Chapter 18
Cipher
Since it’s barbecue night at Ares’s bar, it smells like grilled meat and bourbon—not my favorite, but it is what it is.
Valli needs a decent meal now that she’s feeling better, and something other than soup.
I’ve already sent in our order, making sure to get the grilled chicken, and my personal favorites: vegetables and fresh bread.
Rue makes the best bread I have ever eaten.
Kayla smiles as we walk in. “How’s she feeling?”
“Better, though I’m sure she can do without Cave lingering, so I brought him with me.”
Kayla laughs. “When she’s feeling better, I would love to come down and see her. She seems like someone I could be friends with. No offense to Vesper, but her company is a little depressing, and Vero follows me everywhere. You can imagine how that ends.”
Cave grumbles, and I pat his arm. “Vero’s not that bad, and you can stay in your cornfield when they visit.”
That makes Kayla laugh. “You secretly love him, Cave, otherwise you would have killed him by now.”
“No,” he replies, and I smile. He will only talk in single words, besides riddles, to people he likes.
Clay’s radio crackles as he walks behind the bar and leans down to kiss Kayla on the side of her head.
“We have a situation at the gate. There is a guy here asking for Valli, says his name is Rowan.”
Cave grabs my arm, and he growls. It doesn’t sound human and is an expression of pure rage. My heart is hammering in my chest. There have been few times I have heard him like this.
“We’ll deal with it,” I say to Clay calmly. “He is pissed that Valli refuses to pay his debts anymore.”
Clay nods. “Just don’t let Cave kill anyone at the front gate where there are witnesses. We can’t afford to clean up another mess so soon after the cops were sniffing around already.”
I nod, but I say nothing because Cave is unpredictable and I can’t promise that won’t happen.
Cave follows me out of the bar, and we walk together toward the gate. I can see from Cave’s posture that he is going to do something. I don’t know what exactly, but I have a feeling it’ll be bad.
“We can’t make this worse,” I warn him. “We see what he wants, and that’s it.”
Cave doesn’t acknowledge me; he just keeps walking. When he has his mind made up, there is no room for negotiation or compromise. He will do whatever he wants and live with the consequences.
We reach the gate, where Khodi stands guard, and I guess the other man is Rowan.
“Where is she?” he demands, glaring between us. His gaze lands on Cave, and fear briefly flickers in his eyes. “I need to see Valli now.”
Cave nods and tilts his head back toward the path.
“Yeah, okay,” Rowan says and pushes past Khodi. “I don’t know what kind of sick operation you’re running here, but Valli is na?ve. She doesn’t know what she has gotten herself into. You’ve brainwashed her, and I’m taking her home. I’m getting her away from you freaks.”
We walk forward in silence, and I don’t protest what I know is about to happen. If Rowan is stupid enough to follow a man dressed as a scarecrow, then this is on him. For saying Valli is na?ve, he deserves what’s coming.
The cornfield looms ahead, the stalks gently swaying in the wind.
Cave slows as we reach the edge, and Rowan keeps mouthing off—something about Valli being an idiot and calling the cops.
How being around us has messed her up, and that she doesn’t even recognize that she has been manipulated.
I ball my fists, as I rarely get angry. I hate confrontation, but sometimes my emotions boil over, and this may just end up being one of those times.
As we take one step into the cornfield, Cave stops and turns to face Rowan, who clearly has no idea how much danger he is facing.
“What comes in silent, and leaves with echoes?” Cave’s voice intones.
I answer when Rowan simply stares at him. “Death. Death comes in silent and leaves with echoes.”
Cave pulls out his corn sword, the one I made him, and I’m awfully proud of its workmanship. It’s brutal yet beautiful and sharpened on both sides.
Rowan’s face drains of color.
“I suggest you run,” I say, and Rowan scrambles. Then I pull out my phone, because we may need Noa to clean up.
“What the fuck . . .” Rowan stutters as he runs.
I walk slowly behind because I know where Cave is leading him.
“We have a situation,” I whisper. “Rowan showed up at the gate.”
“Cipher,” he says, and I can hear the sheets rustling. “Rowan is here? On the island?”
“He’s here, and it is happening. Cave already has him in the cornfield. He’s hunting him while wielding his sword.”
“Jesus Christ, get him out of there. He’s Valli’s brother. What do you mean Cave has taken Rowan to the cornfield?!”
I end the call because there’s nothing else to say, and I can now hear Rowan clearly.
“Okay, I don’t want any trouble. I just want my sister, just let me see her. And I’ll . . .”
I stroll into the clearing in the middle of the cornfield to see Rowan backing away from Cave with his hands up.
“You’ll what?” I hear myself say. Shit, I thought I was just going to watch. “Huh? You’ll convince her to leave? You’ll take her back to Steedy, so he can finish what Tommy started with her?”
Rowan’s eyes snap to mine. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Someone who has been there for Valli. Someone who knows everything about you.”
I step forward and Rowan steps back. He is panicking now, glancing around while trying to figure out how he can get out of here.
“Listen,” Rowan says. “Whatever she’s told you about me is a lie. She’s my sister and I love her, I would never—”
“You would never what?” I interrupt him. “Let her pay back a debt you owe? Something I think you have done too many times. You always let her deal with the consequences of your debts. Why, just today you called and tried to guilt her into coming home to save your ass.”
“I’m getting out of here. You freaks are fucking crazy.”
Cave has moved, but Rowan doesn’t notice, so when he turns to run, Cave is now behind him with a huge smile on his face.
“Fuck! What do you want from me? Just let me leave!” Rowan yells.
I laugh. “We want to know why you’re really here. What deal did Steedy make with you?”
“I can’t fucking tell you, he’ll kill me.”
That makes me laugh again. “So you would rather he kill your sister? You don’t fucking deserve to have a sister like her. She shouldn’t have to pick up the pieces because you’re a scumbag. And FYI, Steedy is the least of your worries right now.”
Cave moves, and that’s when the air shifts. The thing with Cave is his violence is not about theatrics; he doesn’t give you time to prepare. I can see it coming, the way his body morphs into his Scarecrow persona. It is terrifying the way Cave exits his body momentarily.
I don’t see the blow, just Rowan hitting the ground, blood pouring from his mouth. Then, as Rowan looks up, I see his smirk.
“Stop!” Valli screams, running through the clearing like her ass is on fire. “Please, everyone just stop!”
Cave pauses mid-swing and turns to look at her. For a moment, I almost see the true Cave behind his eyes. Valli reaches him and lays her hand on his arm, while Noa stops on the outer edge of the cornfield to assess what is happening.
“He’s not worth it,” she says. “Please, Cave, don’t do this.”
Cave morphs back into himself, and Rowan scrambles backward. I watch his hand slide into his waistband, and my brain registers what is about to happen. The smile on Rowan’s face tells me that whatever plan he has hatched is ready to unfold.
“Back up now!” Rowan shouts and draws a gun, his hands shaking. “All of you back the fuck up.”
Valli freezes and stands in front of Cave.
I slowly creep forward while Rowan’s attention is on Cave and his sister, and I see Noa doing the same.
“All I need to know is where Steedy’s guy is. You will tell me, or she pays for it.”
Noa steps in beside Valli and holds his hands up. “Valli had nothing to do with it. The man kidnapped her, and she got away. Unfortunately, he did not. We don’t hurt women on the island, and neither does anyone else. He was buried at the back of the island. I can show you.”
For a second, I think Rowan may agree, then he laughs. “No, that’s not how this works. You hand her over, and I leave—that’s the deal.”
“That’s not a deal we can agree to.”
Rowan raises the gun and points it directly at Valli’s chest. “You don’t get to negotiate with me.”
He shouts out vile things, calling his sister names and accusing her of things that make my blood boil. Rowan is spiraling—panicking—and that makes him dangerous.
Cave takes a step forward.
“Don’t,” Rowan snaps. “Don’t fucking move.”
But of course, Cave doesn’t listen.
I run to Valli, and the gun goes off as I launch my body toward her. The sound is deafening, and for a moment everything stops. When I look down at her beneath me, she has tears in her eyes.
“I’m okay,” she whispers, and it’s then that I realize I’m not.
The pain hits me like a freight train. Noa is at our side, rolling my body off Valli’s, his hands covered in my blood.
Valli’s screams come from far away as my body burns so badly.
She leans over me, pushing her hands into my chest. “Don’t you dare die,” she whispers. “You stay with me. This is not how our story ends.”
I want to tell her it’s okay. That if I had known it would end like this, I still would have done it again and again.
I would bleed so she doesn’t have to. Yet as my eyes get heavy, and the world spins around me, my head falls to the side.
Through my blurred visions I see Cave’s hands around Rowan’s neck, and I register the absolute lack of mercy in his expression.
“You took what cannot be returned. You stole from her what was never yours to take. And now, you pay the debt that’s due. What is taken must be given back. What is owed must be paid.”
Everything fades, and I don’t regret giving my life for hers. I would do it a hundred times over.
Do you need to know what happens next?