Page 48 of X's and O's

X ducked, cringing as the dispenser hit the wall behind him, cracked open, and spewed paper napkins all over the floor.

I opened my mouth and screamed, praying there was somebody else here.

Another head popped out from the doorway, and I screamed again.

Scythe was not who I’d meant by “somebody else.”

I spun around, running for the door, only to pull up short when a woman holding a baby came through them. I barely caught myself in time not to mow her and the chubby-faced baby down.

She caught my arm. “Oh God, are you okay? What’s going on?”

As much as I wanted to save myself, I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving this woman and her adorable child behind. I didn’t want to hear on the news about her brutal murder at the hands of two psychos who’d broken into a bar.

I grabbed her free hand, yanking her toward the door. “Get out! I can’t explain, but it’s not safe here! Run!”

Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she trotted along with me a few steps, dragged along by my momentum. “Wait, why are we running? What’s not safe?”

Oh, for God’s sake, I didn’t have time for questions. “Just trust me! Run!”

“Bliss, that’s the woman from the other night,” Scythe called out.

“The other night …” Bliss’s face smoothed out in understanding. “Oh.” She looked back at the two men. “Get out of here, you two! You’re terrifying her! Go on, shoo!”

I was going to have to leave her. If she wouldn’t listen, I couldn’t sacrifice myself to save her.

She had no idea who she was telling to shoo.

But to my surprise, Scythe gave X a shove toward the door. “Go on. You heard her.”

I skittered away, back into a corner, since they were now headed for the door. I didn’t want to be anywhere they were.

“Farewell, my lover!” X called over his shoulder as Scythe hauled him out. “Until we meet again!”

The door closed behind them, leaving me alone with the woman and the baby.

She winced at me and held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Bliss.”

My breaths came too fast, my chest rising and falling. I stared at her. “Do you have any idea who they were?”

She chuckled a little. “I do. I’m Scythe’s partner.” She shifted the baby on her hip. “This is our youngest, Ridge. He’s got two big sisters at home.”

I goggled at her. “You’re Scythe’s…you know what he…”

She nodded, her smile kind. “I know everything. What they are. What they do.” She squeezed my arm sympathetically. “Do you want to come sit down and talk?” She laughed at my expression. “I have alcohol. A lot of it. And you seem like you could use a shot or two.”

There was something about Bliss that put me at ease. She was a bigger woman, like myself, but a good few inches shorter. Her hair was magnificent, a long auburnmane that was thick and healthy and put my mousy blond mop to shame.

Maybe I should have been terrified of her too. After all, she’d just admitted she knew about Scythe and X, and they’d clearly told her all about what had happened at that house on Olympic Drive. She could be just as psychotic as they were. For all I knew, the freezer in the bar kitchen could be just as easily filled with chopped-up body parts as chicken wings.

But something about her eyes and her smile and the gentle way she led me to a table, while baby Ridge babbled at me happily, all told me she wasn’t someone to be feared.

“Your baby is really cute. He looks like you.”

Bliss shook her head. “Actually, I think he looks like his dad…not Scythe. His bio dad. War, our other partner.” She chuckled. “That’s a long story.” Her expression sobered. “I’m really glad you came here, actually. When Scythe told me what happened, I was really worried about you. I know what it’s like when you first meet a man like them. It’s intense.”

I rested my elbows on the table and scrubbed my hands over my face. “They told you everything? About how I saw them…”

She nodded. “You’ve been through a lot.”