Chapter 24
Ash knocked on Victor’s door.
Evie was standing behind the others, her hand clasped around the knife she was holding. It would be so easy to shove them aside and plunge the tip of the blade into his chest the moment Victor appeared in the doorway. She eased forward, pushing her way between Vero and Ash so that she’d be in a better position to strike but, as if he could read her mind, Cyrus turned around to face her, blocking the doorway with his broad shoulders.
His gaze fell to her hand – the one clutching the knife – then lifted slowly to her face. She glared back at him defiantly.
‘If he’s alive you’re not going to kill him, are you?’ Cyrus asked.
She didn’t answer him.
‘I think Ash is right about us needing him,’ Cyrus went on. ‘Can we try to work around that? When we’re done using him then I’m right with the others. I’ll load your gun, I’ll sharpen your sword, I’ll hold him down while you beat him to death, I’ll stand to one side and film it … whatever you want, but right now I think we need to hold off.’
Evie chewed the inside of her cheek while he continued giving her that look, the same look her principal had given her when she was called to his office after she’d slammed Kaitlyn Rivers into the wall. A look that said: You know I’m right. Don’t even try to argue with me. Finally, Evie rolled her eyes, sighed and made a loud and ostentatious show of sheathing the knife.
The door swung open just as she did this and Cyrus turned around, keeping his eyes on Evie for as long as he could, making sure she wasn’t calling his bluff. His hand hovered close to her waist, as if he didn’t trust her not to make a move.
She edged around him, squaring her shoulders, and did a double take when she saw that it wasn’t Victor standing in the doorway at all – it was just some kid.
Evie blinked at him in shock. Who was he? And what was he doing in Victor’s house? A sinking feeling in her stomach and a chemical buzz flying through her bloodstream told her that she already knew the answer to both questions.
‘Hey,’ the kid drawled in a bored voice, ‘you must be the rogue Hunters.’
Evie’s eyebrows shot up another inch.
‘I’m RJ,’ he said. ‘Victor said you guys might show up.’
‘Is he here?’ Ash asked, trying to peer over the kid’s shoulder.
‘No, he’s out. On a mission. He told me to invite you in if you came by.’ He stepped aside, letting the door swing open. ‘You’d better come on in,’ he told them.
The four of them exchanged glances. Then, shrugging, Ash and Vero walked into the house. Cyrus hung back, letting Evie go ahead of him. She stomped over the threshold.
‘Yo, Selena,’ RJ bellowed up the stairs. ‘Come meet the other dudes.’
Dudes? Evie looked the kid up and down. If she had to peg him with a stereotype she’d say stoner. Baggy jeans, long-sleeved, over-sized T-shirt with some surfing brand name stamped across it, dopey smile, longish hair hanging in his face, bloodshot eyes.
‘Where did Victor find you?’ she asked.
RJ turned to her, smiling goofily. ‘In the arcade. I was totally besting my score, and this dude turned up and …’
‘OK, I get it,’ Evie interrupted. She turned to the others. ‘Victor’s recruiting new Hunters to the cause.’
It looked like the others had already figured it out as well.
‘Who the hell are they?’
Evie looked up. A girl had appeared at the top of the stairs, and was now sauntering down them, heavy lidded and pouting. She was wearing a bandana, in what looked like gang colours, over her hair and Evie saw a tattoo snaking across her abdomen where her top was riding up over her jeans. Evie would place a bet that when the girl turned around they’d get an eyeful of butt cleavage and thong.
‘They’re those rogue Hunters Victor was telling us about – remember?’ RJ told her.
The girl sniffed, giving them all a once-over, her gaze lingering on Cyrus just a moment longer than was necessary. She licked her lips, which were so smothered in gloss, Evie wondered how her tongue didn’t get stuck.
‘What’s your problem?’ the girl asked, rolling her shoulders and placing her hands on her hips.
Evie realised the girl was talking to her.
I’m just pondering the terrifying fact that we share genetic code, Evie thought to herself.
‘Nothing,’ she said, eyeing the girl darkly.
‘So you two are the only two Victor’s recruited?’ Cyrus asked.
‘Yeah, though he said he was going to try to find more tonight.’
‘Did he tell you why?’ Evie asked.
Selena glared at her. ‘What’s it to you?’
Evie studied her for a moment. ‘Nothing,’ she answered with a shrug. ‘What do I care if two untrained fools go marching into a fight with some unhumans and get themselves killed? So long as you don’t have my back.’
‘Hey,’ the guy RJ spoke up, ‘we’re not untrained. We’ve been like totally training the last two days.’
‘Have you ever actually been in a fight before? With an unhuman, that is?’ Evie asked, casting a glance sideways at Selena. For sure she’d been in fights before with a mouth that big, though Evie doubted with an unhuman, because if the girl couldn’t see that Evie was in a dangerous mood, then her instincts were clearly faulty.
‘How hard can it be if your p-ssy ass is still alive?’
Evie dropped her gaze to the ground. She sighed. Really? She had to deal with this on top of Victor and everything else?
‘You might want to think twice before you speak like that to her again.’
Evie looked up sharply. It was Cyrus who was talking.
‘Why? You going to stop me?’ Selena asked, her eyes taunting and inviting at the same time.
‘No,’ Cyrus answered calmly. ‘Just that that p-ssy ass could whip you into next week. And I, for one, don’t enjoy watching fools get whipped.’
The girl’s glossed mouth fell open for a moment before she drew her lips together and sucked air noisily through her teeth. She tossed her head back as if she couldn’t care less but Evie saw the spark of wariness in her expression as she glanced in her direction.
‘Is Victor going to be back any time soon?’ Cyrus asked.
RJ shrugged. ‘Maybe.’
‘Let’s just take his weapons,’ Evie said, moving towards the two swords in the umbrella stand. ‘That’s what we came here for, isn’t it? Let’s take everything and go. We don’t need him. And we certainly don’t need these guys.’ She gestured at Selena and RJ.
‘But where are we going to go?’ Vero asked as Evie passed her a sword.
‘That’s like totally not cool, dude,’ RJ said, darting in front of the umbrella stand. ‘You can’t just come here and like steal stuff. Victor’ll be really pissed.’
Evie ignored him, drawing out the second sword.
‘I think we should stay here tonight. It’s only a few hours until morning anyway,’ Vero said with a shrug. ‘And we may as well find out what Victor’s discovered about them.’ Seeing Evie’s death stare she added, ‘Two swords aren’t going to get us very far. He must have another stash of weapons somewhere.’
‘Well, you can stay,’ Evie said, suppressing the surge of irritation, ‘but I’m leaving. Call me when you have a plan that doesn’t involve working with Victor or these two.’
‘We shouldn’t split up. We need to stay together,’ Vero urged, dropping her voice. ‘They’re looking for us. We have more of a chance if we stick together.’
Evie tried to step past her to the door, but Cyrus was already there, blocking it. ‘Where are you going to go?’ he asked.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Evie mumbled, pushing right past him and out of the door. She started striding down the path towards the street.
‘Evie!’ Vero called after her.
‘p-ssy,’ Selena hissed.
Evie kept walking, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the house, but Cyrus caught up with her before she’d even gone fifty metres.
‘Hold up,’ he said, catching her by the arm and pulling her around to face him. ‘I’ll come with you,’ he said.
She couldn’t hide her surprise.
‘Why not?’ he responded, registering it. ‘Staying in a house with thong girl and Butthead frankly scares the crap out of me.’
‘As if you’re scared of anyone,’ Evie said, with a grudging smile.
‘Like you wouldn’t believe,’ Cyrus smiled back. ‘She has talons. And a cruel line in put-downs. You p-ssy ass.’
Evie punched him playfully on the arm. ‘I think you should stay. Vero and Ash need you.’
Hurt flickered across his face, though he hid it quickly. Was he hurt that she hadn’t said that she needed him? Evie shrugged off the thought. This new–old version of Cyrus was starting to confuse her.
‘Where are you going to go?’ he asked.
‘I know some people,’ she answered vaguely.
He glared at her, suspicion lighting his eyes.
‘I’ll be fine. Really,’ she said. ‘I’ll call you in the morning. I just can’t stay here.’
He was scowling now but then he let out a loud sigh. ‘Be careful, OK?’ he said. ‘And call me if you run into any trouble.’
He hesitated for a moment and she was convinced he was about to pull her into his arms for a farewell hug. Something inside her froze – whether in anticipation or fear she wasn’t sure and didn’t want to analyse. But then he seemed to think better of it anyway and, turning, ran back to the house.