40. The Villain
THE VILLAIN
An hour later, I was kicking in Whisper’s door. I got back to the cottage to find it empty. Well, not empty. There were twelve dead guys scattered throughout the basement and main floor, plus two on the driveway.
But Violet was gone.
The only person that knew where we were was sitting at the kitchen table in his apartment having lunch with Hemlock. I sent Hem into the wall with an ice cocoon and went right for Whisper.
“Where is she!” I screamed and slammed my fist into his face. He tumbled out of his chair and I didn’t give him a second to recover before I hit him again. “Where the fuck is she!”
“Av? What the fuck? You’re dead.”
Hemlock was talking, but I barely registered his words. I picked up Whisper and slammed him into the nearest wall.
“Where is my fucking wife!”
His eyes went wide. “What? What happened to Violet?”
“Violet? Wife? What the fuck is happening?”
Hemlock was trying to break free of his cocoon, but I didn’t give a shit.
“Shut up,” I snapped at him before turning back to Whisper. “You’re the only person who knew where we were. How much did they pay you? Huh? Was it worth it? She fucking trusted you! Where is she?”
I slammed him into the wall again, so hard it knocked off a few the picture frames hanging in the living room.
“I didn’t tell anyone! I swear to god Av, I’d never sell her out.”
“Why should I believe you? You’re the only person who could have told them where we were.”
“Why would I help you with the list? The labs? Why didn’t I grab her a couple months ago when it was just the two of us? Why would I ask Weave to look into the text messages and tell you the second he answered?”
“So I’d let my guard down. So she would trust you.”
“I didn’t tell anyone. I swear to fucking god, Av, I would never hurt V. But I will help you get her back. Let me help you get her back.”
I loosened my grip on his shirt and looked to Hemlock. “Has he been with you all day?”
“Yes. What the fuck is going on?”
“He hasn’t been out of your sight? Made any weird calls?”
“Like forty-five seconds all day to use the bathroom. Avalanche, what the fuck is going on? What happened to Violet? How are you alive? Since when is she your wife? How long have you known he’s not dead?” His last question was for Whisper.
“Come on, Av, fill us in here.”
“They took her.”
“The Culling? Or the other ones?”
“Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on!”
I sighed, letting go of Whisper and stepping back. “We have a lot to get through.” I released Hemlock from the cocoon. “Make yourself comfortable.”
An hour later, they were both fully up to speed. Hemlock did in fact blow a gasket when he found out about my relationship with V. He was also incredibly dramatic about Whisper’s “betrayal.” According to him, best friends don’t have secrets blah, blah, blah.
“So you think the benefactor you’ve been working with is the same one after V?” Hemlock asked.
“Yes.”
I was pissed off and snippy. We were wasting time here while my wife was at the mercy of some psycho. God only knew what the benefactor wanted from her.
“And your shadows haven’t been able to track her down?” Whisper asked; I shook my head.
I’d sent out my shadows to scour the area for any sign of Violet but they came back empty. It didn’t make any fucking sense. How could they hide from my shadows? Nothing had ever been able to hide from them.
“Have you played back the scene yet?”
I took a shattered breath, shaking my head again.
“It would really help us if we knew what happened,” Hem said.
I nodded, releasing the hold I had on my shadows. They began to coil but before I gave Bridget the order to replay I noticed I only had six. I looked between Landon and Carson.
“Where’s Niko?”
He refused to leave Violet, Landon said.
“What do you mean?”
When you lost access to us, we were still there but stuck like when you keep us from coiling. Niko broke off to stay with her while the rest of us went with you, Evie clarified.
“What are they saying?”
I looked over to Hemlock and Whisper, both of whom looked lost.
“You can’t hear them?”
They shook their heads.
I’d never used my shadows in front of anyone before, until Violet.
But every time I talked to them, she’d always heard their reply.
The first time on the balcony of the cottage I hadn’t even thought twice when she’d groggily said they can talk?
Or anytime she sat and listened to the reports Landon and Carson brought back with them.
She had a special connection with them from the get-go. She could tell them apart, their jobs apart, and gave them names. She knew the voices were masculine or feminine and named them accordingly. She could hear them.
But the two other supervillains sitting across from me couldn’t.
I relayed what Evie and Landon told me.
“So he’s with her now? Why hasn’t he come back with her location?”
We don’t know, Lily replied. I repeated her answer.
I ran my hands over my face. I didn’t know anything about my shadows or how they worked, I didn’t think I’d need to.
V said I took them for granted and I fucking did.
Even after she said that, I didn’t take any time to learn more.
Now my wife was in the hands of a fucking madman, and I couldn’t get her back because I didn’t know how my fucking powers worked.
I couldn’t protect her.
I didn’t deserve to call myself her husband.
“Play it, please.”
I didn’t recognize the broken sound of my voice.
Bridget and Lily broke off and began playing out the scene. They started with Violet sneaking down to the basement. She was trying to run out the same way I did, trying to make it to the woods so she could meet me. She made it to the bottom of the stairs before she ran into someone.
The guy was stunned for half a second before he pointed his gun at her. It was too late for him, she’d already stolen his knife from the holster on his belt and lodged it in his neck a second later.
She was running for the sliding glass door but a hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her back. She was only off balance for a few seconds, but it was enough for the person holding her to radio in ‘got her, basement’ before Violet stabbed his exposed armpit then jammed the knife in his neck too.
Two others were on her before she could make her escape. They dragged her upstairs and through the living room where a dozen others were waiting. She was still fighting.
She managed to slip the grip of the two holding her and steal a gun. She dropped ten more before they hit her with some kind of sedative. The two new ones taking her out to one of the SUVs were overconfident and also met their end before they hit her with another dose.
I saw the exact moment she reached for me and told me to run. The way she used the last of her strength to look at the woods, one tear escaping before she passed out.
She’d never killed anyone before. But she took out fourteen people with no hesitation to try to get to me. Because I wasn’t there. Because I didn’t protect her. I never wanted her to have to kill. I never wanted her soul to be stained like mine was.
But I wasn’t fucking there.
I fucking left her.
I watched V collapse onto the gravel. No one approached right away, waiting to make sure she actually passed out. One stepped forward but a voice stopped him in his tracks. Don’t touch her.
I stared at the shadow figure that stepped forward.
“Is that—”
“Yes. It is.”
I was sitting in the back corner of Crossroads with my head in my hands, trying desperately to get my shit together, when the front door opened.
Eva stomped her boots on the mat before shaking off her knee-length winter jacket.
She started to move toward the bar but stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed me.
“Matt?” Her voice broke. “Is that really you?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice, and met her gaze. She was crying, silent tears streaming down her face as she took a slow step forward then another and another. She stopped when she got a good look at me.
I imagine I looked a mess. I spent twenty minutes screaming and trashing my apartment after I left Whisper and Hemlock. I told them I needed to see Eva, they hit the streets to track down the benefactor. All this time and he was right under my fucking nose.
“What… Matts, what the hell is going on?”
“Who pushed for me to go after the judge?”
“I told you, Chang said he got ahold of Plowers’ schedule.”
“How?”
“I… I don’t know. I didn’t think to ask…”
“Why did you push me so hard?”
She dropped my gaze, eyes locked on her hands. She was picking at the skin on her hand like she always did when she was in distress. Usually, I would have helped her, but I couldn’t make myself stand up.
“You were miserable, so was V. I couldn’t stand knowing it was partly my fault.
I told you to stay away and I was wrong.
I was so wrong. I wanted to help get you through the list, especially after she called me about Scarlett.
I’ll never forget her sob, I’ll never forget the look on your face when you heard it.
Or the way you sprinted out of here to get to her.
“I thought staying away was the only option but… Matt, I love you. You’re my brother and I hated seeing you like that. I was just trying to—” her voice cracked when she met my eye again, “I never should have let you go in alone.”
“Eva, swear on Mom’s life that you didn’t know it was a set up.”
“I swear. Matt, what is going on? Does Violet know you’re— Is that… Is that a wedding ring?” She was staring at my left hand.
“Yes, she knows. And yes, it is.”
Eva burst into sobs. She looked broken, but also relieved as she cleared the bar and threw her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I missed you.”
I hugged her back. “I’m not okay. Eva, they took her and I don’t know if I can get her back.”
She pulled back. “Tell me everything.”
And I did.
Whisper and Hemlock joined us at Crossroads two hours later. There was a closed until further notice sign in the window here and the Blacksmith’s shop. But we had a debate on our hands. Should we let the other villains know V was missing? Or did we keep the circle tight?
“We have no idea who to trust right now. If we bring in everyone, it will definitely alert the benefactor,” Hemlock argued.
“But if an alarm isn’t raised, then he might be on alert anyway. It’s pretty common knowledge that we do these check-ins. The whole point was to deter people from going after her in the first place. If we keep it to the four of us, it’ll be more suspicious,” Eva pointed out.
“Plus, it might be easier for us to sneak under the radar in our search. Everyone loves Violet. They’ll tear the city apart looking for her. The police will be too busy with that to pay attention to what we’re doing,” Whisper added.
They all looked to me. Like I knew best, like I was in charge.
“Her bedtime check-in is in three hours. If I’m not able to get in touch with her by then, we’ll raise the alarm.”
“What?” Hemlock stared at me. “She doesn’t exactly have a phone. How the hell are you getting in touch?”
I looked at Whisper, I was too exhausted to explain and I figured he would probably do a better job anyway. He did.
“I fucking knew they talked to each other,” Hemlock mumbled under his breath.
“Who?” Eva asked.
“A friend from school and her super intense, slightly terrifying husband. It’s not important, just satisfying to know I was right.” He looked at me. “You can’t reach her now?”
I shook my head. “The bridge is completely shrouded in black mist.”
“You don’t think…”
“She’s not fucking dead,” I snapped.
“Av, I know you don’t want to think—”
I picked up Hemlock by the throat and slammed him into the wall. “She’s still alive and if you open your mouth to suggest otherwise one more fucking time I’ll make you wish you were never born. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” he bit out.
I released my hold on him and stepped back. “I may not be able to talk to her like normal but I can feel her. I think she’s still unconscious. Hopefully, when she wakes up, the mist will clear.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“Forget it. Let’s split up for now. I think I know where to start looking.” I looked at Eva. “If you don’t hear from me by 9, raise the alarm. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She stopped me before I got more than a few steps. “We’ll get her back.”
I nodded. “Hemmy, you’re with me.” I jerked my head to the door. “Let’s go.”
He sighed. “I really hate it when you call me that.”
“And I really hate it when you flirt with my wife.”
“In my defence, I didn’t know she was your wife so I feel like that’s not my fault.”
“Shut up. Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir,” he said sarcastically with a salute. “If I don’t come back, make sure he’s charged with my murder, would you?” he whispered as he passed Eva. She laughed in response.
“Naw. Too much work. You’re on your own.”
“Et tu, Brute?” He quoted—dramatically—in a terrible French accent while he clasped his hands over his chest.
“He was Roman, dumbass. You done with the theatrics now? I’d like to get my wife back.”
“Right. Let’s get to torturing.” He grinned like a maniac.
I sighed. “No torturing, yet. I just need you to knock someone out.”
“Well, that’s not nearly as fun. But fine.”
Lord, give me the strength to not kill this fucking idiot.