Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty- Nine
Thiago
The moon casts eerie shadows across the dashboard as Elijah speeds down the desolated roads, climbing higher into the mountains.
From up here, all you can see is the ocean and the forest that surrounds it.
Rain pummels against the glass, matching the cadence of my pulse that climbs with the altitude.
I fidget with the ring around my finger.
One that belonged to my father, a gold lion crowned in rubies.
It’s quiet… too fucking quiet.
That very silence stretches until it feels alive, something breathing between us, waiting to strike.
Elijah’s knuckles tap the steering wheel, steady and deliberate.
A nervous tick, like he’s counting down to something.
It feels like we've been driving in circles for long hours, even though it's only been around forty minutes.
It might as well be an eternity.
The bright glow from the headlights carves through the fog, catching the glint of wet asphalt and the skeletal outline of trees.
Nico shifts behind me, the seat creaking under his tension.
I can feel Elijah’s attention drift away from the road and toward us, while I keep my gaze on the horizon, where the road disappears into the dark.
Nico slaps the headrest, inching forward between the seats, and asks, “Where are we going?”
Elijah smirks at the rearview mirror. “Almost there,” he says, voice low and threaded with satisfaction.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s savoring a secret that he’s dying to unveil.
The car dips around a bend, tires skidding slightly on the wet gravel, and the forest swallows us whole.
Pines crowd the road, their branches reaching out like bony fingers. My stomach tightens.
Not from fear.
From certainty.
We’re getting close.
Elijah hums softly, his finger tapping faster now, a syncopated rhythm against the wheel. Turns out I was wrong; Elijah here isn’t nervous. My boy is excited. The road narrows, the incline growing steeper, and fog curls around like smoke.
Nico leans forward again, voice strained. “Elijah… Seriously. Where the hell are we—”
“We are here,” Elijah announces when he suddenly stops the car. My breath catches.
I scan my surroundings, noticing we’re at the edge of a clearing, the headlights illuminating a cabin.
There’s no lights on, it’s empty, and if I didn’t know any better, I would say we drove all the way up here for nothing, but looks can be deceiving, as I know more than anybody.
Elijah kills the engine, and Nico tries to open the door—only to notice we are locked inside.
Figured he would… After all, we aren't saving Zayden.
We are the sacrifices, the reason why Elijah decided to attend Villalargos. The mole.
He turns slowly, resting his arm over the seat, eyes gleaming with something feral. “Ahh… You put two and two together.”
Nico glances between us, swallowing hard as he comes to the same realization I did.
We’re fucked, and this is a trap, that I’m sure of.
Silence slams into the car, before Elijah inhales deeply and orders, “If you want Zayden alive,” he says with a soft voice.
“You’ll do exactly what I say. Look under your seats and zip tie yourselves. ”
“What? No, fuck you!” Nico says, but his argument ends the moment Elijah pulls out a gun. See, I wasn’t trying to fight fate. I simply dig my hand beneath the seat and do exactly what he wants. The harness of the plastic bites at my skin and, using my teeth, I pull the cinch tight around my wrist.
“Just do it, Reyes,” I mumble… Shockingly, I wasn't scared…
Not even worried. All I want to do is see Zayden.
Elijah watches with a grin, amused or maybe pleased on how easily we cooperated, not wondering the right reason why.
But that would be a lesson for him to learn and for me to deliver.
Once Nico secures his own hands, Elijah praises us with a thumbs-up. “Good boys.”
With that, he steps into the rain, slamming the door behind him.
“You got a plan?” Nico whispers in a hushed tone.
“I do,” is all I say with an exhale, allowing the cold air to seep into my lungs.
For the first time, I pray that I’m not fucking wrong, because our lives depends on it.
Elijah lets us out, and using the gun, he motions us inside, which we obey with no hesitation.
The cabin door creaks when he pushes it open, the sound of muffled screams greeting us along with the mildew scent of mold that lives within these walls.
“ZAYDEN!” Nico shouts, but it’s pointless when Zayden’s screams drown out everything else. My jaw clenches, and the idea of seeing this through has me tearing at my restraints, but the need to protect those I love keeps me locked in place.
We move closer to the sound when suddenly, a door opens, and Greyson steps out. His nose flares with anger when his green eyes crash into mine, and he spits right on my Pradas—hitting the leather like acid and sliding down the tip of my shoes. I don’t move… Not that I can anyway.
So, I just watch him—his chest heaving, jaw tight, and his eyes burning with something between rage and guilt. It turns out Greyson’s beef is that he was in the closet, and so was Asher, which is why he’s been so adamant about finding out who killed his power bottom.
Elijah laughs behind us, the sound sharp and hollow. “You boys really thought you could outsmart us.” The gun glints in his hand as he steps forward, rain dripping from his hair.
Nico tenses beside me, shoulders squared, but his wrists are still bound, and so are mine.
Greyson wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, sneering.
“Like how I can make him scream? Did you make him scream?” His chest bumps into me; he’s so close that he might as well kiss me.
“Did you make it hurt when you killed Asher?”
“What?” Nico’s voice cracks, shaking his head, as if that could erase the truth. “No… No… You didn’t.”
He’s right…
Zayden did. And I let him believe it was me, because it’s the only way to protect him. A secret that, like a heavy stone, I’ll carry to the grave. Elijah steps closer, pressing the barrel of the gun against my temple.
“Enough,” he says through gritted teeth. “Let’s finish this.”
With that, we move past the hall and down the stairs.
The dim lights spotlight Zayden, who sits in the middle of the room, bound and bleeding.
I bite down on the inside of my cheek, keeping me focused now more than ever.
Christopher looks up to me before fisting Zayden’s hair and pulling his head back.
“Look who’s here to save you,” he teases as his knife travels down the length of his neck, searching for any reaction, only to get none.
My heart swells with something ugly and holy all at once—pride and fury tangled together.
Zayden’s eyes are half lidded, blood is crusted in his brow, and his piercing is ripped off.
But his anger is still there, pulsing under his skin like a live organ.
His gaze finds mine.
For a second, the room, the gun, the knife… everything just fades away. Only he exists. “Safra,” he rasps, voice shredded from his screams.
I swallow hard, forcing my face to stay blank and cold. “Pet.”
He chuckles at that, and I can’t help the way my lips lift at the corners. Elijah steps into my peripheral vision, gun now leveled at Zayden’s chest.
“Here’s how this goes,” he comments, almost conversational.
“You’re going to tell us exactly which one of you three killed Asher, and then, amongst yourselves, you can decide who dies.
An eye for an eye.” Christopher smiles while Greyson watches from the corner. I inhale deeply and get ready to stall…
If I’m right—this is the moment everything turns.
And if I’m wrong?
Then this is where we all die.
“How about we just kill them all,” Christopher sneers, not realizing that the real danger was behind him, Peter’s actual mole. It was never Elijah. It was Greyson, someone desperate for power. His laugh curdles into something feral as he holds a gun to the back of Christopher’s head.
“You think you’re the only one who can play both sides?” he spits, eyes darting toward Elijah. “I sold you out for a spot at Villalargos.” His attention turns fully to Elijah, his smile dropping to a frown. His face is blank and devoid of emotion.
Elijah stares at him in disbelief. “You betrayed your own people?” He shakes his head. “Asher was your best friend.”
“And asshole, good for nothing.” Greyson quickly adds with a shrug, a twisted grin spreading across his face.
“Everyone’s replaceable, like you. Peter says hello.
” With that, the gun goes off, and a bullet lodges in the front of Elijah’s skull.
Christopher lets out a high shriek, just as the basement stairs groan with careful and deliberate steps.
Wyatt wasted no time putting a bullet in not only Christopher’s forehead but Greyson’s as well.
It all happened so quickly that I barely had a chance to register everything.
I can’t help the laughter that works its way up my chest. Ezra steps beside me, taking a deep breath in.
“Don’t make me regret this,” he adds, before slicing off my zip ties and placing a gun into my palm. “End it.”
A shaky breath escapes me. The weight of the weapon anchors me. Nico’s eyes lock on mine, wide, terrified, and pleading.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “It’s nothing personal.”
Zayden thrashes against his restraints, screaming at the top of his lungs while Wyatt pours gasoline in every crevice of the basement. “Why?” Nico asks softly. “Why?”
“Because we all have a sacrifice to make. Ezra killed June, and well… I’m gonna kill you.”
Ezra's brows pull together. I’m sure now he’s wondering how I pieced it all together. My knees almost give out, and I turn to Ezra, who watches me now with an unreadable expression. The smell of gasoline thickens, choking the air. Wyatt strikes a match, the flame trembling between his fingers.
Nico’s whispers cut through Zayden’s threats. “Thiago… please.”
I raise the gun, and the world narrows to the space between us. Ezra nods once. The trigger clicks, the recoil is like an electric shock that runs up my arm. Zayden’s voice breaks the deafening silence that follows, raw and feral.
“NICO!”
Wyatt flicks the match, and the fire catches fast, devouring the gasoline, the walls, and the truth. I storm forward and, using the barrel of my gun, I slam it into the side of Zayden's head.
“We gotta go.” Wyatt rushes me while I hold on to the only thing that matters.
Letting the truth die with the fire.