Chapter 8 #3
Alistair grabbed the cards and shuffled them as he looked at me. “There are a shit ton of other rules and tricks, but let’s just get the basics down so Tobias doesn’t cry all night.”
He shuffled once more and handed out cards. “Just remember, Dianna. The ace is what matters, and if you can put an ace with a king?” He whistled under his breath. “Unstoppable.”
“If he makes us wait any longer, I’m going to be pissed,” another man grumbled, pulling me from my thoughts.
“You’re already pissed.”
“Everything is being watched. We’re lucky we can move as much as we can.”
A few grumbled their agreement, cursing about the curfew.
“I’ve sat and supplied these damn materials for weeks now, and he still hasn’t paid yet,” Edgar snapped.
Each man threw a card down. Weeks? My brows furrowed as I tried to sort through what Malone knew, but I’d eaten too much.
All the memories were either blurry or weren’t there at all, but it still didn’t make sense.
Kaden always paid. Usually, he paid in blood if you messed up, but he didn’t lie about business.
That, amongst other reasons, was why he had such a heavy following.
Kaden supplied them with whatever they needed, and they followed like whipped dogs.
I inhaled deeply, and that’s when I smelled it.
The scent emanating from the man on the other side of the table was brief but unmistakable.
I glanced at him. He was maybe just out of his twenties, but the fucking overpriced leather and thick gold chain around his neck with the crisscrossed godsdamn symbol screamed Santiago and his fucking coven.
My jaw clenched. That’s the boss they were speaking of, not Kaden.
I tossed out a card, losing on purpose. I needed more information.
“So, we’re waiting on Santiago? Typical.” I didn’t hide my snark. I didn’t care to.
Edgar snorted, and someone else laughed. “Yeah, well, he has the ship we need, and I am not having my men or anyone else carry that much fucking iron.”
Iron. Perfect.
“Malone. Did you bring the transcripts with you? You seem a little empty-handed.” Edgar pointed his cigar at me. Every movement of that damn cigar sent the beast inside me whipping and lashing against my skin, begging to get out. I wanted to rip it out of his hand and shove it in his eye.
“I’m not bringing anything in here right now. Don’t trust you all.” I shrugged and folded my cards once more.
Silence fell before the room erupted in laughter.
“That’s fair. Kaden’s fire-wielding bitch has been fucking up a lot of our routes and efforts.”
The guy across from me hissed, “Don’t speak her name.”
The man next to him laughed. “Why? Are you afraid of summoning her? Don’t be such a superstitious coward.”
“Coward? Or smart? Look what’s left of the Vanderkais and Camilla’s coven. They are nothing more than ashes and ruin. They say you hear a clap of thunder before she arrives, but it’s not thunder. It is its wings. Winged death. Then all that’s left is fire, fire hotter than the sun—”
“Blow me, Emmett,” the man across from him snapped. “Stop listening to everything someone whispers to you.”
The man next to me scoffed. “Please, she got what she deserved.” He leaned back, folding his arms. “I don’t know what she expected after betraying Kaden, killing Alistair, teaming up with the World Ender, and then fucking him.
It’s her own damn fault. She is the reason the world is fucking shut down, and we have to meet in rat-infested dive bars. ”
Silence fell once more, and I stared at the cards in my hands.
“You know,” the man closest to Edgar scratched his uneven beard, “I wonder if they were screwing while Kaden murdered her sister.”
A chorus of laughter and crude jokes followed, but I heard nothing, my blood boiling.
The pounding crescendo filled my ears like drums on a battlefield.
Darkness whipped in every corner of the room as an ache, deep and primal, grew in my belly.
He had voiced the one thought that plagued me, the one thing that haunted me more than anything.
The truth.
It’s her own damn fault.
A lock on a door in a house rattled.
“For the record,” my voice cut through their laughter as I gazed at the cards in my hand, “I never fucked the World Ender, and I’ve fingered myself more times than he ever did.”
The room fell silent, and every eye turned to me.
By the way the color drained from their faces and their heartbeats stuttered, I knew the piercing red glow of my eyes shone beneath Malone’s disguise.
I felt the Ig’Morruthen in me stir, all fangs, teeth, and impenetrable scaled armor. Unbreakable, primal, and pissed.
I didn’t see anything, my vision blurring with bloodlust. They laughed over her death as if she deserved it when she was the kindest, most loving person in the world, and now she was gone because of me.
I gripped the edge of the table and pushed so hard it severed the man sitting across from me when it collided with the wall.
The remaining men jumped to their feet, reaching into their waistbands for weapons.
I turned to the low-life next to me and ripped his head off his shoulders, his body slumping forward, painting everyone nearby in red.
Donte grabbed the gun from the far corner, and I heard several shots echo in the room.
I didn’t feel any pain, only that roaring, vengeful wrath pumping through my blood.
First, I needed to secure the leader. I would worry about the others in a second.
Edgar’s eyes fixed on me, and I could see the moment he figured it out.
He knew why I was here. I stalked forward, and he took a few steps back.
I kicked out, slamming the side of my foot against his knee. It shattered, and he fell into a heap, his mouth opened on a silent scream. “Stay here. We need to talk.”
Santiago’s man with the gold chain tried to run, but I ripped the leg off the overturned table and threw it so hard it went through his chest. His knees hit the floor hard as he dropped.
The pop, pop, pop sound behind me told me Donte was still emptying his gun into me. When I spun, I saw the flash of his next round.
“Where’s Webster, you bitch?”
I looked down at my suit and stuck a finger into a hole in my shirt, feeling my skin knitting back together. I raised my hand, licking the blood from my fingers as Donte watched, his eyes widening.
“Webster is in pieces. Do you want to know what he tasted like?” My form melted, the black smoke drifting away as the cloak of Webster disappeared, leaving only me.
“ Devil, ” he whispered, and to him, maybe I did look like the demons from his legends. I wore a red pantsuit with a matching jacket and heels, my hands covered in my own blood.
“Actually, it’s Dianna.” I pushed him against the wall, his gun clattering to the floor.
I reared my head back before I sank my fangs deep.
His body shook as he tried and failed to fight me off.
His screams turned to whimpers, then to silence as I drank deep.
The ever-present hunger roared, demanding more, never sated, never full, never… complete.
Memories flashed quickly through my brain, moving at a blurring speed. I pulled away when I heard movement behind me. I turned, allowing Donte’s body to slide to the floor with a thud.
Edgar’s head whipped toward me, his face scrunching in pain as he tried and failed to stand. He held onto his leg, scooting back and away from me.
“You know, I have been feeding more than I ever have, thanks to my dead sister. You know, the one you all love to taunt,” I said, walking toward him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “It’s unlocked this whole new world of power in me. It is pretty fun. Want to see a trick I learned?”
I raised my hand, and the growing darkness in the room crawled toward me. It whipped and curled as if it understood every thought and feeling I had.
“I don’t think it’s mine. I think it’s Kaden’s, but he made me and created this, so here we are.” The darkness whipped up, grabbing the hanging lightbulb in the center of the room. It burst, leaving the room in pitch blackness.
I drew closer, and he whimpered in the darkness, hearing my heels against the cement floor.
He scanned the room for me, but his mortal eyes failed him.
As I passed, I leaned down and broke another leg off the table, fear twisting his face as he tried to scoot further away.
I stepped over two dead men, victims of Donte’s terrible aim with the gun, and stopped in front of Edgar.
“Kind of cool, right?” I whispered, leaning down and grabbing him by the back of his shirt.
He yelled, startled, as I lifted him with one hand. I tossed him toward the wall and drove the table leg through his center, a scream and then blood exploding from his mouth. He scrabbled at the wood.
“Don’t worry. I missed the vital organs.
Gabby taught me all about mortal anatomy.
I would help her study for tests over ice cream and notecards when I was home.
Those moments were few and far between, but I cherished every one.
” I twisted my wrist on the last word, causing him to cry out in pain.
“I know if I take this out, you’ll bleed to death in minutes. ”
He gritted his teeth harder. “You know, they often wondered what would happen to you if you finally snapped that leash. I guess now we know.”
I twisted the broken table leg a little harder. “Where’s Kaden?”
“I don’t know,” he grunted, trying to get a hold on the wood holding him to the wall.
Pity. I actually believed him.
“Fine.” I lifted a single shoulder. “Santiago. Tell me where to find that fucking weasel.”
He panted for air, his face ashen. “Santiago doesn’t tell us anything other than when to make the drop and what dock he will be at, that’s all. He’s too busy hiding from you .”
“Good, he’s being smart for once.” I didn’t twist this time. “What time is his next drop?”
“I don’t know. He texts us the day of. That’s it, I swear.”
I paused to search through his pockets. I threw a wallet onto the floor.
It hit with a thud, my hands roaming over him.
I dug deeper, fishing out his cell phone.
The screen lit up as I looked at it, revealing a picture of Edgar and a woman.
Laugh lines crinkled around her eyes, matching his, and against my better judgment, I paused.
“Who is this?” I turned the phone to him, the screen illuminating his features. Fear, plain and simple, flared in his eyes.
“My wife.”
“Ah. So, you do have someone you love? Great. Tell me where Santiago is, or I’ll find her. She can join Ethan’s wife.”
He snickered at my threat. “You’re too late. Death took her from me years ago. She died in a hospital bed while I was trying to get the money for her cancer treatments.”
Edgar bared his teeth in a blood-red smile at whatever he saw on my face. He nodded, a snort escaping his lips. “Surprised? You shouldn’t be. You, above all, should know that even monsters love something.”
I looked into his eyes, and we shared a moment of brief understanding before I changed the subject. “What’s the code?”
He choked out the numbers, and I stepped back. I let him hang there as I unlocked the phone. The screen lit up, several boxes glaring back at me, containing a few unknown numbers and a new message about the docks.
“Looks like he did give a drop date.”
I turned, taking the phone with me as I headed for the door. I heard Edgar groan behind me, still pinned to the wall.
He laughed, blood gurgling in his throat. “You know, your reactions make sense now.”
I don’t know why I indulged him, but I stopped, my foot resting at the door’s entrance. “What?”
“I lost someone. We all have. Grief is mourning, but you’re not grieving. You skipped straight to anger and revenge, and it’s because you feel guilty.”
Guilty.
The word rang in my head as it charged toward a door wrapped in chains.
I felt my fangs extend, the tips pressing against my lips.
“You hesitated, girl. I saw it during the card game, even through your disguise, and I saw it when you looked at my phone. I know that look. All monsters love something.” He let out a wet laugh.
“You and the World Ender. That’s what hurts the most, isn’t it?
You fell in love with him while Kaden took your sister.
I’ve been there. You guys might not have been fucking when he took her, but you weren’t there when she needed you. You weren’t there because you—”
A sound left my lips, more animal than mortal. I moved so quickly that he only registered it once he was on the floor, clutching his midsection with blood pooling around him.
“You saw nothing,” I hissed, tossing the wooden leg across the room. “Now, say hi to your dead wife.”
His weak laugh turned to a wet groan. I turned and left that damned place.