Chapter 52 Kip
KIP
I couldn’t recall the last time my palms were drenched in sweat, not even during the most intense hunts alongside Death.
In those moments, adrenaline surged through my veins, eliminating any trace of fear or hesitation.
But this was entirely different. This was a gut-twisting dread as I prepared to confess to my family the unforgivable reality. I had betrayed them.
I reached Dope’s uncle's cabin, and the smell of the light rain still lingered on the tree leaves. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart, but there was only one thing for me to do: walk into the living room and tell my friends what I’d done.
How it played out was what I was afraid of.
What would I do without the only people in my life who had supported me for years?
They had never questioned my sanity or my loyalty. That was all about to change.
As much as I wanted Holland with me for support, it wasn’t her battle to fight.
I had to take responsibility for what I’d done on my own.
Not only that, but I was also concerned my friends would think I’d brought her along to take my side and defend me against them.
That wasn’t the case at all. This was mine to face—my sins, my burden.
I knocked on the door and pushed it open, the hinges squeaking and announcing my arrival.
Dope, Death, and Ella all looked in my direction.
“Hey,” I said, closing the door behind me, the loud click echoing finality. “Thanks for meeting me.”
If they’d been playing cards or telling jokes, it all stopped. Every eye landed on me, and to my surprise, I didn’t flinch. I never called a meeting, so the moment I fired off the group text they knew some serious shit was going down. They were right.
“You’re late,” Death said, like it was a crime as big as murder. He spoke with a casual indifference that made people forget he meant every word literally.
Dope appeared exhausted as he clenched a can of off-brand energy drink. Ella watched me like a hawk, a half-chewed pen cap dangling from her mouth.
No one moved. Four heartbeats in a vacuum. I studied the grain of the wood floor, counting cracks where stories might live, then looked up at them.
I wiped my palms on my jeans, felt the sweat clinging like guilt. Then I said it.
“I fucked up.”
Maybe if I’d shouted it, it would have sounded more heroic. Instead, I felt the walls compressing in.
Death pinned me with a deadly stare.
“Fucked up how?” Ella asked, her question was soft but guarded.
I dragged my hand through my hair and tried to name the feeling twisting my insides. Guilt, plus another thing—horror, maybe, or inevitability.
I stood in front of the empty fireplace, my fists clenched at my sides, and for a second, I didn’t know how to start. How could I admit I’d been the weapon all along?
“It was the cross,” I said, voice low.
Dope blinked. “What was?”
I looked at my shoes, stalling. There was no other way to do this than blurt it out. “The one I wore every fucking day. I thought it was hers, and I wore it as a reminder—a scar.” My throat tightened. “Turns out it was … the Pied Piper’s.”
Ella sat up straighter. “What are you talking about?”
I turned to look at them. My family. The only people I had left.
“I was his camera.” The words cut like glass.
Dope’s hand froze halfway to his mouth. Ella’s mouth parted. Even Death blinked. That’s when it landed: what I’d said.
“Everywhere I went, every kill I helped with, every time I walked into a room—he saw it. Heard it. Through me. Through the goddamn cross.”
Death’s chair scraped across the hardwood floor as he stood. “You’re fucking joking.”
I met his glare. “You think I would make this shit up?”
“You let him spy on us,” he growled.
“I didn’t let anything happen,” I snapped. “I didn’t know. He had that tech on me before I even knew what the hell I was.”
Dope leaned forward slowly, his expression turning grave.
“The tech’s real. My guess is that he used audio nodes, micro transmitters, signal-activated triggers.
Most of it is undetectable unless you break it apart.
Honestly, I wouldn’t know for sure until I saw it. But it’s possible. More than possible.”
He looked at me, eyes sharper than I’d ever seen them. “He embedded you.”
“Guess I was born prepped to bleed,” I muttered.
Death stepped toward me, rage rolling off him in waves. “You could’ve told us sooner.”
“I didn’t know sooner.”
He scoffed. “You expect me to believe that? That for years—”
“Death,” Ella said, quiet but firm.
He didn’t look at her. His attention was locked on me like I was the kill he couldn’t end fast enough.
“He’s not the enemy,” she added.
“He handed us to the enemy,” Death snapped.
“I was a kid,” I said. My voice wobbled, but I didn’t care. “A teenager when they started drugging me, chaining me in the basement, and carving shit into my back. You think I chose this?”
The silence hit like a punch. Even the walls seemed to hold their breath.
Dope swore. “Jesus Christ …”
I laughed, the sound bitter and humorless. “Yeah. That’s who they prayed to while they destroyed me.”
Ella stood, slow and measured. “You were a weapon, Kip. A pawn.”
“Not anymore.”
Death crossed his arms. “So what now? You just walk back in and say sorry? Sorry I fed your whole goddamn life to a psychopath?”
My jaw locked. “I didn’t know. I don’t know how to make this shit right. You have no idea how fucking twisted up I am about this. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I turned toward Ella, and something in her expression reminded me of the night the Pied Piper had a discussion with her. She’d never told us what he’d said. I suspected she couldn’t. That he was holding something big over her head.
Before the words even fully left my mouth, Death moved.
One second, he was across the room. The next—his hand was at my collarbone, shoving me hard against the stone wall behind me. My shoulder cracked into it with a thud that echoed through the cabin.
“You don’t get to be sorry,” he growled. “You don’t get to come back from this.”
His breath was hot against my face, full of rage, betrayal, grief. The kind of fury that came from someone who’d buried too many people and wasn’t willing to lose one more.
I didn’t fight him. I deserved it.
“I didn’t know,” I said again, quieter this time. “I swear to god, I didn’t know.”
“You were in our house.” His voice broke, as if it physically hurt to say the words. “Around Ella. The kids. You were wired, Kip. Wired.”
“I didn’t fucking know!” My words sounded raw, hollow. “I would’ve ripped it off the second I—”
“Enough!” Ella stepped between us, one palm on my chest, the other flat against Death’s. Her presence sliced through the tension like a blade.
Her forehead creased. “Death, stop. We’re all a pawn in the Pied Piper’s chess game. Each one of us is being used whether we’re aware of it or not.”
He didn’t move. His jaw was clenched so tight I thought his teeth might shatter. His eyes never left mine. “I trusted you,” he said. “You were supposed to protect us.”
The words hit hard.
Ella pushed against him gently. “He still is.”
Death stared at me for a beat longer. He took a step back. Two.
Without another word, he turned and walked out the front door, slamming it behind him so hard the walls rattled.
The silence that followed was suffocating. I inhaled deeply, trying to steady my overactive nerves.
Ella’s palm was still on my chest. She didn’t move it. “Give him time,” she said softly. “He’s not angry because he hates you. He’s angry because you matter.”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. Because her words gutted me more than Death’s hands ever could.
Her words made sense. “Ella?” I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “What you said, I don’t think Death caught it. He’s using you too. That night he talked to you privately. The Pied Piper is using you, isn’t he?”
Her mouth clamped so hard her teeth clacked. She folded her arms across her chest. “That’s not what I meant. All I’m saying is that the more we learn, the more secrets come to light.”
“Not in a good way,” Dope muttered behind us.
“I need to go after Death. I’ll work on him, Kip.
This isn’t goodbye.” Sadness twisted her expression and then she threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
“Holland is lucky to have you.” She released me.
“And so are we. We’ll figure all this shit out.
” She gave me a wistful smile before she hurried out the door and after Death.
I slumped against the wall, exhausted and gutted.
“When you texted us, that’s not what I was expecting, man. Not at all.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Kip, man, you’ve been through fucking hell and back. The idea that the Pied Piper used your cross, it’s not on you if you ask me. But no one did, so.” Dope tapped his fingers against the can. “It’s fucking genius.” He rubbed his jaw, appearing deep in thought.
“Lucky us. I mean, some killers are dangerous because they don’t have a conscience. This motherfucker is even more deadly because he’s a goddamn genius. He’s next level.”
“I’m not sure I can keep up with him, but I’ll try. We have to figure out how to bring him down.”
The room filled with silence before Dope said, “You’re not wearing the cross. Where is it? I need to disable every tracking and recording device.”
“I buried it about an hour from here. It’s on the side of the road. I couldn’t wear it as long as I knew he was watching. Shit, I can’t wear it again anyway.”
Dope stood. “Let’s go get it. He already knows where I live, so let’s go back to my place.”
“Are you sure?”
“Hell yeah. You’re driving though, I need a joint. This shit’s been heavy.”
I couldn’t disagree with him on that. Regret and grief punched me in the gut as I looked around the cabin before we left, realizing I’d walked into the place with three of my best friends and was only leaving with one.
A few hours later, Dope and I arrived at his place and headed downstairs to his dungeon. He immediately started studying the cross, pulling it apart and identifying the cameras and recording devices.
I sat on the couch, my fingers steepled as I watched him. Neither of us spoke until we knew it was safe. Granted, the Pied Piper knew what we were up to, but that was okay. We were taking a stand. Not that he didn’t expect us to dismantle the crucifix, but it was the one thing I had control over.
Dope grabbed a hammer from his desk, and with a few swings, he busted the recording devices, sending bits of metal and glass flying in every direction. He leaned back in his chair, finally looking at me. “What do you want to do with the cross?”
“I don’t want it. Do what you like with it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. All it’s done is damage. I don’t want the reminder anymore.”
Dope swiveled in his chair and propped an ankle across the opposite knee. “He’ll come around, man. Death has a temper, but we’re also the soft spot he has. Ella and us, we’re family. Give him some time.” Dope snickered. “When he calls you with a body to clean up, you’ll know he’s forgiven you.”
“And you? Ella? Can you guys move past this?”
Dope looked at me like I was speaking a different language.
“Dude, you’re fucking here with me. I took care of the cross for you.
In my opinion, there’s nothing to forgive.
I’d rather spend my energy on taking the motherfucker down.
Him and his organization have done enough damage.
Shit, I would siphon all his funds for the Horizon Society.
Use his empire to rebuild what he destroyed,” Dope added.
“That’s how we fuck him back. At least the money would go to a good cause helping women and children start over on the bastard’s dime.
” He rubbed his hands together, giddy with the idea.
“I like it. I’m going to talk to Death about it. ”
“Keep me posted, man. On how he’s doing. Ella, too, if she can’t reach out.”
“That’s funny. Ella does what the hell she wants to. She stayed behind and hugged you. She’s cool. Don’t sweat it.”
“I just hope it stays that way.”
“You’ll see. Give him some space. It’ll all shake out. In the meantime, go home to Holland and relax. I’ll be working to see what else I can find in the meantime.”
I stood. “Thanks, Dope. For everything.” I approached him and grabbed his shoulder. “Text me if anything comes up.”
“Always.”
With each step up the stairs, my chest squeezed at the thought of my family falling apart. For tonight, there was nothing else I could do except go see the woman who held my heart in her hands and start our lives together.