Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Vincent
Our search for Augustus came up short yesterday. We scoured the streets of Buffalo from top to bottom and came up empty, though Zayden was finally able to track down a nice little rat that could tell us where Augustus’s newest home was.
That’s what’s brought us to Chicago. An ostentatious mansion that would fit in well in Salem lies before us, all lights off as the residents get some much-needed rest. While they can.
Dominic was able to hack into the security feed and loop it so we could slip in and out. He was also able to confirm that our target is passed out in bed with a few women, no doubt prostitutes because I don’t think anyone would willingly sleep with the ugly piece of shit.
Thanks to Dominic, we literally walk through the front door. The cocky asshole didn’t even lock his fucking door. All three of us move our heads like they’re on a swivel as we assess the situation, ready for anything as we slowly creep up the grand staircase.
Zayden is the first to push through the door, followed by myself and Dominic.
I can feel their distrust in me still, and I don’t blame them.
I don’t exactly trust them either. It’s not in our nature to work as a team on anything.
Well, maybe them, but they’re the exception.
In our line of work, it’s kill or be killed, and the way you avoid being killed is by being the quickest and the fastest. Neither of those occur within a team too well, typically.
Just as Dominic’s surveillance told us, Augustus Popov is passed out in the middle of the bed, a naked woman on either side of him. One of them even has a needle still hanging from her arm. Lovely.
I see Zayden’s intent as he creeps towards the closest woman, his knife drawn, but I shake my head as I touch his arm.
He frowns, questioning why I would cut into his playtime as I move closer to the bed.
I’ll do whatever it takes to complete a job, but I don’t take pleasure in the kill the way Zayden does.
I enjoy completing a mission, eradicating filth from this earth.
Women, though? Women I don’t enjoy killing.
Okay, well, I did enjoy killing Annie Williams, but that girl was a nasty cunt, and she was trying to break my siren’s heart by forcing herself onto Ronan, so in that matter, it was a great pleasure.
Regardless, these women aren’t the focus of our mission for the night, and the quicker we complete this, the quicker I can get home to my siren.
Fuck knows what the others are up to with her.
I feel Zayden’s and Dominic’s eyes on me as I lean over one of the women to reach Augustus, carefully covering his mouth with my gloved hand before jamming my knife into his carotid.
His eyes fly open as my blade sinks into his flesh, his grunts and groans muffled behind my hand as I twist the knife ninety degrees before sinking it in further.
He attempts to buck against me before the fight slowly leeches out of him and his eyes go vacant.
I twist the knife once more for good measure before ripping it out, essentially tearing his neck to shreds.
Blood pours from him by the liter, staining the crisp white sheets to a deep red. The unconscious women are soon surrounded by his blood, like they’re swimming in a crimson lake.
“Nicely done, Griggs,” Zayden says with a smile, a laugh begging to slip through his words as he holds his hand out, awaiting a high five or some shit.
He doesn’t whisper; in fact, I think he speaks loud enough to wake the girls on purpose.
Their eyes flutter open, dazed and confused, before Zayden snaps one of their necks with a sharp crack while Dominic pulls out a gun and shoots the other between the eyes.
Their swift actions take me by surprise and I stare at them.
“No loose ends, Griggs. We aren’t playing for fun—this is about our family,” Dominic says with a shrug before he turns and walks out into the hallway.
Zayden nods as he rifles through the room, pocketing Augustus’s phone and wallet. “Yeah! No loose ends, Griggsy. Plus, we can’t let you have all the fun. This is our revenge,” Zayden says in a teasing way that has me shaking my head.
Griggsy? I swear to God if Liam hears him call me that, it will become his entire personality, and then I’ll have to kill him, and Skyla will be seriously pissed with me.
Shaking my head, I follow after them, and we exit the mansion, heading for the car parked down the road. None of us speak until we’re inside the car. I climb into the driver’s seat and head for the cabin.
“One down, three to go,” Dominic murmurs, more to himself than anyone as his fingers begin flying across his phone screen.
“Who are we going after next, Dom?” Zayden asks as I merge onto the highway.
“You already know Desmond and Dennis will be holed up together until it suits them,” Dominic responds.
“Why is that?” I ask.
“Because Dennis doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, and Desmond believes in family too much to let him fuck off and die,” Zayden says.
I nod. “So Andre, then?”
Dominic nods. “Yeah. We need to gather intel on him fast. As soon as the others discover Augustus is dead, they’ll go underground until they can counterattack.”
I frown at that and look at him in the rearview mirror. “Counterattack? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Neither do we. Why do you think we came knocking on your door?” Zayden asks. “We can handle the Four Horsemen in a one-on-one fight, but their resources… the amount of men they have at their disposal. We wouldn’t live long enough to take them all out.”
Dominic points to his brother in agreement, not taking his eyes off the phone as he continues his work.
I knew allowing them into our home was going to be a dangerous thing, but I don’t think I fully grasped how bad things could get.
Suddenly, a million plans and ideas are running through my head.
Maybe I need to get Skyla and the kids out of the country for a while.
Europe maybe? Australia? Fuck, I don’t know, but the safeguards of our winter cabin suddenly aren’t filling me with much confidence.
“What do you need access to?” I ask.
“Just about anything your brother husbands can get their hands on,” Zayden says as he flicks open his knife, examining the blood that stains the metal like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world.
“Will you stop fucking calling them that?” I grit through clenched teeth.
Zayden’s eyes move to mine, a taunting smirk on his lips as he speaks.
“No.”