Kesstel grabbed my hand, intending to walk away. “Let’s go.”

I pursed my lips and tugged back on his hand. “Just a second. This won’t take long.” Did I really want to talk to her? Well, a part of me did. Mostly, I wanted to know what happened after I left them on top of the parking garage. I rubbed my thumb over the back of Kesstel’s hand then slid my fingers out of his and followed Penny and Mark away from the campers.

A week ago, I might have been a little nervous to be alone with these two A Hunters, but I didn’t have the same reservation now. Maybe it’s sad that after just a sip, I was already getting drunk on the confidence that strength gave me. I just needed to make sure I didn’t go overboard on it. No matter what, I wanted to stay me.

The two Hunters that were keeping night watch didn’t say anything as we walked closer to the silhouettes of the ruined houses that broke up the dead golfing green. The camper ring was still easily in sight in the moonlight, but we were far enough away that the average A Hunter wouldn’t overhear us if we talked softly.

What was left of the dead vegetation crunched under my shoes. Even though my body was nearly weatherproof now, I could still feel the dry heat the clear night sky couldn’t kill off. I thought deserts got cold in the night, but I guess the ground simply got too hot during the day that it still couldn’t cool off at night. Yuck.

Penny and Mark stopped walking and turned to face me. Mark was slightly scowling, an expression I knew well on his face, but Penny was simply staring at me with open curiosity.

She planted a hand on her hips and leaned to the side. It was the first time I’ve seen her without her high ponytail and thick black mascara round her almond eyes. It made her look a little more approachable and less fantasy gothic. “The other day at the hotel. You were there and us three were the only ones that made it out alive. Did you save us?” she asked.

I pursed my lips, debating on answering. I could say yes and hold it over their heads. They were highly ranked and highly regarded in a strong Guild, I could get some good benefits from them. At the same time, it was also admitting I was there and might know how Blake died. It was practically saying I did it. Which I did and didn’t do. There was a lot of gray area that I could work around right now, but if I admitted to it, I’d be pulled one way or the other.

“We just wanted to say thanks,” Penny said, not waiting for me to answer.

I blinked at her in surprise. “Ah, you’re welcome?” I puffed out a breath and shook my head, completely unsure of where to go now. “Is that really why you called me out here? To thank me? I thought you hated me?”

Penny waved a hand. “Both of us should have died against that giant spider. All we know is that somehow after we both passed out, we were safe below surrounded by our team. Blake and Jed were dead, and your body couldn’t be found. When you came back alive, we could only assume you did it. Although I don’t know how you got us off the building.” She folded her arms, as if everything was a fact that she was a hundred percent sure about. “We might have a messed up history, but we are grateful to you anyway.”

Mark tsked under his breath. “To say that we hate you is overkill.”

“We’d have to care enough to hate you,” Penny added, as if that made a difference.

Well, it was nice to know I’d been tormented for months by the whims of someone who didn’t actually care.

“Did you kill him? Blake, I mean,” Mark asked.

Instead of answering, I asked my own question. “Why did you send so many hitmen after me? If you didn’t care, why didn’t you stop after the first?”

Mark’s brows rose on his forehead. “The one who cared was Blake. How many did he send after you?”

I frowned. “A handful or so. You don’t actually know? I thought you two were his henchmen or something.”

Penny scoffed. “Babysitter. The term is babysitter.”

Mark scowled. “She means retainers. If we had been in charge of it, you would have died the first time someone came your way. We knew Blake was trying to sneak something, we just didn’t know until a week ago that he kept sending junkies after you because he didn’t want to pay for a professional to do it. He was using his own pocket money to hide it from President Price, so he went cheap.”

I stared at them. Was this really the way they should talk about someone they knew really well, who just died? “What did I ever do to him, anyway? We barely even talked, why did he fixate on me so much?”

Mark tucked his thumbs into his pockets. “Blake got everything he ever wanted. Anything that didn’t go his way, it disappeared. First you were an E that had the audacity to talk in front of him, then you had the audacity to not die when he wanted you dead. And then his own cousin, who gave Blake everything he ever wanted, started to cater to you. Why wouldn’t he hate you?”

Was he dissing on Blake or me or everything in general?

“Nearly tore apart his room when I told him you were still alive,” Penny added. “How did you get out of that Portal anyway? It closed right after we came out. That’s what I’ve always wanted to ask you.”

My lips pursed as I tilted my head to the side. “I don’t fully know. I actually died in there, then woke up in the Eden hospital. That’s it.”

“The hell?” Mark muttered in surprise.

Penny elbowed his side. “Told ya she was weird.”

I could say the same thing about them. “Then here’s another question for you. Why did you even follow Blake if you didn’t like him?” It’s not like they’d been singing his praise this whole time, but they sure were dedicated at doing his dirty work.

Penny shrugged. “It paid hella good. Since my parents are trying to repopulate the world by themselves even though they’re broke, I have a lot of mouths to feed and bodies to clothe.” She bumped Mark with her elbow. “He’s just killing time and getting rich in the process.”

I felt someone approaching seconds before I heard a deep male voice say, “Apparently, I paid you too much.”

I turned my head as President Price walked up to us, his body movements tight and his hand fisted at his side. This was the first time he wasn’t either in a suit or armor in front of me, but he still looked ready to fight.

Mark arched his brows. “I think we were paid the right amount, President. We were the only ones that lasted over the years. That’s merit enough. It’s not like we killed Blake.”

Penny’s relaxed stance stiffened.

“Then why is he dead and you aren’t?” President Price demanded. “I paid you to make sure he didn’t stop breathing before you.” He glared at the two people in his Guild. I couldn’t tell if he was actually grieving or not. Maybe he was just an angry griever. “What are you going to do now that your cash cow is dead? Did you team up with this insect to make your life easier?”

My mouth twitched and I glared at him. Was I keeping my aura too reined in that he didn’t notice I was stronger than him?

Mark’s brows pulled together. “We nearly died trying to keep him alive, President. We can’t be responsible for what happens when we’re unconscious.”

Price snorted. “Excuses.” He glared at me. “Then you tell me, how did my cousin die? Witnesses say you were there. If you admit it now, I won’t drag your little friends or family down with you.”

My eyes widened as my heart twisted painfully. In all this time, no one had ever threatened my family like that. Anger boiled in me so fast, all I could do was ugly laugh at his disgusting joke.

“Ah, you wanna know what happened?” I was so angry, my words were as loose as my emotions. Angry enough to lie just to stab salt into Price’s wounds. “After his babysitters were gone, Blake cried in fear and ran away. It was his own fault he didn't watch where he was going and fell into the hole with all the spiders below.”

President Price’s beefy hands fisted at his side. “Bullshit.”

I lifted my hands and gave an exaggerated shrug. “Believe what you want. But I didn’t kill him. He was perfectly alive before he fell into that hole.” The fact that I was the one who put him in that hole was going to come with me to the grave. I hoped that it burned Price for the rest of his life. My eyes narrowed maliciously. “I find it ironic, though.”

When I didn’t speak again, President Price spat out. “What?”

“Do you know what spiders eat?” My lips curled up as I tilted my chin up. “Insects.”

President Price’s narrow eyes flared in fury. With a roar, he punched at my face like a freight train.

I grabbed his fist with my right hand and directed his inertia to the side. He flew past me, and I twisted and kicked his back hard. The whole exchange lasted a split second. Price flew across the ground for nearly thirty feet before he hit the ground and skidded another twenty feet. My toes tapped on the ground and I shot after him, tailing behind until he smacked into a house with enough force to crack the wall.

I landed crouched over him, one foot on his burly chest and the other on the ground at his side. He still hadn’t caught up on what happened when I leaned down and rested the tip of my kindjal against his trachea. If he moved more than an inch, he was going to bleed.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he stared up at me in shock and disbelief.

There was no mirth at all in my face as I leaned over him and released my aura. Thick mist settled around us like a weighted blanket. President Price’s square face turned ghostly pale in the moonlight. “If you ever threaten my people again, I’ll rip you apart piece by piece,” I stated. “Any peep, any mistreatment, if I hear anything at all, even if you didn’t do it, I’m coming after you. You and your bitchy cousin have made my life hard enough and I’m itching to retaliate.”

Unfortunately Emma was in his Guild. If I killed him now, it would throw off the balance in the Guilds. I don’t know how it would affect Emma, since most Guild members sign contracts — some of them could be years long.

He licked lips, as if he was trying to think of something to say.

My eyes flared as I felt an attack coming from behind me — but it wasn’t aimed at me. I didn’t move as a familiar sword shot past, the wind from it ruffling my hair.

Price screamed in shocked pain, but he obviously was trying to not move. Still, the tip of my kindjal dug into his throat enough to draw blood.

The bottom half of his right arm flopped to the ground, cut off at the elbow.

*****