Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
priest
I made sure to stay hidden. Long branches spread wide as they cast shadows over my car that’s parked in the darkest corner of the cemetery. Whiskey leaves a bitter drop on the tip of my tongue, the insistent pounding of my head relentless.
I can’t tell if I’m hungover or still drunk.
Leaning forward, I snatch the ball of coke in the side of the door, dusting it out onto the first piece of paper I find.
The life and death of Luna Nox Rebellis.
A fighter to the end, some battles can’t be won.
You are loved in all stages of your life.
Mom, Dad, and Father.
Survived by some, lost by all. I love you. – N
I snort the first line, relaxing when I feel the first wave and clear my nostril.
“Are you thinking about all the bad things you’ve done lately?” Evie asks from beside me. Since I’ve locked myself away, Evie has made it her mission to make me her problem. No surprise.
“Not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Priest.” With everyone dipped in black, I feel the weight of Lilith’s eyes on me. You’ll never be able to escape the eyes of a mourning mother.
“You loved her, didn’t you?” Evie’s words are heavy in my chest. It isn’t her fault. She doesn’t know how to filter herself, and she sure doesn’t know how to accommodate my feelings in any situation, because she assumes I have none.
Everyone does.
“So?” I turn to her. With her newly dyed brown hair pulled to the nape of her neck in a bun and her face fresh of any heavy makeup, the faint shadows of dark circles that had formed around her eyes only mean one thing since she didn’t know Luna well.
These are for River. Or me. Probably both.
With the heaviness of her death lingering, my eyes struggle to stay open and I rest back against my seat, spreading my legs wide.
“So why, Priest?” And there it is. “We could have fixed it. You know there’s a type of therapy?—”
“There was no fixing her, Evie. She wasn’t one of your projects. She was insane and a fucking liability to every single one of us. We’d lost her, gone, poof. We couldn’t have her Darling side anywhere near us.” I lean forward. “Bas caught her at a strip club. Think about it. It’s how he knew to call her in. A fucking strip club.”
Evie shrugs. “Happen to like strippers.”
“As do I,” I sigh, shoving open the car door and stumbling my way beneath the oak tree that sprays out over ancient headstones. “You’re missing the point.”
Evie trails behind me, stopping when I lean against the trunk of the tree, my eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
“So you killed her!” Evie jumps in shock from beside me, and I clear my nostril again. I could hear River’s angry footsteps from a mile away.
“Priest, I love you, but what you did was wrong.” Evie squeezes my arm. What she means is that she isn’t going to defend me with River. Didn’t need it.
I drink more until the liquid sets a trail of fire down my throat.
Rimmed a brilliant crimson red, River’s eyes glimmer an extraterrestrial blue. I’ve never seen her this way. Not ever.
“I hate you. You’re a monster like every other Hayes that took that gavel before Bishop.”
I push off the tree and stop right in front of her. The dust doesn’t even settle around my military boots when I lean into her ear. “Correct, River. I am. Because I’ll kill every single person who ever comes near the EKC.”
“That’s where you fucked up, Priest.” River’s eyes cross when she searches mine. Even with the height difference, she stands her ground. “She was one of us.”
The hiss that crawls up my throat is primal. “She wasn’t.”
I refrain from shoulder barging past her when I make my way back up to the waiting car. With the door open, I turn over my shoulder once more to take a lasting glance at everyone standing around the shimmering black coffin. Dressed in black is one side, our side, and when my eyes shift to the other, I pause. Midnight Mayhem has changed over the years, but I know who I am looking for. I don’t have to look for long, because his wrath is hot enough to leave burn marks when he finds me. The sneer of his lip, the pulsing vein in his neck, the pure hatred he tries to exude.
I do the one thing I’ve been wanting to since Luna told me about him. The best friend who managed to work his way into her head until she knew better. Bet he’s mad that he never got to hit it before I took her out.
I blow him a kiss.
Shutting out the outside noise, I find Moose in the rearview mirror. “Home?”
Years. I’ve spent years killing people. All sizes, genders, whatevers. I don’t discriminate when it comes to inhaling the rush of fear that they feed me while dying in my arms, but I know hers will poison me for life.
With a last glance, I find Lilith, Eli and Kyrin standing near the casket as it lowers to the ground. I didn’t have to fight to not have her buried on EKC land, since all three of them, Eli included, didn’t need any convincing. They wanted her as far away from Riverside as possible, opting for the Kiznitch crypt in New York.
Exactly where she belongs.
“Son, I don’t know what’s going on inside that head of yours.”
My tongue dampens my bottom lip. “I’m used to being the monster, Moose. The only difference, is now, they’re right.”
His eyes stay on mine before flicking back to the road ahead. “She was a special girl.”
I don’t want to talk about her.
My phone vibrates in my hand, and I stare down at it as he drives us away from everyone, rereading the words over and over. Nothing sticks, everything wet with whiskey.
Days pass as fast as they come. No one arrives, no one calls, no one. Not a single person.
My front door slams closed, and I take the steps down, leaving the tie undone around my neck. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I toss my LV Jordans into the corner, raising a brow at Mom, who’s staring back at me with her hand on her hip.
“I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine.” I ignore her, rounding the corner to the kitchen. Her heels clunk across the cement floor, following my tail. I swing the fridge door out between us, slamming it closed to find her directly in front of me. “And I’m going to be late to a meeting, so is this important?”
She ignores me, leaning against the counter. She plays with the ring on her thumb. “Why’d you marry her? Was it your father that told you to?”
I scoop powder into my shaker. “No. It wasn’t.”
“Why’d you kill her?”
I screw on the lid to my shaker and lean back against the counter, shaking it in my hand. She knows I don’t have to answer to her. In fact, I don’t have to give her anything at all, but she’s never been good at giving up on the things she wants.
Unless she runs. Which I’m half-expecting her to at any minute.
“Because she had to die.”
Her eyes water, flying to mine. I wait. Wait to feel anything. A stab of guilt, shame, hurt for her. She’s my mother, and I know I love her. I’ve told myself that I love her all my life, so I know I do, but right now, in this moment—white noise.
“Priest!” she hisses, swiping at her cheek when a tear falls down. “I thought—I guess…”
“What?” My brow curves. “You thought I loved the same way you do? That she’d be different because I paid particular attention to her more than others?”
“Well yes!” Her eyes widen, and for a moment, the flames of the girl who’d captured the unattainable Bishop Vincent Hayes flare. “Priest, I refuse to believe that you’re going to take this path! This…destructive path that, by the way, will be far worse than even your grandfather’s.”
I sip on my shake. Red Velvet. “Mom, stop talking.”
“I loved Luna.” She sighs. “She had good in her, Priest. She was everything that you needed. She would have made a perfect counterpart for?—”
“—Mother.”
Her eyes snap to mine, and I’m hoping for that same fire. That same hurt and anger.
She shakes her head, straightening her clothes. “I love you. I wished it didn’t have to be this way.”
As quickly as she arrived, she’s gone. The words poisoning the air longer than I want them to. Minutes pass before I finally ditch the shake, grab my kicks, and make my way into my garage.
I stare over the cars. The Hakosuka, GTR, JDM rides, before turning to the midnight beast hidden beneath the cover.
Not my usual, since I’ve been riding JDM since I could walk.
Maybe it is time.
Maybe.
The soles of my Jordans squeak against the marble floor when I bend down to rip off the cover, exposing the satin-black Maserati. The complete pair to her own.
Papa Roach screams about angels and insects as I swallow another gulp of the cheap whiskey. Strobe lights flicker, and I kick my leg out, hiding my smirk behind my glass when I study Thornhill’s Devil in the flesh. Not even the half-a-million-dollar suit can hide the rugged scar across his neck. Whoever tried to kill him didn’t do a very good job, and even worse still, I’ve heard she’s still alive.
Barely.
“I take it you did what you intended to do.” Archer’s eyes fly around the room. “What is this place? Another one of your honey pots?”
I choke on my laugh. “Something like that.” He is the one who understands what it takes to run an organization like ours. Without judgment, he’s been there often. I respect him a lot more than I do a couple of my own right now. Like a beast in the flesh of a prince.
He turns his eyes onto mine. “Hope it wasn’t for what I think it was.”
I slide my glass across the table, tapping on the side to the beat of the song. I can tell him to shut the fuck up, but all he’d do is stare at me. Nothing, and I mean nothing frightens Archer Thorn. Nothing frightens any of The Echelon. We’d all rip each other apart, sure, but we’d all die doing it.
“News travels fast.” I roll my eyes. Something sprays over my mouth from across the room. My tongue traces the trickle of silver until it slips down my throat. I swipe at the rest with the edge of my thumb, looking behind Archer’s back to see a woman with long, blonde hair who’s bleeding out between her legs standing over an older man.
Archer ignores the blood on the back of his neck. “Yeah, it does. So tell me.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Why would you kill the girl you made me sign a blood oath to not go near when I agreed to take her?”
I hiss through the burn. “Maybe because I wanted to be the one who killed her?”
“That’s not very romantic, Priesty.” His casual use of Stella’s nickname has my eye twitch. “Not even for you.” He leans back in his chair, his arm spreading over the top.
“What gave the impression I was a romantic?” I’d be annoyed if it was anyone else.
He glares at me, gesturing to the waiter for another drink. She steps over the puddle of blood, swiping the bottle from beneath the bar on her travel to us. “The fact that you made me sign a blood oath to ensure I didn’t hurt her.”
He’s not going to drop it. “Fair.”
“We have a—” I’m cut off by both our phones vibrating on the table at the same time and we look down to see the same number flashing over both our screens. “Not good.”
“No.” He swipes his, and I do the same, as we both bring it to our ears.
“We have a problem.” Her voice feels like toffee after it’s been burned.
“Always is whenever you call. Only why is Archer’s phone popping off too?”
The line goes quiet for a moment. It’s not in her description to elaborate, but she’s going to anyway, because of who she is to me.
“Priest. Get up and leave, now.” When the last Huntress walked through the door of The Echelon of the Five, I knew I was fucked.
Archer and I both land on each other at the same time, and I’m guessing whoever is on the other side of his call is saying something similar. We never know who we all have since the job of a Huntress is sacred. Every one of the Five had one, but their job is too important to allow anyone to have. The skill of a hacker, the mind of a master coder, a seductress. The Huntress does it all. She hunts to ensure the steps we take have a safe path.
“Why?” I ask, my finger slowing its tap on the side of my glass. Everything around grows louder the longer time goes on. Her breathing turns labored, slow.
“Because you both can’t be in the same place. There’s been some sort of breach. We haven’t figured it out yet, but we have reason to suspect that there’s a hit out on all five of you. Having you and Archer together right now is less than ideal.”
Archer answers. “Got it.”
We both hang up. I tip my head and swallow back my drink. “This new threat.”
“Never had it before.” He shakes his head, his hand moving over the side of his face. He’s been in the Five a lot longer than me. Never asked why. “Which means that whoever it is and whatever reason they have to suspect this, means it’s legit.”
Archer shifts back from his chair, dropping bills on the table and fixing his suit. “You and I both know your public declaration wasn’t the way to go about this. But you did it anyway. Whatever you have going on, you need to fix so we can move forward from this—whatever it is.”
“See you in Thornhill?” My eyes darken when I shift up to his. He’s still watching me carefully.
“You’re all coming?”
“To watch you marry some poor bitch who will have to put up with your shit for the rest of her life? Yeah.” I flick my cigarette butt into the ashtray. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Kicking my door closed, I rest my head against the wood, blinking past the images flashing through my head. One after the other, I’m reminded of my mistakes. Of the things I shouldn’t have done but did anyway because no matter how fucking much I tried to hide the pain that’s threaded inside of me with her name painted over top, I’m reminded the same way a scar does a wound.
The very same that will rot in her inner thigh.
Moving through the foyer, I swipe a bottle of vodka from the bar, now fresh out of whiskey, and tug my shirt off from the back of the collar. Burying my hand in my pocket, I take out my phone and tap on the new messages in the group chat.
River: I hope you never find love, Priest.
Stella: River…
River: He killed Luna!
War: Shut up, Riv. He knows what he did.
Stella: I can’t help you here, homie. I liked Luna.
Vaden: He doesn’t need love.
River: Fuck you, Vaden.
Halen: Riv…
I exit the group chat and click on Instagram, scrolling through my main page. An image pops up of the funeral, and I scroll back up to read the name of who posted it.
Halen .
Footsteps sound behind me, but I don’t bother turning. “Was wondering if you’d ever show.”
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you, Priest?” Lilith’s voice is low, calm. On one hand, it’s expected. I’ve heard of Lilith’s brand of crazy, and although it is generally in your face, her rage isn’t something she exposed often.
I turn. “Well, you’d never know why I called you here, would you?” Doors close in the distance and it’s not until both of Luna’s fathers round the corner that I realize what I’ve done.
Do I care?
It’s there. That persistent fluctuation of emotion that’s right there, but every time I reach for it…. It’s gone. There’s nothing but frustration. Failure.
“You have ten seconds,” Eli says, his eyes coming to mine. “King or not, son of Bishop or not, leader or not, The Echelon of the Five or not, I will kill you.”
“Ten is generous.” I hold his stare, lowering to the sofa. “I only need two.”