Proof of Life (The Potentate of Atlanta #4) - Hailey Edwards Page 0,67
when I closed my teeth. This is what I got for joking with Addie about breaking my jaw earlier. “Ouch.”
“Where is Addie?”
A hard kick made my ribs crunch.
“Where. Is. Adelaide?”
Boaz stood over me, weaving in and out of view. I couldn’t tell if pain was making me woozy or if weakness made him wobble. Either way, I couldn’t let him land another strike. My brother was a tank.
Ambrose curled protectively around me. Too little, too late in my opinion, but he was here now.
“Addie is two doors down,” I wheezed. “Same side of the hall.”
Wild laughter poured out of him, his disbelief palpable, and he lifted his foot to stomp on me.
A blur of blond fur, sharp teeth, and claws nailed Boaz square in the chest and knocked him into a wall.
Crimson magic splashed through the room, and Midas, back on two legs, towered over Boaz.
“I didn’t expect the sucker punch, but I should have seen it coming.” Midas curled and flexed his hands down at his sides. “I let you land the kick, even though I would rather snap off your leg and beat you with it than allow you to harm my mate. All because Hadley loves you and didn’t want it to come to this.” Midas unsheathed claws in his fingertips and held them to Boaz’s throat. “Hurt her, and you won’t ever hurt another woman.”
Leveraging up into a sitting position, I waited until my head stopped spinning to address them.
“Midas.”
Poised on the brink of violence, he didn’t tear his gaze away from Boaz.
“He didn’t know what he was doing.”
A bitter laugh worked up Boaz’s throat.
“Okay, he knew what he was doing but not who he was doing it to. Remember how Addie reacted?”
That eased a fraction of the tension in Midas’s shoulders.
“She clocked me and good, but she thought I was coven.”
As Midas was about to lower his hand, Boaz had to go and open his big mouth.
“I’m really enjoying the play.” He clapped slowly. “Stellar performances from the entire cast.”
“Boaz, I’m Hadley. Your sister.”
“You’re out of your goddessdamn minds if you think I’m buying what you’re selling.”
Standing sucked donkey balls, but I got to my feet. “What proof do you require?”
“Ah.” He chuckled. “This is the part where I ask you to tell me something only Hadley would know.”
“Whatever it takes to get you out of here before your captors return.”
Boaz clammed up, set his jaw, and settled in for an interrogation that wasn’t coming.
“Ambrose,” I said, hating how he jumped to my command with eagerness. “Take a little off the top.”
“Ambrose,” Boaz echoed. “How do you know about…?”
One good swoop through his midsection put Boaz out like a light, and he slid to the floor in a heap.
“I am the worst sister in the world.” I watched my brother’s chest rise and fall. “The absolute worst.”
“Yes,” Midas agreed dryly. “You’re horrible for preventing him from harming himself or others while you finish rescuing him.” He glanced toward the hall. “We’re still missing one.”
Yeah.
We were, weren’t we?
I was trying hard not to think how satisfying it would be to walk out on her without looking back.
I wondered how she liked the dark, the bugs, the fear of never knowing when the next strike would land. I wondered if she had used her time to reflect on the bad things she had done, if she had promised the goddess she would make amends to anyone she had wronged, or if she had spent her confinement cursing Hecate and asking why a paragon such as herself had been brought so low.
“Stay here with him.” I swallowed the bile welling up my throat. “I have to do this alone.”
Midas clenched his jaw. “All right.”
Exiting the room, I stood in the hall and counted the remaining doors then recounted them.
I was tired, I was sore, and Ambrose loomed over me, crackling with power.
That ought to frighten me, but I was more afraid of this, of facing my mother.
The shadow rested a hand on my shoulder, and his energy spilled into me, giving me a boost.
Puzzled and exhausted, I glanced over at him. “What was that for?”
Ambrose made a heart shape with his fingers that he thumped against his chest like it was beating.
“Um.” I had no idea what that meant. “Thanks?” He kept going, and I reached in my pocket. “Here.”
Unsure what else to do, I flung chocolate at him, which he swallowed without a hitch.
Linus and I would definitely have a talk about this peculiar behavior.