ambitious, I’ll give you that. You got the bank details?”
Maxim passed over a piece of paper. “You agree to this and you won’t regret it, dude. We’d make a good team.”
“Hmm.” Achilles pocketed the paper, and a frown creased Maxim’s brow.
“So you’ll do it?” he asked.
“What do you think, darling? Sound like a good deal?” Achilles asked me, looking thoroughly bored.
I couldn’t even form words, I was so enraged and disgusted.
“My thoughts exactly.” Achilles turned back to a confused-looking Maxim and sighed. “This is where it gets awkward. You see, I like a challenge, Maxim. Give me a word puzzle or a so-called ‘impenetrable’ vault over a petty robbery or killing any day. Give me, say, Felicity here,” he gestured to me, “over someone as transparent and weak as, say, you.”
“I don’t –”
“I honestly thought you’d be a little more original. Less … predictable . You make yourself feel bigger by overpowering those weaker than you – you’re like the fat kid of the class who goes home and beats up a puppy. So. Damn. Boring .”
“You can’t –”
“But I gave you a chance anyway, because hey, you have money. Unfortunately, your money isn’t as clean as I’d like it to be. In fact, I’d say it’s downright filthy.” Achilles tossed his napkin onto his unfinished meal. “So here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to give you your just rewards, and you’re not going to do a thing about it.”
It was only then that I realized the distinct lack of the men who had been behind Maxim earlier. Where they had stood, two big bodies were now strewn across the floor, no blood or mess. Achilles’s men, however, stood right behind them.
Maxim noticed the corpses the same time I did. “You punkass kid!” His hands shot out to grab Achilles’s head, but before he even touched him, my nail-file was embedded in his neck.
And it was me who’d put it there.
“That’s to keep you from screaming, and not in a good way,” I snarled at him in a voice that didn’t sound at all like me. His fingers tore at the now-bloody file, trying to wrench it from his jugular, but Achilles pushed him back into his chair before he could do so.
“Now we ,” Achilles said to Maxim, gesturing between himself and me, “ we make a good team.” His eyes flashed to me. “Turn away, darling.”
“But I want to…” Want to what? Stay? Watch? Be a part of it? I knew what was coming, and the worst thing was, I didn’t see a thing wrong with it.
“ Turn away ,” he repeated. “No way I’m giving you nightmares.”
Too late for that. Maxim’s story had planted black, insidious seeds in my subconscious that I was sure would crop up in my dreams somehow.
But I did as Achilles asked anyway.
“You made an innocent person suffer,” I heard him say in a low, deadly voice. “Not only that, you have a history of depravity, not enough money to sway even the likes of me, ruined our meal, and upset Flick.” I flinched at the sound of my name. I didn’t want this man to know it, even if he was seconds away from death. I already felt tainted enough.
A horrible gargled sound came. Achilles laughed. “Too late, dude . But thanks for the money – I’ll take good care of it.”
A thud , then silence. Pure, sickening silence.
My breath felt so heavy in my lungs, like the air was turning to lead as I inhaled. I had just murdered someone. Even if I hadn’t struck the killing blow, I had still put the damning nail in Maxim’s coffin. My eyes were glued to the table in front of me, the spots of blood peppered along its white lace edging, the perfectly cut , untouched meal in front of Achilles. Such a casual thing in this otherwise macabre tableau.
Hands suddenly pried at my shoulders, turning me slightly, and my breath rushed out of me in what sounded pathetically like a whimper. “Come on, darling. Let’s get you home.”
Home . Like I had a home to go to.
I kept my eyes
Maxim passed over a piece of paper. “You agree to this and you won’t regret it, dude. We’d make a good team.”
“Hmm.” Achilles pocketed the paper, and a frown creased Maxim’s brow.
“So you’ll do it?” he asked.
“What do you think, darling? Sound like a good deal?” Achilles asked me, looking thoroughly bored.
I couldn’t even form words, I was so enraged and disgusted.
“My thoughts exactly.” Achilles turned back to a confused-looking Maxim and sighed. “This is where it gets awkward. You see, I like a challenge, Maxim. Give me a word puzzle or a so-called ‘impenetrable’ vault over a petty robbery or killing any day. Give me, say, Felicity here,” he gestured to me, “over someone as transparent and weak as, say, you.”
“I don’t –”
“I honestly thought you’d be a little more original. Less … predictable . You make yourself feel bigger by overpowering those weaker than you – you’re like the fat kid of the class who goes home and beats up a puppy. So. Damn. Boring .”
“You can’t –”
“But I gave you a chance anyway, because hey, you have money. Unfortunately, your money isn’t as clean as I’d like it to be. In fact, I’d say it’s downright filthy.” Achilles tossed his napkin onto his unfinished meal. “So here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to give you your just rewards, and you’re not going to do a thing about it.”
It was only then that I realized the distinct lack of the men who had been behind Maxim earlier. Where they had stood, two big bodies were now strewn across the floor, no blood or mess. Achilles’s men, however, stood right behind them.
Maxim noticed the corpses the same time I did. “You punkass kid!” His hands shot out to grab Achilles’s head, but before he even touched him, my nail-file was embedded in his neck.
And it was me who’d put it there.
“That’s to keep you from screaming, and not in a good way,” I snarled at him in a voice that didn’t sound at all like me. His fingers tore at the now-bloody file, trying to wrench it from his jugular, but Achilles pushed him back into his chair before he could do so.
“Now we ,” Achilles said to Maxim, gesturing between himself and me, “ we make a good team.” His eyes flashed to me. “Turn away, darling.”
“But I want to…” Want to what? Stay? Watch? Be a part of it? I knew what was coming, and the worst thing was, I didn’t see a thing wrong with it.
“ Turn away ,” he repeated. “No way I’m giving you nightmares.”
Too late for that. Maxim’s story had planted black, insidious seeds in my subconscious that I was sure would crop up in my dreams somehow.
But I did as Achilles asked anyway.
“You made an innocent person suffer,” I heard him say in a low, deadly voice. “Not only that, you have a history of depravity, not enough money to sway even the likes of me, ruined our meal, and upset Flick.” I flinched at the sound of my name. I didn’t want this man to know it, even if he was seconds away from death. I already felt tainted enough.
A horrible gargled sound came. Achilles laughed. “Too late, dude . But thanks for the money – I’ll take good care of it.”
A thud , then silence. Pure, sickening silence.
My breath felt so heavy in my lungs, like the air was turning to lead as I inhaled. I had just murdered someone. Even if I hadn’t struck the killing blow, I had still put the damning nail in Maxim’s coffin. My eyes were glued to the table in front of me, the spots of blood peppered along its white lace edging, the perfectly cut , untouched meal in front of Achilles. Such a casual thing in this otherwise macabre tableau.
Hands suddenly pried at my shoulders, turning me slightly, and my breath rushed out of me in what sounded pathetically like a whimper. “Come on, darling. Let’s get you home.”
Home . Like I had a home to go to.
I kept my eyes
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