73. Conrad
I t’s been two days. Xavier is dead. The fallout from what I and Antonio did hasn’t even spread wide enough to worry about yet. By all accounts, we’ve been lucky.
But luck will only get you so far, even when you’re a Blake.
The Esau must know we’re coming for them, they have to be planning new moves. Bigger moves. We’re not just going to sit here and let them continue on.
I left Brynn with Liliana. No, I didn’t fucking like it, but I’ve realised now that she is vulnerable. The way her mind works, the way you can manipulate her now, she can’t be left alone for even a second.
And I’ll be damned if we go off tonight and come back to find her taken again.
The sound of the helicopter’s blade makes it near impossible to talk.
Apparently, Magnus got these from some new arms dealer the Brethren have recruited. I’ll admit I’m impressed. They’re new technology, the latest tech, all armoured and state-of-the art equipment. Not even the U.S Airforce has as many of these things as we now do.
We feel invincible. We feel Godlike.
I glance across at my brother, and I can see that deadly look on his face. Is he wondering what it’s going to be like? This time tomorrow he’ll be Chapter Lord, and all this bullshit will be done with.
Because tonight we’re going to take out Titus, we’re going to take out every last member of the Esau faction. To force the Brethren’s hand.
It’s bold, but it’s necessary. For almost the entirety of this fight, they’ve had the upper-hand. Yes, we’ve made a few moves, taking out a few of their significant players, but the time for reservation is over.
We strike now, and we strike fucking hard.
Antonio provided us with a list of Esau strongholds. Again, I wondered how he has such useful information, but when I voiced this to Magnus he just brushed it aside, which makes me think that as usual, he knows something I don’t and doesn’t want to share.
We’ve got men headed to the locations, even as we speak. The skies of Britain haven’t had this much activity since the Blitz.
And it’s us, the Blakes, behind it all.
I glance down at the shining lights of Sheffield. All these people, all tucked up in their beds, all blissfully unaware that right now, a coup is underway. Not that they know that their lives are already controlled by the Brethren, that almost every politician, every person of note is within our ranks. That they answer to us.
And from tomorrow, they’ll answer to my brother.
In the distance, I can just about make out the house we’re headed to. It’s a few miles out, in the country, away from the main bustle of the city. Ordinarily we’d be more covert, but there’s no hiding this force, is there?
We land with a thump. Three helicopters have already landed before us and the men are ahead, waiting for us to attack as one. We get out, ducking out heads so we don’t slice them off on the rotor blades.
As we make our way to where everyone is waiting, I can’t help but feel a buzz of excitement. This is everything we’ve been working for. Everything we, the Blake’s, deserve. I may not always get on with my brother, but with him as Chapter Lord, we’re going to live like kings. Literal fucking kings.
I know he has plans. I know he’s going to ensure that things are put in place, that rules are changed. There’s been too much disruption, too much instability in the last few decades. That has to stop, we can’t have all that infighting between us. And more than that, we need to ensure that Magnus’s rule lasts. That he’s not simply eliminated and replaced like the last two.
Magnus meets my gaze, and I see that same determination in his face. God, I can’t wait to see Titus kneeling at our feet. I can’t wait to witness it; his submission. He’ll have to do it publicly, of course. The Brethren won’t accept anything less. But we’ll offer him a nice quiet little life, a reprieve for him and his wife. Of course that won’t last long. He’ll be exiled and dealt with once the heat is gone and everyone forgets he exists.
And then there’s Grace. Grace is a nice little bargaining chip too.
I had no intention of auctioning her at Oblivion, but it’s a nice little powerplay and one that’s worked to my advantage. I don’t give a fuck what happens to her, Antonio can have her as far as I’m concerned. He can fuck her, torture, hell, he can marry her if that’s what he decides. The girl is nothing in the grand scheme of things, because Titus is what matters. Everything hinges on that man.
“Let’s go,” Magnus says gruffly.
It feels like déjà vu. It feels like both of us are out Reaping together, and I guess, in a way, we are. This will be the final one, the final joint venture for us. After tonight, Magnus will no longer be a Reaper.
Maybe Devin will become one now that there’s a gap.
I shake my head, dismissing that idea. My poor younger brother doesn’t have what it takes to be a Reaper. He’s a killing machine, that’s true. But he’s undisciplined, out of control. The fact that none of us have heard from him in weeks despite Magnus offering him a deal says it all.
Although he could just as likely be dead in a ditch, the Esau could have got to him.
I clench my fists, praying that’s not the case. It’s not unusual for him to go MIA anyway, and he does have a list, people that need to be dealt with.
Ahead, a shadow looms. I look up, realising that I’ve paid little attention as we’ve stalked our way towards this house. I could have had my head blown off, I could have come face to face with a gun and I wouldn’t have noticed.
Good thing I didn’t. But strange, too.
I narrow my eyes, looking about as something crawls up my spine.
Something is wrong here.
Magnus senses it too. We all do.
There’s no guards, no fighting, nothing. What sort of safehouse is this?
Antonio kicks open the French doors, and silence is what meets us.
Oh, we can see there’s been a fight. It looks like a hurricane has blown its way through this house. Broken glass and shattered furniture litters the floor.
“What the fuck?”
I don’t know who says it. Which one of us voices it.
Antonio starts barking orders, but he barely gets the words out before someone is yelling, screaming.
We race down the hall, race to where the sound is coming from and we come to a stop, me, Magnus and Antonio.
Ahead there are two figures, tied up, bound to two chairs.
“Get the lights,” Magnus orders and one of the men hastily hits the switch.
I see the mother first, I see Elaine. Elaine fucking Ratcliffe. She’s in a nightie. Her nipples are poking through the flimsy fabric and she’s shivering from more than just the cold. Rope has been wrapped around her body, wrapped around both their bodies. Hers and her daughter’s.
My eyes move to take in Grace. She’s got her head hanging low, using her long pretty hair to hide herself.
What the fuck is this? Who is this?
“Where is Titus?” Magnus growls. “Where the fuck is your husband?”
“He’s gone,” Elaine says, her voice trembling.
“Gone where?” Magnus snarls.
She flinches more, dropping her gaze like she’s afraid to speak the next few words.
Magnus lets off his gun, shooting right through that vaulted ceiling and bits of debris come spiralling down, landing at our feet.
“He, he took him,” Elaine all but whimpers.
“Who?” Antonio snarls.
Fucking hell. Is this another moment of getting our arses kicked? I clench my fists, waiting to hear that inevitable fucking name.
“Your, your brother,” Elaine stammers, “He, he took him, and he sa-said, if you want him ber-back then you have to ha-hand over the girl.”
“Excuse me?” Magnus snarls.
She lifts her hand as much as she can in the bindings; it shakes so violently you can barely see the slip of paper in it.
I step forward and snatch it up before anyone else can, seeing Devin’s scrawly handwriting. ‘Give me Paitlyn and I’ll give you Titus,’ it reads, clear as fucking day.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Antonio snaps, clearly reading over my shoulder.
Magnus rips the note out of my hand and he reads it quickly, before screwing it up.
We all know what this is, that Magnus can name himself as Chapter Lord tomorrow if he wants but without Titus, it means nothing.
“Get the girl,” Magnus orders, but I shake my head.
It won’t be as simple as that, Devin won’t let it be. He’s planned this out. Played us all.
My phone fumbles over the buttons and my mind races as I hear that monotone ring in my ear. When it picks up, it’s almost a relief because I half expected him to be there already.
“Is she safe?” I ask.
“Yes boss.”
“Then get her sedated and ready to go,” I order. “I’ll be there within the hour.”
My eyes meet my brother’s but there’s nothing else to say. Nothing that can be done. Devin must know. He must know everything, s o how the fuck do we manage this now?