"There's your money." I nodded my head to the couch, which had a black briefcase with cash in it. I walked over to the table and sat down. "Problem?" I asked as I noticed how carefully she was looking at the money.

"I don't want them." She looked at me.

"Excuse me?" I frowned. What the hell is she talking about?

"Just kidding." She laughed. "You should have seen yourself." She pointed to her face while having fun. "I'll sleep better just by thinking about it." She closed the briefcase and took it in her hand. "A pleasure to work with you."

"I wish I could say the same." I mumbled under my breath so she wouldn't hear me.

"Come here." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how she bent down, and heard Odin walk up to her. She said something else to him, but I didn't hear her.

I don't understand what happened to Odin. He usually hates strangers. Even some people who live here. And her? He's known her for five minutes and he's already been with her more than I have. I don't like it.

"You do realize you're talking to a dog, don't you?" Not that I don't do it sometimes myself, but it doesn't suit her.

"Are you jealous?" She looked up at me. "If someone were to ask me which one of you is more pleasant..."

"But no one asked you." I interrupted her, which silenced her for a moment.

Just for a moment.

"I don't know what could it be, but I have a feeling that you don't like me very much." The moment she started walking closer to me, I regretted letting her in at all. "As I say, I don't know what could it be. I mean, look at me." She sat opposite me and put her head in her hands.

"Get out before I kick you out myself."

I'm fed up with her. I don't know what she's trying to prove, but this game of hers, or whatever this is, I'm tired of it.

"Wow, don't try to be nice or anything." She snorted and stood up. She reached for a piece of paper and a pen on my desk and began to write something.

"Here." She handed me a piece of paper with a number on it. "You're going to need it."

"Why?" I frowned.

"You'll see. Good luck with Abraham."

She smiled and petted Odin before walking out the door, who wagged his tail and stuck out his tongue. I don't think I've ever seen him so excited. Traitor.



I was thinking what to do with a briefcase full of money. It was my first thought to bring it to the apartment. What's bad about it is that Luna would ask where I got it from.

If I told her I worked for Killian, I'd be digging my own grave. No, thanks.

The only thing left for me was to leave it hidden in the trunk of the car. I wish Luna didn't accidentally find it.

"I'm back!" I shouted as I entered the apartment. I took off my shoes and headed straight for the living room.

But what I didn't expect to find was the man I saw sitting in the kitchen. His back was turned to me, but I knew very well who he was.

Luna was already walking towards me. "He let himself in. I'll be in my room if you need me." She gave me an encouraging smile and headed into her room.

I stopped at the door to the kitchen and glared at his back.

Maybe if I do this long enough he will go away.

"I was looking for you." He finally spoke. He placed the cup in his hand on the table.

"In this apartment, we take our shoes off before we come in. You're no exception."

"Accept my apology." He laughed and slowly turned in my direction.

His gray eyes found me immediately and a smile formed on his lips. One that once meant everything to me.

"Nice to see you Eris."

"I wish I could say the same. What do you want here Charles?" I crossed my arms over my breasts.

Somewhere inside I hate it. I had respect for him, but now? It's anything but.

However, I cannot bring myself to physically harm him.

"So you've been here for the last few weeks." He completely ignored my question. "With Aceso."

"Her name is Luna." I corrected him.

"I'm sorry. Again."

If I didn't know him well enough, I would say that he is really sorry. But I know him. This whole thing is just one of his games.

I don't plan to be one of his figures anymore.

"If you're here to convince me to come back. You came for nothing. I'm not coming back." I said sternly.

The sooner he has an answer, the sooner he is gone.

"I thought you were smarter. You are no longer welcomed in white snakes, Eris. You are a threat they will seek to eliminate. I am here to warn you."

"And what did I do to deserve it?" I smiled provocatively. "What did I do to deserve you personally coming to warn me?"

"Eris, stop it." He closed his eyes, which he always did when trying to calm himself down.

"Or what?" I challenged him. "You will eliminate me yourself? Help yourself." I pointed to my body. "Come on. Don't be a coward Charles."

"No." He slowly looked up at me. "You know I couldn't do that."

"I don't even know anymore. I don't know who you are, Charles. I realize now, that I never really knew."

"Yes you knew." He stood up and headed towards me.

I took a step back when he was too close.

The emotion that was on his face slightly dug a knife into my heart.

"You've known me for seventeen years." He exhaled heavily. "You know who I am. Better than anyone."

"Yes, you are right." I nodded. "You're the bastard who took advantage of a broken, eleven-year-old girl and trained her to be a dog." Disgust was definitely readable in my voice.

"That's not what happened and you know it."

"I was a child." Something broke in my voice. I held back the tears that wanted to come to the surface. I can't even remember the last time I cried.

"Emotions are for the weak. Are you weak Eris?"

"No." I wiped my nose.

"So stop whining."

"I was protecting you."

"From having a normal life? Yes, I completely agree."

"That's not....that's not what happened. I wanted to help you."

"Really?" I snorted. "That's news to me."

"The day we met, you lost your family. You had no one, you would have gone to an orphanage. You can't know what kind of people might have taken you and what they might have done." He was defending himself.

"Even that would be better than what I had to go through with you."

I don't know for who those words hurt more. Me or him. For most of my life I took him as my father. I never thought that we would ever be standing here like this.

"I saved you and you know it."

"Are you even listening?" I frowned. "You. Used. Me. So many people would be alive right now if I had died in that fire with my family back then. Every drop of blood I spilled is on your head. You are responsible."

"You said that Lukas" I paused "carried you out of that house. Do you really think he would want you to die there?"

"I never told you his name. I never told anyone his name. How did you know?" Anger ran through my entire body.

"Eris..."

"Don't try to give me that shit. Answer me." I said between my teeth.

"Eris?" I heard a voice behind me.

"Not now Luna."

"Yes, now Eris."

"I said," I turned to her to tell her to save it for later but stopped, when I saw Nyx. She was standing behind her with a knife close to her throat. They were standing next to the couch in the living room.

"I'm more than surprised to find you here Charles. Oh and Eris? You look terrible." She laughed.

She is probably right. My emotions are all over the place right now.

"Let her go, Nyx. That's an order." Charles said.

"I'd let her go, but I have orders from people higher than you. Too bad.."

"I'll see one drop of blood on her and I swear I'll feed you your insides. And trust me when I say I'll enjoy it."

I felt Charles' hand on my shoulder, which I immediately shook off without looking at him.

"Someone got out of bed on the wrong foot this morning." She laughed.

"Keep your emotions under control." Charles whispered next to me.

"Don't get involved if you don't want to end up worse than her." I gave him one quick glance.

This situation is going to get out of hand in no time.

What are my options?

A. I will provoke Nyx enough that she will focus on me and that will give Luna time to slip away from her.

B. I'll shoot her with the gun Charles is currently putting behind my back and risk hitting Luna.

C. I'll let Nyx take me and make sure nothing happens to Luna.

I hate it when there is more than one option. If I make a bad decision, someone could die. And that someone could be Luna.

It's my fault that she's in danger. If I hadn't looked for her and stayed away from her, nothing that is happening right now would have happened.

I guess it will be option C then.

"Let her go and I'll do what you want."

"That's the way you should treat me. I like it." She nodded. "But the thing is, I don't trust you. And since I don't trust you..." She stopped in mid-sentence.

"You have five seconds to put it down, bitch." Theo appeared behind Nyx and put a gun to her head.

This is the last person I expected here.

It looks like anyone can get into this apartment. Everyone really.

There are too many people here. This will get worse over time.

Well, I'll at least speed it up a bit.

I pointed at Nyx with the gun that Charles slipped me.

"Put it down.You have two guns," out of the corner of my eye I noticed another gun Charles was holding, "three guns aiming at you." I corrected myself. "You won't get out of this alive."

I don't know why Charles is helping me, but it doesn't change how I feel about him. They are not my family anymore.

I could literally hear the wheels turning in her head. She tried to find a way out of this situation, but she couldn't find one. She is outnumbered, although I don't trust Charles.

"We're not done yet." Nyx said, releasing the dagger from Luna's neck. But she still didn't let go of her with the other hand she was holding.

A hand with a dagger flew towards Theo, who didn't have enough time to dodge and the fabric of his t-shirt could be heard tearing.

While he was trying to catch his wound, Nyx got far enough away from us and started running towards the door.

I didn't hesitate for a second and ran after her. I walked around Luna and Theo and stopped at the door where I could see Nyx in front of the hall window. She was approaching it at high speed and finally jumped right into it.

The glass shattered and Nyx disappeared from my sight. I ran to the window and caught her image. She caught hold of the railing on the building next door and quickly got to the ground. She ran around the corner and I lost her.

"Shit!" I hit the windowsill with my hand.

Regretting that I wasn't a little faster, I went back to the apartment. What I didn't expect to find there was Luna sitting on the couch and Theo kneeling at her feet.

"Where's Charles?" I looked around the apartment, but couldn't find him anywhere.

"He left." Luna looked up at me.

"How?" I was standing in front of the entrance.

"I don't even know how he got in." She said slightly irritated.

"That's wonderful." I snorted. This day really couldn't get any worse.

"Can you stop?" Theo joined the conversation. "Luna went through something a while ago, give her time."

"Do you even know who she is?" I frowned. This is not something that hasn't happened before. Luna couldn't be thrown off that much.

"Stop it you two." She exhaled heavily. "Theo why are you even here?" She turned to him. "I told you to leave me alone."

And again I'm third wheeling. I am incredibly excited.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. When I saw her at Killian's I was afraid something had happened." Bastard.

"Where have you been now?" Luna's head flew in my direction.

"You know what? I'll let you two talk and I'll go...away. Really, really far away." I pointed at them and started backing away from the living room.

I'm not in the mood for this, and I don't even have the strength anymore.

So let's recap this wonderful day.

I kidnapped a guy. I met the most adorable dog and, unfortunately, saw his owner. Charles, the guy who was like my father, appeared out of nowhere, and he was gone as quickly as he came. And finally, Nyx, who is getting on my nerves, almost kills Luna.

A beautiful day indeed.

I can't wait for someone to lock me up in a psych ward after all of this.

*****

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