Judith (Queen's Birds of Prey 3)

What she’d not realized, and more than likely should have, was that they would have the worst kind of fit if they didn’t get what she normally would have made for them. What the hell was she supposed to do, shit him out a grilled cheese sandwich with chips? Morons. Both of them were.

Hanna had no idea where George might have been right at this time. He was in the hospital when she was taken in, but there hadn’t been time to ask where she might find him. Not that it mattered. Hanna would have had to kill him too if he started in on not having anything to clean up with. She hoped wherever he had ended up, they had stock in hand cleaners. He was going to make them go broke with having to buy it all the time.

“Moron.”

The stairs loomed over her. Hanna made her way to what she thought would be the kitchen instead of tackling them for the moment. There wasn’t a fucking person in this place. She was sure she’d shot one of them through the window, but there didn’t seem to be anyone around dead. That was all she was living for right now, to kill off that damned woman and her husband. As an added bonus, if she found the kids, she’d pop them a good one too.

Getting weaker by the moment, she sat down at the dining room table. It was a beautiful piece. The dozen chairs that lined the sides was something she would have picked out for her own home had she had one. Laying her head down on the table, she cried a little. Hanna knew she wasn’t going to make it. She’d have to die without killing any of the people who had made her have to go to jail.

“I suppose I should be thrilled that you’ve come here to kill me. It will save me time in having to hunt your ass down. What the fuck did you think was going to happen when you got here? That we’d welcome you with open arms?” The woman sat down across from her. The rifle Hanna had gotten from another house was just gone. “You’re not getting this back, no matter how sweetly you ask me. Which, I’m quite sure you weren’t going to do.”

“What the hell makes you so special?” The woman, she thought her name was Jude or something like that, asked her what she meant. “This place. This is a fucking castle. Not to mention the Fort Knox amount of money you must have spent in decorating it. Why you? Why not me?”

“Okay, let me clear some things up for you. The furniture? It was made long before you were ever even thought of. I’d say about the turn of the century. Maybe before, I don’t remember. The castle, it’s been here longer than I have. And I’m very ancient.” Hanna asked her if she thought thirty something was old. “No. But I’m much older than that. Like centuries older. Millennium older than you.”

“There isn’t any way you’ve been around that long.” Jude told her it didn’t matter anyway. “It does, damn it. You know I’m going to fucking die here. Why would you lie to me?”

“Yes, sorry. I’m not lying. Just like I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that a queen with a great deal of magic turned myself and five other birds of prey into larger than life birds she used to fight for and win the safety of her castle inhabitants.” Hanna didn’t believe her. “Which part? The birds or the age part.”

“Both.” Nodding once, Hanna screamed when Jude simply disappeared, and a large eagle was standing on the table between her and the chair. “I don’t believe you.”

The bird came to her and pecked her on the hand hard enough to break the skin and make it bleed. As soon as the eagle went back to the chair and shifted, Jude took her hand into hers and licked the wound closed. Hanna just stared at her.

“As you can see, I can and will be a bird when I need to. As for your hand, I healed it because you’re right, you’re going to die here. I didn’t want you to go all dark on me and not get the answers you seem to need.” Five women came into the room with them. “These are the sisters of my heart. They’re birds too.”

Poof. That was what it looked like when the other five shifted into birds as well. Hanna couldn’t take her eyes off the phoenix. She’d always thought it was a mythical bird of prey, nothing she could have counted on ever seeing in her lifetime. When they changed back, they took a seat too so that Hanna felt boxed in by them.

“The police aren’t on their way to get you. They’d never make it in time anyway. I figured you’d have some questions, and we’d answer them for you.” Hanna asked her why they were being nice to her. “Oh, don’t get me wrong. We’re not being at all nice to you. It is well within our power to make it so you don’t die in my home. But we’re not going to do that. We all want you out of our lives and in the dirt. This way, I won’t have to explain why you were found on the property here come spring. Also, if I had wanted you dead now, you would have been before you came into the house. I’m still pissed off at you for shooting up the front of my home. And my daughter.”

“You really did claim those brats?” Jude told her they were calling her mom too. “You’re appalling. Why would you want those pieces of shit in your family?”

“Watch it, old woman. I’m not as happy with you being in this house, either.” She stared at the other woman. “I’m the falcon. Mercy. Which I’ve been told I don’t have enough of. You fucking talk about my niece like that again, and even the spring thaw won’t show your body.”

Hanna knew she was getting too weak to argue with any of them. Laying her head back on the table, she knew she’d never get it back up again. Time and her blood were running out much too quickly.

Duncan came into the room with them. However, he didn’t sit. He did ask them if they wanted anything to eat or drink. Food and drinks appeared on the table before he kissed Jude on the mouth and left. Hanna didn’t bother trying to touch any of it. The thought of moving her hand to reach for something was too taxing.

“You don’t have long now, Hanna. I’m not sure what else we can tell you that you’d take to the grave with you, but you’re running out of time.” Hanna closed her eyes. “If that’s all, I’m calling the cops to come and get you.”

“Why don’t you bury me out back?” She thought one of them said it would spoil the earth to have her in it. “What a terrible thing to say to a dying woman. My brother, Harland, is dead. He was annoying me, so I shot him. He’s in the barn out by the road. I don’t remember which barn or what road. But if you sniff him out, you’ll find him. George is around, I guess.”

“He’s in a nursing home that deals with his type of illness.” Hanna wanted to ask her what the hell she thought was wrong with him other than being stupid. But she must have understood. “He’s mentally challenged. Obsessive compulsion disorder too. Did you know he’s terrified of you? Or did you encourage him to be afraid of you?”

Unable to answer, she did smile. Or she thought she did. There wasn’t anything left in her to open her eyes. While she could hear what was going on, there wasn’t any way for her to work up the strength to answer. Hanna supposed she should have stayed in the hospital at least a couple more days. She’d have been able to do something if she had.

When she could no longer feel her legs or anything below her neck, Hanna figured she was only going to have a few seconds le

ft to make any kind of statement. The strength it took for her to open her eye was almost too much. She looked at Jude.

“I don’t…regret.” Jude told her she didn’t think she would. “I did…family. For us. I don’t regret.”

“No. Not that it matters now, but you’ll pay for your deeds. I think you have a place all reserved for you in hell.” Hanna thought about her being a good Christian. “I don’t believe you were, Hanna. You’re nothing but a nasty woman that told herself what she was doing was all in the name of family. No. You enjoyed it entirely too much for anyone to believe you now.”

Hanna didn’t know why she believed Jude and what she was saying, but if it were true, she thought she might well have felt differently about it while she was doing it. Surely she had some points in her favor about her chosen way of doing things.

She had a thought. If this were a movie and someone was dying like she was, Hanna would have fast forwarded it to the end. It was boring to watch. However, she did like that she wasn’t alone right now. For some reason, it gave her a little comfort knowing she wasn’t lying here dying all by herself.

“Hanna, just let go. You’ve done enough. Just let go.”