Chapter 12 - Azrael
Azrael
I could feel it again. The whispers taunting me, the hum in the back of my mind.
Tick tock tick tock.
My grip tightened around the head of my cane.
“Azrael, we need to finish this meeting.”
I didn’t bother to look back. “I have business to attend to.”
“This is your business,” he commanded, forcing me to stop. “You signed a contract. You gave a vow, and I am sick and tired of your tireless games. If you refuse to obey me, you will be terminated.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, deary.” I looked over my shoulder. “Send everyone you have, it’ll make the extermination easier.”
Red was walking up the steps of the building when I reached the front doors.
“Azrael, what the fuck—”
“6667 Leviathan Ave,” I rattled off, ignoring her. “In Leschi.” I had my helmet on and bike roaring before she managed to get on hers.
They must have found something. Those boys knew never to interrupt me when I was handling business. Having Scarlett call was just fucking dirty. What had they seen?
Had they unleashed Scarlett in that room? How many people died?
Was she hurt?
I hit the throttle, the speedometer shooting up.
Tick tock tick tock tick—
“NO!” I snarled, shaking my head, hitting 150. No. She was trained by the best in the world, the true best in the world, not some half act pieces of shit the daffodil wanted to pass off as the best.
She wasn’t hurt.
She wasn’t hurt.
So what then?
Had Thomas said something?
Had they found the girl?
Had Scarlett stabbed someone with that pretty new knife Alaric made just for her?
Questions questions questions.
Tick tock tick tock tick—
I snarled, trying to shut that voice out, laughter escaping my throat.
My phone started ringing.
I hit the button on the side of my helmet as I slowed when the city came into view, knowing exactly who it was.
“Why is Malachi calling us all in to hunt you down?”
“Tick tock, wild rose, time is running out. Come hunt me down. All eight of you, tell him you’ll personally handle it. Lose your phones, lose your electronics, turn off your precious tracking devices, and go to Occult. They’ll direct you to a shop. Is everyone within an hour flight?”
“They’re all in the city,” she told me. “We were supposed to meet with Beckett this morning, but he didn’t show,” she confirmed.
An invitation I never received, but I wouldn’t hold it against him. “Good. She’s looking forward to meeting her sisters, so be a good sister, rose, or I’ll do to you things even I’ll have nightmares about.”
The rose was quiet a moment. “What happened, Azrael?”
I hung up and continued weaving through traffic, running lights, a musical of horns and curse words spewing in my direction, but the only thing I could hear clearly was that humming tune in the back of my mind.
“Tick tock went the clock, but the second hand is slowing, tick tock went the clock, the Hysteric Wonderland is growing. Tick tock tick tock tick tock—”
I sped into the lot of Reign, the Blackheart’s bike shop.
I rode right up to the shop doors, killed my bike, tore off my helmet, and threw open the door, instantly finding Scarlett gazing at the pink and white display bike, her head cocked to the side, Alaric watching her from where he stood leaning back against the half crescent moon counter.
She instantly turned to me, her eyes locking with mine.
The voice in my head silenced, my heart slamming against my ribs. It wasn’t a feeling I knew well, this…this panic. Rationally I knew she couldn’t have been hurt, but this didn’t feel rational.
She beamed brightly, her eyes glowing. She gestured to the bike, biting her lip only to spin back on me, flip up her skirt, and pull out the blade Alaric had given her.
She was prancing over when the front door flew open again. “Azrael, what the fuck! You almost got me killed!”
Scarlett immediately skidded to a halt, her hand tightening around the hilt of her blade, her face smoothing to stone, but I saw it. I saw the truth. The little thing still warring in her mind over how much she liked Red and how much she hated the way Red spoke to me.
I straightened and started pulling the gloves off my hands as Scarlett flipped her dagger around only for a muscle in her brows to twitch when her eyes found my hands.
I looked down, curiosity getting the best of me. There was no blood on them, no blisters, no bruises. There was nothing out of the ordinary about them at all.
But the moment I lifted my eyes again, she signed three words. “Where’s your cane?”
I felt it then, the absence of it. I hadn’t noticed it before. I must have left it on the bike.
My lip curled. I shoved my hair back and quickly turned, heading back outside for it. It was a mistake. I had never made a mistake like that before. Why? Why? Was the voice becoming too much? Was I losing control?
“You never forget your cane.”
I unlatched it from the side of the bike and turned back for the door. “Get inside,” I told her, brushing past her.
Scarlett was closer to the door when I went back in, her eyes flicking between me and Red.
I turned off the open sign and hit the button, lowering the blinds. It was just a mistake.
I didn’t make mistakes.
It could have happened to anyone.
Not me.
“Bishop got her,” Havoc said, coming out from the back. “They’ll deliver her within the hour.”
“Who?” Red asked.
Havoc didn’t even look her way.
“Did you tell him?”
My eyes lifted to the two boys, Havoc’s eyes shifting to Alaric.
The oldest brother simply nodded.
Before I could even wonder, Scarlett turned to me. “They said I can have the transporter.”
A well-deserved reward for locating the girl.
I turned to Havoc. “I was in the middle of a meeting.”
His eyes hardened. “Someone is sending you a message,” he replied icily.
“They carved an ‘A’ into her chest, put her on the same ‘X’ you put her on,” he went on, gesturing to Scar, “and the label said ‘Who else could it ever have been?’ We believe the X was a stylistic choice,” he added.
“No one outside of those who have vowed their lives to us even know where the house is located.”
A calm chill settled over me. Yes, who else could it have been.
“Is it a riddle?” Scarlett asked.
“What is he talking about?” Red asked, stepping in front of me. “Is it about that museum? Did something happen at the museum?”
“Yes,” I answered Scarlett. “One meant only for me.” I turned to the brothers. “We are expecting guests in twenty minutes. It’s time for a family meeting.”
Scarlett danced up to me, her eyes filled with excitement. “I finally get to meet my sisters?”
I found my eyes falling to her lips, her soft smile. “Yes, and they will worship you.”
She beamed and immediately stepped back, that knife still gripped in her hand as she spun around in a circle and found my eyes again. “Will I make a good first impression?”
“You are the Queen of Hearts, little sinner, they would bow at your feet if you were wearing scraps.”
“That’s a hefty promise to make knowing Zo,” Red put in.
I looked over, taking in her crossed arms and pressed expression. “Then I will kill her.”
She frowned. “Dramatic.” She dropped her hands, a slight bit of hope filling her eyes. “You’re finally coming clean? About everything?”
I wasn’t, not everything. Not yet. My eyes shifted back to Scarlett as she studied me. She had more than earned meeting her sisters, but in light of the events, it wouldn’t all be celebratory.
The door to the shop opened, pulling Scarlett’s eyes away for only half a second before they found mine again. “Does Thomas only hire outside help to transport those people?”
And why wouldn’t he? Of course he wouldn’t want the church transporter, let alone me, transporting his cargo. “He hires within his little circle,” I signed back. “Are you wondering who your first kill will be?”
Her smile widened and she nodded. “It’s my first kill, it’s important.” She lifted her blade, gazing at her own reflection for a moment before she looked at me through her lashes. “Do you remember your first kill?”
I did, yes. I had been just 6 years old, and she had touched my cock using the excuse that ‘she was dirty too’ to get into the bath with me.
The water had never looked so red.
“I remember every kill,” I told her, her eyes shining bright.
“She’s being taken to Bishop’s place,” Havoc stated, joining us. “It’s just an empty house. We’ve got a couple of guys there to bring the transporter to us so we can take them to the basement,” he went on, giving Scar a wink, causing her smile to widen, “as for the girl?” His eyes found mine.
“Is it important? The secrecy of this place?” I asked, turning to Bishop.
He looked up from where he was talking to Alaric near the counter. “No. I have half a dozen spread out across a few counties. If someone knows about this one, that’s fine.”
Pulling out a disposable phone, I said, “I’ll send Vanessa to her.” I sent the address and tossed it to Bishop. “Destroy it when you’re done.”
He nodded, shoved it away, and turned back to Alaric, slipping back into deep conversation.
I checked my watch and turned to Red. “Go get my mask, it’s on my bike.” Without waiting for a reply, I turned to Scarlett. “Wear your mask if you’d like.”
Her brows pulled together. “Why do you wear your mask around your family?”
I searched her eyes, my hand flexing around the cane. Those hazel eyes. They caused my thoughts to spin. “It’s my choice.”
Her eyes flicked between mine before she turned to Havoc. “Mask?”
He nodded and headed back for the half-circle counter. He grabbed his bag from behind it and pulled her mask out, returning to her just as Red appeared with mine at my side.
“Her mask looks just like yours,” she commented as we both put them on.
“Haven’t you realized yet, Red?” I asked, feeling my own control strengthen me. “Our souls are the same.”