Chapter 31 Cameron
CAMERON
If there’s one thing Emery is good at, it’s transforming her griefs into fire. She could mold anger into a gilded spear and kill a man with that alone.
It’s already been over a week since Em stopped talking about Mikah. I know she still worries about what will happen to the rest of us, but she’s putting everything she has into training and doing what she can to be prepared.
It brings a smile to my lips and gives me hope. Because our reality is about to get a whole hell of a lot worse. Our time is edging closer to the last mission, and the weight of that has been heavy for everyone. Even Gage and Thomas, who still don’t know about Nolan’s order to kill us all.
I bring out my Zippo lighter and spark up a cigarette, blowing out smoke as Gage and Thomas jog by us during their morning routine.
Part of me wants to tell Gage about our plan, but I’m too uncertain of where his true alliances lie.
He doesn’t seem to sense anything is amiss, and if he does, then he isn’t showing it.
Don’t even get me started on Thomas. One whiff of what we’re planning and he’ll rat us out in a heartbeat to the lieutenant. It’s just who he is.
The thing that hurts me the most is how Erik seems so innocent in all of this.
He still laughs with us and acts like nothing is going to happen.
It stings, especially since I genuinely thought we were closer than that.
It makes me hope that perhaps Emery had it wrong, and Nolan was speaking with someone else that night, because how could he be so fucking cruel?
Maybe I never really knew him after all this time.
A storm of emotions builds inside me, one that takes me back to a time when I never could’ve fathomed that my mother would try to kill me. I narrow my eyes as I tap my cigarette and watch the ashes fall. It seems I only ever found parental figures that wanted me dead.
Lieutenant Erik steps out from the plane hangar and waves to get my attention. I glance at him and reluctantly stride over.
“Walk with me, Cameron,” he says chipperly.
Erik is in his black tactical pants as usual, but he’s wearing his crisp officer’s jacket today with gold cuff links and badges.
I raise a brow but don’t bother asking. I already know that he only dresses like this when Captain Bridger or Nolan are going to be in attendance.
“How is Emery?” he asks smoothly, lighting his own cigarette as we walk along the dirt path that borders the territory.
I take a deep drag from my cigarette before answering. “She’s all healed up for the most part.”
“That’s not what I was referring to.”
“Well, she’s certainly not about to call you uncle if that’s what you’re getting at.
” I chuckle and try to enjoy these small moments for what they’re worth.
Even if it’s fake, the comforting feeling is still there.
I don’t see myself as a monster when I’m around Erik, he’s never treated me like one.
He taught me everything I needed to know to survive.
Erik shakes his head with a short laugh. “I didn’t think she would, but does she resent me for not telling her sooner?” he asks and sounds remorseful about it.
My brows pinch together. Why would he care if he was going to just throw us away?
“No, I think she understands how complicated the situation was. By the way, how did you and Greg come to be such adversaries?”
It’s easy to only see the tail end of things, but Erik and Greg must go way back, I would assume, since they’re half brothers.
“Oh God, we would be out here for hours if I had the time to tell you my dreadful story, but to sum it up, we just never really got along. I was the half brother on my mother’s side.
My last name is Belerik because I was not a Mavestelli, not by blood.
Mr. Mavestelli saw the darkness in Greg, though.
He knew that he would all but run the empire into the ground or slowly light the world on fire with the power of it, which is why he put it in his will for both of us to share the empire.
Unfortunately, our father grew sick and died relatively young.
By that time we were already doing the dirty work and running the show.
That’s when Greg thought he killed me and got away with it.
I was being watched by a Dark Forces officer, Captain Bridger, but back then he was a sergeant. He brought me in.”
My eyes widen. “Wait. You were an executioner?”
He nods. “It’s a ruthless job, one that I’m sad Emery had to take on.”
She did, and she made it known to the world, but what did it cost? Landing her in this pit of wolves? Trapped in a vicious cycle of violence and drugs?
My chest constricts at the thought and guilt floods me. Because I’m glad she went through all of it. Without it she never would’ve ended up here with me. I’ll never let her go either.
A stretch of silence grows between us as we walk the path.
The air is brisk and stings my lungs. We reach the edge of the property, by an old fence post that juts up crookedly from the ground.
This is where I’ll be meeting with Reed tonight.
I’m slipping him a uniform that matches ours so he can access the building.
He’ll be taking out Damian’s and Wraith’s trackers in the lower-level bathroom.
Reed specifically informed me that it had to be tonight because Nolan and Erik will be attending a briefing at the bunker Ri?t’s currently occupying. The very idea that they are this close to us sends chills up my spine.
What I really want to know is how Reed knows all of the intel. Does he have a spy on the inside like Mavestelli had Bryce? Who though? I ponder.
It’s still a mystery to me what Reed’s endgame is.
He has the pills already. He’s interested in the black syringe, but what’s really urging him on?
What does he get out of betraying Mavestelli?
From what Emery has told me, he’s been essentially part of their family for over ten years.
He must be after Greg’s position in the family. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
I don’t know if it’s pure stupidity that makes me ask, or if it’s because I’m tired of feeling in the dark on everything, but I toss a side glance at the lieutenant and mutter, “How’s Mikah been doing?”
Erik’s pupils expand and his shoulders stiffen before he forces his features to relax as he exhales smoke, dropping his cigarette and stomping on it. My eyes linger on his combat boot pressed firmly in the dirt.
The act seems a bit deliberate, but I might just be reading into things.
“She’s already working on her next assignment.” His voice wavers.
He’s lying. I have to swallow the pain that levels me into a shell of myself.
“That’s wonderful to hear,” I reply smoothly, keeping my eyes on the horizon. I can feel his gaze surveying me for any hidden agendas. “Did you just want to take a walk, sir?” I press him for the reason he called me out here.
He chuckles. “It’s always straight to business with you, Cameron. You need to learn how to make small talk before jumping to the work stuff.”
I offer no emotion. “Everything is work stuff, sir.”
He picks up on my foul mood and gets to the point. “General Nolan is here.” I stop dead in my tracks, staring at Erik like he’s about to put a bullet in my head. “He would like to speak with you. Alone.” He doesn’t look at me as he says it.
I clear my throat. “Sir, the last time I was alone with Nolan he gave me a shot that made me lose my fucking mind. Respectfully, I request that either you or Emery are in attendance with me.”
We continue walking as Erik shakes his head. “It’s not up to me, you know that.” He sounds disheartened, like he knows something bad is going to happen.
“Do you know what it’s about?” I ask, slowing my strides.
He looks over his shoulder at me. “No. You have fifteen minutes, so I suggest you go get dressed and meet him upstairs in the hangar.” My eyes shift above Erik’s head as he says the latter and focus on the windows glaring the sun back at me and hiding the devil within.
I put on one of the generic jackets the guards here use for war room meetings.
It’s dark blue and has golden thread throughout.
A pressed, sharp collar. It’s very underwhelming compared to the black ones that we have back at home base.
It’s odd that I have a longing to return there, but I think it’s pretty unlikely that I’ll ever see the main base or the Under again.
Honestly, as long as I have Emery, I’m more than okay with that.
This airplane hangar is unique in that it’s two stories tall and has a basement. The builder had foresight, using a mix of brick and steel to make this fort withstand the harsh winds here. The metal panels that make up the walls rattle as I take the galvanized iron stairs up to the second story.
This floor is almost as plain as the one we’re residing in. One big room that extends the entire length of the hangar. The ceiling is domed and has several paned windows that are spaced out evenly all the way to the end, letting in ample light. It’d make one hell of a studio apartment, I muse.
An old wooden desk sits in the center of the room. Two chairs in its accompaniment. Besides those, there’s only General Nolan standing at the third window with his hands clasped behind his back tightly.
I’ve grown to hate men like him. They hide their humanity so well you’d think they never had a childhood. Can’t they drop the facade for even a moment? One day I’ll make him show me his true face. I can’t even begin to imagine what it looks like.
What do terrible men dream of? Do they dream of peaceful rest and to let their guard down? I ponder the thought as I walk uniformly to the center of the room and stand at attention until he’s ready to address me.
A long, uncomfortable beat of time passes. One that I’m not unfamiliar with when it comes to the general. Nolan doesn’t turn around until I’m certain that the dust falling through the rays of sunlight will suffocate me.
He looks older once he steps away from the bright windows and into the shadows where he properly belongs. His hair has more gray streaks than I recall, and his eyes are dark with grim thoughts.
“Mori.” Nolan acknowledges me passively like he always does before taking a seat. Then he motions for me to sit down as well.
“General Nolan, it’s good to see you, sir,” I say mundanely.
“You know, I always thought you were just a pain in my ass.” I flinch at his crassness. “I can’t tell you how many times I told Captain Bridger to throw you away. Even if you were resilient to the drugs, something about you has always bothered me.” His voice is uncaring and cold.
My jaw feathers, but I keep my expression empty. I don’t know how the fuck I’m supposed to respond to that, so I remain quiet.
He leans forward in his seat and rests his elbows against his knees as he observes me closer, like I’m nothing more than a case study. He’s waiting for me to break, but he forgets where I came from. Where I was molded into who I am. The scar on my chest burns at the thought.
“But it would seem you’ve truly proven yourself, Mori.
Against all the odds. Against my advice to terminate you long ago, Captain Bridger has decided to offer you a place among the officers.
He’s proposing that you be promoted to Sergeant Mortem of the Hades Squad.
” His beady eyes are like pits of darkness as they watch my expression morph with shock.
Hades? That’s what Emery told me Mikah said she found intel on…
the new squad to replace ours. And he wants me to be the sergeant?
“What?” A surprised breath escapes my lungs.
I wasn’t expecting him to say that. My throat tightens with emotion, being an officer in the Dark Forces has been my goal all this time.
For seven grueling and merciless years, isn’t this what I worked so hard for?
I know it’s not where my future lies anymore…
so why does my heart ache at the prospect of it?
Is it because I know what it will cost? Or is it because I found something better? Emery. I gnash my teeth together and wrestle with the turmoil growing inside me.
I’ve wanted to be Sergeant Mortem for such a long time.
Nolan grins, and it is truly a wicked thing. He straightens in his chair and leans back to grab a piece of black paper, words written in gold on one side.
“There comes a time in every officer’s life where he must make a difficult decision, Mori.
You see, to become a high-ranking soldier in the Dark Forces, you must prove yourself beyond the lengths you’ve already gone.
We’ve all had to make these hard choices to get where we are.
But Lieutenant Belerik highly recommended you. ”
The ache spreads farther into my chest, infecting my lungs and making my breaths shorten. Because I know what he’s going to say next.
“What must I do?” I ask slowly and it sounds so quiet in this dusty, foreboding room. My gaze is hollow, the light has faded.
Nolan hands me the black paper. It looks like an order written by the captain himself.
Exterminate the Fury Squad after Mavestelli is dead. You alone will return a legend amongst the Dark Forces.