Chapter 43 #2
The line went quiet.
Hades spoke from somewhere behind Zeus. “We don’t know exactly how much Kronos knew about where Diana was being held.”
“He knew enough,” Mimic said.
Zeus exhaled. “Yeah.”
Mimic sat back, but the fury didn’t leave his face. “Good thing my old lady opened the bastard’s throat.”
The silence that followed was immediate.
Cash closed his eyes.
Jack muttered, “Well, shit.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Zeus demanded.
Mimic didn’t blink. “Said I’m proud of my old lady.”
“She murdered my father.”
“She killed the man who raped her when she was a fucking kid.”
“He was still my father!” Zeus shouted through the speaker.
“And he was still a fucking pedophile,” Mimic shot back.
Hades cut in sharply. “Mimic.”
“What?” Mimic asked, his eyes still locked on my phone. “You want me to pretend I’m sorry he’s dead because we share blood? Fuck that. Indie did what somebody should’ve done years ago.”
“You little motherfucker,” Zeus growled.
Mimic gave a humorless snort. “There he is.”
I rubbed a hand over my beard. “As entertaining as it would be to let the two of you threaten each other for the next hour, keep going, Zeus.”
“Tell your enforcer to shut his fucking mouth.”
“Good luck with that,” I snarked. I wasn’t about to defend Kronos. Not only was Mimic one of my men, but Kronos had raped my brother’s woman when she was sixteen fucking years old. Mimic wasn’t lying when he called Kronos a fucking pedophile.
“King.”
“Zeus.”
Hades sighed loudly in the background. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
I ignored him. “What else did Dakota say?”
Zeus took a second before answering. “He talked about Mimic.”
Nobody around my table reacted with surprise.
We already knew what George Stone had done to Mimic. We knew Dakota had been part of that hell too. Hell, the way Mimic told it, Dakota was the villain in that scenario. George might have held him in a fucking cage, but Dakota had tortured him.
“What about it?” I asked.
“Dakota was pissed George let him go,” Zeus replied.
Mimic’s mouth twisted. “Yeah,” he muttered. “That ate at him.”
Zeus continued, “According to Dakota, George letting Mimic walk away was something he never got over.”
Mimic gave a humorless snort. “Bruised his fucking ego when I beat the shit out of him. Fucker wanted to prove he could take me down without Daddy stopping him.”
Hades spoke from behind Zeus. “Guess he never got the chance.”
“Nope,” Mimic replied, a trace of satisfaction entering his voice. “My old lady’s new friend poisoned the motherfucker first.”
I looked across the table at Mimic and groaned. “Can we not sound disappointed that Dakota didn’t get another shot at killing you?”
Mimic leaned back in his chair. “I’m not disappointed. Dead works for me.”
Zeus blew out a breath. “Dakota wasn’t stopping with Mimic and Indie. He wanted the Gods of Mayhem destroyed. Lettie was bait for Hades. He expected Hades to come after her, planned to kill whoever came with him, take down the club, burn everything, then come for me.”
“Why you last?” Colt asked.
“Because he blamed me for Kronos,” Zeus answered.
Mimic snorted.
Zeus went silent.
I looked at Mimic. My eyes narrowed and I shook my head.
He lifted one shoulder. “That one was deserved.”
“Fucker,” Zeus growled.
“What?” Mimic asked. “You’re alive. He’s dead. Sounds like his fucking problem.”
Hades laughed in the background.
“You’re supposed to be keeping me even,” Zeus snapped at him.
“I am,” Hades replied. “You haven’t broken anything.”
I shook my head. “Are you two finished?”
“No,” they answered in unison.
Cash chuckled. I ignored him and asked, “Dakota said Kronos was working with them?”
The humor disappeared from the call.
“Yeah,” Zeus said. “My father was working with Dakota, Arizona, and Zephyr.”
Mimic didn’t snort this time.
He simply stared at the phone with open contempt.
There wasn’t anything left for Kronos to lose with him. No image of a beloved grandfather being dismantled piece by piece. Whatever family connection blood was supposed to create had been destroyed the moment Mimic learned what Kronos had done to Indie when she was a child.
I leaned forward. “How deep?”
Zeus didn’t answer immediately.
Hades spoke quietly behind him. “Zeus.”
“I heard him.”
“Then fucking answer him.”
Zeus cursed under his breath. “Dakota said Kronos wasn’t just along for the ride. He confirmed Kronos had been working with George and Devlin Scott.”
Mimic’s mouth twisted. “Shocking,” he muttered.
“Mimic,” I warned.
“What the fuck do you want me to say?” Mimic asked, finally raising his voice. “He raped my old lady when she was a kid. You think I’m sitting here hoping somebody clears Grandpa’s fucking name?”
Silence slammed across the room.
Even Zeus didn’t immediately come back at him.
Mimic flattened both hands on the table and stared at the phone. “He hurt my old lady. He knew my mother was being used and apparently did fuck-all about that too. He sold Aspen to a man who beat the fuck out of her. I don’t give a shit what blood says he was to me.”
Hades spoke first. “He’s got a point, Zeus.”
“I know,” Zeus said tightly.
Mimic sat back.
I let a few seconds pass before asking Zeus, “So where are you with it now?”
Another silence.
Longer this time.
When Zeus finally answered, his voice had lost most of its fight.
“My father wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
Mimic snorted softly, but there was no humor in it.
Zeus heard him, but this time he let it go.
“He lied to my mother,” Zeus continued. “Lied to me. To the club. Every fucking time I think I know where the bottom is, somebody digs up another layer.”
Hades’ voice came quietly through the speaker. “That’s enough for tonight, brother.”
Zeus didn’t argue.
That told me how close to the edge he actually was.
I let the silence breathe before asking, “What about Zephyr?”
“Still alive as far as we know,” Zeus answered.
Nav finally spoke from the far end of the table. “I’m working on him.”
“You find anything?” Zeus asked.
Nav shook his head even though Zeus couldn’t see him. “Nothing worth talking about yet.”
I looked at him, and Nav’s eyes met mine. He knew exactly what was coming when the call ended.
Zeus sighed through the speaker. “I still have calls to make.”
“Montana and Reaper?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Tell Montana I said fuck you.”
“I’m not your fucking messenger.”
“Then tell Reaper.”
“Call him yourself.”
“I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Neither do I.”
Hades laughed. “This might be the healthiest relationship either of you has.”
“Fuck you, Hades,” Zeus and I said together.
The room erupted.
Even Mimic laughed, though it sounded more like a rough grunt.
Hades was still chuckling when Zeus growled, “I’m hanging up now.”
“Good talk,” I told him.
“Go fuck yourself, King.”
The line disconnected and I left my phone sitting in the middle of the table and slowly raised my eyes to Navigator.
Nav closed his laptop.
Smart man. “You knew.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Yeah.”
I stared at him. “Arizona Stone went after F.I.R.E., and I had to hear it from fucking Zeus?”
“Eros handled it,” Nav repeated.
“I heard that part. Why didn’t I hear it from you?”
Nav’s expression remained calm. “Because it was F.I.R.E. business.”
“You’re one of my fucking officers.”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you?” I asked, leaning forward. “Because I had to hear from Zeus that Montana’s brother came after your team, while you sit across from me pretending you knew nothing.”
“I wasn’t pretending anything.”
“No. You just kept your fucking mouth shut.”
Cash leaned back in his chair and glanced between us. “This feels like a good time for everyone else to suddenly become invisible.”
“Stay,” I ordered without looking at him.
Cash sighed. “Of course.”
Nav’s jaw tightened. “Eros took care of Arizona. It was done.”
“Fuck you, Nav. Three of those men were hit in my fucking house. The fourth one, who I’ll remind you is my fucking brother, was only safe because I sent his ass home. And if your bastard father hadn’t shoved you in a closet, you’d probably be fucking dead.”
“It was my call for F.I.R.E.”
“And there’s the fucking problem.”
For the first time, irritation flashed across Nav’s face. “I’m both, King.”
“I know exactly what you are. What I’m apparently less clear on is which patch gets information first.”
Nav stared at me across the table.
Finally, he said, “F.I.R.E. protects its own.”
“So do the Silver Shadows.”
“I know.”
“Then next time, fucking act like it.”
His jaw flexed before he nodded once. “Fine.”
I held his gaze another second, making sure we understood each other before I sat back.
“Now,” I said, looking around the table, “somebody tell me why the fuck every time we kill one of these assholes, three more secrets crawl out of the fucking grave.”
Jack raised his hand.
I pointed at him. “If your answer involves fucking clowns, I’m shooting you.”
Jack slowly lowered his hand.
Mimic snorted.
And despite everything we’d just learned, I laughed.