Chasing Trouble Read Online Free

Thick ropes of dark, glossy glamour, as Mum used to say. Luring men to their doom, entangling them until their lives were forfeit. Every time I cut off the damn locks, they grew back overnight, just as long. All I'd ever wanted was a bob, or cute bangs, or -- God forbid -- a pixie cut.
    God damn Gorgons. I gritted my teeth and shoved my own clothes into the shopping bag and shoved it behind a chair. But you couldn't run from blood. Gran said that, not Mum. Mum tried to run and it hadn't worked out for any of us. I had to reach Lacey, had to figure out what the fuck was going on before I faced her mother. And since Val could probably track my phone, I needed a pay phone. I slung my bag over my shoulder, threw open the door, and bit back a curse, rocking back on my heels.
    Val, grizzled face more sour than usual, stood in the hall, flanked by two of her other daughters. "Eloise."
    "Uh, Val." I stepped back so they could come in, though I glanced up and down the hall behind them to double check. Yep, two more daughters guarding the stairs, and another at the only viable window. Definitely not getting away unless Val said so. I cleared my throat and closed the door, though I didn't set the chain. Just in case I needed to get out in a hurry. I could deal with the ones in the hall, but my scary mojo generally didn't work on someone as tough as Val. "I was just going to look for you."
    "Right." The queen of the hyenas looked like a tough version of every television grandma, her hair mostly white but cut short and spiked up in an aggressive style, and her cold brown eyes tracked me as I sauntered into the room and leaned against the wall. Even a foot shorter than me, she managed to loom menacingly from the door. "What happened?"
    "I dropped the money exactly where you told me," I said. My phone charged on the table next to the bed, behind her. I'd never reach it in time. The window was a better option, all things considered. "I waited to see who picked it up, but there was a fight a couple of alleys over. Big ruckus. Cops everywhere, so I ran. I didn't see what happened to the bag, but when I went back later, it was gone. The cops were still there," I added under my breath.
    "And yet you aren't in jail." Val's smooth cheeks grew lined with irritation. "Imagine my surprise."
    "Serendipity." I eased a little closer to the window under the pretense of adjusting the curtains. "Some lawyer took a shining to me, that's all."
    "Some lawyer?" The shorter of the two daughters snorted, biceps bulging as she folded her arms. "Benedict Chase isn't just some lawyer, kid."
    Kid. My heart-rate dropped and my blood chilled. The cold gathered around my eyes until my sinuses felt full and heavy, my forehead stiff. Val might pose a problem, but her daughters could be easily disposed of if the scary mojo got offended. I didn't look at her directly but the timbre of my voice dropped significantly as I said, "Val, we have rules."
    The hyena queen's upper lip curled, but she snapped, "Go wait in the hall," and the daughters obeyed without a single word. The short one gave me a dirty look, though I didn't care. Her mother just saved her damn life.
    Val folded her arms over her chest and took a stalking step toward me once the door shut behind them. "She's right. Benedict Chase is not someone I want sniffing around my ... employees."
    "Good thing I don't work for you." It came out more flippantly than I intended, by the way her expression darkened. I held up my hands, though my eyes burned with cold and fury. It would take hours before the mojo settled back down. "It was nothing. He wanted to be a white knight, I let him."
    "He's dangerous for us." It wasn't exactly fear that gathered in the lines around her mouth, but it was just short of that. "His kind are trouble. They're lions, Eloise. They do not tolerate my kind, or yours."
    I snorted and pinched the bridge of my nose, even though my hands trembled. Benedict fucking Chase. Of course. I should have