Equal Parts (25 page)

“Girl, you are some kind of
fierce
!” said Lucia above the techno song. “Is that really how he normally is?”

“No,” I replied with a frown. “Not at all.”

“He must
looove
you,” she teased.

I rolled my eyes. Unlikely. We’d both changed over the last few weeks, and neither for the better.

Well, that was fine. Just fine. If I had to act like this all the time from now on, so be it. It was for my own good, after all; self-preservation came above everything else.

“Are you seriously going to go home with him? Like, forever?”

“I hadn’t thought that far, truth be told.”
He
had put out the reward for
me
, after all. Did he just want to see me? Make sure I wasn’t with Finn? Or dead? Or was it something more?

“Come on, let’s dance. We’re here – might as well have fun,” said Lucia.

We made our way through the crowds, to the middle of the floor. I’d never been much of a dancer, but I’d seen enough music videos to know the basics of grinding and flicking my hair around wildly.

Within minutes, we each had a dance partner. Well, an alcohol-drenched, dry-humping, meathead partner. As with dancing, being ground upon by some random guy wasn’t something I was used to, but I didn’t tell him to back off. Achilles clearly still thought of me as a possession, so why should I hold out on the rest of the male population?

“You’re fucking sexy,” slurred my partner in my ear, his palms pressing to my bare back between the gold chains.

“Thanks,” I said with a false smile. I was beginning to see why I didn’t do this often.

The song was just loud enough to rule out any further conversation, thank God. The smoky air became stifling, heavy with sweat and hormones. Lucia was all over some other guy behind me. Feeling oddly bored, I looped an arm around the neck of my partner and tried to imagine why people did this every night. Surely you would go deaf eventually.

“What the hell?” My partner pulled back, looking over my shoulder.

Expecting to find a fight had broken out, or two girls making out, or something equally attention-grabbing, I turned to see the skeletal face of Achilles stalking towards me, coat gone, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a predatory glow surrounding him as he walked.

People quickly moved out of his path, following his dark gaze to where I stood.
This
was a glimpse of the old Achilles – and heaven help me, I found that I liked it.

His words from seemingly so long ago echoed around my head, a curse in their own right:

You are in
so
much trouble
.

Chapter Sixteen

The Darkness Itself

“Fuck this,” said my partner in a slightly quavering voice, and disappeared into the crowds around us. What a shame – it might have been funny to see Achilles’s treatment of that guy.

Or
, I thought when I spotted the tools clipped to Achilles’s belt,
maybe not
.

Just as I had when I’d first met Achilles, all those weeks ago in the graveyard, I found myself frozen in place. This time, however, there was no fear creeping into my blood, no mental voice telling me to run.

This time, it was just my heart pounding in my ears and heat rushing through all parts of me.

He stepped flush with my body, toe-to-toe, chest-to-chest, until that smoky, citrus smell hit my system, and I melted a little. It wasn’t fair that his presence had this power over me – it gave him an automatic upper hand.

“Sick of your groupies already?” I sneered, though it was a weak blow, arching a brow.

His mouth brushed against my ear, the sensation going straight to my knees. Crap! “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t punish you right here, right now.”

“Because if you do, I’ll take your precious hammer and shove it up your –”

“Kinky,” he whispered, just like the time I’d saved him in the hospital. “But I’m sensing a bit of deja vu here, darling. I could have sworn I told you that fiery streak would get you into big trouble someday. I also think I might have mentioned not to assume anything about me.
Ever
.”

“Funnily enough, that fiery streak already cost me my job, house, car, money, and all forms of identification – I think I can stand to lose a little more over it,” I replied in the same tone. “Besides, I don’t think I’m
assuming
anything, unless those girls hanging off you are your sisters.”

His fingers reached up to tangle in the nape of my hair, and we began to sway in perfect beat. “Would that make you happy, then, Felicity? Getting those things back in your life?”

I drew back just enough to look him in the eye. “We both know you didn’t put out that reward to make
me
happy.”

“What if I wanted to, hmm?” His lips were dangerously close to mine, his heat soaking in to my body even through his black shirt. “What if I wanted to make
you
happy? Would you accept?”

I knew he could probably feel my heart hammering against my ribcage. “How?”

“Well, for a start, I would give you your life back, as you see fit. Then…” His hand around my waist came into contact with my bare back, right above my hip. The touch was so much more electric than my previous dance partner. Heat pooled in my gut, and something embarrassingly similar to a moan escaped me. “I suppose I would have to test out my other theories of how to make you happy.”

“I’m not one of your sexed-up followers,” I managed to say with a hint of anger.

He laughed, and I felt it through my chest. “No, but I’m one of yours.”

I chose not to let myself be affected by that statement. “You don’t know me, Achilles. I don’t know what you’re getting at here, but whatever it is, it won’t work. You
broke
me.”

“Darling, when you were thrown at my feet with a black bag over your beautiful head, you were already broken. If anything, I patched you up a little.” His brows dipped into a frown. “What makes you think I broke you?”

“Nothing,” I snapped, the memory of my last night at the police station flooding me with bitterness once more, clashing with the longing his touch inspired.

“Again, some deja vu here – I vaguely recall me telling you to not keep secrets from me, lest I get all villainous on you.”

“Funny –
I
seem to recall you
ordering
me to tell you, and then you getting all creepy on me when I didn’t.”

“Creepy? Somehow, I don’t think that’s your opinion of me.” He smirked again, and it took everything I had to hold onto my anger with both hands.

“Said the psychopathic killer-slash-manwhore,” I pointed out icily.

“Said the girl who just moaned into my ear when I touched her waist,” he retorted.

A tiny part of me panged at how easy it was to talk to him. God help me, I’d
missed
this. It was ...
fun
.

But I wasn’t there for fun. I was there on business.

“Fine then, punish me. Hit me, torture me, I don’t care. It’ll only make it easier for me to hate you.”

His hand tightened on my bare skin. “Firstly, I think we’ve established by now that abusing you in
any
way isn’t part of the deal. Secondly, there are a few things we obviously need to air out before this can proceed like I wanted it to.”

“How did you –?”

He moved his fingers from my hair to my lips in a flash. “All in good time, darling. There were a few reasons for me putting out that reward – most of which will become clear later, but one of them is that Molten split from me and is now coming after
you
.”

I went completely still, and so did he. Suddenly there wasn’t enough air for me in the room. The smoke tasted too dry, the lights too bright. Nausea rose in me, along with a million other reactions to this nightmare.

“Breathe, darling, breathe,” Achilles reminded me, rubbing rough circles on my lower back. “No need to panic, I have it all under control – as usual.”

“Why? Why is he coming for me?” I choked.

Those broad shoulders shrugged oh so casually. “He split with me on good terms, saying that he wanted to pursue a bigger career. I suppose because you had gone by this point, he felt you were fair game – or, more specifically, your
power
was fair game.” He began to sway once more in perfect time to the music, and I followed suit rather dizzily. “Still with me?”

“Yes,” I croaked.

“Excellent. So, naturally, I kept tabs on him after he left, knowing you would be his first port-of-call. A few days later, I hear one of his associates is lurking around, tailing you and your friend around the city. So I sent Hugo to ‘bump into’ you. Saved me killing the guy and therefore provoking Molten into an attack, and also sent the message that I was still a part of your life. The fact that you didn’t fight off Hugo whilst screaming didn’t hurt my cause, in any case.”

“You … you knew where I was? All that time?” The nausea his news had brought was washed away by something much warmer, almost like security.

“Dying that gorgeous hair brown and wearing tighter clothes won’t hide you from me, Flick. I tried to keep you safe, even though it … well, even if I wasn’t around to do it personally.” Seeing my expression, he suddenly looked alarmed. “No tears, Felicity, I mean it! I have no idea what to do with you when you cry. If you’re angry I get it, but I don’t –”

“I’m not
angry
, you idiot!” I tried my best to keep the tears at bay, but a few dropped out. “You saved my life and you think I’m mad at you? All this time I thought you were trying to own me, to make me your puppet, but you were really trying to … to…”

“Protect you,” he finished for me. “I know you think I’m just doing this for your power, but it’s … more than that. I don’t trust anyone, darling, especially when it comes to you. Your friend might have a nice house on a quiet street, but it doesn’t mean Molten won’t find you. The safest place for you is with me, whether or not you want to admit it.”

I glanced back at Lucia, who was still dancing with her meathead partner, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “What if he tries to get to me through Lucia?”

“He won’t. Once it’s made public that the reward worked out, and you’re with me again, he won’t bother trying to get to you.”

“Why would it be made public?”

“Because one of the girls in that booth was a reporter,” he replied flippantly. “Honestly, I’d forgotten how much you underestimate me, darling.”

I stiffened once more, the gratitude for his protection gone. How did he make me feel so much in so little time? “Oh yes, because you have an excuse for every indiscretion, don’t you?”

“
Indiscretion
? Are we suddenly middle-aged and married?” Another smirk, only this one wasn’t as heartwarming as the last.

“You know what I mean! You act like everything you do is deliberate –”

“Well, I can’t disagree with that.”

“– but I
know
you make mistakes –”

“Name one.”

“– like that red-haired girl you brought home who turned out to be working for Finn! Do you have any idea how much that hurt me? How much it hurt to know I wasn’t good enough for someone like you?”

“And we come to the crux of the problem! Finally!” He actually grinned, like he’d been gunning for this point all along. “It all comes back to that night for you, doesn’t it? Hugo told me what you said to him, you know, about me only wanting you for your power, and to have a one-up on Cole.”

“What was I supposed to think?” I demanded, aware that we’d drawn some stares from other dancers. “You act like you want me for
me
, and then break my heart by putting me back in that godforsaken cell and getting it on with some girl who looks just like me!”

“Wrong.” Fury dripped from the word. “So wrong. I didn’t break your heart, Felicity, and you know it.”

“Oh, so now you’re telling me what I feel. Fantastic.” I threw my hands up in frustration, but he pulled them back down, reassuming our dancing position. I instantly broke out of his hold. He moved toward me, I moved backward. Forward, backward, forward, backward – until my back hit a solid wall, away from the crowds, in the shadows beside the stage.

Those black eyes glittered menacingly. “If your heart was truly broken, you wouldn’t be here, handing yourself over to me on a silver platter. You would be catching the first flight out of this city to hide somewhere else, because you’re an expert on running when the going gets tough. I get it,” he added, seeing my outraged expression, “you’re afraid of being hurt again. But quick life lesson: hurt is everywhere. Run from it all you want – it’ll still be there, waiting for you to poke your head out of your shell.”

“You don’t know what you did to me! You don’t –”

“I’m not saying I’m proud of my actions,” he said carefully, almost gently, “but I made you stronger, Flick. Hate me all you want, but I forged you into something a little tougher, a little more capable. I didn’t break you – especially not your heart.”