Crowed (Team Zero #2) by Rina Kent

The information pours over me like freezing water. My entire body stiffens, and I gulp. “But... but I haven’t done anything, why would I become a target?”

“Your father did. You’re paying for his sins.”

“W-what?” What does he know about my father? How does he even know my father?

Crow abandons the gun on the table and runs a hand over his face, before staring into my eyes. The harshness in his causes my skin to crawl. “The Pit had an experiment to form as many loyal assassins as possible. That’s why they came out with Omega. A drug which injects bloodlust into our veins. It made us hyper-focused to the point that killing becomes robotic. Fifty of us started Team Zero.

“We were in our early teens when they began injecting us with that poison. Countless side effects arose like vomiting uncontrollably, suffering from retrograde amnesia, or going rampant like crazed animals. Until eventual death. From fifty subjects, only eleven have made it to adulthood. But even those of us who survived could face an early death because the fucking drug destroys us from within.”

My heart breaks, and I find myself instinctively going to his side, wanting to console him. “Is the drug the reason why you have seizures?”

He nods. “Withdrawal.”

“And...” I trail off, not wanting to ask the question, but needing the answer like I have never needed anything. “What does my father have to do with this?”

His lips twitch in pure disgust. “Dr fucking Johnson is the godfather of Omega. We were his lab rats.”

I gasp, staggering backwards as if someone punched me in the gut. My hands cover my mouth as I shake my head. Maman told me that Dad was in the drug world, but I thought he was a dealer or something, not that he used them on children.

Mon Dieu.

My father is the one who made Crow suffer. My own father is a cold-blooded killer. Nausea fills the back of my throat.

“You better stop waiting for him.” Crow shoves a hand in his trousers’ pocket, his muscles flexing with tension. “He’s been dead for five years. A few of The Pit’s assassins killed him so he wouldn’t make anything like Omega again.”

I close my eyes, a tear rolling down my cheek. The father I thought would one day return is a monster. I always knew he was shady, but now I completely understand why Maman kept him at a distance from our lives. She loved him. I know she did. It was obvious with how happy she was when he came around. She never looked at another man after him, either. But she was smart. She must’ve known something was off with him, that’s why she told me to never get close so I wouldn’t be burnt like she was.

“He doesn’t deserve your tears,” Crow murmurs.

I open my eyes, staring into his darkened ones. “I’m not crying for him. I’m crying for you.”

The pad of his thumb touches my cheek, wiping the moisture away. Crow’s expression softens. A profound pain swirls in the depth of his eyes. I feel the wretchedness inside him instead of seeing it. “I don’t deserve your tears, either.”

Why is he saying things like this? He’s been put through hell since he was a child.

I clutch his arm and lean into his touch. “You deserve everything, Crow.”

“People like me only reap what we sow. I’m no saint. I kill to have a purpose in life. To feel alive. And sometimes, that doesn’t fucking work either.”

I’m about to argue, to tell him that if he weren’t kidnapped as a child, none of this would’ve happened, but he cuts me off.

“You’re different from us. You’re not Dr fucking Johnson and you don’t deserve to be punished for his sins.” He drops his hand from my face, and I mourn the loss. “So move that pretty arse. We’re leaving.”

He resumes packing his guns.

I stay in place. “I’ll call the police.”

He shoots me an unbelieving look over his shoulder as if I just insulted him. “Seriously? You think the fucking police can stop people like us? We kill their commissioners as a bloody sport!”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not leaving.” My throat closes, and fear grips me by the gut. Notorious assassins are coming after my life, but that’s not what terrifies me, it’s the possibility of dying in the middle of nowhere and Crow paying the price for protecting me.

He whirls around so fast, I flinch backwards. He clutches my shoulders, a murderous shadow crossing his face. “Quit being fucking stubborn! I thought you didn’t want to die anymore.”

“It’s not about being stubborn.” I try to wiggle free of his hold, but his fingers are digging into my flesh like steel. “I won’t spend the rest of my life on the run with a target on my back. Your fellow assassins would find me anyway. If I’m going to die, then I’m doing it here. In my family’s home.”

“Eloise...” He warns, the veins in his neck almost popping with tension. “Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder and take you out of here by force. Because I’ll fucking do it.”

“The only thing you’ll do is leave.” I push him gently towards the door. “This has nothing to do with you. Don’t create a rift with your colleagues because of me. They might kill you as well.”

I don’t have time to blink as he pushes me with one strong hand. My shins hit the edge of the sofa. I fall backwards with a yelp.