Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Wren
The Darker The Weather // The Better The Man - MISSIO
T he reaper. That’s what the Circle insists on calling me. It’s not a nickname; it’s a job title. And when the Silent Circle gives you a job, you take it.
Sitting on a bench in the Stoneview park, I watch a woman jog toward me. She stops not too far, using the trunk of a tree to do some stretches. Bending over, she looks back at me and gives me a smile. I offer nothing in return. I can’t, her teeth are too straight. Peach’s bottom canines are both a little crooked. It’s so beautiful, how could I smile back at Miss Perfect Teeth.
Instead, I look down at the book on my lap. The one Eugene Duval gave to me the second I came back from my trip. He hasn't been wasting any time since I initiated. First, sending me away to find two members that had put the Circle at risk. They're gone. Now this.
I open the book to the page that’s been dog-eared and, for the tenth time since yesterday, I look at the words and single letters that have been underlined with a pencil.
Evening.
J.
Ford.
St.
Park.
Sunday.
I knew that's what it was going to be from now on. I didn't choose the Circle. It chose me and didn't leave me a choice. I asked them for a favor once as a teen. I wasn't a Shadow then, and a favor is a debt. The Circle always collects their debts. Now I'm part of their little privileged club and took on the role they gave me.
There’s no explanation I'm given, no questions I should ask. Who knows what Jared Ford—whom I know well since he used to work for my father—has done to the Circle to deserve his cruel fate. Is he a member who betrayed them? A random man who was at the wrong place at the wrong time? An old employee who saw too much?
Poor guy is a dead man walking, that’s all I know. The woman throws me one last look as she goes back to her jog, and I wait, book on my lap. When I finally see him, the sun is setting. Jared. He’s walking his dog, squatting to undo the leash, and the long-haired Dachshund starts running toward me.
It’s almost too easy.
The little sausage yaps at me as it attempts to jump on my lap. This thing is really bad at being a dog, it’s kind of funny. Jared follows, apologizing as he grabs his pet away from me. He sits down next to me and puts him on his lap, but the thing keeps trying to come back to me.
“You’re Monty’s son, aren’t you? Elijah?”
“Wren,” I correct, a little too harshly.
“Right, right. The eldest. The superstar.”
“That’s right.” I smile brightly, showing my best innocent face. If only he knew what my dad truly thinks of me. My entire family, in fact.
Sausage yaps again, trying to jump on my lap, and Jared struggles some more. He’s probably in his mid-forties, but he looks like he’s truly been through life.
“She used to be my daughter’s,” he explains, patting the dog’s head. “But then my wife met a younger guy, she left, took our kid with her to Chicago, and apparently, her new husband wasn’t a big fan of the dog. So, she gets my daughter. I get…her.”
He taps his pet on the head again.
I nod. This is going to be much harder than I thought. The Circle sees me as someone they can use to do their dirty business of eliminating people. Hell, my own father is so scared of me that he spent most of his life beating the shit out of me to make sure I couldn’t hurt him.
The Circle relies on what they think is a total lack of empathy or regret. And I do have that. But not when I feel like myself. It only happens when I snap .
The problem is, I don’t feel anywhere near snapping, and it’s not something I can control. Usually, when I kill, there's a whole process, and mostly, I don't remember what happens. I don’t remember killing Hudson and Lane last week. I just remember being angry at what they did to Peach. I remember leaving Peach’s room when she fell asleep and going back to the temple. But after that, it’s a complete blackout. Addington? Fuck, I remember nothing . Not even how I found him. Not even what I did to him. But I was sloppy because, apparently, I left the body on campus. There was no worst place to leave it.
That lack of a memory is dangerous, and that’s why my technique works. I shove three Scrabble tiles down their throat. Always an I, an L, and a U. Because the truth is, people tend to die because of my love for Peach. It’s a sad reality. For them. So, I leave her a message. I love you. Not that she knows.
Then, I write their name on a piece of paper and I hold it in my fist, because I know that when I come to, I’ll want to be aware of what I did.
These jobs the Circle gives me don’t work. It makes things more complicated. The issue is, I don’t have a choice.
I scratch the back of my neck and huff. There’s only one proven way to make me snap.
“Do you know Penelope Sanderson-Menacci?”
He looks at me, his incredulous face making me sad for him.
“I've heard of her, seen her from afar a few times. She’s Sanderson’s daughter, right? He’s running for mayor.”
“Yeah.”
My long pause must make him think I’m completely crazy, but he doesn’t ask anything, still petting his dog.
“So, what do you know about her? What do you think?”
He shrugs. “All I heard is she has a big mouth she can’t seem to close. Most men complain about her at the country club behind her fathers’ backs."
"That’s only because she’s smarter than most of them and puts them back in their place,” I explain.
“Probably.” He chuckles. “Is she your girlfriend?”
Now I truly can’t stop the smile spreading on my face. “She is,” I say proudly. “All mine.”
“Congratulations. I’m sure you make a great couple.”
I nod, because we do. It might be against her will, but we make a great couple, nonetheless.
“Is there anything you don’t like about her? You can tell me,” I encourage him.
He stares at me, completely dumbfounded. “Um…is there anything you don’t like about her that you’d like to share?”
I feel my face fall.
“I love everything about Peach.” My answer is quick and violent, and he moves back a bit, so I smile again and speak more calmly. “But you know, she does that thing when she’s losing an argument and has nothing else to say. She’ll just flip her hair and go, shut up, Wren. ” I laugh a little. “Like it’ll get her out of trouble, you know?”
"Right…”
“I mean, I’m sure you must find that really annoying?”
“I’ve never spoken to her.”
“Yeah, but in principle.”
He blinks at me. “Sure.”
For fuck’s sake, this isn’t doing it at all. There’s a long silence, the dog hopping off his lap and starting to run around my ankles when, finally, he speaks again.
“I once heard she slapped the country club owner because he commented on her ass.” He turns to me. “I mean, that’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Not really. I was there, and he made a really rude comment about it.”
I remember that night. We were in high school. The man was a sixty-year-old commenting about a seventeen-year-old’s ass. He almost died, only lucky because when I went home and my dad saw me close to snapping, he got the reason out of me. He didn’t want his friend to die, so he used me as a punching bag to make sure I didn’t go back out to kill the man.
“If she doesn’t want anyone to comment on her ass, maybe she should stop letting everyone call her Peach.”
I tilt my head to the side. It’s working. My blood’s starting to boil.
“Her nickname was a joke between her closest friends. Her deciding to embrace it doesn’t give anyone the right to comment on my body.” I blink a few times, realizing what I said. “Her body, I mean.”
“I’ve seen that ass, Wren, and believe me, I understand why you like the girl. But slapping, really? Come on, the man was just appreciating what was right in front of him.”
I pause and let the tingling sensation spread to my limbs. Once it’s taken over, I feel so serene my soul is lifting and bouncing on the clouds.
“Great,” I say calmly. “That will do.”
“What will do?”
I slip out my folding knife too fast for him to react, and it’s already in his carotid by the time he thinks of pulling away.
“I don’t think you should ever talk about my woman’s ass, Mr. Ford.” Time stops as he looks deep into my eyes, unmoving, as I see the realization in his. He knows he’s going to die tonight.
One less person who wrongly talks about Peach. I’m truly doing everyone a favor.
Pulling the knife out, blood spurts everywhere. I’m quick, standing up and stepping away as he falls to the ground, two hands pressing to his neck.
I almost step on something.
Woof!
“Ah, shit,” I groan.
Woof!
“I swear to God, sausage roll, don’t make this hard on me.”
She stands still at my feet, her head tilted to the side as we both wait for her owner to die. The dog has no pity on him. Neither do I. I remember why she won't leave me alone and pull out the dog treats I had put in my pocket.
"You're an accomplice to this murder," I murmur. "So keep your mouth shut."
When I’m sure Jared Ford is gone, I approach him again and drop to my haunches. Taking the Scrabble tiles from my back pocket, I already know this is going to get me in trouble with Duval, but I do it anyway. Because no kill is perfect without a message to Peach.
I push in the I first, then the L, and finally the U. The U always stays on the tongue.
I’m in my own bed when I come to my senses. I wasn't asleep, so I wonder how long I've been staring at the ceiling. My fingers hurt from how tightly I'm holding the piece of paper in my hand. I close my eyes, swallow, and sit up.
Alright, let's see the damage.
Please, let it be the man I was supposed to kill and not some random fucker who bothered Peach.
When I see Jared Ford written, a sigh of relief leaves me. I'm not happy I took a life, but I'm happy I won't get caught. The Circle will take care of protecting me, especially if it protects them. It's when I kill people like Josh Addington and don't cover my tracks that I get myself in trouble. Achilles was involved when it came to Caleb, and he left his mark on him. Protection is the only reason I brought my friend with me that night. Having Zeus as your father has many advantages. Like if you leave your signature on a body, your dad will take care of it with the police. That’s why there was a circle drawn on that police report and ‘S.C.’ written next to it. That cop was in the Circle’s pocket. It was never meant to get out, and I have no idea how Hermes found it, but I know neither Achilles nor I will get in trouble for Caleb because that’s how I always used to get away with things. Josh, though…how could I be so careless?
I check the clock, realizing it's almost six p.m., and I have to be ready to pick up Peach next door. I texted her earlier that I booked us a table at her favorite tapas restaurant in Silver Falls. I told her which dress to wear and when to be ready, and the simple fact that I know she'll be the voice I hear tonight is making everything else insignificant.
I hop in the shower, put on a simple white shirt and dark denim jeans, and grab the book and piece of paper before rushing downstairs.
Achilles is reading sheets of music on the couch, his eyes flicking to me as he sees me approach the fireplace. He lit up a fire, which coincidentally saves me time.
"Who was it?" he inquires as I throw the piece of paper and the book in the fireplace.
"Doesn't matter," I mumble, watching the flames dance. They swallow the proof of my crime.
"Was it at least Jared Ford? Or did someone accidentally graze Peach's pinky finger?"
I turn around, my back now to the fire. "You haven't initiated, my friend. You shouldn't know about Jared Ford."
His eyes drop to the music sheet in front of him, and he chuckles. "Just like I should never be at the temple, shouldn't know what happened at the initiations, shouldn't hear anything from my dad or be protected by the Circle debt-free. But it turns out being Zeus's son has its advantages, huh?"
"Yeah, like not being forced to initiate at any point."
He shrugs. "I'm sure his patience will run out, and he'll find a way to make me. But that's beside the point. You're getting sloppy, Wren."
I run a hand through my hair and look away, somehow trying to find an excuse, but I have none. "It won't happen again."
"What did Josh do?" he asks with sincere curiosity.
My mouth twists, and that same anger I felt after the initiations comes back. "He assaulted her in Daedalus's labyrinth. What was I meant to do?"
As he takes a minute to think, my friend’s piercing on stay on me. "Alright. He hurt her, and we know that gets someone in trouble with you. But leaving a body on campus? Are you insane? After Ania, and then Hermes leaking that Caleb was found with Scrabble ties down his throat? The cops are starting to look for someone."
I feel my head rearing back. "I didn't kill Ania."
"Oh, of course. Because you'd remember, right?" he says, sarcasm thickly coating every word.
"Members of the public don’t know I left tiles in Josh’s throat."
"The fucking cops know, idiot. Just because they’re tactically not revealing it for now doesn’t mean they’re not starting to link the murders. That’s what happens when you don’t bring me along, or at least leave the same mark I do so the Circle covers you."
Jaw tightening, I ignore him as I make my way to the closet by the entrance.
"Listen," he calls out. "When you do things behind the Circle's back, they don't protect you. Especially if you kill one of theirs. If you don’t invite me to murder parties, at least hide your fucking bodies, will you?"
"Got it," I mumble. "I'm off to dinner with Peach."
He looks up again, confused this time. "Are you sure she's aware? Alex and Ella stopped by earlier, annoyed because Peach was going to the Acropolis with the druggies."
I stop mid-putting my coat on. "What?"
The "druggies" as Achilles calls them, are her cheerleader and sorority friends that have a drug for every occasion. Ecstasy and coke for the parties. Adderall or Ritalin for their afternoons at the library. Xanax for the anxious days that come after taking too much cocaine on a night out. When Peach hangs out with them, it ends in a blackout.
"She's at?—"
"I heard you."
"Didn't seem like it," he deadpans.
"I told her no more drugs."
My friend rubs his jaw. "Wren. You told Peach not to do something." He throws me a disappointed look. "You don't tell her not to do anything. You make her or you kneel in front of her like all the other little boys she controls."
I run my tongue across my teeth, my brain struggling to accept she completely defied me. Bringing out my phone, I pull out the SFU app and check some of those girls' stories. One of them is panning and filming the bar she's at. The video shows Peach sitting in a booth, her eyes shining while she chats with Camila Diaz. Who I know is Elijah's Hera. Meaning, my brother has to be there.
"Do you know what your problem is, Wren?" Achilles jumps in again. "You've always been too easy on her. She's your obsession and your weakness. Everybody knows you as the man who will do anything to get what he wants. People give up on competing with you before the competition even starts. And yet, the thing you want the most…you never truly got."
"She's my Hera," I say with a tight jaw. "I've got her."
"Brother, you ran after your Hera like a lost puppy when she left the library the other day. All you have to do is be yourself instead of that pathetic version of you who’s still begging for her to give you crumbs of attention."
He must see something change on my face because a smile spreads on his. "There he is. Now go get your Hera."
She wants to take drugs instead of going to dinner with me?
I warned her, didn't I? One wrong move…