Chapter 24 - Scarlett #3
Olivia and Everett exchanged a look, but it was Rae who spoke next. “When will you bring him in on all of this?”
“After my little sinner follows the white rabbit down the rabbit hole,” he hummed chillingly.
“Okay,” Emily started when the room went silent, “what are their jobs in this? Will they be helping us?”
“The Blackheart brothers do as they please. For now, each pair of you will get a church. Havoc will be sending you your new assignments. There are five churches left for you to handle. The Claimees will take their Claims to their perspective churches, the fox and the hound will pair up and head to their church.”
“Are we embedding ourselves into the church like you did?” Rae asked. “How difficult will that be now that they’ve closed ranks?”
“Attend one service,” Azrael stated. “You move, you live, you watch from a distance and take notes. Be the nauseating little married pair you are. Your goals are this; name the Leaders, their children, and the Pastor of your church. This is one assignment with a certainty of innocent causalities, so no bleeding hearts, family dearest. We will not save them all.”
“What about the Navarro’s?” Zo asked, speaking up for the first time since the meeting was convened.
“No offense, Em, but you don’t fight. You’ve made that very clear, and while we all respect that, that would mean Greyson being alone to take down this church.
Will Poppy go with him if you’re not sending her with us? ”
“She’ll stay with us,” Azrael said evenly.
“I’ll join him,” Bishop volunteered before anyone could respond. “Emily can stay here.”
My smile widened and I looked up, finding Azrael’s eyes. “Can she stay in my room?”
Azrael chuckled, running his hand down my hair, sending shivers down my spine. “She’ll be given her very own room, sinning doll, but you’ll have all the access you want to it.”
I beamed, turning back to Emily who was giving me a warm smile while Grey eyed Azrael skeptically. “It will be my very first sleepover!”
“Olivia spent the night, doll,” Havoc hummed the reminder.
“I was wounded when she was here.” My excitement only grew. “What do people at sleepovers do? Is it fun?”
Emily laughed lightly when Havoc relayed the message. “Um, well, when Rae and I went to Liv’s, we watched movies and ate popcorn and candy.”
I felt my eyes widened. “What is candy?” I had heard of popcorn before. Thomas had given me some when I was a kid once as a treat, but candy?
Olivia leaned forward, her brows pulling together. “You’ve never heard of candy before?”
Emily smiled brightly and reached into the pocket of her over-sized black and neon pink hoodie. “Do I have a treat for you.” There was a loud crinkling and then she was sliding something across the table.
I looked down at where the thing stopped an arms-length away. I think it was supposed to be a worm, but it was unnaturally colored. One side blue, the other pink. It was covered in near translucent crystals. “What is it?” I asked, finding her eyes again.
“Emily’s favorite,” Grey answered warmly. “Sour gummy worms.”
I sneered. “Sour? Like sour cream or spoiled milk?” I leaned away from it, not wanting to be rude, but also not interested in trying it.
Azrael’s cane appeared on my right side as he leaned over and used it to pull the worm closer. “It’s a good sour. It’ll make your mouth water and your jaw hurt, but some people appreciate that.”
I watched him for a second before turning back to the little worm which now sat directly in front of me. I picked it up, rolling it between my fingers, the sour crystals falling from the spongy worm. I sniffed it, my mouth immediately watering, just as he said.
Swallowing the extra drool, I brought it to the tip of my tongue and winced back, the sour spreading across my tongue instantly. I smacked my tongue and studied it. The sour wasn’t that bad, I suppose—
“Here, Scarlett. Try this.”
I looked up, finding Emily’s kind eyes as she reached into her other pocket and tossed me another, this one landing directly in front of me.
It looked similar, only this one was green and orange and lacked the sour crystals.
I looked up from the worm to Emily. “Do you have candy in all of your pockets?”
She giggled and shook her head when Havoc relayed the message. “No, just gummy worms. Baily liked the regulars too.”
My eyes widened, swinging to Olivia. “Your Baily?”
Olivia nodded. “We swing by as often as we can. Of course, Aunt Emmy is her favorite because she always has candy.”
Emily shrugged. “I love candy.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked back to the new gummy worm.
I picked it up and sniffed it before gently touching it to the end of my tongue.
It was sweet. Really sweet. I slid it over my tongue, drool pooling around it as I bit into it.
The taste was fruity, but not real fruit.
It didn’t taste real and the texture was strange, but it was good.
“Thank you,” I signed to Emily.
“You’re welcome. There are lots of different kinds of candy. If we’re going to have a sleepover tonight, we’ll do it right.”
“We’ll be watching a movie first,” Azrael stated, sliding between my chair and Olivia’s. “The meeting is adjourned.”
My smile widened. “Really?” I asked as everyone started to stand. “Alice in Wonderland?”
He nodded, giving me a warm smile. “It’s about time, don’t you think? Besides, I can’t have you giving any firsts away to anyone but me, hmm?” he signed back.
My cheeks reddened and my smile grew so wide, it hurt. “Okay.” A movie? With Azrael and then my sisters? Today would be a very good day.
“Can I please speak to Liv, Emily, and Scarlett,” Rae spoke up, pulling my attention back to the table.
Everyone had already begun to stand, Everett and Jack making their way towards Grey, and Rae standing right behind her chair, pushing it in.
“We need to speak to you,” Jack told Azrael.
I glanced up at Azrael whose eyes flicked to mine before he headed around the table.
I watched after him for only a second before Havoc leaned over on my left side, cutting off my view of him. He quickly grabbed the sour gummy worm and popped into his mouth, giving me an amused smile. “Sour is my favorite.”
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Do you think I’ll ever like it?”
He licked his finger. “I don’t know doll, you’ll have to give it a few tries to see. Do you want to talk to them alone or do you want me to translate?”
I looked over, Olivia, Emily, and Rae already talking just a few chairs away. Olivia had been practicing. After a moment of thought, I shook my head. “It’s okay, I think we can still talk.”
He gave me a nod. “Have fun.”
I gave him another smile before grabbing my cane and making my way over, leaving Poppy to converse with Zo, Evie, and the Blackheart brothers.
Whatever conversation they had been having died the moment they saw me nearing, smiles on every face but Rae’s who was watching me with a bit of sorrow in her eyes.
“You’re just so young,” she said softly, taking me in. She squared her shoulders. “Poppy said he Claimed you, is that true?”
I nodded. “It’s their ritual. They Claimed you.”
“Slow down,” she said, allowing a flicker of a smile. “I know a little, but I’m not great yet.”
My brows furrowed. “You know sign?” I asked, forcing my hands to slow.
She mouthed the words as she saw them. “Yeah. We’ve been trying to learn.
We can’t not be able to communicate with a member of the family.
” She looked me over. “You don’t have a collar.
Did he give you a brand? Anything symbolizing it?
I only considered him ever Claiming someone once, and I knew that when he did, he’d be the most… brutal of them all.”
I smiled and held out my left hand, showing them the ring and the bracelet filled with his blood proudly.
Emily immediately stepped forward, her eyes widening. “Whoa, is that his blood?”
I nodded. “He has mine too. On his left wrist. Oh,” I went on when they all glanced towards the boys. “And this.” I flipped both hands over when they turned back, showing them the scars on either palm.
Rae pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I had in mind.” Her brows furrowed as Olivia gently took my left hand, lifting it closer to inspect. “I know that mark,” she said. “That’s the Leviathan Cross.”
I nodded, gently taking my hands back. “He also put something on my back. I never asked what it was.” I looked around the room before walking around them to face the wall. With ease, I pulled my dress down to my waist so they could see what he had put there.
“Oh my God,” Emily breathed out.
I glanced back, my hair sliding over my bare shoulder. Was it bad? I couldn’t imagine anything Azrael burning into my skin being bad.
I felt a soft hand slide over my shoulder, pulling my attention to the other side while another finger trailed across my spine just below where I knew the scar was. “Did Azrael leave all of these scars?”
“There’s hardly a piece of skin that hasn’t been touched,” Emily whispered, her voice thick.
Oh, I see what was happening.
With a smile, I pulled my dress back up and turned to them. “I was punished a lot,” I explained with a sharp smile. “Thomas is going to be the first to die. I think I’ll shackle him on his knees and take the whip to his back before making him swallow a sword for all the times he made me swallow.”
Emily glanced over at Rae and Olivia who were watching me with wide eyes. “S-sorry,” she said, her eyes finding mine. “I’ve been studying, but it’s been difficult for me to memorize a lot of the hand movements.”
I could understand that, at least she was trying.
“Thomas did it to her,” Rae said, anger sliding into her words, her eyes flaming.
“Most of it,” I clarified, forcing my signing to slow a little more. “Azrael left plenty of scars too, just not the whip marks.”
“Are they all treated like you?” Rae asked quietly but steadily.
I shook my head. “Not at my church. Not while they are there at least. I don’t know what happens to them when they leave.”
“Leave?” Olivia questioned.
“When they are married to their Pillar, they become property of that Pillar. Sometimes they never come back to the church.”
Rae relayed what she could understand of what I said to Emily, Olivia filling it in, before she responded. “Do those Pillars ever return?”
I thought about it. “Sometimes.”
The three exchanged a look. “So, even if we go after the churches, wipe out everyone in them, there’s a chance that some of those people would still live?”
My smile fell a bit, and I glanced towards Azrael who seemed to be listening intently, his smile sharp as the other three talked. I turned to where I had seen the Blackheart brothers last, finding only Havoc left. Poppy, Zo, and Evie were still at the table, talking quietly amongst themselves.
I didn’t even have to get Havoc’s attention because he was already watching me. I gestured for him to come over and join the conversation.
Seconds later, he was at my side. “What’s up, doll?”
“What about the Pillars who stopped coming to church after they got their Favorites?”
Havoc studied me carefully, his smile disappearing. “How many do you think there are?”
“The church has been going on for over two decades. There have been a lot of marriages. A lot of Pillars.” I couldn’t look up, but I knew when I stopped seeing certain shoes.
I knew when the voices changed or stopped all together.
Either they were excommunicated or they moved to start living a quieter life. How would we ever find them?
Havoc studied me carefully before turning to the four brothers. His thoughts were as loud as the wind outside.
Finally, he turned back to me. “We’ll have to seek them out,” he decided. “It will give us something to do while you have your fun,” he hummed, a smile dusting his lips. “Don’t worry. We will get every root, I promise.”
I turned back to my sisters at his word. “He’s given me his word. It will be done.”
Olivia tracked Havoc as he walked away but it was Rae who spoke when he was out of hearing range. “You trust them a lot, don’t you?”
I nodded. “They are my brothers. My family. Just as you are.”
She studied me carefully. “You would fight by their side?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I lifted my chin and proudly told her the truth. “I would die for any of you. You are my family.”
Azrael appeared at my side not a moment later, giving none of them a chance to respond. “We must go if you want to make the most of your time with everyone.”
I glanced over, my smile widening before I turned back to them. “I’m very excited about tonight. I’ll see you soon. I want to try all of your favorite candies.”
Oliva’s smile was sparkling. “We’ll get them all. Enjoy your movie, Scarlett.”
My eyes shifted from hers to Emily, and finally to Rae’s. They were all so kind and so fierce in their own ways. I was so lucky to know them all.