Crowed (Team Zero #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,52
give me anything to hold onto beside the ‘she’s fine’ he tells me every day.
In some way, it’s better that he sends no pictures. This longing would be a lot worse if I could see her face and not be able to touch it, see her laughter and not hear it, see her smile and not kiss it.
I’ll have to wait until Hades is gone. Or I’m gone.
Until then, she will remain a constant, forbidden part of my dreams.
*****
Three days later, I’m still tending to my injuries and allowing them to heal.
The hotel room smells like antiseptic and antibiotics. The Rhodes were generous enough to send me medicine.
After they almost killed me.
Fucking arseholes.
I refrain from using too much morphine despite the pain in my slashed arms. I would rather take the pain instead of being addicted to any fucking drug.
Omega is out of my system. Ghost and a few of Team Zero are working to completely detox, too.
I won’t have to watch them die anymore.
The worst part? Hades is a smart bastard. Ghost said he’s dispatching him and four others of Team Zero to run a mafia business. The owner is in jail, but he paid Hades a fuck load of money so he would keep his business afloat. Hades knows how much Ghost cares about Team Zero, so he held the five other members hostage in The Pit’s solitary cells until Ghost and the others bring back results.
I help Ghost from the shadows until we have an opening to take Hades down.
Steps sound in front of the door. I retrieve my gun, jump up from the bed, and point the weapon ahead. Who the fuck is coming after me in a nameless hotel?
The door opens. Aaron strolls inside with a bored look on his face.
He’s wearing a designer dark blue suit and has one hand in his pocket. The black mane of his hair is slicked back, making him appear every bit the aristocrat he is.
“Seriously?” He kicks the door closed and stands in the middle of the room, inspecting the old carpet and yellowish wallpaper. “Is this dirty hotel the only thing you can afford?”
I keep my gun by my side. “We’re not all filthy rich like your lordship.”
“Nonsense. You had enough killing contracts to retire rich.”
Eloise needs that money more than I do.
I sit down, still cradling my gun, but Aaron pays the weapon no attention. I ask, “Any reason for your visit?”
His deep black eyes fall on me. There’s no break of colour between the pupils and the irises. It’s freaky. “I want to ask about something you said the other day.”
“Is it ‘fuck you’?”
He glares. “It’s about your nurse.”
My hold tightens around my gun. “What about her?”
“You always told us to discard our feelings and yet, you’re giving up everything to protect this woman.” His voice lowers as he stares through the window, seeming lost somewhere.
Strange. He’s usually focused, like he’s always ready to kill. Now, he’s different.
“Emotions are a weakness,” he continues. “They cause miscalculations, impulses and… they make no sense.”
Is he confused?
That’s so fucking weird and, well, uncomfortable.
Aaron was one of the first ones who accepted The Pit. He excelled in martial arts and shooting. He killed without any remorse. It was like he waited to be kidnapped in The Pit to unleash the demons inside him.
That’s the type of fucked up arsehole he is, so to see him confused about feelings is news. Is it because of a woman?
That’s as impossible as seeing a fucking unicorn. He doesn’t do feelings. Ever.
No idea what he wants me to tell him, so I just say the truth. “Feelings aren’t always a weakness, they can also be a strength.”
His attention snaps my way, brows pinching together. “How?”
“They can give meaning to your life.”
“Is that what happened to you?”
I nod, smiling. “She didn’t only give meaning to my life. She also made me feel alive.”
Aaron appears thoughtful for a second. Then, as if caught thinking about something forbidden, he says, “Nonsense.”
No. It makes perfect fucking sense to me.
*****
The sky darkens, promising rain.
How fucking typical.
I step towards an abandoned rooftop, across from a restaurant. Tristan and Dylan are supposed to come here for a meeting, and I’m still watching them.
I find Celeste on the edge of the rail, looking through binoculars.
She’s wearing a hoodie and sports shoes, ready to run any second.
“Hey, Cel.” I slide beside her on the rail.
“Hey, Crow-Crow.” She doesn’t look at me, her whole attention is on the fancy restaurant across the street.
“What