39
COOPER
The video turned off the moment Joseph and a horde of Exots walked in, and I caught a small remote being tucked into the inside pocket of his Avri-adorned suit jacket to tell me that was his doing. But that sick feeling tilting my stomach all over the place remains.
Never in my life have I felt this way—so angry, so fucking sad, so ill, that I don’t know what to do with it.
Never in my life have I been so ready to kill.
With the big screen black, it’s a lot dimmer in here now, the cinema lit only by the blackish-crimson Avri strips on the too-rich seats and obsidian walls, and the light filtering in from the open doorway.
But I can still see Ezla clearly as she reaches over her shoulders and retrieves her armoury sticks, a faint hum vibrating the air as her curved blades manifest and she extends her arms out either side of her, taking up a protective stance.
She’s shaken, for once more unsteady than any of us, and yet she still stands in front of us, ready to fight for us and take on everything alone. Like fuck am I letting her, but Christ, my heart squeezes like a bitch.
“Daughter . . .” Joseph breathes, and I’m immediately more unsettled than before as I slowly inch towards Ezla and Scotty, because that . . . that did not sound fucking stable. “How I have missed you.”
She stays silent, calculating, I know.
Not appearing to care, he continues, “I knew you would come. I admittedly did not know when, but I had a feeling today might be the day. I have recruited more Exots, you see.” He sweeps a hand out to highlight the straight-backed red-embellished figures standing behind him in perfect formation.
“Just today, actually. These ones are still attending Exot third schools, but they will do.” A pause, and his gaze hasn’t strayed from Vengeance for a heartbeat until now.
I still halfway up the shallow steps leading up to the door as those dull brown eyes come to rest on me.
“They are on the perfect level to keep your men occupied while I simply . . . keep you.”
“You’ll never fucking have her, you sick fuck!” Tate abruptly storms past me, and I curse under my breath.
So much for a slow and cautious approach.
I rush after him, hurried footsteps behind me telling me Alby and Tiger are both hot on my heels.
Calm, my beast. You cannot lose your temper here. Be careful. Wait for my instructions.
The velvet-sin words echo through the bond, and Tate comes to a sharp stop just behind Scotty. I slow my own pace but continue to advance with my other two brothers until we all stand together, a united force at our Bonded’s back.
Joseph’s collected mask twitches as he absorbs the sight of us.
But instead of exploding, he only asks too calmly, “Did you like the video?” Before any of us can respond, he tells us, “I did. Very much, in fact. I have many more if you would like to see them, Ezla. They have kept me company since you have been gone—”
“Speak another word, and I’ll slice your head clean off.” Scotty steps forwards, and Ezla’s hands tighten on her batons as he reaches for his own. “Take your eyes . . . off my Bonded.”
My fingers twitch for a weapon of my own, and a tense beat of silence passes.
Before Joseph tips his head back and laughs.
I see Tate’s nose wrinkle in disgust, and he’s visibly fighting with himself to stay put as Ezla ordered.
When Joseph’s chin drops back down, his focus lands entirely on Scotty, eyes studying him leisurely. “You were my favourite, you know? If you were not an Evot, I might have—”
“I don’t give a damn what you might’ve done,” Scotty cuts him off, eyeing him like he’s worth no more than a pile of dog shit. “I don’t care about your worthless approval. All I care about is removing your stain from this world and living a happy life with my woman and my brothers.”
The Game Master’s face turns purple concerningly fast. “She is not your woman.”
“Yes she fucking is,” Tate rumbles, coming to stand directly behind Vengeance like a personal bodyguard. “Our. Fucking. Woman.”
Rather than increasing the colour in his face, Tate’s words seem to bring a calculating glint to Joseph’s eyes. “Ah, but are you not the one who wanted her all to himself? How can you live the rest of your life knowing you do not have her truly—”
Tate barks out a laugh in time with my own scoff, and his mouth snaps shut. “You’re really fucking pathetic, you know that?” I tell him as I come to stand beside Tate and behind Ezla’s outstretched left arm.
Now that colour in his face deepens. “Watch how you speak to me, Evot. I am the Game Ma—”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Tiger waves a hand breezily, and I can tell he’s not lacking in fear, but he doesn’t hesitate to come and join our line in the wide space before the doorway.
“No one actually cares, you know? It’s only the Champion who anyone’s really interested in.
Also, in case you didn’t get the memo, Tate’s one of us, and he’s completely accepting of all of us, because he wants what’s best for Ezla, what makes her happiest—unlike you. ”
Tate lets out a gruff sound of agreement.
Ezla’s head tilts a fraction in warning to us as Joseph digs a malicious glare into us, but I’m thinking she’s secretly enjoying us taking him down a couple pegs, and I’m pretty sure that’s why we’re all so tempted to do it. He’s been placing himself on a throne he doesn’t deserve for far too long.
“It’s true.” Alby’s soft voice from Scotty’s right has my brows jumping up a millimetre. It’s shockingly steady, too, despite the anxiety I can feel radiating from him. “At school, it was only Ezla anyone talked about. I don’t think you really mean anything to anyone.”
Spittle flies from Joseph’s mouth as he grits out, “I mean something to everyone. I am Ezla’s everything. I made her. I love her. I am the only one who understands her—”
“Actually, Joseph.”
I tense up at Ezla’s voice, her use of address. She doesn’t continue, as if the simple words were all she was planning to say. And I know they are then, because that’s all she needed to say to bring about the desired effect.
Joseph has turned to stone. “What did you just call me?”
“Joseph,” Ezla replies without inflection.
He stares at her as if he can’t quite comprehend what he’s hearing.
The name holds major significance because it makes it clear just how insignificant he is to her. It makes it glaringly obvious how little of a grip he has on her these days, and that’s why we’ve been so determined for Ezla to call him by his mundane title.
Finally, he says in a low tone, “You dare to call me that? After all I have done for you? All I have done for us? I made you!” He takes a step closer, and I stiffen further as his voice rises. “You are nothing without me—”
“I am everything without you. I feel everything without you. I am . . . I am happy without you.”
At her revelation, Joseph halts all movement.
“I can feel pleasure without you.”
He looks as though she slapped him with a shit-stained hand.
“I live without you.”
Dumbly, he continues to stare at her, and his expression would be humorous in any other situation.
“I can feel love without you.”
I’m pretty sure that one just knocked his last screw loose.
It’s silent for too long after that, and I slowly draw my armoury sticks from my back.
One beat . . .
two . . .
three . . .
The Game Master reveals his absolute lack of sanity when he explodes.
“YOU CANNOT LOVE! NOT ANYONE BUT ME! THAT IS ALL MINE!” After gulping in a breath to continue his rampage, pupils blown out, he shouts, “You are not well! Can you not see how they have warped your mind?! You are supposed to feel all of that for me and only me!”
Everything in me recoils, wanting to flee from this walking, talking disease. I could swear even the Exots at his back shift uneasily.
“Come here, Ezla. I will fix you,” he promises abruptly, but his eyes are no less wild than before as he holds out his hand for her. “Surely—surely you must see what they have done to you. You cannot allow this to happen.”
Holy shit . . . he’s lost it . . . Tiger sends down the bond, and I can feel his unease woven into the remark.
He has, Ezla replies steadily. Stay cautious. Wait for my command to attack—you will go for the Exots.
I want to tell her fuck no, that we will absolutely not be leaving her to deal with her sperm donor alone, but I know now’s not the time to argue. We have to be fully united here. So I simply say, Yes, Vengeance.
“I do not think so.” Ezla speaks unfeelingly.
“You do not . . .” I can’t describe Joseph’s expression as anything other than gobsmacked. His lack of comprehension is clear for all to see.
“Where are the citizen tablets?” Ezla demands without preamble, and he blinks as if struggling to process the sudden change in topic. “I know you have them. Tell me where they are.”
After another blink, he straightens, smoothing a hand over his suit jacket. But I don’t think anyone misses the fact that that hand is faintly trembling.
I exchange a wary glance with my brothers, all of whom have their own Avri manifested, armoury sticks clenched tightly in their fists. Joseph is a bomb, and we know he’s about to blow up any moment now.
Clearing his throat, he says as if he didn’t just crash out a handful of seconds ago, “Peter has them, my dearest.”
I pause. “What?” I snap before I can stop myself.
A marginally more sane, familiar smug look crosses Joseph’s face. “I gave them to the Showmaster for safekeeping.”
“And you are so arrogant, so sure of their safety, that you would tell us? Peter is not trained. It does not matter how well he believes he has hidden them—we will get them without issue.”
That superior look on his face doesn’t waver. “But it will be too late. By then, the tablets will be ready to go—”
Ezla has gripped him by the throat and pointed the lethal tip of her dagger at the underside of his jaw before I even realise what’s happening myself. “What have you done to them—”