Chapter Twenty-Seven
Colter
To offset the Head’s suspicion of my loyalty, I tasked Iniko, Fenrir, and Voodoo with finding the man I believed Lilith and her mother would go to. It was business as usual for them, and they started working on it without a second thought.
It only took two days to uncover their location in the Bleed. But I withheld my team’s findings from the Veil for a few more days, because I wasn’t ready for what had to be done.
I knew the Head, the man who should have been my father, but who had given up that opportunity at my birth, would have placed eyes on me at all times. That was why, after a week of silence, I showed up at Lilith’s door, gun in hand and causing a commotion.
I had to sell the act.
Now, I meet him in his sanctuary below ground. Unlike the last time we met here, the wall lamps are ablaze, giving his office a warm, almost homely feel.
He jumps out of his seat and greets me with a paternal smile.
He’d have gotten word from my tail already, but it doesn’t stop him from giving me the once over.
I see him notice Raymond’s blood splashed across my attire.
It’s enough to satisfy his questions about the outcome, but not so much that it looks overdone.
“So, you’ve seen reason, after all?” His first words to me.
“I did. Will you join me for a walk? I would like to speak with you about something.” This question would usually earn a scornful sneer and sour temper from the Head, but today nothing can get in the way of his good mood.
“It’s a shame the Spirit had such a weak constitution,” the Head says, donning his mask for our walk through the Veil. He lets me lead the way.
I find myself growing agitated at his lack of foresight.
Not for what I’ve schemed, but for the tasteless way he speaks about those he believes I killed.
It reminds me of so many encounters, not too different from this one.
Concerning people I’d killed on his behalf, and the excuses he’d pull out to make me see the reasons for their deaths.
Of course, none of that mattered then. I was loyal, duty-bound, and I did what the Veil requested of me. Now, I wonder how often he misused his position, to have me kill for his gain alone.
“We were on the precipice of greatness, and she threw it all away.” He shakes his head in pretended disappointment. “Still. There will be another. I’m sure of it.”
We make our way along the north corridor to the Grand Hall.
“But what is it you wanted to speak about, Ghost?” he asks, as we reach the door.
I stop outside it, keeping my eyes locked straight ahead at the intricate patterns carved into the wood. “Do you believe, what you’ve done is right for the Veil?”
“What kind of question is that?” Fury bubbles behind his mask.
“Answer me,” I demand. There’s no going back from this, and I’d like nothing more than to know whether he will abide by our laws.
“Everything I do is for the Veil,” he snarls like a rabid animal.
Not, then.
“You’ll have nothing to worry about then,” I conclude and push open the door.
He follows me in, reaching for my shoulder to pull me back, but the sight inside gives him pause to stop. For there, sitting upon their hallowed thrones, wait the Hand and the Heart.
The Head storms into the room, and, not too far from where he put Maxwell on trial, he stops dead in his tracks.
“What is the meaning of this?” he roars, looking in the onlookers’ direction, but the question is directed at me. “I wasn’t made aware of a meeting.”
“Nor were you permitted to know,” I answer.
“But I am here,” the Heart speaks next, unmoving in his seat below the pavilion.
“You summoned us here, Ghost, and so soon after our last gathering. And in the absence of all of our members, as we lack our Spirit beside us. So do tell us, what is the meaning of this?” He speaks slowly, with the same ancient, wise tone he used on Maxwell Henderson, indicating his seriousness.
Standing before them, my heart beats rapidly. The rules of my position are clear, but they haven’t been enforced in over two-hundred years.
This has to be done, I remind myself. I can’t usher in my brighter tomorrow with Lilith, if this dark cloud continues to linger overhead.
We will never have peace while Alistair Crawford remains in control of the Veil. He will chase us to the ends of the earth to get vengeance for my betrayal.
“The Veil entrusts the Ghost to be an objective participant in matters, both within and without these walls,” I begin. “We exist to uphold the sanctity of this brotherhood. I bring the Head before the Council today, as a means to honor my duty, one final time.”
“What are you doing, Colter?” Hearing my name, instead of Ghost, tells me all I need to know.
My suspicions were correct. My investigations have borne fruit.
I am his son only when it suits him. In meetings and unveilings at work, I am the Ghost, who he believes had no business coming here.
But, as he realizes the hangman’s noose is resting around his neck, I am his son.
I am not the Ghost to serve his interests alone.
I am forced to obey the Veil without question.
“The Head has misused his title to poison our society. He has leveraged his position to layer the upper echelon with those who would bend the knee to his ultimate will. The Spirit was an outsider, brought into our world to further her ambitions while succumbing to his. The Hand, was a friend behind his mask, who dared not question the Head’s will, out of fear for him. ”
I dislike the idea of putting Elias in the Veil’s crosshairs, as he’s nothing more than an innocent bystander in this. I understand that, but he’s also the one who opened my eyes to what the Head was doing.
“It’s my duty to put a stop to this, before the time comes, for either the Hand or the Spirit to pay the price of their forced servitude.”
I saw it before, at the wedding, but standing here now, I know I’m right. Elias would have said or done something to stop me, out of misplaced loyalty.
“If you are awaiting a verdict, Ghost, I will not give you one.” The Heart sits motionless. So does the Hand. “As you said, this is the Ghost’s burden to carry. If it must be done, then do it. If not, let us walk from this place and forget what happened here tonight.”
“I don’t seek your approval. I brought you here to bear witness to the Head’s deceit. I want you to understand why his sentence must be carried out. And to keep you from turning this traitor into a martyr.”
I unsheathe my blade.
“You’ve got it wrong. What I did, what I’m doing, it’s all for the Veil.” I can’t see him, but I can hear the disbelief in his voice. “You can’t do this. I am the Head of the Veil. Colter, I am your father.”
“How else am I supposed to find peace, if I don’t do this?” I raise the sharp tip to his chest. “How else can I know Lilith will be safe.”
As long as the Head’s alive, she won’t be.
I make a quick, clean cut, driving my blade through his heart to mitigate his suffering, with the final knowledge that, in the end, everyone either left or betrayed him.
The man collapses at my feet.
My father.
The title lands heavier than the body.
I’m not sad or remorseful about what I’ve done. I don’t see it as striking down the man who dragged me into this God-forsaken existence.
I believe I am cutting a cancer out from a host that can and will continue to thrive in his absence.
The Head topples over and I release my katana and it falls beside him. Where I’m going, I won’t need it. I turn my attention back to those who sit beyond. I don’t speak a word.
I reach for my mask, and as I remove it from my face, I’m taken back to the very first night I put it on. It was heavy then, with the weight of its forebears.
In taking it off, their weight, the Veil’s weight, goes with it.
Neither Elias nor the Heart makes a sound as I drop my mask.
There isn’t a thing they can say to keep me here.
I have someone special waiting for me.