Chapter Forty-Three
Villainous
I finally track my brother down at another location—a mansion in the middle of nowhere. I pull up outside of the gate to find cars littering the driveway as if there is a big event going on. I asked for reinforcements from the American Gods. Most of our soldiers died when Cashel kidnapped Roselyn and Devious, and by the time I made it to the basement, they were gone. I found them because Jameson hacked the nearest camera back at Cashel’s mansion and we followed the city’s CCTV cameras.
My hands tighten on the steering wheel. Keanu is in the front beside me, and Irvin and Jameson are sitting in the back. King and Max and about fifty soldiers are behind us. If Cashel killed my brother, I’m going to kill Cashel myself, hang his head on a spike.
I’m killing anyone on-sight.
“What’s the plan?” Keanu asks. He removes the knife from his holster, rubbing the blade against his red hair.
“We get Devious and Roselyn out of here, and we’ll kidnap Cashel.”
Once we’re out of the car, we load up our weapons, and Irvin places his hands on my shoulder. His silver hair shines in the sunlight. “We’ll get your brother and sister-in-law back.”
I betrayed my brother by marrying the girl that I once loved, and I don’t know if I will ever have the chance to say how sorry I am.
I nod. Jameson brings out a blueprint of the mansion, placing it on the hood of the vehicle, showing us every room and how to get inside. King and Max dress as servers, ready to pretend to work with Cashel’s staff.
“You two go right ahead, and pretend that you’re his workers. Send us a message and when you spot Devious or Roselyn, you tell me where they’re at so we can get them.”
“Right,” Max says, then they go to the gate and I watch as Cashel’s guards let them in.
My nerves are shot, and I need a fucking cigarette.
A car pulls up, and Snow steps out from the back seat. His driver makes a U-turn and leaves the premises. “I’m sorry I’m late. My wife and daughter are sick with the flu, and I wanted to make sure they were all right.”
I nod. “I understand.”
My phone buzzes with a message from Max.
Max: It’s all clear. We took care of the problem.
I grab my gun from my holster and inhale deeply.
“Most of Cashel’s guards are down. We’re ready,” I say.
Snow places his hands on my shoulders. “We’ll head to the front entrance, and you go around the back.”
My phone buzzes with another message from Max.
Max: I found Devious. Come around the back to the basement.
“I’m going where Max is going and he’s found Devious. Find Roselyn and get her out of here.”
Before they can respond, I take deep breaths and follow the blueprint of the mansion to the basement.
Once I get there, Devious is slumped over Max’s shoulders, and Lex lying in a pool of blood on the floor with a gunshot wound to the forehead. I check his pulse, and he’s dead.
“He’s bleeding a lot, and he has a gunshot wound to the chest. His pulse is weak,” Max says.
I look at my brother, and he looks pale.
Fuck! I’m going to make sure Cashel dies a slow death. I lift my twin brother’s head, and his eyes roll.
“Cayden. It’s me, Aiden. You’re going to be fine.” My breath hitches. “Get him to the hospital. I’ll take care of Cashel.”
I head up the steps into a hallway, opening all of the doors. No such luck yet. I hear screaming, and I look out of the window. The American Gods are killing Cashel’s soldiers, and there is a shootout. Bodies drop like flies. I make my way up to a staircase to the next level floor, and I spot a guard standing by a door. I shoot him in the head, watching his brain matter smear the black walls. I move his body from the door and open it.
Roselyn is lying in a bed, wearing a hideous wedding dress.
“Hey, doll face.”
She looks up at me, and her eyes beam with relief, then she wraps her arms around my shoulders, holding me tight. She sobs silently.
I grab my phone from my pocket, calling Keanu. “Start the fire. Burn this motherfucker to the ground.” Then I tap the End button.
“You ever use a gun before?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
I hand her a gun from my holster. “Shoot, don’t close your eyes, just shoot. Stay behind me.”
She nods.
As we make it downstairs, I shoot soldiers in the head.
Roselyn tugs on my arm. “We have to get Devious’s body. Please, Cashel killed him.”
“We don’t know he’s dea—”
“I watched Cashel kill him,” she says with sadness in her eyes.
“Roselyn, Max is taking him to the hospital.” I sigh. “He’ll be okay.”
We make it to the front entrance, and we exit the building before getting into the vehicle. I watch the mansion burn in flames, and Snow has Cashel by the arm, mouth duct taped, and rope around his arms.
“Toss this piece of shit into the trunk. If my brother is dead, he’s going to wish he was dead too.”
Roselyn climbs in the back seat with tears in her eyes. Irvin and the rest of the crew climb into the car, and we drive in silence to the hospital. I receive a message from Max that my brother is at the hospital, and they are performing surgery on him.
Me: Will he make it?
Max: They don’t know. They had to resuscitate him because his heart stopped right before surgery. They are working quickly as possible.
“Fuck!”
“What is it?” Roselyn asks, biting her nails.
“Devious is in surgery. They don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
“Damn,” Irvin states, running his fingers through his hair.
We drive to the nearest hospital, and the American Gods inform me they have to get back to their families. I thank them for helping us out. I know I’ll return the favor when they need it.
I instruct Max to take Cashel to the dungeon at Devious’s mansion because as soon as we leave the hospital, I’m going to kill him.
Once we’re inside the hospital, we go to the front desk, and they point us to the ICU, where Roselyn and I sit in the waiting area.
The doctor walks into the lobby. “Where is the family of Cayden Vitali?”
Roselyn jumps up out of her seat, and so do I.
“I’m his wife. What’s going on?”
“We removed the bullet from his chest and he’s going to be fine, it missed his heart by an inch, and he’s lost a lot of blood. He’s still sleeping, and he’s going to stay in ICU. Since the gunshot was close to his heart, he’s going to be on bedrest for a while. We’ll keep him for the next couple of weeks to monitor him.”
“You’ll release him in the next couple of hours, we have a doctor to check in on him,” I demand.
“It’s no—”
“We have enough doctors and nurses to help us. You’ll release him now.”
He nods. “Do you want to go see him?”
“I want to,” Roselyn says.
“Follow me,” the doctor answers.
She follows him but stops, turns around, stands on her tippy-toes before hugging me tight, tears running down her cheeks.
“Thank you, Aiden. Thank you for saving us.”