Hades stared at the group for a moment, big blue eyes raking down each one of us head to toe before she settled on her response.
“The taller blonde man is holding his weapon with confidence, although he has recently had his fingers reattached, which indicates he knows what he’s doing, even with the disadvantage of his presumable nerve damage.” She pointed at Lincoln first. “He is also standing slightly inclined so that his body is almost in front of yours, or could be within a second, which tells me he is your bodyguard. And I would take a calculated guess that bodyguards can shoot or else he wouldn’t be a very good one.”
She was right about all of it, even the part about my bunny being ready to use himself as a human shield should the need arise.
“Who next?” I asked.
She looked at the men again, eyes settling on Kody. “I think you’re the next viable option.”
“Do you?” He gave nothing away by his tone or words, but that didn’t seem to matter. “What makes you think that?”
“Are you Romanian, by any chance?” She cocked her head as she asked more questions. “Maddox is Romanian, and you have similar complexions and features. I understand that skincolour isn’t always an indicator of nationality, but it’s worth an ask.”
“I was born in Hungary.” Kody’s lips twitched with a smile. “So, close.”
Hades nodded. “Hungarian, but you left the country before you were twelve at the latest and have been in America since, I think.”
His dark brows rose. “How did you know?”
“You have an American accent for the most part. Children who leave their home country before the age of twelve usually end up developing the accent of the place they move to. But those who move after twelve tend to keep the dialect and vocal indicators from their homeland. You have enough for me to think you have an accent from somewhere along the West Coast now, which means you moved away from Hungary before you were twelve.”
Misha muttered something under his breath, but I waited to ask what he said, instead continuing with Hades’ and I’s little game that was rather fun, even if I was a little shocked.
She was reminding me of Sherlock Holmes and his ability to figure out the most obscure of facts about things. It was pretty cool.
“Who is your last guess?” I asked.
“I don’t guess. I make observations and calculated decisions based on facts and statistics.” She corrected. “And it’s you. But I thought that was obvious.”
It was nice to know that I screamed bad bitch energy, even to a stranger. At least that’s what I was hoping she thought I gave off.
“Why?” I asked.
“You’re clearly the leader. A good leader wouldn’t be useless with a weapon that she carries. Plus, you don’t have the safety on your gun, which tells me you’re confident about using itenough that you don’t fear accidentally shooting yourself. And seeing as you don’t give me the impression that you’re arrogant, I have to assume that your confidence is from skill, not hubris.” She smiled again, like we were having a normal discussion. “So again, I ask what do you want with my parents if not to kill them?”
“Maybe I want to kill them later on and I’m faking it.”
She scoffed, her grin turning almost sadistic. “No. You don’t look like the sort of woman who would draw out a revenge killing – you look like a princess who would use the gun but not her hands. Your hands are clean, and your nails are perfect. Your manicure isn’t fresh either. It’s at least a week old based on the grow out, which means you don’t make a habit of using your hands a lot even if you are too busy to get a manicure every week.”
I scoffed in disbelief as Ares and Maddox came thundering back down the stairs and into the room.
“No, I like using my hands. I just haven’t had the need to for a while.” I said, as Ares glanced at his sister, his brows furrowing.
Hades bobbed her head. “A miscalculation on my part, but as I don’t know you well enough, it’s hard to establish all the facts. But regardless, I don’t think you’re here for violence, which is good. So if you would like to explain why you’re here, then we could get this meeting moving before it gets too late – I have a piano lesson in two hours and I need to wash my hair first.”
“Go do it now.” Ares ordered as he grabbed her hand and hauled her towards the stairs. “I’ll watch them.”
“But-”
“But nothing. You said she’s not a risk. So were you wrong?”
Hades glared at her brother something fierce. “I’m never wrong when I have facts.”
“Exactly. So go away and fix the state of that mop on your head.”
The pair bickered back and forth for a minute before Hades relented, and with a quick sigh, she sauntered off upstairs, leaving us all in her wake.
Ares hovered at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes had followed Hades until she was safely away, before he said, “My sister is… she’s…”
