Chapter 24
24
Raze
I t takes the Supremes forty-six hours to realize they’ve escaped.
Forty-six hours .
Their disregard for human life is astounding. It’s as if they thought that if they ignored their prisoners long enough, they’d disappear altogether. Along with the obligation to make a fucking decision about what to do with them. It’s childish and negligent and irresponsible, especially considering the magnitude of what they’re dealing with.
A Landry legacy with full potential. A second chance to right the wrong they made when they slaughtered Constance Chevalier. No one else in that family line has come close to measuring up to what Sonny and her mother could do.
I’d expect nothing less from these so-called leaders who refuse to cover their hands in blood from the decisions they make, yet have no qualms about dowsing me in it. Like they’ve found a workaround that allows them to feel a false sense of morality for what they do. It’s all a ruse. The moment they theatrically clap their gavel against their bench, they coat their very souls with the blood of their victims. It doesn’t matter what weapon they use to execute the punishment.
Each time they call me in that forty-six hour period is a form of torture in itself. It doesn’t matter if it’s to ask a simple question or demand I dig up dirt on the family members of the other prisoners. I’m constantly on edge, waiting for them to realize I played a part in their escape and turn on me. Sometimes, I wonder if it would be easier to admit my crimes myself. At least, then I could get ahead of their retaliation.
The only thing stopping me is the rebellion. It’s always the rebellion. All the lives that will be at stake when I reveal our movement against the suffocating hand of the Midnight Syndicate. They deserve the head start that they’re working like hell behind the scenes to give themselves.
Sonny’s capture set off the timer for the bomb that’s about to go off in Nocturne Valley. It’s now a scramble to usher friends and family into safety. To hunker down and weather the storm.
Because if there’s one thing I’m absolutely positive about, it’s that Sonnet Ellery’s rage will rip through Nocturne Valley like a hurricane. It’ll ravage every person who chose to feed power to the Midnight Syndicate over their own legacies. It’ll punish all who believed their nefarious lies instead of honoring the family who brought them here in the first place.
And she doesn’t even have a clue.
“You two were the last ones down there with them,” James is screaming into Brody and Niles’s faces as I enter their chamber.
Gone are the cocky smirks they usually wear. Instead, they look like they’re about to shit themselves. I have to turn away before anyone sees how happy that makes me.
With bulging eyes and reddened cheeks that suggest his blood pressure is probably double what it should be, James points toward the door I just walked through. “We’ve been in this hell hole day and night to figure out the best way to deal with them, and you just fucked us all over because you can’t be bothered with shutting a goddamn door correctly!”
“Your level of incompetence should be studied,” Ashton agrees. Ironically, I feel the same way about him.
“Unbelievable,” Terry Florwyn grumbles.
“I swear we closed the door,” Niles insists. All James has to do is look at him, his eyes searing, and his mouth clamps shut.
Better them than me.
I almost feel bad. They’re clearly going to be punished for something they had no hand in doing. If they weren’t such a pain in my ass at every turn, I’d feel obligated to defend them.
But they’ve done enough bad to justify whatever retribution they get. They killed Matilda.
“Raze,” James clips my name, and I snap my attention toward him like the good little pet he wants me to be.
He raises his brow in silent communication. Kill them , his look says. Still, I open my mind to his thoughts to glean some clarity about what he’s actually thinking about the entire situation.
Does he truly believe it was them, or are they taking the fall before the Supremes turn on me?
A wave of relief washes through me as I listen to the chaos of his mind. He’s pissed at the two men before me, who he views as good as dead. Mortified at how weak this mistake will make him look to the rest of the Syndicate. And terrified of how Sonny will retaliate for her capture.
I continue to listen as I shed my suit coat and drape it across the chair behind me. The Supremes are saying something to Brody and Niles—probably warning them of their demise—but I’m completely checked into James’s mind. I’m unbuttoning my cuffs and rolling up my sleeves as he makes plans to have his family moved to their vacation house out of the state until things settle down.
I make a mental note of that. It’ll be a shame when their departure tonight gets intercepted.
Taking a step toward Brody, I drop the connection to James and check back into the room.
“...We simply can’t risk another mistake such as this,” Terry calmly explains as Brody attempts to back away from me. He steps until both he and Niles hit the wall behind them. Then, they start to trip over each other like mice in an enclosure, trying to escape the hand that will feed them to the snake.
I reach into their minds and send the subtle signal for them to settle, careful not to make it obvious in front of the Supremes. The last thing I need is to give them a reason to be suspicious of me.
“Raze was down there, too,” Brody rushes out, pointing a finger directly in my face.
I tilt my head at the accusation, searching his psyche for his biggest fear.
Scratch that, I don’t feel bad for him at all.
His shoulders sag the slightest bit, the fight slowly leaving him as my gifts seep into his nervous system.
“I was with the Supremes,” I remind him in an even tone.
Needles .
He has a fear of needles.
My gaze rolls over his tattooed skin, my own confusion swirling around with his terror. When it becomes too much, I pull back.
“You met with the redhead in that room!” Niles shouts, his finger jabbing through the air at me. “You probably gave her a key or some shit.”
It takes no time for me to discover that Niles has a fear of clowns.
“There are cameras in the interrogation room,” I say, mostly to remind the Supremes.
When they undoubtedly check, they’ll find the cameras we disabled the moment Sonny walked into the room. Surely, they’ll assume it was her who turned them off. And by the time they get an Aeternum in there to check, I’ll be long gone.
“It had to be him,” Brody cries out.
I force the thought of a needle being slammed into his leg, and he screams. His hand swipes away at the imaginary weapon and I send another one into his inner thigh with twice as much mental pain. He wails in agony, drool spilling over his bottom lip as he holds his sore leg. The Supremes watch him with their faces twisted in irritation and disgust.
They think he’s lost his mind.
And I suppose he has. To me.
“What the hell has gotten into him?” Harold Mirasen exclaims, scooting his chair backward as if he’s going to catch whatever Brody has if he sits too close.
Ashton directs his attention toward me. His eyes do a thorough investigation of my entire being, searching for some way I could possibly be making Brody act in such a way. Angelica Sunspire is doing the same. There’s a soft brush against my mental shields—the same featherlight touch I always feel around her. I open a door into a blank room of my mind for her to look at, then stare back at them with my hands clasped together in front of me—their weapon ready to strike the moment they give the command. An empty vessel.
It would take Angela an extreme amount of effort to pull off what I’ve just done, and I’m hardly breaking a sweat.
Just for sport, I infiltrate Niles’s mind, convincing him that all six Supremes are wearing clown masks.
They startle at the scream that erupts from his throat.
When he’s sure it couldn’t possibly be me causing either man to act in such a way, Ashton flicks his wrist. “Take care of these maniacs.”
I step closer to Brody’s bent over form, yank him upright, and place my palms on either side of his head. With one swift movement, I turn his neck at an unnatural angle until it cracks, and his body instantly goes limp.
Bye bye, Brody.
Niles is still too distracted by the clowns sitting before him to realize what has just happened to his friend or that the same fate befalls him. He’s cowering against the wall like he wants to disappear inside of it, sweat gathering at his brow and soaking his hairline. Without any hesitation, I step in front of him and place my hands in the same position I did with Brody.
At the last second, his gaze connects with mine, and I smile.
“ Are you watching, red? Wouldn’t want you to miss the show. It’s in your honor, after all , ” I torment into his mind, repeating the words he said to Sonny before killing Matilda. Then, I break his neck.
“We’ve got to call the rest of the members in for a meeting,” James declares in a somber tone. “This has turned into a complete shit show.” The others hum their agreement, and he turns his attention toward me, his eyes intense with anger.
“Get these two fuckers out of here, and then start hunting those miscreants down. I don’t care what you do to the other three, but keep the redhead alive. I want to be the one to deliver her punishment.”
The Supremes shuffle out after him, carefully stepping over the two dead bodies lying in their path. I pull out my phone to shoot off a text, informing the rebellion that it’s time to move our refugees. Then, I get to work disposing of the dead bodies at my feet.