Thalia kept true to her word to stay sober. She had gone a full three days without a drop of alcohol, but she would be lying if she said that it wasn't hard. The first day had been spent lounging around her motel room and watching the aftermath of Ethan's death.
The aftermath wasn't on the television though. Ethan Nakamura had controlled prostitution around the city. He ripped young girls away from their homes or took them off the streets and sold them to his army of pimps, after testing them first. It sickened Thalia to her stomach as Reyna explained it all to her on the second day.
Reyna explained that without Ethan, the rest of the pimps would fight each other for territory or girls. While someone else might be able to step up and run the operation, it wouldn't be as effective as Ethan. The damage had been done.
Thalia asked Reyna what happened to the prostitutes. Reyna just shrugged and was vague about with her answer, saying they probably had some guardian angels watching over them now. She refused to say anything more and then asked Thalia what she wanted to do about the next person on the list: Bryce Lawrence.
Thalia had never actually met Bryce before, but she heard stories about the man. He was as cruel as he was ugly. Bryce kept a tight hold on all the smaller gangs in the city, trapping them in an iron fist. Getting near him would be difficult. Getting away would be near impossible.
"Why can't you just teleport me in and then out?" Thalia suggested. She glanced at the lounging Reyna on the bed. Her arms were folded comfortably behind her head, lifting her shirt enough to show off her midriff. There was no longer a bandage where she had been stabbed. Instead, there was a nice scar.
"Too much effort," Reyna declined. She closed her eyes and seemed to be relaxing. Thalia was so grateful it was at her expense.
"That would make it so much easier," Thalia argued. "We could have it all done within the next hour."
Reyna sighed and opened one eye. She focused it on Thalia, "I've trained long enough that it's easy to move small distances, but I can't just magically teleport around the city without completely draining myself. Going from here to Bryce's warehouse would exhaust me, and I wouldn't be able to help you use the gun or get you out of there."
"Some help you are," Thalia muttered as she looked back down at her map. Her eyes memorized all of the gang leaders and the buildings around Bryce's warehouse that he used for a base, but she knew there was a lot of work ahead for her.
The third day was when Thalia found out Reyna really was human like she claimed. Reyna had been lounging back on the bed again. There were dark circles under her eyes, and when Thalia asked what was wrong, she didn't receive an answer. Thalia was so annoyed that she went back to mapping out a route through all of the buildings.
It would be easiest to cut through the buildings instead of being out on the streets where everyone would see her and be able to warn Bryce. Stepping into a building or out of it would make her just look like a worker. Reyna had already promised to be watching her from above.
"Why haven't you just killed them yourself?" Thalia asked the golden question. She didn't receive a response and promptly sighed in defeat. Thalia turned around in annoyance, a frown shaping her face. Reyna's head had fallen to the side, and her eyes were closed. Her chest slowly rose and fell indicating that she was asleep.
Thalia slowly made it to her feet and stood over Reyna. She waved her hand over her face, but Reyna didn't stir. Thalia slowly sat back down. She didn't think that Reyna slept. It seemed like the woman ran on being an asshole and spite. From here, she almost looked peaceful, normal even.
Thalia focused back on her sketches. There were two downsides to killing Bryce. The first was that Luke and the rest of his cronies would be on high alert. The death of Ethan could be chalked up to him messing with some junkie on the side of the road. If Bryce died and it was an isolated incident, it would seem like a gang member was rising up. Together, Luke would know that he and his friends were targets.
The second was that the city would be thrown into civil war. Without someone to keep all of the gangs in line, they would fight each other for power, and blood would flood the streets. Thalia didn't know if it was a good or bad thing. On one hand, Luke would lose a lot of men. On the other, a lot of innocent people would be caught in the crossfire.
Another sigh left Thalia as she stood. She wanted to get this done tomorrow. Thalia walked towards the case of water that she had bought. She opened the bottle and took a sip. Then, Thalia walked towards Reyna and dumped the rest of the bottle, drenching the sleeping woman.
"Fuck!" Reyna almost yelled as her eyes snapped open. She quickly sat up and scrambled back against the headboard. "What the fuck?!"
"Thought you were thirsty," Thalia said coyly as she tossed the empty water bottle at Reyna. It hit Reyna in the chest as she didn't react. Her gaze focused on Thalia. "What? You can be an asshole all you want, but when I treat you the same way, it's wrong?"
"Go fuck yourself," Reyna snapped. She stood and started to storm away toward the door. Thalia grabbed her arm. Maybe it was the high of confidence from having killed Ethan. It could have also been the fact that she was miserable without alcohol and wanted someone to be just as miserable as her.
"Mad that I interrupted your nap?" Thalia taunted. The irritation that flushed Reyna's face caused Thalia to smirk. "If you can't take it, maybe you shouldn't dish it out."
"Oh, I am mad," Reyna snarled. "I was having a dream about my sister!"
The anger and grief in Reyna's voice caused Thalia to take pause. She lost her smirk and studied Reyna. Thalia had that same tone of voice when Reyna was taunting her about Jason. The pain Thalia felt wasn't something she wanted anyone else to experience. Even if they were an asshole.
"What happened to your sister?" Thalia asked after a moment.
"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" Reyna hissed. She shoved away from Thalia. All Thalia could do was watch as Reyna wrenched the door open and then slammed it shut hard enough to shake the bolts on it. Thalia glared at where she had been.
Thalia knew she shouldn't exactly feel bad about upsetting Reyna. The woman had taunted Jason and made a mockery of him just to prove a point. She pushed Thalia to a breaking point when Thalia couldn't afford to be pushed. But, there was just this part of her that felt bad. That grief in Reyna's eyes was not something to be taken lightly.
A sigh left Thalia as she went back to making her plan. She worked into the late hours of the night, only having Ramen noodles to snack on and water to drink. Her new BFF didn't appear to bother her and tell her that she planned like a two year old trying to figure out how to steal the cookies from the cookie jar.
When Thalia couldn't plan anymore, she curled up into the bed and passed out with an exhausted mind. Her sleep was peaceful. Until there was a pounding noise. Thalia's eyes snapped open, and she slowly rolled onto her back. Confusion came to her face, and she tried to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Open up the fucking door!" a man yelled. Thalia tensed and heard a door being kicked open. She scrambled to her feet and realized it was a door further down the hall. She heard the door slam shut, and there was pounding on another door. "Open up!"
"Good job, Grace," Reyna complimented, sarcasm dripping from her tone. Thalia turned to look at the woman. Reyna was sitting in a chair and staring at the door. One leg was crossed over the other, and she had her chin resting on one fist. "Someone saw you flee to the bar, leave it, and then make your way back in this general area."
"How do you know that?" Thalia demanded.
"I've been listening in on the gang chatter," Reyna answered. "They've been searching this area up and down for a lone female."
"They know what I look like?!" Thalia exclaimed as another door was kicked open.
"No. Someone wiped the cameras. They just have eyewitnesses. Those eyewitnesses say one woman was stabbed and stumbled off. Probably died. The other was by herself when she came here," Reyna answered.
"Fuck," Thalia hissed. "What do I do?"
"Don't care," Reyna answered. She stood. Thalia glared at her.
"You can't just leave me here. If those men walk in here and see me, who knows what they'll do?" Thalia hissed.
"Oh, I know exactly what they'll do. They'll do the same to any lone females in this motel. Probably beat the shit out of them, demand to know why they killed Ethan, give them an introduction on how to be a proper whore, and then drag them to the prostitution ring. Wonder what they'll do to you," Reyna finished as she studied her fingernails.
"You have to help me," Thalia hissed.
"I don't have to do anything," Reyna snarled. Thalia stared at her and heard a scream from a nearby room. Reyna's eyes flickered up. "There's your chance to run."
"I'm not running," Thalia snapped. She heard a woman screaming for help, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Thalia turned towards the door.
"Run while you have the chance," Reyna ordered. Thalia looked at her and shook her head. She tore open the door and stepped into the hall. Her gaze moved to the two men that were guarding the door. She heard a woman screaming from inside the room.
Thalia stared at the two men and watched the air around them shimmer. She froze before deciding it was just her exhaustion and fear taking over. Thalia didn't want to interfere, but how could she just let someone suffer for what she did? Thalia ran towards one of the men and slammed into them, hoping to knock them into the other. Instead, she practically hit a brick wall.
Thalia fell back and hit the ground. She yelped as the man reached down and picked her up, attempting to restrain her. He was an extremely tall man whose head almost hit the ceiling. Thalia tried to fight against him. She turned her head to look in the room and saw a woman was being pinned to the bed by two other men.
"Boss," the man that held onto Thalia growled. His voice didn't sound normal, like he had destroyed his vocal cords long ago. Thalia struggled against his grasp, but any kick that connected didn't seem to bother him. "I smell demigod on this one."
One of the men that pinned the woman to the bed grabbed a gun from his holster and shot the woman in the heart, using her chest to muffle the sound. Thalia stared and felt her heart starting to race. She was thrown into the room and hit the floor hard.
Thalia slid and whimpered as she felt carpet burn. One of the men slammed his foot into her side. Thalia collapsed, and brutal kicks slammed into her stomach and ribs. She tried to cover up, but that just ended with the kicks being aimed at her head.
"You killed Ethan?" the man demanded. His next kick broke something in Thalia's ribs. She howled in pain and tried to stand to escape. One of the impossibly large men stepped down on her spine, and she was pressed back into the floor. It felt like something in her back cracked.
"Fuck," Thalia whimpered. The man that had asked her the question crouched by her and grabbed her face.
"You killed him, you fucking whore. You're going to pay," the man sneered. The foot lifted from her back, only to slam directly into her kidney. Thalia cried in pain again, and her foot was slammed down onto her kidney once more. Thalia yelled and buried her face in the now freshly stained carpet.
The foot moved from her back, and Thalia was pulled to her feet. Her knees instantly gave out, and she collapsed onto them. Thalia whimpered as the extremely large man kept her in a kneeling position. Her interrogator unzipped his pants.
"Tell me the answer or choke on it," the man sneered. Thalia closed her eyes tightly. She heard a gurgling noise, and her eyes snapped open. Thalia looked up and saw a knife sticking out of the man's neck.
Reyna stood there gripping the dagger that was buried in the man's jugular. She violently unsheathed it and shoved him to the ground. She threw her knife, hitting the second man in the head. By Thalia's count, the only two men left were the freakishly large ones that had been guarding the door. Reyna studied one of them and grabbed another knife that glinted gold.
The man that stood over Thalia roared and rushed forward. For being a huge man, he moved incredibly fast. Reyna dodged out of the way just as quickly, but a second blur slammed into her from the back. Reyna was catapulted face first into the wall, and her face bounced off of it. One hand wrapped around her waist and picked her up.
One of the man's arms was wrapped around her midsection, with his hand resting on her stomach. The other wrapped around her chest, and he trapped Reyna in a bear hug and squeezed tightly. It only took a few seconds for Thalia to hear the sounds of something being crushed, and Reyna screamed in agony. She reached desperately at her waist for another knife, and her hand barely clamped onto it.
There was another crushing sound, and Reyna's hand loosened off the knife for a moment before gripping it once again. Reyna pulled the knife out of its sheath and jammed it into the man's thigh. He clumsily let go of Reyna to clasp the fresh wound, leaving himself wide open. The demon woman whipped around, cutting a fatal blow to the man's throat. Right before Thalia's eyes, the man just disappeared, and the only thing left in his place was golden dust.
Reyna instantly collapsed, letting out strangled gasps, and she slowly rolled onto her back. The second man moved in and stomped on Reyna's hand, inciting a yell of pain as the heel dug into her bones. Thalia tensed as she heard crunches and snaps, like someone was eating cereal.
"Stupid demigod," the man snarled. Thalia blinked, and for the briefest of moments, the man changed. He was no longer this tall man. The man retained his height, but he had brown fur like a bear. His mouth was a snout, and he bared these sharp teeth that looked like they belonged to a feral dog. Then, he changed back to a regular, really tall looking man. What the fuck was that?
A pained moan escaped Reyna as she tried to pull away. The man looked down at her and spoke, "You killed my brother. I will avenge Orelius and eat you in his honor."
Eat?
Eat!?
What the fuck did this man mean by eat?! Upon hearing those words, Thalia scrambled backward. Her back and ribs ached in protest, but she used her arm to drag herself. The large man grabbed Reyna by her shirt and threw her backward like she weighed no more than a doll. Reyna hit the wall hard and collapsed in a heap.
As Thalia made it to the door, the man grabbed the knife from the ground and threw it near Thalia's head. She tensed at how close the knife had been. The man spoke, "Don't move."
The man turned his back and walked towards Reyna. He watched as she struggled to use the wall and desk to stand. Her entire body was shaking from the effort of trying to keep on her feet. A foot crashed directly into her knee. Reyna yelled again and collapsed back into the carpet.
"I'll eat your leg first," the man hissed as he stomped on Reyna's leg. At that point, Thalia knew her act of bravado had been crazy. Suicidal even. She had to get the hell out of there. She looked at the exit and then heard Reyna's cries of anguish. Thalia scooted backward, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon Reyna. Despite how the woman treated her.
Thalia slowly grabbed the knife from the wall and struggled to pull it out. There was another scream from Reyna, along with a sickening crack. Thalia forced herself not to look. She just slowly pulled the knife from the wall and struggled to get to her feet.
Pain exploded in her back, and she collapsed against the wall. Thalia looked up and yelled, "Hey, ugly!"
The man looked up at her and growled as he saw the knife in her hands. He stepped away from Reyna and stalked towards his new prey. As Thalia studied him, she knew that she had made the wrong decision in not turning, running, and getting the fuck out of this city.
Thalia looked at Reyna, but considering Reyna's foot was twisted the wrong way, Thalia knew she wouldn't be any help. Thalia pushed herself off of the wall and rushed to meet this creature head on. As she stabbed forward, her hand was grabbed. She was thrown across the room and crashed through the door of the bathroom.
Thalia hit the tiled ground hard and moaned in pain. She stared at the knife that was in the middle of the room. Reyna slowly reached out, attempting to take hold of the weapon. The man picked her up by her jacket and threw her directly into the table. Thalia heard the sickening sound of Reyna's skull connecting with the corner of the table, and she went limp after that.
"Which to eat first?" the man asked himself. The lucky winner happened to be Thalia as he turned towards her. Thalia tried to scramble backward but couldn't will her body to move. The man walked towards his dinner and grabbed her by her leg. He threw her back into the middle of the room.
A pathetic moan escaped Thalia as she hit the floor. The man walked towards her, and Thalia heard the sound of glass shattering. Something tore through the man's neck, and he stiffened. Then, he exploded into that golden dust.
Thalia watched the dust pour down and shower her. She slowly looked around but didn't see anyone. There was the crack of thunder and flashes of lightning. Rain started to fall into the room a moment later from where something had busted open the window.
Thalia didn't care. She slowly scooted towards Reyna and examined the woman. Reyna's face rested against the ground, and there was blood staining the carpet beneath her head. Thalia slowly rolled Reyna onto her back and stared at the bloody bruises and cuts that infected the side of Reyna's face.
"Shit," Thalia whispered. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Reyna, can you hear me?"
A soft groan escaped Reyna, and her eyes fluttered open and close. Reyna slowly spoke, "Hylla?"
"No. I'm not," Thalia whispered. "It's me, Thalia. We're in bad shape. You really have to do that magic trick of yours. Please."
"Magic trick?" Reyna slurred. Thalia glared and wanted to shake her shoulders.
"Look at me. You can just appear and disappear. I really need you to do that right now," Thalia demanded. She slowly remembered the powder that Reyna had used to just magically heal her stab wound. Thalia reached into Reyna's pockets.
Thalia heard footsteps and turned her head. She saw a figure standing at the door, and the only thing she could do was stare. A woman carefully walked towards them and kept her hand held up to show she wasn't armed.
"Who are you?" Thalia demanded. She tried to examine the woman's features, but she wore a hood. The only way that Thalia knew it was a woman was by the curves of her body. "Stay back!"
"I'm a friend," the woman said. "We've been trying to find you, Thalia. You don't know me, but my name is Piper McLean. I was Jason's girlfriend, and we need to have a talk."