Crowed (Team Zero #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,33

makes eye contact. “You’re not funny.”

“Never claimed to be, Nurse Betty.”

“Stop calling me that!” she hisses before chugging the rest of the beer and crushing the can.

I lean close until I breathe alcohol on her. “The answer is no.”

She swallows, her breathing turning shallow. One deviation of my head and I’d capture those seductive lips. This time, I won’t be letting her the fuck go. The urge is so strong that no other thought occupies my mind.

Before I can act on the impulse, Eloise breaks eye contact and steps back to sit on the chair. She opens another beer and takes a long swig. That’s supposed to be my beer, but the show keeps my mouth shut.

Her lips glisten with the liquid, and my tongue itches to lick them clean.

I focus back on painting the wall. More aggressively than earlier. I need to finish this as soon as possible and make myself scarce. All without trying to steal a look at Eloise.

A bloody challenge.

Sweat trickles down my face, and I lift the front of my T-shirt to wipe it away.

I catch Eloise staring at my stomach, her beer suspended near her mouth.

“Like what you see?”

She coughs, beer splattering all over and around her. When she lifts her head, her eyes are blazing. “You’re ...”

“Irresistible?”

“More like an arrogant bastard.”

I smile, thinking about a witty remark to push her buttons further when a distant pain starts building at the back of my head. The space spins in endless circles.

Withdrawal. Fuck.

My hold tightens around the roller, but it falls from my grip and splashes paint on the ground. I sway, about to follow it, but I clutch the wall for balance.

“Crow?” Eloise stands, abandoning her beer.

I close my eyes to not get caught in the blurry world surrounding me. I need to lock myself in my room until this passes.

“Crow?” Eloise’s spooked voice calls again. “This isn’t funny.”

It isn’t supposed to be.

I’m about to brush past her when something in the pocket of her shorts catches my attention.

The withdrawal’s chaos momentarily hushes to the background as I reach out for the card. My heartbeat thunders louder than my harsh breaths.

“W-what are you doing?” Eloise asks when my hand dives into her shorts’ pocket.

Joker’s card.

If one of Team Zero has a target who’s an easy or a boring kill, they’d place a red Joker card on them. The rest of Team Zero have to compete to kill the target. It’s our favourite sport.

And now, Eloise is a target.

My head nears exploding and a full body tremor takes hold of me. I grit out, “Where did you get this from?”

Eloise blinks. “I don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve seen it.”

Fuck. Fuck! They must’ve broken into her locker and placed this in her shorts while she worked.

“Think carefully,” I clutch Eloise’s shoulders, my tone a lot harsher than I intend. “Have you noticed anyone strange watching or following you?”

It’s a long shot but I hope whoever placed this was sloppy.

“No.” She nibbles on the inside of her cheek. “Except...”

“What?” I grind out against the pain threatening to take over my skull.

“Someone told me to run then left.”

“Can you describe him or her?”

“It was a man who spoke in English. He wore a hoodie, but I didn’t see his face.”

Ghost.

It must be him. He always wears a hoodie when he’s being his ghostly-self. The bastard is playing with fire. And I’ll fucking burn him alive inside it.

He made Eloise a target for all of Team Zero. A damn entertainment.

I’ll hunt him down and crack his bones one by one.

But I have to get through the fucking withdrawal first.

I straighten and head back to the house.

Eloise is calling my name, asking me to wait, but I half-jog inside. Both my head and my heart are on fucking fire. My thoughts spiral out of control.

Eloise’s become a target. Did Ghost find out that she’s Dr fucking Johnson’s daughter?

How?

Would he go after her without Hades’ orders? Perhaps Hades ordered this. Fucking hell. It’s game bloody over if Hades is behind this. He does everything to cover his tracks. If he suspected that Dr fucking Johnson left anything with Eloise, he would want her dead. At any price. Her father, although fucking scum, did well by disappearing from her life. None of us knew he had a family. That’s what protected Eloise and her mother all these years. But now, it seems Hades knows.

It’s with an excruciating effort that I finally reach my room.

A stab of pain almost splits my