29. April 14, 2023 #2
“I started watching a little closer, and as Tribe began to take shape, it became clear that you were building an army.
A small one, but an army nonetheless. Your selection of Royal Devlin as the voice of Tribe.
The recruitment of the team that, had I been paying attention, I would have seen for the threat they were.
“Still, I didn’t interfere. Whether I didn’t see it or I refused to see it, I convinced myself that your trajectory seemed to be different from mine.
That’s where I was foolish a second time.
I stopped watching as intently. Shame on me.
I let my fondness for you blind me to the danger you represented.
I should have known there was only one thing that would motivate Esme Bosworth to work in the shadows as she was. Finding her father.”
“Your fondness for me?” she spat. “You may not have wanted to fuck me, but you were a predator just the same.”
The hand moved so quickly, she didn’t have time to protect herself from the slap across her face.
In fact, the assault didn’t even register with her until it was over with, and she’d shaken the stars from her vision.
When she turned back toward Zion, it was to find his face filled with fury—an expression she’d never witnessed on him before, and it was terrifying.
“Yes, my fondness for you. I could have let Howard take you. You would have become his bride, and when he descended so far into madness that he was a detriment to the Salieri, they would have terminated him and you, simply by association. Instead, you’ve lived twenty-six years of life you weren’t meant to have. ”
Suddenly, he seemed to remember himself, pulling down his jacket from where it gathered awkwardly from slapping her. Straightening his tie. Smoothing back the hair that had broken free of the confines of its sleek styling.
He continued, much calmer now. “You brought this on yourself now. There’s nothing I can do to stop it.
When Tribe officially stepped into my world, with your team leader intercepting my shipment five years ago?
That was my ticket into elder status of the Salieri, and your golden boy fucked it up but good when he set those people free.
“It was one thing to intercept a shipment when you didn’t know what you were interfering with.
But combine the fact that it was your team and the setback of years’ worth of work to get to that point?
I couldn’t let that go. I watched and waited for two years to get my revenge.
And when I got it? I got it good. Being patient was worth the wait, and I was happy to get at least some satisfaction out of taking it out of his hide, literally, when he tried to rescue his sister. ”
“You killed Sarah?” She heard the wobble in her voice. The inherent plea for him to deny the truth.
“I wanted to see the devastation on her brother’s face when we finally broke her to nothing.
I didn’t take part in the events that day other than to physically make sure he saw every moment of what was done to her.
I wanted him to know that no one was safe if they got in my way.
Then his men showed up, and it was a close call for me.
Luckily, they weren’t interested in chasing anyone away, just killing whoever got in the way of rescuing their boss.
I managed to escape to fight another day. ”
Cherry’s heart shattered in that moment, the guilt overwhelming her. Demon had been right, after all. Sarah’s death was on her hands, and all because she wanted revenge.
“I had hoped to find a way to leave you unscathed from all of this. The death of Sarah Miller and the destruction of Taylor Miller should have been where it ended. But no. Kent Leech got involved with an old flame who just had to share the nefarious plans of her family, causing Leech to set Tribe on the protection of his sister, setting all of this in motion. What were the fucking odds of that happening? So now? Now, I have a problem.”
He added more photos to the desk.
Kubrick and Waters running the obstacle course in Roatán.
TB carrying Flame out of the private room at The Library the night they’d met in person.
Gem and Nemo in the mine the day they’d been captured.
Midas and Nemo coming from somewhere in their tactical gear.
Steel in front of a bank in what looked like a small Midwestern town.
Picture after picture of her… going about her life all the way to the day her father disappeared.
All of his words were sinking in with a weight unimaginable. The Salieri had been watching them from the very beginning. She may have kept her secrets from the team, but they’d never been a secret to the people who most needed to be kept in the dark.
“When you called me up out of the blue to tell me you wanted to introduce me to your new husband, I was instantly wary. After all, you’ve sidestepped me at every opportunity since the year before you turned eighteen.
Now, suddenly, you want to establish a family connection again?
” The grimace on his face made him seem devil-like.
“Not you. But my curiosity was insatiable, so I allowed myself to be reeled into whatever game you were playing at.”
“The problem isn’t me or my team, Zion. It’s you!
You’ve aligned yourself with the Salieri.
You traffic women to breed children, then kill them.
And until recently, you killed the daughters who were born, but now you’ve found a ‘sustainable’ use for them in the diamond mines.
Tell me. When they’re too big to fit in the worm tunnels, what happens?
Do you destroy them, too, or do they become breeding stock? ”
“Nothing is wasted that can possibly be used.”
She felt bile rise in the back of her throat. “You’re a monster.”
He nodded, a look of thoughtfulness on his face.
“Quite possibly. But there are bigger monsters than me.
General Howard, for instance. When he was thwarted over you twenty-six years ago, it set forth a chain reaction no one could have dreamed possible.
Each new failure has made him that much more difficult to contain.
“In these last years, he’d found a replacement for you, finally.
Sylvan Jones. He became obsessed when he saw her, so he made arrangements with Gendry to purchase his ward, but the girl escaped just before the deal could be finalized.
Somehow, your team ended up involved in that, as well, and so the general’s eye moved back to its starting point.
Esme Bosworth. Luckily, he hasn’t been able to secure permission to take you as his own.
Our elder has something else in mind for you. ”
Matthew was suddenly at her back, his hands gripping her arms from behind.
With a sigh, Zion looked at Cherry with regret. “I am sorry about this, my dear. I would have loved to spare you the outcome you’re about to receive, but… perhaps it’s better this way.” His last words were to Matthew. “Take her.”
As Matthew began to drag her to the door, she fought, pulling at his grip, trying to kick at his legs, but it was no use.
She hadn’t been paying attention to the silent security guard, and he had her in a hold she couldn’t break.
That mistake could cost her everything. As Matthew reached the door, a tiny poke in her neck let Cherry know that she was about to go unconscious.
It took less than thirty seconds for her to pass out.