Chapter Eighteen Jonah #2
The room is quiet. Everyone is watching me, waiting to see what I'll do. What I'll become, now that I know the truth.
The truth hits me. She never wanted me to take up her mantle, so they tried destroying me instead.
Not that I’d want any part in this, that much she must have known.
But to try and scoop who I am out of my body?
That’s fucking cold. I pick up the stack of documents.
Flip through them with shaking hands. Financial records.
Meeting minutes. Correspondence between Custodians discussing the "viability of Phase Two initiatives. "
My grandmother's signature is on a dozen pages. Authorizing funds. Approving procedures. Signing off on the creation of children.
"Jonah." Jagger's voice is careful. Gentle. "Whatever she did, it's not your fault. You're not responsible for her choices."
"No. But I'm responsible for what I do with this information." I set down the documents. Meet his eyes. "We have everything we need now. Names. Evidence. Proof of what they did and who authorized it."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying we finish this." My voice is steady now. Cold. "Victor Harrington is still alive. Still part of the system. We expose him. We take the board. I am a Chen, a rightful heir to a seat, which means I can claim it once this is all said and done.”
Jagger looks at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nods.
"Fuck it’s hot when you talk like that," he says. "I’m in the mood for a little war today, what about you guys?”
Jinx grins, that manic, dangerous smile that means he's ready for violence. Jace puts his hand on Elliot's shoulder, and they both nod. We're all in. All committed.
"Harrington will be protected."
"Harrington is old, arrogant, and convinced of his own invulnerability.
That makes him predictable." Jagger's smile is thin.
"I know how men like him think. I know where he'll be vulnerable. And I know exactly how to reach him. Briar won’t give a fuck if we knock off the seat. He doesn’t want anything to do with the Silent.
Maybe once we finish this he will claim his spot, but who the fuck knows. "
I watch him plan. Watch the strategist emerge from the man who held my hand through four days of recovery. This is what he was made for. Not killing—though he's terrifyingly good at that. Planning. Calculating. Finding the weakness in any system and exploiting it.
They made him from scratch. Like a cake. They built every instinct, shaped every part of him, and now he's going to destroy them with the skills they gave him.
"When do we move?" I ask.
"Soon. But not yet." He sets down the documents. "You need to finish healing. And we need to plan this carefully. No more improvisation. No more rushing in."
"No more traps."
"No more traps." His eyes meet mine. "Next time, we're the ones setting them. In the meantime we increase security. If Aurelio found us, the Silent can too."
I lean back against the pillows, exhaustion pulling at me. The pain medication is wearing off, and my side is starting to throb. But underneath the pain, something else is burning.
Purpose.
"Walk me through the plan," I say. "All of it. I want to know what we're doing and when."
Jagger exchanges a look with his brothers, then nods.
"Phase one: neutralize Victor Harrington. He's the last surviving Custodian who authorized Phase Two funding. With him gone, the program loses its primary advocate within the Custodian structure."
"How?"
"He attends a charity gala next month in London. Black tie. Heavy security, but I know the venue. I know the security firm. I know exactly how to get close to him."
"You're going to kill him at a party?"
"I'm going to expose him at a party. The documents Aurelio provided include correspondence with Harrington's personal signature.
Proof of his involvement that can't be denied or buried.
" Jagger's smile is cold. "We release everything to the media at the same moment we confront him publicly.
By the time his security realizes what's happening, the story will be out. No way to contain it. The Silent runs deep, but they don’t like defectors. "
"And if they try to silence us?"
"Let them try. We'll have copies distributed to every major news outlet in the world. Kill us, and the story only gets bigger."
Jace picks up the thread. "Phase two: the facilities. Once Harrington is exposed, the remaining Custodians will panic. They'll likely try to get rid of the evidence. After all, what happens to one, happens to all. Losing power isn’t something the Silent will take lightly, so getting rid of the children would be next.”
"We can't let that happen."
"We won't. Jinx has contacts who can monitor the facilities. The moment we see movement, we go in. All four sites, simultaneously. Extract the children before anyone can hurt them."
"That's a lot of ground to cover."
"We have allies," Jinx says. "People who owe me favors. People who hate the Ministries as much as we do. When the time comes, we won't be alone."
"And then?"
"Then we disappear." Jagger's hand finds mine. "The children go to safe houses. We go underground. Let the chaos sort itself out while we stay out of reach."
"For how long?"
"As long as it takes. Then we take our seats. We will take Harrison, you will take Chen as a replacement for Webb’s open spot and hopefully we can convince Briar to take his. The more of us who want to run the council properly, the better."
It's not a perfect plan. There are a hundred ways it could go wrong. But it's a plan. A path forward. A chance to end this.
"Okay," I say. "Let's do it."
"You need to rest first."
"I'll rest when it's over."
"You'll rest now." Jagger's voice is firm. "You took a bullet and almost bled to death in front of me. You're not going anywhere until that wound is healed."
"But—"
"No arguments." He leans down, kisses my forehead. "The gala is a month away. We have time to prepare. Right now, your only job is to get stronger."
I want to argue. Want to insist that I'm fine, that I can help, that I need to be part of this. But my body is already betraying me, exhaustion dragging at my eyelids, pain pulsing through my side.
"Fine," I mutter. "But the moment I'm healed—"
"The moment you're healed, we start training. I'm not letting you walk into another firefight without knowing how to protect yourself."
"You're going to train me?"
"Jace is. He's the better teacher." Jagger's mouth quirks. "Jinx is too impatient and I’ll just want to fuck you."
"Shocking."
He stands, starts gathering the documents. "Rest. We'll go through everything in detail when you're stronger."
"Jagger, wait."
He pauses, looks back at me.
"Thank you," I say. "For… caring. And for exposing all of this.”
"Thank Aurelio Bonaccorso. He's the one who got us the evidence."
"I'm not thanking him. I'm thanking you." I hold his gaze. "You could have walked away. After Geneva, after Webb, after everything went wrong. You could have decided I wasn't worth the trouble."
"You're worth everything." He says it simply, like it's obvious before releasing an exasperated breath. Like there's no other possible answer. "Now sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."
He settles back into the chair by the window. The others file out, taking the documents with them to study in detail. I close my eyes, letting the darkness take me.
My grandmother was one of them. My mother lived with that secret until it killed her. My entire family tree is rooted in atrocity. And I’m the only one left.
But I'm not them. I get to choose who I become.
And I choose this. I choose him. I choose war and retribution and building a world where darkness comes to light.