My Crown

Chapter 29

Hades' POV

Watching the water wash away the blood down the drain calms me.
I hate having pig's blood on me.

I stand under the scalding water longer than necessary, only because I feel good.
I feel so good.
I needed this today.

After drying and dressing, I say goodbye to Jean, fully aware of the wariness in his eyes.

I should have killed him, he knows that. In any other circumstance, I would have.

Letting a prisoner escape my sanctum is punishable by death or worse.
His punishment is the fear slowly taking over him. It will drive him insane while simultanously ensuring he is at 100% from now on.

We have never had a prisoner escape and I never want a repeat.

But we have never had a prisoner like her.

Helena.

My enchantress.

She never ceases to surprise me.

For four months, I watched her play that insipid fool until he fell in love with her.
Now he is spiralling.
A mad man who changes between frantically banging on the door and shouting until his hands bleed and his throat is sore, and weeping.

She broke him.

And I have to wonder, was that her plan all along? Or did she truly fall for him?

Surely it cannot all have been an act.
She told him more than she ever told us. Most of it true.

Does she truly love that pathetic creature, or was it the room?
With nothing but each other, it is understandable to form an emotional attachment.

We should have expected it.

Even worse, she was going to tell him about us.

If she was going to tell him about us, there is no telling who she is telling in the outside world.

But, we will find her.

I pause when I see something that does not belong.

I know every inch of this island, I designed it to be an inescapable fortress.

That rock is new.

"Jean. I want visual on P11 & 12 for the last month."
I walk over to it cautiously, noticing the painting on the rock.

The Enchantress
1/12
8

The Enchantress?
What are you thinking now, Helena?

¤

"You are not going." Andy can be overbearing sometimes.
"Of course, I am." She will not stop me.

"You do not even know it is her."
Oh, but I do.

"Even if it is her, she clearly has backup. And whoever it is is even better than you."

Barely.

I must admit, their escape has me flummoxed, but that does not make them better than me.

"So, just to be clear. She has a better hacker and assassin and we do not even know what else."
"We do not know whoever it is is an assassin." And we definitely do not know if they are better than me.

"You are not going."

"Yes, I am."

"Would you use your brain instead of your other head? She has been gone over a month God knows where with God knows who. Then she leaves a message to her prisoners with a place and time. And we do not even know it was her who left the message. You will be walking into a..." she stops when she sees the look on my face.

"You will be on sniper duty." She folds and I know she already has a plan forming.

So be it.

We have five days.

Day 1. Andy and Demi have eyes all over Albania. We are waiting for her. No visuals yet, but it is only a matter of time.

Day 2. I land in Durrës. My recon starts. The building a block over gives me a perfect shot. And it is far enough to give me time.

Day 3. Savat makes contact with Demi. He warns her to be careful. Can we trust him? Why would he side with us over Helen? Or was the message specifically for Demi? What does she have to be careful of?

Day 4. Our troops land. An eight p.m. reservation is made for a Dr. Charles Dawson. Clever. But we still haven't had eyes on her. Has she been here longer? She could be hiding out. But that is not like her.

Day 5. Positions.

It is two p.m. when I climb onto the roof. There are no cameras and it has a perfect shot of the table. And yes, we secured a table far enough from the window not to be suspicious.

Girl will meet her there to hear what she wants. We have eyes in the kitchen, bathroom and a few diners here too.

She will be walking into our trap.

Or will she?

There is a note, right where I would be setting up my sniper, that was not here yesterday.

You didn't really think it'd be that easy.
Catch me if you can.

Shit.

Little minx.

Wait till I catch you, Helena.

Needless to say, she never showed.

An old professor and his wife did. They were shocked to find Girl waiting for him. The entire situation was comical.

"That little bitch!!" Girl is not amused.
"I don't get what you see in her." She spits taking off her wine soaked dress.
Mrs. Dawson did not like the hot young girl waiting for her husband at the romantic restaurant.

"You have to admit, it was a little funny." She glares daggers at me, but it is nothing I have not seen a hundred times.

"Andy is going to be pissed at you."
Do not remind me. Helen was my responsibility and she escaped. Now I wasted time and resources only for her not to show.
She is going to chew my head off.

Even worse, I will have to admit that she was right.

Where are you, Helena?

¤

"Where's the sexy little thing you were with? Didn't take you for a two pump chump." Michael asks over the loud music of the club, "No, that would be you. She is in my car. I did not want to leave without saying bye." He smiles at me before his shots come. "Alright, my man, salut." We both take a shot, "To the many pleasures of Italy." He says eying a busty blonde in a short sequin dress. "Enjoy it, brother. I know I will." He winks before walking over to her.

I have been on probation all of December, but Andy wanted me here for negotiations with Antonio. Dull way to start the New Year if you ask me, but we entertained ourselves most nights.

Italy has been fun, but Michael and Emery have to return tomorrow.
I, on the other hand, will remain for the full Italian experience. Or, at least, that is what I told them.
They are expecting me to be fucking my way through Italy for the next two weeks.
Instead, I am on a yacht to Albania first thing in the morning.

I deserve it after keeping an eye on boring mafia families for two weeks. Why mafias think they need a thousand people working for them, I will never know?

Caroline is right to try and cull their numbers, but if word gets out, they will have a civil war on their hands.
There is already a lot of unrest since their takeover.

The yacht cruise is tedious, but it gets me where I need to be on time.

Thea Enchantress is booked into a room on the eighth floor of The Ritz from the twelfth of January.

I believe her and I have a lot to talk about.

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