Chapter 45
45
Raze
“ T hey’ve figured out that I’m the leak,” I inform my mother, Theo, and Griff as I walk through the front door of my childhood home.
The three of them are waiting at her dining room table for me after I texted them to meet me here immediately when I left James Stanson’s office downtown.
I cross the short distance through her foyer in three long strides, my adrenaline so high that my shadows thrash beneath my skin to be set free as fight-or-flight takes hold of me.
“What makes you say that?” My mom questions slowly. Too slowly. She should be up and packing a bag already.
“Besides the fucking murder scene he staged? I heard his thoughts,” I explain in near-panic, and Griff hisses out a string of curse words.
He and Theo are the only two people outside of my family who know about my Mirrane gift—except maybe Sonny. It took years for my mother and I to build enough trust in them, but they’ve proven to be worthy of the knowledge.
I can feel the end coming near, though. I won’t be able to hide my gifts if we end up in a war against the Syndicate, and tonight feels a lot like the start of a war. Especially if I’m forced to defend the people I love.
“You aren’t supposed to be using your gifts on them,” she complains with a pointed glare. “You know they have ways of knowing.”
I shake my head at her dismissively and wrap my fingers around the back of the empty chair sitting before me to stop myself from ripping her out of her own chair and throwing her into the car myself. “If I hadn’t done it, I would be split open right now.”
My suspicions were raised when James invited me for an impromptu meeting at his office in the city building downtown this morning. There were a few things wrong with the invitation, but the most glaringly obvious was that the mayor of Nocturne Valley has always gone out of his way to distance himself from me—the weapon of the Midnight Syndicate.
Nocturnians have always had their suspicions about him, especially once it was found that Ashton Payne was on the council of Supremes. It was a scandal their family never recovered from, and ultimately what led to Stanson dethroning them as mayor. James has been obsessive over using his anonymous mask when he’s acting as the leader of the Syndicate and donning his saccharine smile whenever he’s acting as the mayor.
Inviting a known associate of the Midnight Syndicate is quite damning. Never worth the PR risk.
Still, I was curious, so I decided to arrive at our meeting a few moments early without his knowledge. I draped myself in shadows and walked right through his open door unseen.
What I found was enough to make my skin crawl.
Mayor Stanson had wrapped his entire office in thick plastic. From his desk to his bookcases and the pure white couches sitting off to the side—everything was covered. A steel table sat in the center of the room, covered in every weapon he could dream of.
He was going to kill me with his bare hands, Dexter-style. And have fun with it, too—the fucking psycho.
I’m not surprised they’ve caught onto me. With Sonny having been in and out of consciousness, I’ve been spending more time with her than anything else. Even my classes were canceled so I could sit at her bedside, waiting for her to wake so I know she’s safe.
What shocked me is how enthusiastic James was with his set up.
I’ve been killing for over a decade, and I’ve never had that face when anticipating my next victim.
Griff is already sliding his chair out and heading toward the basement, where my mother keeps her bug out bags for this exact occasion. “How long do you have to get out of here?”
“I’d say an hour, max. Our meeting should have started about—” I check my watch. “Twenty minutes ago.”
“They’ll know you came here,” Theo accuses, his voice raising three disbelieving octaves. He’s pissed at me for wanting to bring my mother to safety before she ends up wrapped in clear plastic and stabbed to death?
“I know,” I push defensively, shifting my attention toward my mother. “I had to make sure you got out, though. You need to get your go-bag and leave town.”
“Where is your car?” Griff asks me.
“Still on campus. I ran here.”
My mom looks at me, her mouth set in a thin line. “They don’t know where he’ll go. They still have no clue who the rebellion is made up of. Otherwise, they’d have ripped my door down when the girl went missing.”
“You seriously don’t think they’ll assume he went to his mom?” Theo questions.
I answer before she can. “No, but they will use her as payback for what I’ve done. You need to leave. Now.”
“We’ll get you both to Infinity Heights and onto the first bus out. You can detour from there,” Griff offers.
“I’m staying in the safe house,” I inform him, leaving no room in my tone for debate.
My mother reacts immediately, her face crumbling into a cross between a frown and a scowl. “Raze, no. We agreed that if you were to be compromised, you would get the hell out of here. The safe house is too close. They’ll discover you within hours.”
“It’s nonnegotiable. If I leave Nocturne Valley, they’ll only get to her easier.”
“That’s bullshit. We’re all here, providing her protection,” Griff argues.
“If you stay, you’re likely putting her more at risk than if you leave,” Theo tells me, his brows upturned in concern.
They want me to go. To follow through with the original plan. But that plan was made before we could have ever imagined we would get something as valuable as a Landry legacy. One that needs shielding from the enemies outside and the ones who want to use her from within. I won’t leave my little nightmare alone without my protection, regardless of how much it puts my life at risk.
Working my jaw, I look between the three of them. They’ve been mapping out our plan of attack for years, plotting out every detail to the last minute. I’ve always followed their directions without hesitation, never making a fuss.
I can’t compromise on this, though. I owe it to Sonny to protect her. I owe it to her parents. I owe it to Finley and Lewis. Hell, I even owe it to Divina and Bane.
All of their sacrifice has to count for something.
“We’ll have the Ellerys extend the ward around me, too. Move up our timeline a little bit. They’ll go after her the instant they catch wind that I’ve left. Mom already has to be gone when that happens.”
“Don’t do this, Raze. Don’t leave me alone in this world. This girl is not worth your life,” my mother pleads, tears welling in her dark eyes.
She’s wrong. That woman is my life. I’ve never met someone capable of making me see beyond all of this. I resisted forming ties to anything or anyone, too petrified of having it all taken away. Terrified of this exact scenario.
I won’t cower. I won’t hide the way I did before. There are no more excuses for me. The enemy is here, at our doorstep. The plan has been set into action.
And I won’t abandon her.
“We aren’t going to change your mind,” Griff surmises, his gaze rolling over the stubborn set of my jaw and furrowed brows.
“No.”
“Fuck,” Theo mutters, holding his head.
Griff nods once, his expression hardening as the wheels start working in his mind. “We’ll adjust as best as we can, but I can’t guarantee anything. We’re already juggling so much...”
“Then, I guess it makes even more sense for me to stay and help.”
We share a look, and he tucks his head down in a nod. “You should get going if you don’t want to be stopped. I’m probably your least conspicuous option.”
“We’ll head out behind you.” Theo immediately jumps into action, bolting across the kitchen for the basement to grab a go- bag for my mom. Griff heads toward the garage to pull his car into it so I can get in without being seen.
“Raze, please listen to me,” my mother begs me, stepping into my path. “We’ve already gone against them before, and I lost them both. I can’t do it again.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, Mom,” I promise, cradling her head in my palms. “We’ve got an entire movement on our side this time.”
This is why we joined. It’s what my father dreamed of when he brought me on to take over for him in both capacities.
Tears well in her eyes, and it’s nearly enough to make me cave. Wrapping my arms around her shaking shoulders, I hug tightly against my chest.
But she has to know this is the right thing. All of this begins and ends with the Landry family. We, as Whitlocks, were always meant to protect them. I can’t allow this curse to go on any longer—to affect any more generations.
I have to play my part.
“I love you. You know that, right? I love you so much, Raze. I’m so proud of you,” she rushes out as Theo throws his jacket on and I pull away.
“I love you. This isn’t the end, Mom. This is everything we’ve worked for. It’s going to be us on top this time.”
Griff comes back in and leans against the counter, waiting. Theo breaks through the basement stairway and throws a bag into my arms.
“I’ll get the rest of your things and bring them to you later. This should hold you over for now.”
I clap him on his arm, tugging him into a half hug to mutter my thanks into his ear.
“Ready?” Griff asks.
With a nod, I kiss my mother’s cheek and walk out the door.