Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (3 page)

“Sure. Where’s he at?”

“He’s sitting in the back corner, by the door
to the alley.”

“Got it,” I said, slipping around him and
returning my serving tray to the kitchen.

We had people who’d been kicked out of other
bars come in every now and then. Barry refused to sell to anyone
who was obviously already intoxicated. Most of the time they left
without a hassle, but once in a while we got a fighter who would
refuse to go. The last one had been giving Veronica a really hard
time and tried to hit her, he was so inebriated. So I punched him
in the kidney. Ever since then, I was the one Barry turned to when
someone needed to leave.

I checked to make sure my other orders weren’t
ready yet and then headed over to the corner like I’d been asked.
The man wore a pair of jeans and a hoodie with the hood pulled up
over his head, all black, his body slumped over on the table. Even
from a few steps away, I could smell what Stacy had complained
about.

“Hey buddy,” I said, wanting to get it over
with.

I closed the distance between us, grabbing him
by the shoulder and shaking it hard.

“Mister,” I said, a little louder, trying not
to draw too much attention.

Suddenly, the man sat right up, slapping my
hand away as his hood fell back onto his shoulders, revealing sandy
brown hair. His face was gray and sick looking, some of the vessels
under his green eyes bulging out and discolored.

“We can’t serve you,” I said so only he would
hear.

He rubbed his forehead with his hand, a
confused look on his face.

“Where am I?”

“You’re at Barry’s Bar and Grill.”

He stared at me blankly, looking like he was
about to pass out again.

“We can’t serve you anything,” I said again,
not sure he knew what was going on. “You’re going to have to go
somewhere else if you want a drink.”

“Come on,” he said, his words slurring
together. “I’m not that drunk.”

“Uh, yeah right,” I said, grabbing his shoulder
and hefting him to his feet. “You can’t even stand up on your
own.”

“Let go of me,” he said angrily, shoving me
away and falling into the table, unable to stand on his own as I’d
guessed.

“Let me help you out,” I said through gritted
teeth. I didn’t like being pushed around, especially when I was at
work and couldn’t give a piece of my own mind.

“You could help me out,” he laughed, his eyes
drinking in my body. “But not with standing. I think we could lay
down somewhere.”

He laughed and I rolled my eyes at his drunken
state. Horny Drunk was my least favorite kind, right after Mom
Drunk.

Other patrons were starting to watch
uncomfortably and I saw Barry behind the counter, looking to see if
I needed any help. I didn’t want to make any more of a
scene.

“Let’s go,” I said again, reaching down and
pulling him to his feet, determined to get him out on my
own.

“Hey now,” he said, his breath making me gag.
“I thought we were making arrangements.”

The grip of the hand I’d grabbed tightened and
he yanked me against him, cupping one of my breasts in the other
hand.

Barry was going to have to forgive me for this
one.

“You have exactly two seconds to let go of me
before I break your nose,” I snarled, drawing the attention of the
rest of the bar and some of the restaurant crowd.

“Come on now, sweetheart,” he said, the odor
from his breath making my vision blur. “All I want is a little
kiss.”

He squeezed my chest slightly and I exploded
with rage. Throwing my head forward, I smashed into his face and
heard a satisfying crunch. The guy howled in pain, releasing me to
cradle his injury. Stepping back, I pulled my fist back to strike
again.

Barry grabbed me just in time, picking me up
and setting me behind him, right into Johnny’s grasp.

“She broke my nose!” the man yelled.

“Yeah? You’re lucky it wasn’t your—”

“Time to go,” Barry said, grabbing him by the
collar and dragging him towards the side door to the
alley.

“You’ll pay!” the man said as blood ran down
his face.

“Out, now!” Barry yelled. “And don’t come
back!”

He stumbled out of the door, still cursing, as
Barry apologized to the rest of the customers. Finally, Johnny
released me so I could follow Barry back behind the
counter.

“Hurricane,” he sighed. “You’re going to scare
the customers away.”

“I don’t let anyone touch me that way and get
away with it,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I know, I was already on my way over. I saw
everything and you had every right to retaliate. Next time try not
to be so violent about it so quickly, though, okay?”

“Fine,” I huffed, pushing past him to the plate
waiting for me on the counter.

He only gave me another warning look as I
passed again.

“I need a little break,” I said
shortly.

“Stacy, cover Hurricane’s tables while she’s on
break,” he called across the noisy room.

I delivered the food to a family table,
apologizing for disturbing them earlier when I saw the horrified
and worried looks on their faces. After that, I made a short trip
to the bathroom to gather myself again as I washed the drunk’s
stench from myself the best I could.

I decided to spend the rest of my break in the
kitchen, preferring to not have people staring at me any longer.
You could only do so much when you’d just broken a man’s nose in
front of them, though.

“Hey, Hurricane,” Johnny said warmly as I
entered the room. “Your head okay?”

“It’s fine,” I chuckled. “Thanks for
asking.”

“It’s not every day you get to head-butt
someone,” he said knowingly, his gray eyebrows rising
humorously.

“Isn’t that the truth,” I giggled. “How’s your
wife doing? Is she handling the chemo better this time
around?”

“I think so,” he said with a nod. “You always
ask. Everyone else thinks you’re a tough cowgirl who does whatever
she wants, but I know better.”

He winked at me again, flipping the patties in
front of him with ease.

“Would you take the trash out, Hurricane?”
Barry asked from the other side of the counter. “Your break’s over,
right?”

“Yeah, I can get it,” I said, walking over to
where the bags sat, ready to go.

“Be safe, Katrina,” Stacy said from the other
side of the counter as well. “That guy could still be out there.
Maybe you shouldn’t do it.”

“Who else is going to? You?” I laughed. “He
doesn’t scare me. He could hardly stand up. I’ll be fine, promise.”
I smiled warmly at her before picking a bag up with each hand and
carrying it out of the kitchen.

“Be careful,” she warned again, obviously happy
I was going out there and not her.

It only took a few seconds for me to get
through the bar and out the side exit. The door slammed shut behind
me and I crossed the alley, tossing the bags into the bin easily.
The night air felt good against my skin after the hot inside of the
bar. Closing my eyes for a second, I took a deep breath and
released my tension. Once I was satisfied I could spend the rest of
my shift happy and relaxed, I opened my eyes and turned around,
ready to get back to work. If I was lucky, most of the families
would be leaving soon and then it wouldn’t be so loud.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

The drunk had snuck up behind me while my eyes
were closed, causing me to almost run into him when I turned
around.

“Did you need me to break something else for
you,” I fumed, folding my arms across my chest.

“Not exactly,” he said, spitting out a mouthful
of blood angrily.

I heard a click and suddenly became aware that
he was holding a spring loaded knife.

My heart automatically started beating faster.
I knew if I yelled for help no one inside would be able to hear me.
It was unlikely that there was anyone close by who would hear me
either. I only had one choice.

I stomped on his foot and tried to grab the
knife when he jerked back. I wasn’t so lucky, though, and missed,
only succeeding in knocking it from his grasp and onto the ground a
few feet away. Knowing I didn’t have many other forms of defense, I
kicked him right where I knew it would hurt the worst, dropping him
to the ground. Unfortunately, he fell right next to his weapon and
grabbed it back up.

I moved around nervously, trying to look for a
way around him that wouldn’t end in some part of me getting slashed
to ribbons.

For a drunk, he was much quicker than I
anticipated, getting to his feet and charging me.

It was at that exact moment that my boots
decided to slip. I fell to the ground hard, realizing that I’d lost
any advantage I’d had before.

He crawled on top of me, pinning my legs under
his hips and grabbing my arms. Pulling my hands together above my
head, painfully grasping them both in one hand, the blade of his
knife scratched against my wrists.

“Stop it!” he barked at me as I tried to get
out from underneath him.

It was no use, though. He was too heavy for me
to shove over without my legs or hands and the grip he had on me
was too strong to break.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, shall we?” he
laughed sickly, his one free hand pulling at the tie on my
shirt.

I was doing my best to remain calm, but panic
was quickly filling every part of my body. I knew very well what
was about to happen, though thankfully having never experienced it
before.

“I’ll scream,” I said, trying to keep the
shakiness in my voice unheard.

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” he said
snidely, successfully pulling my shirt open.

His hand slid over my bra, fingers slipping
over the edges and pressing into my skin. Leaning forward, his
breath washed over me there, causing a sickening shudder in myself
that lasted through his lips pressing into my cleavage.

I started trying to break free with more force
and was rewarded with a slap across my face that made my eyes water
and a pained cry to escape my mouth. He was unrelenting, his
fingers now fumbling with the button on my shorts.

Surely, someone would wonder why I was taking
so long with the trash. Barry or Johnny would be out here any
minute to check on me and I would be saved.

It was so busy inside though . . . What if they
didn’t notice in time?

I swallowed the lump in my throat, squeezing my
eyes shut as he tugged at my pants, praying that someone would
intervene in time.

Suddenly, there was a sickening crunch and
something of a grunt came from my attacker. My eyes flew open, not
knowing what had happened in the few seconds I couldn’t look any
more.

The air around us was heavy and dark, almost
like it was filled with smothering smoke, but there was no fire to
be seen.

That wasn’t what elicited the scream tearing
from my throat, though.

The drunk had been stabbed clean through, blood
dripping from his chest and gaping mouth onto my bare skin and
bra.

Chapter Three

The curved blade yanked back, cutting more
flesh that sprayed blood on me as it left the now dead man’s
body.

As if in slow motion, he fell forward, his hand
finally releasing my bruised wrists and the knife he’d been holding
falling to the ground.

In a panic, I shoved him off of me, rolling to
the side and wiping my face off, feeling as if his sticky gore
covered every inch of me. My shaky limbs could hardly hold me up as
I got to my hands and knees, bile rising in my throat as I relived
the sight of the murder over and over again, like a disk that had
been scratched and couldn’t move past a certain point.

“Humans have such weak stomachs,” a male voice
mused behind me.

I turned back around, sitting on the ground and
leaning against the trash bin as I tried to pull my shirt back
around my exposed chest. The smoke made it hard to see and my
straining eyes couldn’t find who had spoken.

“Don’t worry about covering yourself,” he
drawled. “I find you weak and helpless, qualities that are hardly
attractive in a mate.”

“Wh-where are you?” I asked, pulling the cloth
around me tighter anyway.

“Here.”

His form seemed to materialize out of the mist,
a tall, muscular man holding two scythes in his hands. As he
stepped forward, he sheathed them at his sides, his face finally
coming into view in the darkness.

It was one of the men from the table that Stacy
had warned me about, the more menacing of the two if I remembered
correctly.

“Who are you?” I asked, fear and adrenaline
still pumping through my system.

He may have saved me from the drunk, but he was
also a killer. I could have been no safer than I was when pinned to
the ground.