Jethro
“NO, FOR THE final time, you’re not coming.” I pushed Nila aside. “You’re not going to be there when I do what needs to be done.”
Her mouth opened to argue, her uninjured arm hugging her broken one. “But—”
“No buts. You’re not coming. No matter what you say. You. Are. Not. Coming.” A sliver of the old me—the arsehole who’d collected her that first night—came back. That shell had long since broken, but it rapidly reformed.
And I let it.
I let it because what I was about to do would test every inch of my condition. It would kill me as much as it would kill Cut because I would feel everything my father would go through. I wouldn’t be able to shut off his emotional screams nor freeze myself from ignoring his thoughts.
I would be with him for every lash.
Nila tried to grab my arm. “Jet—”
Dodging her hold, I pointed a finger in her face. “No, Nila. You’re to stay. Obey for once. Don’t make me ask again.”
“You’re not asking, you’re telling.”
“Goddammit.” I swallowed hard, running a hand through my hair.
I hadn’t slept in days, my body hurt all over, and my mind barely functioned from dealing with so much death and agony in the ballroom.
Seeing her on her knees with the hood on her face and guillotine above her head—it’d fucking crippled me.
I’d hurt so many people for her. I wore their souls like badges of worthless honour. And yet, she still argued.
I can’t do this.
You have to.
I couldn’t falter now. Not when the end was so close.
All I wanted to do was drag Nila to her quarters, tend to her arm, and fall asleep. I wanted today to be over so tomorrow could banish the past.
But I couldn’t.
I had things to do, and I would not—no matter how much she fucking argued—let Nila be a part of them.
I looked at my sister as she wheeled closer. My eyes shot two messages: Help and don’t argue. My voice sounded like I’d been smoking for decades. “Take Nila to her quarters.”
Jasmine nodded slightly, understanding better than anyone what I was about to do and why I had to do it. Her fingers slinked around Nila’s unbroken wrist.
Nila jerked, trying to free herself. “What? No way.” Managing to shake Jasmine off, she planted one hand on her hip; the other she let hover by her waist, protected by her body.
Her gaze darted between Cut and me. “He’s not worth it. Can’t you see that? He isn’t worth what you’re about to—”
I grabbed her cheeks, rubbing my thumbs over her face. “Nila...shush. I need you to let me do this.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. The diamond collar he’d almost extracted glittered in the false light of the chandeliers.
I forced myself to hide my nerves, soothing her with whispered confidence. “Don’t ask me to stop. It’s what I need to do to fix my family and yours—our very history.”
Tears trickled over my thumbs as she fought my decision. “But—”
“There are no buts, Needle.” Looking at Cut, I hardened my heart toward him. He’d done the right thing in the end. He’d let her go. Nothing had stopped him from killing Nila in front of me. Only his decency and lingering affection for Emma.
When Nila had forgiven him, I thought for sure he would pull the lever. He’d never been good at accepting charity.
But for once, he went against the actions of the man who’d raised me and became a hero. He deserved a fragment of respect for that gallant move.
But he also deserved to pay a very painful toll for every other sin he’d committed.
That was his fate.
And it was my fate to deliver it.
Nila pressed her cheek into my palm, her skin warm beneath my touch. “Kite...I—”
I understood her knotted thoughts and scrambled conclusions. “I know.” My voice was a breath as I kissed her. “I understand your fear, but you have to trust me.”
How many times had I asked her to trust me, only to shatter the trust she bestowed?
I won’t shatter it this time.
I knew what I was doing.
Don’t I?
Nila’s onyx eyes glowed with rebellion, and I steeled myself against yet another argument. I sensed she only wanted to support me. For me to lean on her while I did something so heinous. But I didn’t want to lean on her. I had to do this for me, my siblings, my past and present.
I couldn’t have her there because I didn’t know if I’d be able to carry out the punishment he deserved. I didn’t know if I’d break and crumble and submit to his power like I’d done all my life.
It would be my biggest trial. But I’d try my fucking hardest to make Cut pay.
Dropping my hands from Nila’s cheeks, I stepped back. “Just trust me, okay?”
Kill morphed from the men checking on the wounded, coming toward our tight-knit gathering.
Flaw had fetched his medical equipment and put his healing knowledge to work on those needing immediate attention. I trusted him to arrange help and take those who required more than he was capable of to the hospital without alerting a massacre had just taken place.
Killian had come through for me. He’d waited outside the ballroom where Tex, V, and our team of mercenaries poured in. He had his gun pinpointed on Cut and would’ve pulled the trigger if we hadn’t arrived at that exact moment.
He would’ve saved Nila without a bloodbath, but by doing so, he would’ve stripped me of the right to make my father pay. It’d been risky, barging in and giving Cut the opportunity to murder Nila right before my eyes, but Cut didn’t know everything that I did.
He slipped.
In Africa, I’d felt a slight thawing in him. And today, as we barged in and brought death on our heels, he looked almost...relieved. As if he expected me to show up and was grateful it was over.
I couldn’t understand it. But he couldn’t keep it hidden any longer. He’d finally shown the truth of how tired he was. How tired we all were.
All my life, he’d been a controlling bastard with unattainable ideals and strict rules. I’d maintained my belief that he never liked us, let alone loved us. But there was something more to him. Something I never let myself focus on as it only confused my conclusion of my father.
But I sensed it now. A deeper facet poured from Cut as Kill jerked him from Textile’s arms and pinched his shoulders. My father held a lot of hate and delivered many ruthless requests, but he also held compassion and guilt.
And that guilt had steadily grown more and more dominant the longer Nila lived with us.
That was another reason why I wanted to be alone with him. I wanted to look him in the eye, drop my defences, and truly strip my father of his secrets so I could understand him for the first time in my life.
And that was why I didn’t know if I’d be able to go ahead with what he deserved. because what if I found his secrets redeemed him? What if I felt something that changed twenty-nine years of believing a lie?
“Jethro...” Nila’s voice dragged me back from thoughts and tiredness.
My vision wavered, dancing with figments of hallucinations from lack of sleep and stress overload.
The hallucinations weren’t anything major, just the odd flutter of a curtain looking like a blackbird or a ripple of sunshine resembling a bumblebee or butterfly.
Innocuous things but non-existent things nevertheless.
Sleep.
I could sleep soon.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I inhaled deeply. Keep it together. A few more hours and I’ll be free. We’d all be fucking free, and I could rest safely for the first time since I could remember.
The minute this was over, I would visit my brother. I would tell him things were taken care of and it was safe to come home.
I missed him so fucking much.
Time to return, baby brother.
Time for me to show him I had his back like he’d had mine all my life.
“Kite...I do trust you. But you need to rest.” Nila’s fingers landed on my hand. “Please, whatever you’re thinking of doing, it’s already eating you alive.” Pointing at Cut imprisoned in Kill’s arms, she murmured, “You’ve won. The Debt Inheritance is over. Let the authorities deal with him.”
I chuckled darkly. “Authorities? Nila, we own the authorities. No one would dare testify or incarcerate him. If you want justice, this is the only way.” Cupping her chin, I smeared a strand of cotton from the hood away from her skin.
“Trust me when I say this is what needs to happen. Don’t try to stop me again. ”
Nila dropped her gaze. Her heart raced, her emotions bubbling like the hot springs beneath the Hall, but she obeyed me. She stepped back, giving me the freedom to leave.
I sighed, thanking her silently.
Cut didn’t say a word—not that he could. The minute he’d submitted to my custody, I’d returned the favour of a reeking rancid gag and duct-taped his mouth closed. His nostrils flared, white hair cascading over his forehead in a tumbled mess.
Daniel was dead. Bonnie would be soon. Cut would be the next to expire.
Nila stepped back as Jasmine wheeled closer to me and grabbed my hand. “I won’t try to stop you, but don’t feel like you have to—”
“Don’t you start, Jaz.”
“I’m only worried about what—”
I laughed coldly. “What it will do to me? Jaz, you know yourself what will happen if I don’t do this. I’ll never forgive myself. He’s delivered enough agony to those we love. Don’t you think it’s time he felt his own medicine?”
Kill didn’t say a word, gripping my father tighter in his arms.
Nila bit her lip, looking down at Jasmine, waiting for her reply.
Jaz sat stiffly in her chair. I let my condition fan stronger, singling her out in the crowd. She felt the same fear Nila did. Fear that I’d never be the same if I did this. Fear that it would forever haunt me.
That might be the case, but I owed this debt. To the miners who’d helped free me. To Kill who’d had my back. To Textile for the death of his wife. To everyone involved in the Debt Inheritance.
I wasn’t doing this for me. I was doing this for them. And it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.
Jaz smiled softly as my eyes met hers. Her emotions quieted, fading into one singular calling: closure.
I nodded, letting her know I understood her conclusion. “Thank you.”