Chapter 4
Azrael
I hadbeen waiting in the hall for quite some time for him to finish his meeting with—
“Azrael.”
I snapped my watch shut, sliding it into the pocket at my hip, looking up just in time to see the back of his latest guest. I watched after the male for a moment before my eyes lifted to father dearest, my hand tightening around the head of my cane.
Malachi stood in the doorway of his office, looking like ever the faithful little Crime lord.
“Have you finally made time for me?” I hummed, wondering if he heard the ice in the song or if he disliked me for other reasons, perhaps because his little asylum stunt didn’t quite work out the way he wanted.
Without saying a word, he gestured for me to come in.
I waited until he had turned back to the office before I stood, fixed my Armani jacket, and headed for the door, using the end of the cane to push it shut behind me.
Malachi had already taken his seat behind that desk of his. An upgraded, dark oak version of the one he had 18 years ago.
The room had to look good for all the meetings he had these days.
Meetings with people like D.A.’s, doctors, Mayor’s.
The corruption of this world was so…deep.
The criminal empire he built had roots stretching far and wide; infecting, suffocating, killing, but I knew it wasn’t as solid as he made it out to be, and that knowledge had been seeping out of this infected wound for a long time.
Building a legacy with the man of the mountains had me poking holes in everything the powerful brothers in charge had been doing all these years. Including, that was, things I had been telling him for over a decade to look at.
If only he had listened to my advice of adaptation.
But, I suppose, when all you did was worry about growing, you tend to forget to perfect what you’ve already built. Growing pains remain growing pains if you don’t focus on what’s causing it and fix it.
His innate ability to push the growth without changing was almost as interesting as Poppy’s innate ability to track me down.
“Do you want to know what the Superior Court Judge and I were just discussing?”
Oh, how interesting. That was not the Judge that just walked out, I was certain of that.
“Not particularly,” I answered, locking away that information. It might not have had any meaning at all, but that’s what made me better. I kept it all. I remembered everything.
However, I didn’t have much time to waste on meaningless conversations today.
I had an auction to go to, and the bell rang at 7pm.
I wasn’t one to be late, especially not for something as important as a pastor preaching his carefully constructed lies to the people before selling members of his congregation to other congregations.
“You’ll be pleased to know Poppy has survived my attempts so far.
She’s thwarted any attempt at being poisoned by an incurable disease or being hit by a train. ”
Malachi gave me a disapproving look. “Good, she’s your fourth.”
“And she’ll soon be another check in my book,” I smiled.
Poppy was smart, more so than the others.
She was quick witted, but while I wasn’t able to kill her like I had the others, I was able to escape her.
It always took her a day or two to catch up, leaving me ample time to remain one step ahead, precisely where I needed to stay.
Although, she was quickly earning my respect, as quickly as one could, I suppose, and I foresaw our game continuing for quite a long time.
A muscle in his jaw feathered, clearly unamused. “We were discussing our future in Washington State,” he went on. “We’ve been making too much noise—”
Not for anything I was doing.
“—so we need to either quiet down or move on.”
Or kill those who dared speak against us. It’s been a while since I went on a spree. Even longer since I was caught. Perhaps it’s time to break out my favorite weapon of choice and deal with this judge who had suddenly grown the balls to speak such blasphemous words to dearest tired father.
Although, it would be fun to see this play out.
The stress of the ever-growing empire weighing on his round little shoulders.
I guess this program wasn’t as successful as he wanted it to be.
I suppose it serves him right with how he’s been handling it.
I’d serve him a repeat of some of my ideas, but why waste my breath here when the legacy was just down the hall?
The mountains showed promise. He was a learning boy. Willing and still moldable, even if he didn’t see it.
“What do you have in mind?” I asked, hearing the ticking of my watch from where it rested in my pocket.
Taunting. Today was the day I needed to go.
Plans were only plans if they went accordingly, before imploding in explosions of blood and fire.
It needed to start out well so the chaotic implosions caused chaos I alone controlled.
Tick tock.
Malachi pulled a folder forward. “I want you to take in Clarke Sanders,” he told me, causing my eyes to narrow ever so slightly. “He’s to take the place of Don Reeves.”
My grip tightened ever so slightly around my cane, a smile touching my lips. “And why can’t your heir do it? Or the teacher or even the hunter? I’m busy today.”
“Because I want you to do it,” he told me.
Father, father, father. What shall we do with you?
“I know you’re busy this evening, but your appointment is at 8. You and Clarke need to be there by then.”
What an odd time to schedule an interview. “And shall I be disposing of his old assistant? Or is that something you’ve already planned?”
He checked his watch. “He was in a fatal accident two hours ago.”
And Clarke, who will have filled out an application months ago, will mysteriously appear, wondering if the job was available yet. I would be there to make sure everything went well.
The Judge would know exactly what happened and he’ll be too terrified to turn dear Clarke away.
A watchdog for a Superior Court Judge. How the tables have turned.
Another important office back under our belts, although I would never have been so thoughtless as to losing that office in the first place.
The Judge never would have threatened me; he would have been dead long before that ever came into play.
“I’ll run your little errand,” I agreed, lifting my chin.
“But it would do you well to remember that even the mightiest of empires fall. Tick tock, dearest, you either need to replace the cracking concrete of this foundation or the entire thing will go tumbling so far down, not even you will be able to pick it up.”
“I don’t appreciate your thoughtless threats, Azrael.”
I turned for the door. “It’s not a threat, but that’s interesting that you took it that way. It would do you well to open your eyes while you still can. Power can corrupt even the corruptor.”
I left his office and pulled out my pocket watch, checking the time again. “Tick tock, goes the clock, it’s finally time to play.”