Chapter Nineteen
Heading To The
Society
Ten Minutes Earlier
Than Death’s Realm
Time: Four Hours Remaining…Maybe
As they drove there, Seth was on the phone, talking to the ME about the woman who was found in the broken open crypt in the cemetery. From his face, Flynn knew that the man was just happy to be working.
They all were.
The second he hung up, he was dying to know.
“What did you find out?” he asked.
Seth clued him and his partner in.
“Well, the ME got an ID on the dead woman. Her name was Ophelia Williamson, like we told them, and get this…some cops went to that club to do interviews.”
“And?”
“They saw someone who resembles Mathew with her last. It’s safe to say that we can confirm his hunting ground.”
That was good to know.
“Guess what else?”
They weren’t sure.
That’s when he told them.
“She lived at the exact same address we’re heading to, Flynn. Mathew must have followed her.
He considered it, as Tommy drove them.
“He had to be watching the place. They are the second most powerful society in the city. He might have been biding his time to control them and send them at us.”
Yuck.
That would be messy in NOLA. It would start a war between what was left of the families if Jolie slaughtered them.
Mathew was setting up other ways to take them down if his initial plan failed.
“If he had the relic already, we’d be bombarded with dead. He must have suspected it was there, or he was looking for a way to gang up on us.”
Jolie agreed.
“He sniffed around, found some vampyres, and then…he took her after following her to the club. He’d want to know what she knew, and if my family was still in the same place.”
Flynn agreed.
“Well, then, we have to get in there.”
Tommy pointed.
“The house is back there. Are we sure this won’t be a bloodbath? I have my new shoes on.”
Rinnon wasn’t amused.
He’s a bitch. Tell him to suck it up. In my day, we loved battle. Humans have gotten soft. They have de-evolved.
Flynn laughed at what his mate was saying because it was so absurd.
That’s because you’re a God. Humans DIE!
From behind the wheel, Tommy was curious.
“What is he saying about me?” Tommy asked.
Because he didn’t want to upset anyone, Flynn lied and took one for the team.
“Rinnon said he likes your shoes, and he’s jealous he doesn’t have a pair like that. He wanted me to steal them for him.”
I did not. I called him a bitch. What is the point of you if you won’t tell them what I really say?
Because I’m not rude, and you are.
Well, clearly. I like being me. I created this shitshow, and I get to be rude!
Flynn just shook his head.
As they drove down the long drive, much like the one they had at their home, they saw it in the trees.
“Okay, everyone stick close, and try not to get lost,” he said.
That’s the problem with humans. They get lost.
Uh, I was human once.
And?
Rinnon was twitchy, and it was clear he wanted out. Flynn wasn’t letting that happen unless he knew they weren’t safe. The Big Scary could make a mess.
I can hear you.
I’m aware.
As Tommy brought the vehicle to a stop, that’s when they knew they had a huge issue.
“Uh, Flynn, those are dead bodies,” Jolie said, pointing them out. They looked like they had been running from the house, and were now deceased and on the ground.
Let me out! This is my area! If this is a trap, you can’t protect my woman and child like I can.
She’s my woman too, cranky.
Please. It’s my child she carries.
He heard the pleading in his voice, and he wouldn’t stand between them.
Just be careful. I’ve had my Flynn suit kicked around plenty today. It’s been a long-ass day.
I will be.
Flynn released Rinnon, and everyone in the car felt him.
They had a new leader now.
Rinnon got out of the vehicle, and he was holding Jolie’s hand with her body slightly behind his. He sniffed the air.
“They are human. Someone slaughtered them.”
Yeah, this wasn’t good.
“He got here first,” Jolie said, knowing he’d be well aware of who ‘he’ was. It looked as if Mathew had beaten them to this relic.
All they could hope now was that he hadn’t gotten it yet. Maybe the humans who lived here with the vampyre society had been smart enough to hide it, and hadn’t told him.
As they moved closer to the house, they felt the ground rumble, and Rinnon knew what was about to happen.
“We have a problem,” he said, as the dead underground began breaking through the dirt, and the humans they’d just walked past began coming back to life.
“He has the relic,” Tommy said. “We’re too late!”
Jolie made a sword appear, and that’s when she saw the doors to the house open, and out came the inhabitants. The vampyres were heading their way, but it was clear they weren’t in control.
Their walking was stilted, slow, and like they were fighting a compulsion.
Mathew was nearby, and he had to be using The Vampyre’s Cross and The Necromancer’s Sword.
Shit.
They were too late.
“Be ready to fight,” Rinnon said, catching movement from his peripheral.
Not far away, the family cemetery gates opened, and so many people were crawling from there graves.
Then, there was laughter.
Oh, they knew who it was.
Rinnon waved his arm, and backup arrived. It was in the form of Alexandre, Vanth, and Lucian. Kiera was there too, but she was hidden.
They didn’t know she survived, and if this got ugly, she’d be their ace in the hole.
Or so he hoped.
On top of that, he called for Death.
Better safe than…sorry.
As they crawled from their graves, Mathew appeared, and beside him was the dead woman he’d reanimated.
Marie Laveau was still under his control—not that it mattered. He had the sword and the cross.
They were going to have a fight.
Moving toward them, Mathew was smiling. The relic appeared in his hand and got larger. He was using it like a cane, trying to appear…dapper.
“Well, well, well. We meet again, Flynn.”
Rinnon said nothing.
Let him think he was the one he was talking to. From deep inside of him, Flynn helped him out.
He has an ego. I was able to kill him because of it. If you humiliate him, he’ll get angry. When Mathew is angry, he makes mistakes. He’s impulsive. That’s why he failed as Jolie’s guardian.
Thank you, Flynn.
“Oh, well, look who is here. The dead vampyre who got killed because he was slow, stupid, and incompetent.”
Death appeared beside him.
Good guess on his skill, he said into their minds. Only, that’s going to piss him off and he’s got the relics.
Mathew heard him, and he raged.
He actually screamed.
“You sound like a girl, Matty-boy. No wonder you couldn’t protect Jolie.”
Uh, you’re too good at this. I said make him mad, not homicidal.
Semantics.
When Mathew raised his hands, the grounds opened even more, and so many bodies appeared. They clawed their way out of the ground, and began moving toward them.
Death made swords appear, and he glanced back at everyone.
“Head shots as in remove them. Silver for the vampyres,” he added, making guns appear too.
It looked as if they were about to get bloody.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the dead began rushing them. They had no choice but to protect themselves.
The chanting began, and Marie was being used like a weapon herself.
They felt the explosion, as it blew them backward. The spell was protecting Mathew.
Bullshit.
He needed to die.
They didn’t stay down long, and the family got back up, and began working their way toward the other vampyre. There was the POP, POP, POP of gunfire, as Seth and Tommy took down vampyres that were coming for them.
They hated to do it, but it was survival of the fittest.
All around them, it was a horrible scene.
With their swords, they cut through the zombies that were rising and trying to tear their flesh from their bodies.
They fell all around them, but with each one they killed, more were brought back.
Marie Laveau was weaving one hell of a spell.
Rinnon knew the truth.
They needed to slow down the reanimation of the dead, and that meant their secret weapon.
“Kiera! Now!”
As she stepped out from the shadows, Kiera began chanting, showing herself for the first time.
Only, it was a language that she shouldn’t know.
The second the words floated across the space, Rinnon and Death spun, and that’s when Death felt it.
He knew they had a far bigger problem than Mathew playing games.
This just went bad.
REAL.
BAD.
To protect his family, Jacques flung his body toward his mates, using his wings to cocoon them on the ground beneath him.
What are you doing? Flynn asked, and then, he heard it.
Aiobeheann is free!
The wave of energy hit the whole yard, and the only thing that protected them was Death.
He used his energy to disguise them as that wave of energy killed everything.
It was clear that Aiobeheann wasn’t playing.
With a wave of her hand, the witch made Vanth, Tommy, Alex, Seth, Cerise, and Logan disappear.
They were gone.
All that was left was the three of them, and only because Jacques had saved them.
As they watched the show, the three of them knew one thing.
Kiera was now fully possessed.
Oh, boy.
From where he stood, Mathew was pissed. He pointed one of the relics at her.
And it didn’t work.
“What the hell are you?” he asked, as the relics didn’t seem to listen to him anymore.
Then came her booming voice.
“I am Aiobeheann. I come here to reclaim what is mine!” she screamed, and the zombies begin crawling toward the vampyres that were under Mathew’s control.
Jolie watched in horror from the ground as the whole lot of vampyres were decimated by the hungry zombies. The only thing saving them was that Jacques had used his power to conceal them.
It was clear what she was doing. Aiobeheann was turning them against each other.
This was bad.
The shit was hitting the fan.
From where he stood, it was clear that Mathew was scared.
Unfortunately for him, the pretty blonde who gave him the gift was nowhere to be seen.
“Help me!” he screamed, as he felt the hands coming up from the ground, and he no longer had control of the dead or the necromanced.
From where they were on the ground, they couldn’t move. Jacques had them pinned in some bubble, and they were trapped.
Likely because Rinnon without all of his memories was no match for Aiobeheann, the vampyre witch.
All around them, more and more dead were coming from the ground.
“What is going on?” Jolie asked, seeing they were all alone there.
Jacques told them.
“Someone released Aiobeheann, and she’s using the fact I placed more of her in Kiera to fully ride her vessel.”
That was ill-timed.
Damn it.
As for letting her out…
Oh, he knew who it had to be. There was no coincidence that he’d left Flynn’s parents there alone, and now this.
Oh, shit.
From the ground, Rinnon was pissed.
“She wanted to necromance more than anything. This was her end goal. We just gave it to her!”
He was aware.
Only, he hadn’t seen this coming.
The question was why?
Was it because Fate, his partner in holding the fabric together had been locked up? Or was it because they’d destroyed the actual fabric with their ridiculousness?
They watched as the zombies were surrounding Mathew and Marie Lareau. They crawled slowly, trying to get to them.
“Bring her to me,” Aiobeheann said, her voice Kiera’s, but the woman was not in control of her own body.
Kiera was floating on the ground, not even walking as she moved toward Mathew and Marie. From her ears, blood dripped.
It was clear that their witch was fighting her from the inside.
And losing.
All around them, the zombies are doing what she asked. Mathew might have two relics, but Aiobeheann was an ancient vampyre witch.
That was no match.
In front of her, Marie was torn into pieces, and snacked on as she was brought to Aiobeheann piece-by-piece.
The whole time, Jolie was horrified.
“We have to help Kiera,” she whispered, still trapped beneath her mate’s wings.
Jacques gave them the bad news.
“We can’t. It’s too late. She’s in control of Kiera. I can protect us, but I can’t stop her. She’s clearly been working on spells behind my back.”
And then, they knew where she got it.
“It’s when Kiera went into Mambo’s mind,” Rinnon said. “She relearned and learned new things.”
Yeah, this was horrible.
On top of that, Rinnon was three days beyond irritated.
“I hate witches for this reason. Containing her is going to be a bitch!”
Not far away, Mathew was trying to use the relics, and failing miserably. He was trying to call up more vampyres, but what he didn’t realize is there were so few left anyway.
The ones closest were in Jolie’s family, and they were safely at home in her house. That was protected by Rinnon’s energy. Thank God they attached the lair to it.
Kiera waved her arm.
“I said, bring him to me.”
They did her bidding, and before he knew it, he was being torn to pieces and handed to the woman wielding the spell.
“HELP!”
Honestly, Jolie knew that the men in her life wouldn’t help him if they could.
You got that right, Baby.
Absolutely, Jacques added.
He wanted to sleep with my woman. He can be her snack, Rinnon stated.
Well, she’d been right about that.
When Mathew was in front of Kiera, err…Aiobeheann, he was put on his knees as he bled from his missing appendages.
“What do I have here?” she asked, floating around him as she possessed Kiera.
“I’ll serve you. I’ll do whatever you want. The other woman abandoned me.”
Aiobeheann wasn’t having it.
They all knew that Mathew was no match for her, and she’d never let him live. Aiobeheann had one goal in her lifetime, and it was to be the necromancer.
And they’d handed it to her.
Shit.
“Give me the relic I want.”
Because she knew he wouldn’t say no, she held out her hand, and he did exactly what she asked. He placed The Necromancer’s Sword in her fingers.
The other one…
She tossed it aside.
Thankfully.
With her fist, she slammed it into his heart, and Mathew had no chance.
He exploded into ash when she killed him.
Well, that problem was gone. Now, they had a worse one. They didn’t know what Mambo ‘taught’ her.
Or Kiera, who could read Rinnon’s spell books, and had.
When she turned, Jacques was up, and he put his body in front of his mates.
That was all it took.
Aiobeheann waved her arm, chanted, and the trees went wild.
It was clear she was ready for him.
Maybe letting Kiera have the old spell books to help them had been a bad idea.
Before he could speak, he was flung backward, and impaled on a tree when spikes appeared.
He growled in pain and anger because he was trapped in a spell and couldn’t move.
To protect his mate, Rinnon shoved Jolie behind him, as he did everything in his power to save his child and woman.
Aiobeheann pointed at him.
“We are enemies. The next time we meet, Rinnon, I will end you. You killed my mate. I understand why, but know that we will do battle. This world will be mine unless Death sets my mate free.”
Yeah, well, they couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.
He was in the box.
Before he could even speak, Rinnon was hit with energy, and flew backward, slamming int a tree. As soon as he touched it, the vines wrapped around him as they could all hear chanting.
Yeah, that was a powerful spell to move Rinnon.
Jolie stood there and as Kiera/Aiobeheann moved toward her, she knew what was coming.
Her death.
In her mind, she heard Flynn, and he only said two words.
The stone!
To save herself and her child, she pulled out The God Stone that Jacques had given her, and she held it in her hand. That seemed to work.
As soon as Aiobeheann saw it, she hissed, her fangs breaking into her mouth as she controlled Kiera.
“Hurts, huh?” she asked, moving closer to the woman. As the stone began glowing, Aiobeheann took a full step back.
“Give me my sister-in-law!”
Jolie’s eyes bled black, and the sound of her wings shaking out was heard by everyone. In her hand, the sword she made appear glowed.
Then, Aiobeheann’s eyes went back to Kiera’s green.
“Tell Alex I love him,” Kiera whispered, as she was fighting to get into control. “Look in the BOOK!”
And then, before Jolie could get more, it was clear that Aiobeheann was back in control.
Before her, she sank into the ground with Kiera, and they were gone.
All around Jolie, there is nothing but carnage.
They lost The Necromancer’s Sword to a woman who wanted to be a necromancer many centuries ago.
They.
Fucked.
Up.
Not far away, Death was bleeding, and Rinnon was being swallowed by the vines.
She had to save them.
It was in that moment that Jolie remembered what Rinnon said. She was protected by the stone and the Nephilim she carried.
Focusing on Lilith, she touched the stone with her fingers, and she was seeing flashing visions of her being there to protect them.
She was an angel after all.
“Save us!”
All around her, she was engulfed in light, and when it disappeared, there stood a teenager girl. She couldn’t be more than twelve.
The pale creature with raven black hair and pretty lavender eyes looked around.
It’s a Nephilim! It’s my child! Rinnon whispers into her mind. You brought her to life with the stone. She can save us!
Jolie hadn’t been expecting to do that. She just wanted a little help. Now, she manifested Lilith.
“Mother?” the teenager said, staring at her.
Jolie was looking into her own eyes.
Holy shit!
Jolie couldn’t believe what the stone had actually done. When she touched her belly, that’s when she knew she was right.
Lilith wasn’t there anymore.
Slowly, the Nephilim moved toward her.
“Are you my mother?” the pretty teenager asked, cautiously.
Jolie nodded.
“Yes. You’re my daughter, Lilith. You’re my daughter. We have the same eyes. Look.”
She let her demon eyes go back to the pretty lavender that matched hers.
In her mind, she heard Flynn.
Oh, boy. We did it now.
That’s my child! Rinnon roared.
The Nephilim tipped her head, and when she didn’t feel in danger, she moved at Jolie.
Her mother held her.
She was, after all, her child. Granted, she had been expecting a baby, but her child was her child.
Period.
“What is happening to my father?” she asked, glancing over at the trees. The vines were strangling Flynn, as they tried to crush Rinnon.
“There was a spell to hurt him. Can you save him?” Jolie asked, not sure if she could or not.
She didn’t move, but someone had to be talking to her in her mind. It had to be Rinnon instructing her. She wasn’t able to hear him, but when Lilith touched the ground, everything around them died.
The trees.
The vines.
The Zombies.
As they were set free, Rinnon didn’t hesitate to move at her.
“My little girl,” he said, pulling her into his body. She must have felt his energy from the countless times she’d been fed by him, because she stayed against him.
“Daddy.”
Jolie checked on Jacques, and he was healing. Aiobeheann had wielded some pretty powerful magick.
“Don’t worry, my little girl,” Rinnon said, holding his daughter against him. “You will learn in time.”
That had Jolie’s attention.
She was so confused.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Rinnon stared at his mate, as he held his next child protective against his body.
“It will take her years to understand what she is and how she can fight. I will help her learn. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”
Flynn spoke to Rinnon alone.
Cut her a break. She just missed out on childbirth, and the baby years. She’s confused.
I understand. Will you help me father Lilith? I don’t know how to do this.
Of course, I will. She’s all of ours.
Rinnon looked at Jolie.
“She’s going to need you to help her, Jolie. She’s in this form, but she’s a baby inside. She’s not aware of what she is, and how powerful she can be.”
Well, holy shit.
This was NOT what she expected to happen.
Normally, they won.
This was not a win.
Not.
Even.
Close.
They lost a relic, they lost Kiera, Aiobeheann was free, and now, they had a teenage Nephilim with the knowledge of a baby.
Yep.
They were absolutely screwed with this one.
They boned themselves good. This time, they were their own worse enemies.
Epilogue
The Lair
After The Battle
Regrouping Time
Time: Minutes Remaining…
Yeah, this was definitely not a win for any of them. While they got one of the relics back, they lost the other, and it just so happened to be the more dangerous one.
This battle had kicked their asses.
And now, came the fallout.
Before returning to the safety of the house, now attached magically to the house in New Orleans, they tucked away The Vampyre’s Cross at the lair.
It was put away in Pandora’s Box, and safe. They’d retrieved one more, and they were continuing on the path to get them all.
Only, losing The Necromancer’s Sword…
And Kiera…
That was a problem.
Had it not been by Aiobeheann, and they’d not lost Kiera in the process, it wouldn’t have been so bad. They could always regroup and find the relic.
Only, now, they had to find Kiera too.
The big issue with that was Alex. They had to tell him that while they had saved their own asses, they lost his mate to The Wickedest Witch.
This was going to suck.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Fate was about to be free, and they had a teenage Nephilim that Jolie manifested into existence.
How?
Well, Nephilim were angelic, and they were the precursor to demons. Meaning, they were dead. With the help of The God Stone, and the spell Rinnon accidentally put on her during sex…
They raised a Nephilim from her own body.
Lilith was born, and she had no freaking clue how to do what Nephilims did.
Bad shit.
Well, maybe there was a plus to this. At least they didn’t have to worry about Fate killing Lilith.
She was full grown, and attached to her father.
How attached?
Uh, Flynn had a teenager holding his hand, and it didn’t look as if she was going to let go anytime soon. Again, that might work to their advantage.
If Fate got a hold of a Nephilim…
Been there.
Done that.
No one wanted to go back there.
As they walked into the living room, they could hear Alex suffering.
“They will come home,” Vanth said, trying to keep the man’s spirits up.
They’d tried to leave the house, but they hadn’t been able to. The spell…
It had been too strong.
“We’ll all be okay,” Vanth promised.
Lucian and Tommy were also trying to console him, but they both knew how hard this would be for him. Not being able to get to your mate…
Crushing.
From where they stood, in the doorway, here went the reckoning.
As they entered the room, everyone looked over. When they did, Vanth hurried toward her father. As soon as she got a foot from him, the stranger raised her hand, and slammed her back against the wall.
“No!” Flynn said, releasing Lilith’s hand.
“But she was coming at you, Father. I want to protect you.”
Oh, boy.
This little girl had a lot of power.
Vanth shook her head as she sat on the floor. That had been one hell of a blast of energy.
“What the hell?” she asked, as Flynn helped her up and tucked her into his body to show she was family too.
Everyone else?
No one moved.
“It’s okay, Lilith,” Flynn said. “She’s technically your sister. Everyone in this room is special to your father and me. We cannot hurt them.”
The teenager tipped her head as she was processing it. What they knew from Nephilims was that they were literal and highly intelligent.
“Okay, Father.”
Vanth was confused.
“What is she?”
They made the introductions before they dealt with Alex. It was stalling, but could anyone blame them?
“Jolie birthed us a teenage Nephilim,” he said.
Oh, and that sounded insane.
Everyone looked at her.
The looks said it all.
They’d gone a few rounds with Chemosh, and it had been brutal. He was hard to stop, and the only reason no one was freaking out was that they had the relic that could control this one.
Jolie held out her hand, and the pretty teenager went toward her.
She did the introductions.
“This is Vanth. She protects us. She’s valuable to your father and myself. We don’t hurt our family, Lilith,” she reiterated like she would with a toddler.
Flynn released Rinnon since this was his rodeo.
Birth a Nephilim, he said.
It would be safe, he said.
She’d annihilated a field full of zombies by touching the ground. No one was safe if she went rogue.
NO ONE.
Jolie made the introductions. When she got to Alex, she touched his shoulder.
“This, Lilith, is your uncle Alex.”
The teenager stared into his eyes.
“Why is he so sad? I can feel his pain,” she asked. “He’s breaking inside.”
Alex went there.
“Where is she?” he asked. “I can’t feel her. She’s gone,” he whispered. “Where is my mate?”
Well, they knew one thing.
She wasn’t dead, or Alex would have been going gray and dying.
“Aiobeheann is wearing her,” Rinnon said. “We’ll get her back. Eventually.”
Alex stared at him.
“Eventually?” he asked. “Wearing her?”
They were silent.
Rinnon! Jolie chided. Could you be more…
Blunt? Flynn added.
Annoying? Jacques offered.
What? he asked. The three of you were pussyfooting around telling him. I saved the day.
Did he?
“My mate!” Alex wailed.
Well, that cat was out of the bag.
“We’ll get her back,” Jolie promised. “We just need time. Aiobeheann won’t hurt her. She needs Kiera’s body, and she’s protected her before. Aiobeheann is fond of Kiera and respects her as a witch…”
Jolie didn’t get to finish.
Just as she was about to, Jacques stopped moving.
“Oh, shit.”
Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out the vial of Fate’s blood, and that told the tale.
“Well, it’s official. We’re completely out. She’s free,” he said.
Oh, boy.
This was bad timing.
The hits kept coming.
Death morphed, and his eyes bled red.
“I have to get back. Fate is on a rampage. She’s going to wreck my realm!”
Yeah, and it was all going to be for payback for what he’d done to the garden.
And because he’d imprisoned her.
Waving his arm, they had to go. He, Jolie, Lilith, and Rinnon popped into his realm. They took her because…well, she was unpredictable, and they didn’t need another problem.
Once there, it didn’t take long to find Flynn’s parents.
They rushed at him, as the whole place shook all around them.
Flynn’s parents looked scared.
The first person to speak was Barb.
“I think I did something bad. She looked hungry…,” Flynn’s mother said.
Yeah, well, honestly, Death had other problems that were far bigger than Aiobeheann. Don’t get him wrong, she was a nightmare, but now…
Fate was the issue.
When two doors at the end of the hall flew open, slamming against the wall, they saw her stalking their way. The angry heel sounds gave her away, and Fate had a bunch of bees in her bonnet.
They were about to be stung.
“Oh, well, if it isn’t the biggest pains in my ass! The pains that locked me in a fucking cage! Now, I’m going to take you apart piece by piece!”
That was all she had to say.
When she raised her hands, ready to really cause some pain, mostly at Jolie, she didn’t get a chance.
A teenage child stepped from behind her father, Rinnon, and Fate felt the change in their worlds.
She couldn’t believe it.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” she asked, staring at the teenager. “That’s a Nephilim!”
Oh, they were aware.
She looked like Jolie, but she was paler, and she had her mother’s gorgeous hair.
Her eyes bled from the serene lavender to Lilith’s swirls of silver. Her fangs slipped into her mouth, and peeked out from her lips.
Here was another cat out of the bag.
“Meet my daughter, Lilith,” Rinnon said. “You know, the one you’ve been trying to kill.”
Well, that was the straw that snapped the crazy’s back. Fate lost her mind.
In that moment, Jacques had to protect his family from the fallout of what would be coming.
They needed some time to regroup.
With a wave of his hand, some words in an ancient language, and a shit ton of energy, he sent Fate out, slamming the doors of his realm closed.
To keep them safe.
No one could come or go.
In the fall out, Jolie knew one thing.
“We’re so screwed,” Jolie admitted. “No, we’re dead ducks.”
Yeah, they were.
BIG-TIME.