Chapter 13
Declan
Six years ago
Seoul, South Korea
“Kennedy. Sullivan.” The voice crackles over the earpiece in my right ear. “This is surveillance only. Disengage,” the voice commands sharply.
I watch Hayden’s shoulders stiffen and his guns lower to his sides. “Don’t do it, Hayden.” My voice is barely a whisper in the shadows of our hiding spot.
“They need to die,” he snaps back and turns to face me. His eyes are wild. He runs his fingers through his hair twice before shaking out his hands and returning to his forward-facing stance. “They can’t leave this city.”
“I know, but we need to follow orders. They will literally blacklist all of us for this.” I pull the communication piece out of my ear and tuck it into the inside pocket of my bulletproof vest. “We have to do this by the book.”
“I’m so fucking tired of working within the rules. This isn’t how I wanted to play this game!” Hayden runs his hands through his hair again. He’s losing his grip. I can see it. This is too personal for him. “I feel like a collared dog! I can’t…” His entire body stills. “I can’t do this anymore,” he whispers.
“I know,” I say again and grip his shoulder tightly. “I know. Just give me some time.”
Hayden turns to face me again and that’s when I see it. He’s gone. His mind. His patience. His dark eyes are narrowed at me, and his gun is raised directly in front of me. “They. Have. To. Die.”
I raise my hands, palms out. “Let me call Silas. We cannot just go in there guns blazing.” Hayden twitches his shoulder but doesn’t lower the gun. “Let me make a call,” I say again, my voice low and even.
“Fine.” He drops his arm and re-holsters his guns.
I pull out my cell and call Silas. The line clicks on but Silas doesn’t speak. He knows the drill. “We’ve found them, but the stay call has been made. No one is to move on them. We’ve tracked them to a warehouse near the docks.”
“Hayden?” His voice is soft.
“Too much. It’s too much. We have to pull the other job instead.” I watch as Hayden crouches and drops his head into his hands. “It’s going to be ugly.”
“I’ll get it set up,” Silas responds after a moment of silence. “Meet me back at the hotel in an hour.”
“Copy,” I mutter and hang up the phone. “Come on.” I grip Hayden’s bicep and pull him to his feet. “Time to disappear.” The earpieces fall to the ground and crunch under the heels of our boots.
*****
Silas folds his arms across his chest as Hayden and I take in the supplies spread out across the bed in the hotel room. “Don’t give me that look. It was short notice!”
Hayden scoffs and picks up the black tie and suit jacket. “What are we supposed to do in monkey suits?”
“The same thing you do in tactical gear,” I snap and start changing. “Did you get anything to cover our identities?” Silas nods to a box sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. “You have got to be kidding me?” I pick up the white masks one at a time and throw him a glare.
“Again. Last minute,” he snaps quietly and finishes tying his tie. He looks over at Hayden and sighs loudly. “This is going to need to be fast and precise.”
“That’s my specialty,” Hayden retorts with a sly grin. I watch the blush creep up my brother’s neck and hide a smile behind my fist. Hayden doesn’t seem to notice as he laces up his shoes. “Are you coming then?” he asks Silas as he finally looks at him, taking in his attire.
“Can’t very well let you get killed, now can I?”
I snort out a laugh. “You literally vomit at the sight of blood.”
“I have to be inside to disable the systems,” he snaps and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “I’m just as much a part of this team as you two. I just don’t punch my way through life.”
“No,” Hayden says with a chuckle and drapes an arm across his shoulders. “You just punch through firewalls and spyware.”
I take in both men with a serious expression. Black suits, black dress shirts, black ties. Sharp attire for such a brutal job. “Let’s get this over with. I want to go home.” I grab the mask with the Diamond over the right eye and toss the other two over to the boys.
“Okay. So… the security is top-notch, obviously. There are three ways inside above ground and two below ground. The three top sides are heavily guarded. We’ll be able to get in here.” Silas spreads a blueprint out on top of the mattress and points at the entrances. “But you’re not going to like it.”
“Why not?” Hayden asks and picks at his thumbnail with the tip of a blade. Where the fuck did that come from?
Silas presses his lips together and traces his finger across the map again. “Drainage tunnel. It will bring us into the inner courtyard. From there we should be able to get inside the actual building easier.”
“The fucking sewer. You’re taking us through the sewers,” I snap and fight the urge to slap the back of his head.
He nods once without looking up. “It’s the only area not stationed with guards. They also can’t put an alarm down there because the signal won’t reach through the concrete.”
“Fine. Whatever. Let’s go. We’re wasting time.” Hayden is already out the door before he finishes the sentence.
Silas grabs my arm to stop me. “Is he okay?” I level him with a look that he used to shrink away from, but not anymore. He straightens his spine and glares back at me. “Declan?”
“What do you think, man? These people…” I stop short and close my eyes, trying to fight back the images of Hayden’s face when the call came through. “These people killed his family,” I say slowly. “And in turn, they killed a part of him too.”
Silas nods and folds the blueprints up. “I know he’ll never be the same but promise me you’ll keep him safe.”
“I’ll do my best. I just don’t think I’ll be able to keep him safe from himself,” I whisper to myself. I follow the boys down the stairs and out into the busy streets of South Korea.
*****
The three of us stand dripping in the courtyard outside the warehouse. “That,” I say while breathing out of my mouth. “We’re never doing that again.”
Silas looks completely traumatized, and Hayden looks even angrier than before we crawled through the drainage pipe. “I smell like three-week-old rotten flesh,” Hayden mutters and pulls a clump of something off his shoulder. Silas turns his head and gags violently.
Shouts erupt from within, and we dive for cover. Hayden pulls out two guns and I follow with one of my own. Silas shrugs out of his jacket and swaps his shirt for a bulletproof vest. “Get me inside that left room,” he orders.
Hayden takes a deep breath, and I watch the change wash over his features. Then he rolls to the right and fires off shot after shot. The sound of bullets pinging against metal and concrete fills the air. “Go,” he shouts as he pulls out two more magazines and reloads.
Silas doesn’t hesitate and takes off, sprinting through the flying debris and sliding through the open door. He waves a hand out the doorway to signal his safety and then disappears to work. I straighten and fire off shots to cover Hayden’s reload.
We work that rhythm for what seems like an eternity until a loud hiss of air followed by several alarms cuts through the gunfire. Silas holds up three fingers from his hiding spot and I watch with anticipation as he slowly ticks his fingers down. When he pulls his hand down, the doors to the warehouse slide open with a loud, metallic shriek. “We’re in!” I call over to Hayden as he finishes his reload.
He nods twice and twists his head, cracking his neck. “I’ll cover.” Without another word, he stands to his full height, gun in each hand, and starts walking and firing. Bullets fly through the air. I crouch and sprint into the warehouse without a backward glance and pull out my other gun so that I, too, am double-fisting.
I turn in time to see Hayden walking backward towards me, swapping magazines and then continuing to rain bullets down. My eyes dart to Silas as he kicks open the door to the office he is hiding in and then back to where Hayden is aiming. “Oh fuck! Get down!” I shout and nearly tackle Silas to the ground.
The explosion shakes the ground, glass shards rain down on our heads. Smoke and flames erupt through the courtyard, engulfing everything. Hayden manages to dive to the side, his body hitting the concrete behind a steel wall as the fire roars to life.
Silas rolls out from under me and coughs. “What the fuck was that?” he practically shouts as he pulls me to my feet. My ears are ringing, and I see two of my brother, making him twice as annoying.
Hayden pulls himself to his feet with a wheezing cough. “Rogue bullet,” he mutters and reloads. I want to ask him where he is keeping all those clips, but I am interrupted by more shouting and the sound of footsteps echoing through the warehouse. “It’s about to get real hot in here, boys!” he calls and shrugs out of his jacket.
I pull my jacket off, toss it to the side, and slide the mask onto my face. I watch as they do the same. Silas in a black spade mask and Hayden in a red heart mask. “Let’s finish this.”
We manage to make it through two storage rooms before we are surrounded by Russians. Silas jerks his head back and forth, looking for an exit. I can feel his panic rising. Hayden squares his shoulders and stares straight ahead. “Get him out of here, Kennedy,” he whispers to me. “Now.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Silas insists and grabs his wrist, pulling hard. Hayden doesn’t move. He’s a stone statue, unmoving, unyielding.
I know this is his battle to fight. This is the way his soul gets to be at peace. It fucking sucks dick, but I know he won’t back down. I nod once, my chest tight and eyes stinging. “I’m so fucking sorry, Hayden,” I whisper and squeeze his shoulder.
Silas sucks in a sharp breath and fights against me as I pull him back the way we came from. “No!” he shouts and beats his fist against my back, fighting my every step. “No!”
“He has to,” I say in a low, steady voice. “It’s his closure. His monster is too far gone. There’s no changing him now. That’s not the same Hayden.”
“I don’t care which Hayden it is,” Silas hisses through clenched teeth and struggles against my hold. He flinches as the sound of bullets flying echoes through the warehouse. Gunfire continues until we make it through the front entrance. Silas pulls his mask off and collapses to his knees. He stares at the burning warehouse, silent tears leaving streaks through the dirt and debris on his face.
We stare at the warehouse in somber silence, watching the flames engulf the walls. More glass shatters. The metal beams groan and protest under the immense heat and pressure. The gunfire ceases and Silas looks up at me with heartbreak.
I press my lips into a hard line and inhale sharply, trying to keep my expression from mirroring his. In the silence we continue to stare at the flames lapping along the concrete, not wanting to breathe or exist in a world without Hayden. I close my eyes and feel tears drip down my cheeks. “Fuck,” I breathe out.
“Declan,” Silas says in awe. If the little prick decides now is the time to make fun of me for showing emotion, I very well might lose my actual brother today too. I open my eyes to glare at him but he’s not looking at me. I follow his stare and see a figure emerging through the flames. Despite all odds, Hayden limps out of the fire with a knife in one hand and the other clutching his side tightly.
He’s dripping with blood. His white mask is flecked with crimson. He straightens when he sees us standing in front of him, and I know that if he wasn’t wearing that mask, I’d be able to see him grinning from ear to ear. He picks up his pace, stalking forward with purpose now.
I watch as he draws closer, taking in the inferno blazing to life behind him and the blood trickling from the blade in his hand and covering his body, and I can’t help but think that he looks slightly ethereal. Almost demonic. Like death personified.
Like the god of death himself.
Hades.