Lethal Blow: (Succubus Hitwoman Book 2) by Eliza Hendrix (best motivational books to read TXT) 📗

“Anything,” she says.

Chapter 24

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Ace looks as pissed off as I was when I caught Cassidy casting a spell midorgasm.

He watches me from behind the tip of his nose. “Something’s wrong.”

“What?” I brush my hair over one shoulder—something I always do when I’m lying or trying to cover something up. “What do you mean?”

Does he know what happened? Is he fishing for information? I’m afraid to tell him what I’ve discovered. Now that I know Battalion rings can be faked, who do I trust? What if Ace is one of the traitors?

“Where is she?” someone shouts.

“Maybe they got to her!”

“Shut your trap!”

“What’s going on?” I ask him, thankful for the distraction.

Without looking at me, he says, “Devania should have been here by now.”

After a prolonged silence, a dwarf shoves his way through the crowd, his pointed elbows jabbing anything that gets in his way. His labored breathing makes it difficult to differentiate the sound of his steps from the air coming out of his mouth.

“Outta the way,” he grumbles.

He’s so short he that he blends into the crowd, but as everyone steps aside to let him pass, he comes into view. With dark green wrinkled skin and long pointed ears, there’s no mistaking what he is. I understand why feebles portray dwarves as these hideous creatures. This guy matches the description with the wiry white hairs coming out of his ears and a long hook for a nose. If I were to describe dwarves through comparison, I’d say they were the spawn of an ogre and a goblin—two creatures I’d never want to see fornicating.

With a loud huff, he pulls himself up onto a chair to be level with everyone else.

“Attention, everyone,” he says, his rumbly voice carrying over everyone’s heads.

To my surprise, the crowd stops bickering and listens with anticipation. Why wouldn’t they? Devania’s not here, and it’s obvious that these people want answers.

He offers what appears to be a smile someone paid him to give—a crack full of yellow squares for teeth.

“There have been complications,” he says.

The crowd blows up again.

“What kind of complications?”

“What’s the Council Elders doing about this? Consequences are in order!”

“Oh, shut your trap, ya rusted lug nut. Nothin’ is in order, don’t ya see that? The council’s fallin’ apart!”

“Who told you this?”

“Where is she getting her information?”

And these people are supposed to be worthy? Maybe I’m not so bad after all.

“Enough!” comes the dwarf’s voice. It blasts across the room louder than anyone else’s, the sheer power of it causing everyone’s hair to wave in its wind.

His glossy yellow eyes roll from side to side, inspecting the group. It’s like he knows there are traitors among us, but he’s afraid to let the news spill. If he does, chaos will unravel.

“Hey,” comes Rachel’s voice.

Holy shit. My plan worked.

The dwarf goes on to talk about something, but I tune him out. Spinning around, I wrap a protective arm around Rachel as if trying to protect her from the paparazzi. If she’s seen by someone who knows she isn’t part of the Battalion, there’s no telling what will happen.

Ace’s brows come so close together you’d think an invisible force was compressing his face. “What the hell is going on?” he whispers sharply.

The glare I give him is enough to shut him up. The last thing we need is for everyone’s panic to shift our way.

“Keep cool,” I hiss back. “I brought her here.”

He keeps his mouth shut and watches us, a strange look in his eyes.

Jerking my head sideways, I lead Rachel as far away from Ace as I can, which isn’t far. I want to trust the guy—I really, really do—but my motto has always been guilty until proven innocent. I’ve seen enough con artists in my life to know that trust is as precious as pink diamonds.

Right now, the only people I trust are Drax and Rachel. I’d say I trust Mr. Mushroom, but even some days I wonder if he’s more than what he lets on.

The moment we step away from everyone, Rachel’s eyes light up and she wiggles her hand in front of my face, her fake ruby ring glistening under the shitty basement lights. “Cassidy said you sent her. How’d you meet her?” Rachel says.

“Let’s say I have my ways,” I say, not wanting to get into the details of my situation with Cassidy the witch.

“She was super cool,” Rachel says. “She made it look so easy.” She grins at her ring again like it’s the most precious thing she owns. “You can’t even tell it’s not—”

With my fingers still wrapped around her shoulder, I squeeze hard and she stops talking. This room is filled with so many different races that there’s bound to be someone in here with ears like an owl.

“Listen,” I whisper. “We can’t talk here. I need you to pay attention to what’s going on. I get the feeling we’re going to need your help.”

Her posture stiffens and she beams at me. I get it. Everyone wants to feel like they’re needed or valued, and Rachel’s no exception. It doesn’t help that since I met her, not once have I made her feel important. All I’ve done is tell her how much of an amateur she is and how she’ll get hurt. I might not be happy about how things started, but it’s become obvious that Zerachu’s blood runs through her.

The kid’s got a gift.

“We don’t know,” the dwarf says grimly. “No one can track her.”

Shit. What did I miss? I move toward Ace, who looks like he’s about to vomit. He gives me a look that says, This is really bad, which leads me to believe that maybe he isn’t a