average human’s Reviews > All Hail > Status Update

I make sure to walk with him slightly in front of me but after we get to the stairs it’s clear that none of his men are following us and there are none of them to be found on the third floor where my rooms are.
“What are you doing, Atticus? What are you playing at? I don’t have time for games tonight,” I say with a sigh, suddenly so tired of playing these games with him.
There’s nothing I love more than moving the pieces across the chessboard but we’ve been playing together for years and I’d like it to be over.
I’d like to have him or just leave him.
We get to my room and Atticus opens the door for me, gesturing into the room like he’s being nothing but a well-bred gentleman exactly how his bloodline intended for him except that Luca is sitting on the lounge chair in my room.
I turn to face Atticus but he grabs my arm and pulls me the rest of the way in, snapping the door shut behind us both.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get your hands off of me, you have no right to lock me in here!”
I shake his hand off even as he does what I say but he takes a step back until he’s physically blocking the door. “You’ll be safe here with Luca. These threats have been too specific, too pointed for the stalker not to know about your movements. There’s no way we’re going to risk you coming to the meeting.”
If I were any other member of my family, I’d take a swing at him. I don’t know why he’s so desperate for me to hate him but he really is shoving me off that cliff and into loathing. “There’s no way you can know that! There’s no way you could possibly know that tonight is the night that the stalker would do something and it’s good to know that you believe your own men to be so inept that they can’t keep me safe during the meeting. I, however, have full faith in Illi and the Stag. I’ll just call one of them to pick me up.”
He doesn’t move an inch at my threat and I snap. “If you walk out of that door and leave me here I will—“
His lips are rough against mine as he cuts me off with a kiss and I bite his lip in frustration. It doesn’t even slow him down, he just grabs my hips and walks me backwards towards the bed.
I let him for a half second before I remember Luca is sitting there.
I break away from him. “Have you lost your goddamn mind? You can’t just kiss me into submission, I’m going to the meeting! Lips named me her representative and I’m going. You’re a stickler for the rules, Atticus, you can’t break this one.”
He lets me go fully and, though his lips are wet from my kiss and his hair is messed up from my hands, his eyes are as cold as ever. “I told you, Floss. I’d rather you be alive and hating me than have you and lose you to death. Luca will keep you safe and he’ll keep you here. I’ll make sure no big decisions are made until the Wolf returns home.”
My lip curls but his eyes flick over to Luca and for once the grinning idiot looks somber at his task for the night.
Probably because he knows I’m going to burn this motherfucker to the ground.
I pull myself up, roll my shoulders back and then I cross my hands in front of my body, the standing variation of the Avery Beaumont Power Pose.
Atticus doesn’t give a shit about it, he just turns on his heel and walks out the door.
The moment it clicks shut I go for my phone only to find the pocket of my dinner jacket empty.
Atticus took it while he distracted me with a kiss.
I have to rein in my rage, hold it back and make a plan because there’s no doubt in my mind that I can get out of this room without having to commit murder.
“The door isn’t locked Avery, but there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight. The Crow was very clear about keeping you in the house, safe and secure.”
I glare over at him and I wait. I wait until I’m sure Atticus has left and is on the road to the meeting. Luca checks his phone a couple of times and I’m careful about being discreet as I take note of where he’s keeping his phone. The same pocket has a slight bulge, either a wallet or keys and the main doors of this place will require a swipe card to get through. He also has three guns, one in his boot and two on either side of his hips.
I pout. I pout in a way that I’ve never pouted before with anyone other than my family. I force my eyes to get a little teary, I huff out a breath a few times like I’m throwing a full mental tantrum and when Luca’s shoulders slump a little, I know I’ve psyched him out. He thinks I’m lost without my phone and my endless supply of helpers so now is the right time to act.
I feign a slip.
One of the biggest lessons Lips had taught me was to work smart not hard.
Luca is easily three times the size of me. He’s tall, taller even than Ash, and he’s obviously been working out even more now that he’s not being forced to follow the Jackal around all day. There’s no way in a fair fight I’d be able to win against him.
So, I’m not going to fight fair.
It’s not fair of them to all think that I can’t handle myself in this situation. They won’t let me make my own decisions about what I can and can’t do which is utterly ridiculous because I’m not overestimating what I can handle.
I knew I couldn’t kill Diarmuid so I asked Aodhan to do it for me.
I know I would be safest here while Illi and Aodhan went hunting for whoever is sending the photos in the first place so I didn’t argue about it.
Not once have I let my ego lead me to my own destruction.
I leave that idiotic bullshit to the men.
So as I pace the floor in front of the bed I wait until I’m out of Luca’s reach and I cry out, crumpling to the ground like I’ve twisted my ankle. My bag is within reach from here and thankfully Lips has given me a list of things to always have on hand.
The number one thing being cable ties.
Luca jumps up from the bed and rushes over to me, crouching down to fuss over me like I’m a damsel in distress.
It’s like riding a bike, the amount of times Lips and I worked on the simple maneuver and in under three seconds I have Luca on his back with his hands secured behind his back. I’d asked her about it but she had learnt it from an old Taekwondo teacher she had in the Bay. It’s the one thing she’s still very closed mouth about, that man who taught her how to disarm people like size doesn’t matter at all.
“What the fuck?!” Luca grunts and I lower myself down under I can whisper in his ear, “Compliments of the Wolf of Mounts Bay. I choose not to kill you on a daily basis. Remember that.”
I then pull his phone out of his pocket and dial Illi’s number, frisking him for keys or a swipe card in case I need one to get out of here.
“You had better be calling to tell me your boss changed his mind or there’s about to be a whole new fucking war in the Bay. Where the fuck is she?”
I chuckle under my breath at him, tugging on the zip tie one last time to make sure it’s tight. “It’s me. I need a pick up, Luca is a little tied up.”
There’s a pause and then Illi roars with laughter down the line, so loud I have to move the phone away from my ear so he doesn’t blow out my ear drum. “Ah, Queenie, you never stop surprising me. I’m already at the door, am I breaking it down or can you walk out?”
I keep the phone at my ear while I strip out of the jacket I’m wearing and I pull one of my white blazers on, grabbing my ghost gun and slipping it into my purse. Luca starts grunting on the ground as he tries to free his hands and I smirk down at his struggling back.
It’s good to be on the other side of the equation.
“If any of Atticus’ other men try to stop me, I’ll shoot them dead.”
Illi grunts. “Keep me on the line, kid. I’ll come fucking running the second I hear a bullet leave the chamber.”
I slip my heels back on and then walk out of the room with my head held high and a smirk on my face. I also have a gun in my hand and I’m not at all the naive girl they think of me.
I don’t aim it at any of the men keeping guard in the halls.
No, I press the barrel to my own temple and then I watch them all sweat like a whore in church over it. Not a single one of them approaches me, all of them vaguely terrified that I’ll accidentally pull the trigger like some inept little girl.
I’m tempted to tell Illi to come in here and gut them all for the insult.
When I reach the door there’s a maid standing there in her pristine black uniform with a phone in her hand. When I approach she switches it to speakerphone.
“Avery, do not walk out that door,” Atticus snarls down the line, none of his usual cold calm to be heard.
I tilt my head at the woman, ignoring the sounds of Luca being freed from upstairs and raging his way down the flights of stairs. Instead, I point the gun at the woman’s head and smirk.
“Like I give a fuck about the help. Move or die, the choice is yours.”
Unlike every last one of the bodyguards, this woman judges my seething rage correctly and knows I won’t just pull the trigger.
I’ll do it with glee.
She side steps and I swipe Luca’s card to open the door. He yells out my name but the moment it swings open Illi appears in the doorframe and the air gets sucked out of the entire foyer at the rage in him.
I hang up and throw Luca’s phone onto the ground, slipping the gun back into my purse with the safety on as Illi crushes the phone under his boot.
“You okay, Queenie? I’m under strict orders from the kid to go full bloodshed and gore on this place if you have so much as a scratch but I didn’t need her permission to do it, I’m fucking itching for it.”
I glance over my shoulder at Luca and let all emotion drain out of me until I’m my usual cold shell. “I’m fine. We’re late for a meeting, Illi.”

93%

Luca are already there waiting for us. Aodhan gets out first and helps me out of the car, snarling at the first of Atticus’ men to approach him to get the fuck away from me. I ignore the looks I get from the entire staff as Aodhan pulls me into his arms.
“Gimme two days to find this guy, Queenie. Two days and I’ll have the fucker buried and we can go back to sleeping in that big old princess bed of yours.”
I snort at him and pull him down to kiss me, completely unrepentant of our audience… right up until Illi interrupts us.
He opens the car door and climbs out to lean against the roof of the car, looking all sorts of dangerous and at ease. “The Wolf called, she just wanted me to remind you that she’s more than happy to use every resource at her disposal to get Avery out of this building if you try your bullshit again. Her brother is in town, y’know. He stopped in to keep an eye on shit for her.”
Aodhan’s arms tighten around me. With his back to Atticus he mouths to me, “Brother?”
I can’t tell him.
We all made the agreement not to speak about him outside of those of us who already know about Nate unless it’s absolutely necessary and I don’t think this casual threat is worth freaking Aodhan completely out… not without speaking to Lips about it first.
I trust Aodhan completely, and he might have been voted into the family, but this isn’t just about Lips. It’s about Poe’s safety and she’s barely fifteen.
I shake my head just a little bit and murmur, “I’ll… I’ll have to tell you later.”
He frowns a little but nods, giving me one last kiss and then he pulls away from me to turn and glare at Atticus again.
I’m glad he doesn’t try to walk me over, I’m not a possession to be passed between them, and I walk toward the front door. Atticus looks down at me like he wants to strangle me and Luca’s lip is still curled at the sight of Illi grinning out on the driveway.
“Thank you for letting me stay even after I assaulted your best bodyguard. Luca, I hope I didn’t hurt you,” I say, in my sweetest voice that I’m sure is killing them both.
Atticus gestures at his front door with one hand. “My home is always open to you, Avery, I hope this time you value your life enough to stay here where you’re safe.”
I straighten my blazer and walk up the front steps, enjoying the looks each of Atticus’ staff give me as I pass them. All it took was one little maneuver and they’re all now completely aware that I’m not messing around.
As I get to the door, I hear Illi call out behind me, “Oh, and Luca? Make her feel shit about the Jackal again and I’ll feed you to the cannibals, piece by piece. Nothing would make me happier than knowing they were digesting you and shitting you out.”