, I miraculously managed to stay away.

Eloise is a distraction and distractions aren’t good for completing missions.

Besides, I don’t do attachments. I might belong to the pack of Team Zero, but I’m a lone wolf. I always work alone. Survive alone. Live alone. Meaning: no fucking attachment whatsoever.

I have a feeling that’s exactly what will happen if I take things any further with Eloise.

She’s not the type of woman I’ll be able to fuck out of my system and then bid her goodbye.

My instinct says that Eloise would be my damnation. And my instinct is always fucking right.

I need to keep my distance until I’m out of here. It’s as simple as that.

The engine revs further as I approach the town. My phone vibrates. A text from Storm. “Dosage in 30.” There’s an address attached. The town’s bookstore.

I check my watch. Almost closing time for bookstores. Good thing I came down or I would’ve been late. Hades doesn’t like anyone being late for their Omega dosage.

Instead of heading to the slums, I change direction to the heart of the town. Meeting in crowded places is usually the safest. Nothing better than hiding in plain sight. As long as I don’t draw attention, I’ll be out of the police’s reach.

I arrive early and go to the bathroom to check my eyes. I’ve been using drops, but there’s still some puffiness after yesterday’s withdrawal seizures, not to mention the dark circles beneath my lids. No idea who Hades is sending to give me