Chapter 49
49
P ulling up outside the concealed entrance at the rear of Noire House, I cut the engine and let my hands grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn ghostly white.
This right here is it.
This is the pivotal moment when everything is set in motion. Once it begins, it cannot be undone.
The moment I pick up that phone sitting on the passenger seat beside me, there is going to be a chain of events spanning the next few years that I’ll be dragging us all into. Can my conscience handle what is to come? Can my sanity hold together long enough to see all of this through to the other side?
Swallowing down the rock lodged in my throat, I stab a hand into my hair.
Why the fuck did it have to be us? Why the fuck did we have to be sold into this world in the first place? What would it have been like to grow up in a caring home far away from this misery and bloodlust and ever-present stench of a hunger for power that can’t be satiated?
No matter how far certain individuals within the Anguis go, it’ll never be enough for them. Corruption pours readily from the fountain of power, they’ve been filling their cups from night after night.
Noire House is about to crumble, and this moment right here is when the first domino falls.
It has to be now. There’s no putting this off any longer, because if I do, I’m certain that I’ll never forgive myself. Not after the information that has come to light thanks to Grey. No matter how many innocents I save, it’ll never make up for looking away when this, right here, is the chance to finally end it all.
I just have to hope to all things unholy that we survive to see this plan eventuate.
Or, at the very least, I have to hope that no matter what happens to me, she is kept safe.
Reaching across, I grab my phone and open my brother’s thread of unanswered texts. Thorne Calliano has got too many secrets of his own right now, and I know exactly why he’s avoiding me, but the prick isn’t going to be able to ignore this.
Answer your phone.
I’m serious.
I sit here in the quiet, running my hand through my hair over and over as I watch the messages remain unread. Fucking asshole.
It’s on.
Devil’s bargain.
The read receipt shows up the moment those words are sent. Dots begin to appear on the screen as he takes an eternity to type out a curt reply.
THORNE:
What has inspired this decision, I wonder?
I can hear his judgment through the screen. Like he can damn well talk, considering where he is and what he’s currently doing. Ignoring his question, I quickly send my own reply. This isn’t the time or place for an interrogation, and he knows it.
That plan of yours, it’s time.
We’re doing it.
I’m not waiting any longer.
You know what that means, don’t you?
I don’t fucking care.
Is she worth it?
You know the answer to that.
What I do know is that you could get us all goddamn killed.
Then what?
You said we’d always be in.
All in.
This is me, going all in for you, too.
I know what you need, Thorne, and even if you were damn well planning to sit around and never do anything for years and years, this is happening.
I can’t sit on the sidelines like you.
Have you got someone who will do the job?
Ven?
There’s a pause before dots appear briefly, disappear, then his next words pop up on screen.
No. He needs to stay out of this for as long as possible.
Anyone on your team?
They’re all trained for this shit.
All of them are too well-known at the mansion.
A heavy exhale leaves my lungs. My mind is combing through all the options, because this has always been the part we knew the least about. In all our years spent pulling the details of this take-down together, we knew the long game. We’ve always known who the final chess piece needed to be, but this first player that we need to eradicate is the most fraught with potential for failure.
I don’t fucking know what to do. It’s always been the unspoken agreement between us that Thorne would coordinate this part. His role within the Anguis is security and training his operatives. The man has a goddamn army at his disposal, and my place in all this has always been to make sure we have someone on the inside.
I’ve been caged in this mansion for year upon year, running this club and earning my position of trust within the Noire estate to be able to give us access to everything we need in order to dismantle it all from the inside .
But if we fail at this first hurdle because someone can’t do the job, or even worse, if they were to turn on us, then we’re all fucked.
As my thumb hovers over the keypad, not really knowing how to respond, Thorne sends through a new message.
I’ve got a favor to call in.
Or, more to the point, someone who won’t be able to refuse my call.
My answer is immediate. It has to be now.
Make it happen.
Are you one hundred percent sure?
Once we do this, once we make this deal, there’s no going back.
Of course, I’m sure. Of this, I’m entirely certain, and as I step out of my car, I press send on the text that I know will confirm that irrevocably for my brother and seal all our fates in two words. Thirteen letters on screen that spell the beginning of the end.
Devil’s bargain.