Chapter Eighteen （Gonzo Makes A Deal）

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (GONZO MAKES A DEAL)

GONZO

I stood outside of Bree's room, pretending my life hadn't just been permanently altered. Just a minor hiccup , I told myself.

I took a deep breath. There was no going back after this. Hazel was a problem that wasn't going away. In fact, it had only gotten worse over the years. The longer I evaded Hazel, the harder she tried to get to me. I had something working for me. She didn't know what I looked like. Paranoia over my picture being taken was doing me massive favors.

She would know soon though because Stein knew. The timer was counting down. So I made a bad choice and knocked on Bree's door.

"Come in." I took a deep breath and twisted the knob. Someone walking down the hall saw what room I was opening and their eyes bugged.

"You trying to kill yourself?" They hissed. I winked at them and they ran away. I pushed the door open. Three pairs of eyes and a masked man stared at me. My eyes settled on the masked man.

Baz being here made it more complicated. I'd have to lay my seeds and sow them later. The key was convincing Bree that Hazel was a threat that was never going away.

"Tell me everything about your sister," I blurted. Wait, what ?

A hand wrapped around the front of my shirt and dragged me in. Someone else slammed the door shut behind me, sealing me in. They circled like sharks. The hair on my neck rose up as Bree's blue eyes zeroed in on my throbbing throat. Nemo dropped my shirt and marched to the bed, sitting down against the wall.

Baz and Bree circled me while Orson lazily watched them both.

"Why do you want to know about her?" Baz asked. I flinched as he leaned in closer. It made me bump into Bree who was suddenly right behind me. She wrapped her hands around my shoulders and, with unnatural strength, dragged me down to the bed at Nemo's feet.

This wasn't off to a good start.

She climbed on top, staring down at me with hunger as she flashed a fangy smile.

"Why should I tell you anything?" Baz said over her shoulder. One touch from him and I was a goner. His arms wrapped around Bree. I swallowed thickly, trapped on the bed by them.

"I'll give you blood," I said. Bree's pupils blew out. I knew it was a tempting offer. She'd admitted my blood was special and that she liked it.

"Alright," Baz agreed. Bree was on me in a second, a curtain of red hair framing our faces. It reminded me of Hazel. So when her fangs settled against my throat and pushed inside me I couldn't stop my hands from gripping her hips. A groan came from my mouth as she pulled my blood into her mouth. There was something about her bite that made me feel a certain way—I couldn't control it at all.

"Careful," Orson said. I saw his purple eyes glaring at me from across the room and pulled my hands back.

"They really do look alike," I rasped out. Bree pulled my blood into her greedy mouth. Her bloodlust was unparalleled.

Baz wrapped Bree's hair around his gloved fist as he moved in closer, his legs nearly brushing mine as he leaned against the bed. Concern chased away all the arousal Bree's bite caused. His close supervision made his venomous body far too close to me. There was only the briefest space between our legs as he rocked against her ass in a taunt.

Coming here was a shitty idea but it was the only idea left.

Bree licked an errant drop of my blood before her mouth latched back on. I was starting to feel faint.

"You want info? Hazel is about five years older than me. That's how phoenix like to do things. They have children in pairs, close in age if possible."

"Why?" I asked him. I saw the flash of one green eye and one red eye through wide open eye holes in Baz's mask. He rarely wore anything that showed any part of him. Seeing those vibrant two-colored eyes reminded me of Hazel.

"Companionship…" Baz trailed off. "Phoenix stick to their own kind, if you know what I mean."

"I knew it," Orson said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Knew what?" I asked.

"Usually it's cousins but we don't have any. Hazel and I were supposed to be companions ."

"Companions…" I trailed off. My voice slurred a little. I got it now—why Hazel had acted so weird earlier when talking about her brother on the list. Going dodgy when I joked about kissing and marrying people on the list. Because she was supposed to marry Baz.

I felt my lips peel back from my teeth, anger gathering inside me. I shot a glare at Baz and for a second, wondered if I should let Hazel kill him.

I shook my head. When was I ever jealous?

"She lived with our uncle since I was a baby. He's an assassin. Unkillable assassins are pretty successful, if you can imagine. She probably trained under him and became one as well."

"I don't want a history lesson," I said. My eyelids felt heavy as Bree pulled more blood into her mouth.

Why had I asked about Hazel? It didn't matter.

The words played in my head. I'd convince Bree that Hazel had to be stopped. That she was going to kill Baz.

When I first put this entire plan together I thought Baz would kill her. He was the psychopath who killed half the asylum so what did it matter to him? Now I knew Baz wouldn't kill her. He had a soft spot. I doubted she would even kill him either.

That didn't matter. What mattered was convincing Bree that Baz would die. Then Bree would go behind his back to help me kill Hazel.

Hazel had to die. That's why I brought her here. That's why I sent the anonymous letter telling her exactly where her brother was. I needed her here , the only dangerous place for a phoenix. The home of the world's only living basilisk.

I knew she'd come. So did Stein, apparently. He'd set the stage but didn't know where she was. Luckily, I did.

I opened my mouth, ready to say it all. Hazel was dangerous. Hazel would kill Baz. She was more determined than ever. I'd feed Bree lies so close to the truth she'd have no choice but to believe them. I was a very convincing bastard.

"Well? What do you want? Or did you just want to get sucked," Baz said.

"I want you to come to me when she shows up again. I'll get her out of your hair." What was I fucking saying ? Didn't I want to live? This was my only chance. But I couldn't control myself. The wrong words kept bubbling up. An overwhelming drive to protect her suddenly took over.

"She doesn't really want to kill you," I continued. "Your uncle is forcing her." Fuck .

I was in disbelief. I'd just sentenced myself to death. All the lies, the scheming, the near-death experiences… useless. I stared bug-eyed at the ceiling in shock. Why did I do that?

Oh fuck. I knew why but I didn't want to admit it.

Bree's skin started to feel like it was burning me. Baz's venom was leaking through her body and into mine.

"Why protect her?" Baz asked.

"Because she's mine," I growled out. No, no, no.

I didn't just have one mate. I had two. And one was the woman who had my name on her kill list. The same woman I'd been trying to kill since I met her.

I scrambled to get out from under them. Bree laughed and took another big mouthful. Her strength was alarming. Baz gave Bree's ass a slap like he was riding a couple bucking broncos. I growled and stopped fucking around, flinging them both off me. Everyone stared bug-eyed. A normal shifter wouldn't have that level of strength. I clicked my tongue.

Nemo grabbed my shirt and dragged me towards the door.

"Time to go," he commented gruffly. He thrust me roughly out the door. Then he looked at me curiously, his nostrils flaring as he took a smell.

"You aren't a were animal," he said. I ignored him.

"You'll call for me when she comes for you again?" I asked. Nemo rolled his eyes and slammed the door in my face. I banged against the door as my vision swam from blood loss.

"Call for me when she comes!"

"Yeah, yeah," I heard Baz rasp out behind the door. I turned around and touched the little bites on my neck.

"Fuck!" I barked, kicking the door. I heard Nemo growl and ran off, not wanting another run-in. I had other things to worry about. Such as the fact I just fucked up my grand plan of survival. I was supposed to bargain for her death and instead, I bargained for her safety.

The old me wouldn't care if another person lived or died through their own plans. The old me would never, ever want to own someone. Owning someone was a responsibility I had no desire to have.

But I was unable to fight all these new drives suddenly overwhelming me. Two mates. Two fucking mates. I felt my thoughts readjusting in my head in real-time; from killing Hazel to owning her.

I stomped into the day room, picked up a chair, and threw it as hard as I could at the wall.

It hit and bounced off, coming right back at my face. I ducked and it hit the person behind me, taking them out with an oomph .

"What the hell?" He asked groggily from the floor with a cut on his forehead. Then he passed out. I stood up and looked down at the guy. Suddenly I was furious with myself—completely outraged that I'd tried to kill my mate. Murderous rage bled over me.

I went to the food line and picked through the trays until I found one with no cracks. Then I went back to the guy on the ground. He was starting to come to. Everyone else in the room was watching me curiously while playing games of Go Fish with decks missing half the cards.

"What's he doing?" Someone mumbled.

"I don't know, offering to get him lunch?"

The guy's eyes popped open to see me above him.

"Real sorry about this," I said. "But I'm really fucking angry."

"Wha—" He started. I lifted the tray above my head. The fox laughed inside me while the guy on the ground's eyes bugged out of his head. I could feel the sharp teeth of a canine filling my mouth as my eyes began to glow gold.

He started screaming so I quickly hit him on his head. I barely felt in control of myself. There were too many feelings pouring into me. Two mates. Two fucked up, immortal murderous mates who both wanted me dead. And I'd tried to kill one of them.

I growled and hit the guy again. The tray broke into pieces. I snatched one off the ground that looked like a shiv. I knelt down and slid the sharp end right under his ribcage, ripped it out, and let it sink into his gut. Then I worked my way higher, jamming it into his chest a few good times.

"You stupid fuck," I hissed at him, letting him take the brunt of my current self-hatred. "I fucking hate you." For the grand finale, I sent the blood-soaked plastic shiv into his neck. I wrapped my hand around it and then kicked him off. Blood pumped onto the floor as I dropped the weapon and got back to my feet. My chest heaved as I caught my breath, looking at the dead body beneath me. Blood dripped from each of my fingertips.

I looked up and saw everyone staring at me bug-eyed and open-mouthed.

"I didn't even know you knew Hawk," someone said.

"Who?" I asked, wiping blood streaks into my white scrubs.

"The uh, guy you just killed? That you said you hated?"

"Right, right. Hated him," I said before walking. Glad that was taken care of.

Unfortunately, there was still the matter of Hazel finding out who I was and what I'd done. I felt the hallway walls closing in.

"Fuck," I wheezed, grabbing my head as the sinking realization that I'd screwed myself over entirely sunk in.