Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Witches were devoted to Hecate, the Grecian goddess of Hell, who presided over magic and enchantments.”
-Fez Inkwright, Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Secret Lives of Plants-
Ace
It’s been three weeks since Thea was taken.
Three weeks since my stomach dropped out when I watched her tracker go silent, and since I learned that Logan had put experimental tech in the tattoo he gave her.
We had watched the blip in downtown Seattle relentlessly as we waited for Law to wake up.
Cedar Edge Memorial had kept him sedated while he healed from the gun shots.
He had taken two liters of blood in a transfusion just to stabilize him.
And when we weren’t with him Axel or one of his men had eyes on him at all times.
We had a serious debt with the MC now.
“Got eyes on the room.” Logan crackles through the radio in my ear.
“In position.” Ghost responds. The VP had volunteered to come in lieu of Law who was still recovering. He had been furious when Lo and I told him he wasn’t coming but when I pointed out his injuries would only be a liability in retrieving her he begrudgingly agreed.
I take a deep breath, my back pressed into the shadows of the hallway.
Blood splatters my mask and face as it drips from the knife I have clutched in my hand.
The security may have been innocent, they may have never known who they worked for and what he stole but in my eyes there would be no survivors tonight. The Grim Reaper would take them all.
Logan had been chosen to stay on the roof, his sniper skills better placed there. He hadn’t been happy but understood. Ghost I put on the perimeter, his special skill set ideal for picking off any of the runaways.
“He’s got company.” Logan says calmly despite it not being part of our plan.
“You need help?” This from Ghost.
“No. We stick to the plan. Lo has me covered from above.” My movements are sure and confident, slinking closer and closer to the target.
I’m slow and methodical as I remove each threat when I come upon them and while I know this is how it needs to happen, I hate how long it’s taking to get to the penthouse.
The whole time we had been planning anxiety had been a constant companion, worried that at any moment the single would drop or move and it would all go to shit.
“I see the flower.” Logan’s voice cracks into the radio. “Oh fuck… Ace…. fuck!”
I’m moving before he finishes the sentence, ripping my gun free and forgoing the stealth I had been using.
Cold fear trickles down my neck as I think about whatever Logan is witnessing.
Every horrible thing Royce could do to her plays out through my mind.
I’m so preoccupied that I don’t register the laugh of pride bursting through the radio.
My gun shoots the lock on the penthouse, boot kicking in the door, and I’m rushing in without a thought.
I clear the living room, the stairway and the kitchen before I come to a full stop in the dining room.
Standing in the corner in a white dress, covered in blood, is an angel of death.
She doesn’t seem to register my presence, her eyes glued to the dead man at the head of the table.
His throat is cut in a hacking fashion, the slit rough and anything but clean.
My eyes travel to the other men around the table, some clinging to life, but just barely, and others slumped over in their chairs.
“Did you know in Southern India there is a legend around the Pala Tree?” Thea’s voice almost startles me, jerking my attention back to her.
“It’s said the tree is haunted at night by a yakshi, a female vampire dressed in white.
She is a vengeful spirit who waits under the tree for men and when they are near enough she transforms and devours them.
” Her eyes stay glued to the man in front of her.
Her body utterly still, as though she truly is a spirit.
“Cricket?” I take a step towards her, hesitantly.
She says nothing, just keeps staring. I keep my body calm, steps sure as I make my way over to the woman I love.
When I’m standing in front of her I notice the steak knife she still has clutched in her hand.
The brutal slash over Royce’s throat making sense now.
“Baby?” I duck down so my face is in her line of sight and I watch as she blinks rapidly, as though suddenly being thrust into this reality.
The knife releases from her grip as her body starts to slump forward.
I catch her in my arms, dragging her into my body and shielding her from the rest of the room. “I got you baby.”
Thea shudders. “I killed them, poisoned them all.” She whispers. “But I needed to know Royce was gone, needed to feel it. So I used the steak knife, just in case. It’s better to be safe than sorry, you know?”
I stroke my hand down her back over and over again imagining how hard that would have been, cutting through his skin with a dull knife. “You did so well, Cricket. We are so proud of you.” She shudders again and I take that as my cue to get her the fuck out of here.
“He told me you were all dead.”
“We are all fine.” I try to assure her. “Everyone is safe. We are okay, baby.”
She seems to let out a shuddering sigh of relief before continuing.
“I thought to myself, if you three are in the afterlife he should join you. So you could make him suffer. After all you can’t kill Death itself, right?
” She turns and finally locks eyes with me, her hand coming up to the mask I’m still wearing.
“Maybe I need to make your new nickname Persephone. If I’m supposedly Death.” I respond with humor shining through the words.
She lets out a small laugh, the sound music to my ears as I watch life flood back into her eyes. “Alright Hades, take me home to Thanatos and Charon. ”
Two Weeks Later
Thea
“I should be more haunted by the deaths I caused but all I feel is peace.” I say to the horse in front of me. “Does that make me a bad person?”
Katana snorts, her head shaking as though her response is a resounding no. I smile, stroking her beautiful face.
“For once Katana and I agree on something." Law’s deep voice comes from behind and my body seems to relax, tension flooding from me that I didn’t realize I was holding.
It’s been two weeks since that night in the penthouse and in those two weeks the news has reported on the penthouse catching fire, all occupants lost to the flames.
One story and nothing since. For all of Royce’s power even he couldn’t hold sway over death.
Law doesn’t move to come into the stable with me and Katana, the horse still hates him.
“You’ve been avoiding me.” I say into the silence.
The relief I had felt in knowing he was alive was short lived.
He’s stayed as far from me as he can get since Logan and Ace brought me back.
Leaving before I’m awake to god knows where considering he’s still on medical leave and returning after Logan and Ace have exhausted me.
Law lets out a long sigh, not responding.
I take my time, brushing her down, refusing to rush.
We had gone for a long and hard ride, she deserves the pampering.
Off to the side Daylily stands, head bobbing, as she waits her turn.
Our rides are more leisurely, never trotting or running, but none the less they feel just as important.
Only when I’m completely finished with Katana do I turn and face him.
My heart cracks when I look at him, the deep circles under his eyes, the way his beard and hair are unkempt.
I can just make out, under his thick jacket, the sling his arm is still in.
His own gaze stays trained to the ground, even when my boots land me directly in front of his body leaning against the hay bails, he still looks at the ground. “Law?”
“I didn’t know if you’d want me around.”
The words shock me, my body reeling back as though he physically hit me. “What are you talking about?”
He winces, running his hand through his hair before he finally looks at me.
His eyes glittering with too many emotions to categorize.
“I didn’t do anything to keep you safe. Not a damn thing.
” More confusion pulses through me, his words not making sense.
“As much as I hated Ace for doing it, at least he did the tracker. Fuck even Logan has his weird spy shit that he did! I was here, I had you in my sights and I let him take you.” The frustration mounts in his body and he pushes away from the hay and my body.
“Law that’s not true, you’ve always kept me safe. You got shot for god's sake! I thought you were dead because you took literal bullets trying to get to me!” My voice raises in something akin to frustration.
He shakes his head with a defeated laugh.
“I was stupid, running up like I did. I just panicked when I saw him dragging you to that helicopter.” Memories swirl back of the sound of the gun going off, of Law’s shocked face, of the blood pouring from him as he hit the ground.
“I couldn’t think straight. I’m a cop, Thea, I should have known better and because of my fuck up you were in his hands for weeks! ”
The guilt Law feels is crushing, the feeling taking up residence in my bones even as I watch him wrestle with it all.
“You tried to get to me, you risked your life! You almost died!” I counter, pushing towards him.
I lock my hand around his good one, forcing his body to stop moving.
My other hand drifts to his chest, the bullet wounds still healing.
Logan had told me exactly how touch and go it had been, only after I badgered him into it.
“I should have died.” His words have me stumbling backward.