Chapter 23 Silas
SILAS
“Mavros has him contained,” Erik says as Dominic, Adrian, and Bane follow us up the abandoned dirt path snaking around the mountain.
The arrival of fall has chased away the worst of the summer weather, but the fierce rays of sun lick along the black leather of my jacket, making the hike to the point of contact uncomfortable, to say the least.
L.A. doesn’t allow for a lot of privacy, especially not when high levels of discretion are needed. It took Noctis a fair amount of time to establish untraceable security, but the abandoned cages and forgotten trails of the old Los Angeles Zoo serve as the perfect place to hold a person captive.
Graffiti and a few well-done murals cover the more accessible structures. The ground around them is littered with beer cans and cigarette butts, but we keep walking until the old bear exhibit appears.
To any passerby, it would look like a padlocked fence between towering man-made rock walls. Barbed wire links the two walls, closing the space off with a “No Trespassing” sign. It’d be easy to overlook, but the small number seven etched into the side just above the ground indicates it’s ours.
Erik steps forward, entering a code into the hidden keypad before turning to the right as the concealed door swings open. A well-lit passage comes into view, sloping beneath the City of Angels, leading down to where the demons play.
“He’s talking,” Noctis says once we arrive in the control room. He’s focused on the one-way glass in front of us with a grim set to his shoulders. “But it’s not what we want to hear.”
I follow his gaze, finding the red Xed-over eyes and stitched mouth of Marvos’s mask.
Blood drips down the man’s face, his nose twisted at an unnatural angle.
Purple blooms beneath his left eye, the skin nearly swollen shut, and although his hands are bound behind the chair he’s strapped to, the rest of his body appears unharmed.
“He must’ve started spilling secrets right away,” Dominic murmurs, echoing my thoughts as he grabs a seat and swings his attention toward me.
The King of Lust isn’t really into torture, unless it involves some kind of kink.
He, Bane, and Adrian normally defer to the rest of us when it comes to getting our hands bloody.
He leans back, playing with his mask stitched with dark blue thread as he grins.
“So different than our newest initiate.”
I remove an invisible piece of lint from my black shirt, pull out my own mask, and turn a steely gaze toward Dominic. “Evie hasn’t snitched.”
I’d been waiting for the impact of that night to catch up with her, ready to throw her over my shoulder and drag her back home with me when she decided to run.
But my beautiful Evie is still here. She’s been avoiding me.
Tempest too. But I’ve watched her from the periphery as she attends classes, studies in the library, and then returns home. To me.
“Wonderful,” Dominic says with a mischievous smirk. “Since she’s passed your little test, I say you fuck her.”
“Agreed. Someone should,” Bane adds with a laugh, his strong nose and dark features making the expression look more like a snarl.
Lust and gluttony. I’m not surprised.
“I volunteer,” Erik chimes in, knowing it’ll piss me off. He flashes me a grin before tugging the black fabric over his face, leaving only the purple-stitched eyes and mouth staring back at me.
“Enough,” I say. They’re assholes, but the approval of my brothers soothes something in my chest. Not that I would’ve let any of them convince me not to fuck my little fox.
Evie signed her freedom away that first night in the alley when she leaned into my grip rather than away.
I’m sure I’ll get tired of her eventually.
Being the type of fucked up I am doesn’t allow for things like love to form, but I plan on enjoying her for a time.
“No broken bones,” Adrian mutters, directing our attention back to the one-way glass as he flips a gold coin embossed with a dragon between his fingers. He joins Bane leaning against the back wall. “Mavros having an off day?”
Noctis shakes his head. “Shane claims he’s out of the business.”
“Bullshit,” Erik says from my left. “Shitbags who can traffic humans don’t ever leave.”
I nod my agreement, but the tick in Noctis’s jaw has me pausing. “What is it?”
“Apparently, he’s never helped kidnap or transport,” Noctis says.
“You believe him?” I ask, but the lack of violence inflicted against Shane already tells me the answer. Noctis nods anyway. I tilt my head, studying our captive. “Maybe a group chat can get things going.”
The five of us file in with our masks in place, leaving Noctis at the control center monitoring the cameras.
“Shit,” Shane mutters before fixing his attention on me. With impressive composure, despite his broken nose and swollen eye, he speaks calmly. “I only ever delivered cars to a country club in the hills.”
I lift a brow, taking the seat across from him. “Continue.”
“There’s nothing more to say. I was approached by some holier-than-god asshole who offered me ten grand per car. Normally, people like him want luxury cars with more speed than space, but he insisted on larger seating capacities.”
“You accepted a partnership with someone you only just met?” I ask, letting the venom in my heart coat each syllable.
“For ten grand in cash, on the spot?” Shane counters. “Fuck yeah, I took the deal. He didn’t say anything about women or children. I assumed it was some low-level car peddling—or at the most, drug smuggling.”
“Then why stop?”
A flicker of apprehension shows before he drops my gaze.
“I arrived at the spot early one day. He was there, talking to some other rich-as-shit guy about all the ways he’d like to fuck someone, but you know those types of guys.
I didn’t think anything of it until he started spouting shit about the second coming and how avenging angels were already among us, reaping souls for heaven and a bunch of other unhinged stuff. ”
Shane swallows, seemingly at a loss for words. I wait, the others following my lead by letting the silence stretch until he continues.
“He said stealing women was the Lord’s work. Whores needed to be used until they begged for forgiveness. Only then would they be granted absolution.”
Erik growls as Mavros flexes his fists, both looking ready to crack Shane’s skull.
“If I would’ve known the type of people I was helping, I never would’ve taken the job. I swear.”
Shane’s voice grows shrill as Mavros stalks behind him, but there’s truth ringing from him. He may be an idiot for not realizing sooner, but I don’t think he willingly helped. I level Shane with a look, cocking my head like a hawk studying its prey before ripping it to shreds.
“I need information.”
Shane nods, eyes still glued to Mavros and the blood smeared across his knuckles—the same shade of scarlet as the thread woven across his mask.
“I’ll do anything to help. I want these fuckers stopped too.
He told the old guy that the city was ripe for purging, and he had three women drugged and ready for transport as soon as the car arrived. That’s when I ran.”
“You said drop-off was at a country club?”
“The Blue Lagoon.” Shane nods.
“And your contact?”
“Said his name was Jonah.”
My pulse kicks as I catch the scent of a trail growing stronger, and I know Noctis is already putting two and two together on the other side of the glass.
He’s probably running another scan through his systems as we speak, hoping the new information will push the search for any mention of Jonah.
“Who was Jonah talking to when you overheard him?”
“I don’t know.” Shane shrugs. “Some old guy with the same blonde hair streaked with grey and a neon-white smile. All those rich fucks look the same.”
“Did you catch a name?” I press.
“No. I didn’t want him knowing I heard.” Shane’s eyes grow distant. “I took a few steps back and was loud with my approach the second time. Told him that was the last car I’d be delivering as I was leaving town. We packed the next day.”
“We?”
His jaw clenches, and for the first time since I started questioning him, I see his forearms shift, checking the bindings on his wrists. I lift a brow, sitting back in my chair as Erik lets out a low whistle.
“Maybe that’s the real reason you left,” Erik muses, suspicion gleaming in his eyes. “Found a girl, didn’t want to sell her, and decided to make her your very own sex doll.”
“Fuck you,” Shane snarls, baring his teeth. “The only regret I have is not killing the rich bastards before I got us—me and my daughter—away from that shit.”
Adrian’s low, morbid chuckle cuts through the lingering silence, mingling with the flip of his coin. “I bet you feel like an asshole now, Erik.”
Erik shoots him a glare but doesn’t say anything.
“Jonah was the only person you met with?” I ask, trying to keep focus before my brothers fuck this up.
Shane nods, then levels with me. “Look. I want to help, but I can’t risk my daughter.
Her mother checked out years ago, and I’m all she has.
Things are tough in L.A., but I’ve landed a steady job and decent apartment.
If I hear anything, I’ll pass it along. But as soon as I save up enough money, we’re getting out of here. ”
I hold his gaze a moment longer. “Okay.”
Shane blinks. “Okay?”
“Anything you hear in relation to boosting cars or selling people, I want to know. Noctis will set up a point of contact for you.” The metal legs of the chair I’m sitting in screech along the broken concrete slabs as I push back and stand. “Oh, and Shane?”
He swallows as I let coldness seep into my tone. “If I hear one whisper of you supporting this organization again—cars or otherwise—I’ll drag a blade through your stomach and have your daughter watch as I strangle you with your entrails.”
His face pales for all of a heartbeat before he grits his teeth and lifts his chin. “That won’t happen.”
I meet his declaration with a tilt of my head, letting the chilling effect of the mask sink in. “I hope you’re right.”