Chapter 19
Havoc
How the hell did I fuck up this badly?
My mate thinks I abandoned her. Cast her aside as if she isn’t the reason for… for everything.
I don’t understand. I slid the letter explaining everything along with my number under her front door myself once she was moved into her place in Mercy Ridge.
Made sure she understood why I had to keep my distance temporarily until I finished tying up loose ends to ensure her safety.
The one and only time I allowed myself to risk personally checking that she was settling in okay, because I couldn’t fucking sleep until I saw her with my own eyes.
From then on, every other week I had Rome deliver an envelope of cash to ensure she wanted for nothing, along with another letter updating her on the progress of my hunt and how much I missed her, couldn’t wait until I could bring her home.
Even if all that somehow failed, her friend is mated to my adopted son, could have sent a message through him.
Arson and I have an unusual relationship, but I trust the shadow demon with not only my life, but my mate’s.
Twenty-two years ago, I came to collect the bounty on his parents, only to find a five year old with a note pinned to his chest offering him up to the man that hired me as payment to save themselves.
I chose to pay their debt myself and raise the boy as my own so that when he was ready, he could kill the bastards himself.
The little psycho turned me grey before I hit thirty, but compared to him, leading an entire guild of assassins has been almost comically easy.
Turns out, having a seven year old magnet a face he skinned off to the fridge like it was gold-starred homework does wonders to keep men in line. It cemented my position as guild master as well as my faith in Arson, unhinged as he may be.
Guy’s a fucking psychopath, but he’s loyal to a fault.
It's why I entrusted him to get my mate settled and safe when I couldn't. With Kiara being his fated mate's best friend? There isn’t a doubt in my mind he’ll protect her, if only to score brownie points with his mate like a stabby, overeager puppy.
Misting to the dining hall of the guild, I quickly scan the four long tables in the center of the room for my second in command.
Each step on the stone floor as I close the distance between us echoes with the promise of pain.
I trusted him. Roman was supposed to ensure she was taken care of.
To scare the residents of Mercy Ridge away and let them know she was off limits.
Clearly, he failed. And now, he’ll pay the price.
“Rome.” He twists in his seat on the wooden bench to face me, choking as I grab his throat in a vice and haul him up.
His hands latch onto my wrist to ease the pressure on his neck as he hovers an inch above the ground, but doesn’t struggle or panic.
I trained him too well for that. “Care to explain to me why the fuck my mate thinks I hate her? All those letters, the money… did she even get them?”
He frowns, voice raspy as he rumbles out, “Of course she did, I slipped the envelopes beneath her front door so there’d be no chance of someone stealing them from her mailbox.”
I stare into his rapidly reddening face, but talk myself out of breaking his neck in a fit of rage.
Roman has been steadfastly loyal since the day he joined the guild.
There’s a reason I sent him to Mercy Ridge to shadow my mate in those first few weeks, why I entrusted him to deliver my letters and spread it around town that she was off-limits so I wouldn’t put her in danger if someone saw me frequenting her house.
If he could be trusted, though, why the hell does Kiara think I don’t care?
“Boss.” Begrudgingly, I let up enough pressure for him to suck a ragged breath in.
“I swear on my brother’s life, I dropped off every letter, every envelope, the day you handed it to me.
Look for yourself.” Glancing down at his phone, I watch him use one hand to pull up video after video evidence of him sliding my sealed envelopes under her door, slowly easing him to the floor with each one.
He recorded every single delivery, and it steals the wind from my sails.
There’s no denying he slips the envelope under my mate’s door too far for him to retrieve after stopping recording short of breaking into her house.
So why the hell does my mate think I abandoned her?
“My apologies.”
He massages his abused throat, but to his credit, doesn’t attempt to stab me in retaliation.
He understands better than most that loyalty means everything in this world, and when you surround yourself in the company of murderers for hire, you’d be a fool to trust blindly.
“For what it’s worth, from what I’ve observed of your mate…
I don’t think she actually cares about your money. She just doesn’t want to be alone.”
With a snarl, I swipe my hand, slashing a rift of silver mist through the air that I step through into my office.
I don’t want to hear it, don’t want to accept how badly I messed up where my mate is concerned.
Because I’m starting to realize… I did. Fuck up, that is, and it’s a hard pill to swallow.
My fated mate doesn’t even like me.
All I ever wanted since my family was murdered was to become strong enough to protect the one I built.
They may be murderers, but they’re better men than most. We’re selective about the jobs we take, and while our morals are firmly in grey territory, you couldn’t ask for better men to have your back.
Because each and every one of them knows what it means for society to fail them when they needed it the most. Becoming a Shadow Knight means something.
That sometimes, you have to become a part of the darkness in order to destroy it.
“I’ll fix it.”
Because that’s the crux of it, right? Accepting that life doesn’t always go according to plan and adapting. And when it comes to my mate?
I’m not just going to adapt. I’m going to slaughter every obstacle in our way to ensure she has the life she deserves.