Chapter Five
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VALE NEEDED TO KNOW what was happening. He needed to do a lot of things, including fixing his relationship with Cyril, but keeping an eye on the Organization felt more urgent.
He wouldn’t be able to do anything about his relationship with Cyril if the Organization found and killed him.
That meant that he had to find out what they were up to, but it had been more than a decade since he’d left.
He didn’t even know who was in charge anymore.
If he was going to take them down, he needed to know that and a lot more details, and there was only one person who could provide him with those.
He dialed Artemis’s number. It wouldn’t be a conference call with Russell this time around, but that was fine. He was sure that Russell would be informed of what had been said. He wouldn’t have it any other way. He’d told Vale he wanted to be involved, and Vale hadn’t been able to say no.
He’d do this for Russell, too. If Russell needed his help, Vale would be there without even asking why. It made Vale feel odd to accept any kind of help, even from his best friend, because he was used to doing everything on his own.
He didn’t have to anymore. He had support.
He had his friends and Cyril, and while three people weren’t a lot, to Vale, it meant everything.
It was one of the reasons he hated feeling so far from Cyril.
He wanted to change that, but he didn’t know how to or if Cyril would let him try.
He hadn’t even told him about the Organization, for fuck’s sake.
They were tiptoeing around each other, and Vale was pretty sure they both hated it, but neither of them was willing to break and reach out for now.
“So, the Organization,” Artemis said when she answered.
“They’re the reason I’m calling. What do you know about them?”
“A lot of things, and none of them are good. You really worked for these people?”
“You don’t have to remind me that it was a bad idea. I’m aware.”
Artemis hummed. “That’s good, I’m still going to kick your ass when I see you. You’ve made yourself powerful enemies, Vale. They’re not going to stop just because you ask them nicely.”
“I never expected them to.” The Organization didn’t stop. They forged ahead until they had what they wanted, and in this case, it seemed they wanted Vale dead.
“From what I was able to find, they’re cleaning up their hidden operation,” Artemis explained.
“You know there’s been a lot of talk in the government about looking into the people they work with.
The Organization is one of them. They have legal contracts with several branches of the government, including the military.
They would lose that if the people looking into this found out that they have a not-so-legal side, especially if the ones to find out were journalists. ”
“That’s the side I worked with.”
“Exactly. Now, this side of the operation works with the government, too, but for very different contracts than their official ones. Like you said, they’re mercenaries. That’s the kind of contracts they take from the government, and they’re very good at it.”
But it also made them vulnerable. Vale was sure no one would ever be able to find any proof of what the Organization was doing, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be exposed for other shady things.
If the government truly started looking into them, things would come out, and none of those things would be good for the Organization or the people they worked with.
Because it wasn’t only the government, although from what Vale remembered, they were definitely one of their main clients. No, the Organization also worked with the mob and terrorist groups. They worked with anyone who had enough money to afford their services.
The only reason Vale had worked with them was that he’d been desperate. He’d needed money to survive, and that had been the only place he could find it back then. He’d left as soon as he’d been able to, and he’d never looked back, but maybe he should have.
“So, they’re cleaning up,” Artemis continued. “They’ve been killing people left and right, making sure they can’t talk. You’re the next one in a long list, so you’re not special.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“A woman named Helena.”
Vale swore. He remembered her, unfortunately. She was bad news.
“I take it you know her?” Artemis asked.
“I’ve even worked with her a few times. When she’s given an order, she’s like a dog with a bone. She doesn’t let go until she’s consumed everything.”
“And in this situation, you’re the bone, or rather, your death is.”
“I’m sure she’s happy about that.”
“You think she remembers you?”
“I’m sure she does. We might have worked together, but it was never willingly. We clashed more than we got along.”
“So she’d probably take great pleasure in killing you.”
“I have no doubt that she would.” She might even get her hands dirty for him.
“Then you have a lot of problems because she’s not on her own.”
Vale groaned. He wasn’t sure he could deal with more bad news. “What do you mean?”
“She’s assembled a team. There’s very little I could find on them, but what I did find is enough to tell me they're extremely dangerous. They’re like her own personal hit team, and they all travel together. They’re in town right now.”
Looking for Vale, no doubt. “Well, I have a team, too,” he pointed out. There were only three of them plus Cyril, but it was better than nothing.
“You do. The only problem is that your team doesn’t have special abilities. Well, Cyril does, but I don’t know how you could use his necromancy ability against these people.”
Vale’s stomach dropped. “Abilities?”
“It’s been incredibly hard to find any kind of information on these people, but yes. When people talk about them, it’s in awe and fear. They seem like formidable enemies, and unfortunately, right now, they’re your enemies.”
“Maybe I should just hand myself over,” he mumbled.
“You’ll do no such thing. Like you said, you’re not alone. We’ll find a way to defeat them.”
Vale was glad to hear he wouldn’t face these people alone, but unlike Artemis, he didn’t have a lot of faith in the fact that they would defeat Helena and her team.
They’d try, but Vale was sure that at one point, it would be best for them to leave him behind.
When that happened, he’d have to make sure Cyril was protected.
Of course, there was no way to know that he and Cyril would still be together by then. The way things were going, Vale stood to lose everything.
And it was his own fault.
* * * *
CYRIL KNEW SOMETHING had happened from Vale’s expression when he came out of the bedroom.
He was still holding his phone, so there was a good chance that he’d been on the phone with either Russell or Rachel.
Since Vale wanted information about what was going on with the Organization, Cyril’s money was on Rachel.
“What happened?” he asked because even though he was angry and confused, he still cared about Vale.
Vale put his phone down on the coffee table.
John was getting a shower, so Vale and Cyril had a bit of privacy.
It was the first time in a while, and Cyril wasn’t sure what to do with it.
He was happy, but also angry, and he still loved Vale.
It was an odd mix of emotions to experience at the same time.
“I was just on the phone with Rachel,” Vale said.
Just like Cyril had expected. “It’s not good news, is it?”
Vale shook his head. “Far from it. The Organization sent someone I worked with after me, which means she knows how I move and how I do things. Even worse than that, she has a team of people with abilities like yours.”
Cyril blinked. “She’s working with a necromancer?”
“Rachel doesn’t think so, but she hasn’t been able to find out what kind of ability they have. I’m sure she will.”
“Does she know where they are?”
“Just that they’re in the area.”
Cyril nodded. He was supposed to see his mom for lunch, but it felt safer to cancel.
Hell, it would feel safer to send her away for a few weeks.
He didn’t want her to know something was wrong, though, and he certainly didn’t want her to find out about Vale’s past. She didn’t know that Vale was a professional killer.
Cyril wanted to keep things that way.
He sighed. He’d been looking forward to this lunch, but he’d rather have his mother safe than something happening to her because he couldn’t wait to see her.
“I’m going to call my mom,” he said as he got to his feet and grabbed his phone.
“You could still go to lunch with her. I can come along and protect you from a distance.”
“I can’t risk it. Thank you, though.”
Vale nodded. He looked worried, which was an emotion they shared. Vale was used to dealing with things like these, though. Cyril wasn’t.
The conversation was short. He invented a surprise job he couldn’t delay, and she accepted the excuse like she always did.
It wasn’t the first time Cyril couldn’t see her for lunch or dinner, and she always understood.
He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky to have a mother like her, but he promised himself that he’d keep her safe, one way or another.
He’d do whatever he had to in order to make sure she wouldn’t get hurt.
And to ensure that, he needed to know who they were facing.
That meant talking to Vale. Cyril wasn’t sure he was ready to tell him about his dream, but he could get answers about the Organization.
There was no way Vale didn’t expect him to push for them when he’d delayed their conversation for several days now.
Cyril returned to the living room like a man on a mission. John was still in the bathroom, singing off-key, and Cyril hoped he’d stay there for a while longer.
“I just told my mother that I wouldn’t see her for lunch,” he told Vale. “I told her I had a job, and she accepted it. You’re going to tell me everything you know about the Organization. I want to know why you worked with them.”
Vale looked away. “I already told you. I worked with them because I didn’t have a choice. It was that or starve, and I made what I thought was the right decision at the time.”
“You said you never killed innocents.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Cyril. I never killed children, and when it comes to other people, I try to make sure that Rachel does a background check, but there are always mistakes made.”
“Are you telling me that you killed whoever they ordered you to kill?”
“No. I did what I could to avoid it, but they’re a powerful organization. It was a fine line to walk.”
“But you walked it.”
“Until I couldn’t stand it anymore, I did. I did things I’m not proud of, but I never killed just anyone they would put in front of me, I promise you that.”
“So you didn’t kill children? Or young people?” Cyril couldn’t help but wonder why someone had wanted to kill Melissa. She’d been so young. Why would someone hate her so badly that they’d want her dead?
“I didn’t,” Vale promised.
Cyril’s heart broke a little. He knew Vale was lying. He’d seen it with his own two eyes, sort of. Vale had killed Melissa, and there was no way she hadn’t been innocent. She’d been too young.
But Vale had shot her. No matter how much Cyril wanted to believe his boyfriend, he couldn’t deny what he’d seen.
Cyril hated that Vale was lying, even though he understood why.
Vale didn’t want to lose him, and he didn’t want to lose Vale.
Unfortunately, it looked like that was what would happen.
Cyril couldn’t live with someone who lied to him.
He couldn’t live with someone who would hurt a person like Melissa.
But before doing anything drastic, he’d get more answers. He would never forgive himself if he didn’t. That meant digging into Vale’s past, which scared him, but it didn’t matter. He’d do it.
He didn’t have any other choice.