Crowed (Team Zero #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,19

the dosage, but hopefully, it’s someone who’d think I look awful because of being shot, not due to withdrawal.

I can’t even wear sunglasses because it’s night. After freshening up, I use more drops and settle in the ‘Crime Fiction’ wing at the back of the library. I browse through a dull collection of translated books.

The French.

Not long after I internally mock some titles, a breeze skips past me with that signature strong pine scent that he only wears when he wants to draw attention.

Which isn’t most of the time.

Ghost.

He saunters down the aisle with a cool, nonchalant expression, carrying a leather bag. Strands of his dark hair are slicked back. His black suit is pressed to perfection. Even his brown, leather shoes are shining under the lights.

For a ghost, he’s certainly doing his best to be noticeable. The last time we met, some mates in Team Zero mentioned he’s trying to shed the Ghost image and appear normal. No idea why. And I’m not curious enough to ask.

Besides, I have no chance to ask him when he’s high. While on Omega, Ghost literally blacks out. Unlike me and several others, he has no recollection whatsoever on what he did after the drug kicks in. That’s why he has a few disciples from the second generation who tell him the facts later.

Ghost and I stand with our backs to each other, browsing the books and pretending not to know one another.

“Heard you weren’t dead yet.” He places a leather bag on the floor. Omega.

“Yet.” I pick up the bag and aim for an exit before he notices my eyes.

“Try Paracetamol,” he says, still checking the books. “It helps with the symptoms.”

I screech to a halt, fist clenching around the handle of the bag.

He knows.

Ghost knows.

Which means Hades will also know, and I’ll be hunted down like the Rhodes then killed and thrown in a similar dumpster where Diablo is.

A hand lands on my shoulder. I jerk back and reach for my gun under the leather jacket. Fuck public and its risks. I won’t die without a fight.

While I think of the possible ways Ghost can kill me, Eloise’s face barges into my mind. Keeping my distance from her was fucking useless. If I knew it’d come to this, I might as well have indulged in my desire.

“Chill, mate.” Ghost chuckles, putting his hands up. “Do you really think you can take me while you’re injured? The symptoms and the seizures hurt like a bitch even without the gunshot.”

I relax my hold around the gun and leave it hidden under my jacket. “You’re also...?”

“Started way before your lazy arse got to the action.”

Bloody hell. Is that the reason he’s decided to shed his Ghost image?

He comes closer to murmur, “If your reason is something similar to ‘I don’t want to drop dead like Diablo’ then give me a call. We’re not the only two who think that.”

Oh. Fuck me. Team Zero? How many of them have been on withdrawal? Since Ghost is on board, then his closest mates Shadow and Mist must be in, too. And here I thought I would start the campaign to detox them. I wonder how many others are on board. Is Storm perhaps...

“Not Storm.” Ghost shakes his head. Sometimes, I wonder if he can read minds. He excels at figuring out patterns. “He’s still the dog protecting Hades’ gates.”

“What will you do about Hades?”

“Fuck Hades.” A burning fire ignites in Ghost’s dark eyes. He rarely shows anger, but when he does, it’s for a damn good reason. “He’ll go down by the Rhodes’ hands sooner or later. You’re smart, Crow. You won’t go down with a sinking ship, will you?”

“Since when is loyalty considered a sinking ship?”

“Loyalty?” He laughs, long and mocking. “To whom? To the man who made us druggies and killers?”

“Loyalty to what we are.” I stand toe to toe with him, uncaring if anyone notices two foreigners arguing in English. “You and I and the whole Team Zero have been killers our entire lives. What will we become if we’re not doing what we’re designed to do?”

“We will become something we have a say in. Something that neither the drugs nor Hades order us to do.” He points a finger at my shoulder. “Think about it. I’ll stick around for a while.”

I stare as he leaves the bookstore.

For the first time since I was brought to The Pit, I question what the hell am I doing. Beyond killing and Omega, is there something else