Eve’s mind was reeling. Bile rose to her throat, and she swallowed it back down. It had only been a matter of minutes, and already there were two bodies on the floor, their blood adding to that which had been spilled in the past. Pigs’ blood, and cows’ blood, and lambs’ blood, and now the blood of a man and a woman.
It all felt too surreal. Her wide eyes looked at Lind, but he had his back to her. He was kneeling next to the body of the one who she had learned was his best friend, cradling his head in his lap.
“You son of a bitch,” he choked out, voice broken. Eve’s heart broke right alongside Lind’s voice.
Jacob remained cold, impassible. It was horrifying to see. “It had to be done,” he said.
“I will get you for this,” Lind promised. “I don’t know how or when, but you will pay.”
“Maybe,” Jacob conceded. “But not today, and certainly not tomorrow.” He kept his gun pointed at Lind, as if he somehow didn’t trust him, even if he was clearly unarmed. “I’ll leave you to it now. Make sure you do a clean job in disposing of the bodies. We’ll tell the others tomorrow, and you will back me up. I’ll have your vote. Or else.”
Lind didn’t say anything. Even if Eve couldn’t see Lind’s eyes, she could still feel his hatred. She didn’t know how Jacob could remain so calm. Because one thing was certain; Lind’s had not been an empty threat. He would kill Jacob for this. Chances were, he would do it in a very painful, very horrible way.
Jacob stepped away carefully, walking backwards. He disappeared past the doorway into the corridor, and a moment later his running footsteps could be heard echoing off the walls of the empty building. A few more minutes, and the roar of his bike filled the night air as he rode away.
Eve’s head was spinning. She could not believe this was how it ended. She could not believe the bad guy was getting away with it. In her perfect daytime life, they had always taught her that the villain would lose. But this was nighttime, and fairytales ended in nightmares.
She wanted to ask Lind to untie her, but she was terrified of breaking the horrid spell of him hunched over his best friend’s body.
There was a grunt, low and guttural and growly. “Son of a bitch,” he grumbled. “Fuck. That hurt.”
Eve frowned at the choice of words. Then, Alec’s body moved, and she screamed.
She watched in shock as Lind helped him sit up. He was massaging his chest and grimacing.
“Fuck,” he said again.
“What the hell…?” she murmured, appalled.
They both turned towards her with matching grins on their faces, looking like kids who had just scored the best prank of their lives. In a way, they probably had.
“Bulletproof vest,” Alec said, opening his shirt to reveal it underneath.
“The blood…”
“Fake blood,” Lind said. He stood and finally began to untie her. “We thought we’d give Jacob what he wanted, get you out of harm’s way, and then deal with him.”
“Do I want to know how you’re going to ‘deal with him?’” Eve said, hissing and grimacing in pain as circulation came back to her limbs.
Lind grinned. “Probably not.”
“Let’s just say it’s going to be painful.” Alec grinned. It was a wolf’s grin, and it chilled Eve to the bone. There was a fire in the man’s dark eyes that scared her more than anything she had seen so far.
She stood gingerly on her feet.
“Can you walk?” Lind asked.
She nodded. Her eyes fell upon Jessica’s body near the entrance of the room, and she couldn’t stifle a sob.
“I’m sorry,” Lind said darkly. “She should’ve known better than to trust the likes of him.”
Alec looked from the body and then back to Lind and Eve in confusion. “Are you crying?” He seemed shocked at the tears that ran scalding hot down Eve’s cheeks. “Are you really crying for her? She would have killed you.”
Eve glared at him. “Normal people still feel sorry when someone whom they thought was a friend dies. Especially if she dies of a violent death.”
Alec shrugged. He didn’t get it, and the fact that he didn’t get it also chilled Eve to the bone.
Uncaring what these two strong, stoic men would think, she clung to Lind. “Take me home?”
Lind nodded readily. “Sure. We’ll go to my place for now. Tomorrow, when all is said and done, I’ll take you back to your house.”
Eve nodded, although the notion made her lightheaded. The end of the ordeal was finally near, and she wasn’t sure she was entirely happy about it. She wasn’t sure she was ready to leave Lind just yet. She knew she had to. She had to leave him and this life of danger, excitement, and death that she had caught a glimpse of, and she had to go back to her old, plain life. To her loveless marriage. To her unrewarding job.
That prospect filled her with dread more than anything that had happened so far.
They had left their bikes home and come in Lind’s car, and Eve slumped in the backseat as they drove. The men in the front seats were quiet and relaxed, and Eve envied their peace. She felt exhausted and emptied. Her brain tried to process the recent events, but she came up blank. There was a fog in her mind and a heaviness in her heart.
She was judging Alec for not mourning Jessica’s death. But was she any better than him, when she was already missing a life that had brought death to her doorstep? Was she any better than him for already missing a man like Lind Addams, otherwise known as the Viper? Was she any better than him for already missing the Viper’s bite?