Chapter 23 - Azrael
Azrael
I could see, even from here, that she was in desperate need of my touch.
Even with the painkillers in her system, she was shifting in that chair, pulling at her dress, rubbing her thighs together.
However, the doctor suggested that we take it easy for a bit. At least until she was further along in her healing process.
I almost considered taking the painkillers away just so she could truly feel how much pain her body was in so she could see that the doctor was making the right decision. Despite the fact that we both thrived off the feeling of it, this was a different kind of pain.
There was a difference between pain inflicted by me and pain inflicted by an outside party.
I assumed consent had something to do with it.
“You haven’t found anything, have you?” she asked Alaric as he sat on the couch adjacent to her.
He shook his head. “Just what she told you. Azrael was right, there is nothing in her past or present that is indicative of what you feel.”
My brows pulled together just as her lips pulled down in a frown. “If my gift isn’t reliable, what’s the point of having it?” she asked. “I only decided to pursue Azrael because of how different his eyes were. The weight of them. There has to be something, I’m sure of it.”
Pursue me? Why would she ever do a silly little thing like that?
Alaric studied her carefully. “Perhaps it’s not indicative of how good someone is, but of something else.”
She straightened, probably considering his new perspective. “Those with cold eyes have always had tar. Those with warm eyes have never had it. She is the only one who has cold eyes but no tar. What else could it possibly mean?”
“You and Azrael are very good at many things, one of which is seeing the problems where others are content. Keep digging, maybe you’ll find that the tar you see and the chill you feel are separate.”
What was different with Red? What separated her from the rest of us?
She went through the same program, our father’s version since she was to be put with me. The only one of the three that had gone through his rather than our uncle’s. She had a terrible upbringing, but all of us had in one way, shape, or form. She had been lost and was then found.
Perhaps it was the amount of time she had spent with father dearest. Maybe this chill Scarlett felt was residual, after all, she had yet to meet the man who raised us. Once that slot was filled, maybe she would be able to track the chill from father to daughter. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Red, the rose, and the dog walked in, two immediately veering to the couches while the other merely glanced over before coming to my desk.
I sat back in my chair, watching as Red took a seat directly in front of me. “There are too many people here now,” I commented. “Perhaps it’s time to burn the whole place to the ground. Preferably with you all in it.”
She smiled slyly, unaffected by my threat. “A house filled with people is a true home indeed.”
Was it? Because the only houses I had been in that were filled with people ended in agonizing pain and blood splattered all round.
“What’s going on with them?” she asked, gesturing to the couches when I didn’t respond. “Scarlett looks a little frustrated.”
I watched them talk, the rose sitting as close to Scar as she could get, knowing Scarlett would have moved to be beside her anyway, the wolf leaning against the rose’s other side.
The wild rose was doing well in her studies.
It seemed she was staying up late just to practice in order to communicate with her new little sister.
I would have expected nothing less.
“You told her about your upbringing,” I said, finding her eyes again.
Red shrugged, still watching the group. “It’s not something that I ever meant to hide. I just don’t like talking about it.” Her gaze shifted to mine. “Sometimes I wish that there was a way that everybody just magically knew about it so I never had to talk about it again.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. “That’s a ridiculous wish.”
Her smile only widened. “That’s because you like secrets. How is Marla doing?”
“I gave her another P.I.P late last night and Bishop had his fun with her. I haven’t seen him since.” He must have gotten something out of her. She was rattled seeing those Initiates, hearing that woman’s voice. She was ready to spill her guts, just in time for this pointless meeting.
Red was quiet a few seconds. “Are you still sending her to Absolution?”
The irritation was immediate. “I liked it better when we were still playing cat and mouse.”
Her eyes dried. “Oh, little mouse?” she asked, the name grating against my mind. “Did you like being hunted across all of kingdom come?”
If only she knew the truth about how that game had truly been played. “Someone stroked your ego in the wrong direction, Red,” I hummed.
She chuckled. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Az.”
“Hey,” the rose put in before I could respond. “I sent the coordinates to the others earlier,” she explained, my eyes still locked on Red’s. “Secure, they know the drill. They were only a couple of hours away at most when I contacted them.”
I finally looked in her direction, her pup sitting faithfully at her right side. “Good.” I lifted my chin. “How are your studies?”
“The shorthand is difficult to learn,” she replied, sliding her hands into her dress pockets, “but I’m getting the hang of it. She learned this in weeks, you said?”
“She had a lot of time on her hands, unlike you. The school?”
“As always, progressing,” she answered, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly before her expression relaxed. “We’ll get it done in time for the new recruits, but have you considered, with everything going on, that this first year won’t be as successful? We won’t even have time to vet the new ones.”
“Most of the first students will be the children of those we already trust,” he explained.
“After that? The dominos will fall as they need. I trust the…practices Everett will choose to put into place to weed out the undeserving will keep the weak away, if not,” I shrugged.
“They’ll weed themselves out during training. ”
She nodded. “Bishop designed a large graveyard a ways from the school. He had some people clearcut the trees and even put up a few headstones with the names of the Initiates we’ve already killed in the hunt Beckett sent us on.” She straightened. “Speaking of.”
I glanced over to the couch just as Scarlett got up.
She was giving Alaric a nod, a serious expression on her face.
Well, a serious expression to me. She had been practicing with her stoneface more and more lately now that there were more people visiting the house outside our little family.
“I’ll tell him soon enough,” I answered quietly, eyes shifting back to her.
“For now, we keep it amongst the children.”
Scarlett joined the rose’s side a moment later and leaned the cane carefully against her thigh. “Are my sister’s here yet?”
I shifted my attention to the computer, the cameras pulled up for the lobby and outside of the house. “No,” I answered, watching as Havoc and Bishop talked quietly amongst themselves. “Alaric, what did your brother find out last night?”
Alaric, who had taken a seat at his desk, looked up. “The woman’s name is Isabella Masian. She and Marla met just after Marla and Malachi met. Their relationships started about the same time.”
Scarlett turned back to me, her brows furrowed. “Three?”
“Threesome,” I corrected. “No. He means that she cheated on father dearest with Isabella. Close to home,” I hummed to myself, turning back to the computer. “Was she an Initiate?” I asked, watching Bishop snarl and snap at his brother. Havoc lifted his chin, his arms folded across his chest.
Bishop threw his hands up in the air, clearly shouting.
Havoc spoke a few quiet words and Bishop almost instantly swallowed his rage.
I was curious to know what they were talking about, but the last thing I needed on my plate was pointless nonsense.
“Alaric said no,” Red relayed.
I found her eyes before turning my attention to Alaric. “Not an Initiate? She certainly wasn’t a Shadow.”
Alaric shook his head. “You know another in her position. Diedra.”
The rose straightened at that. “Diedra,” she said, turning back to me. “What does Diedra have to do with this?”
“Calm your aching little heart, wild rose,” I purred.
“He’s saying our curious little female leader was playing the part of doting wife to father dearest. Where?
I don’t know. We must ask the daffodil where their last few missions were before she went on the run.
If we know where Marla was when she met her dearest Isabella, then we’ll know where our father has her primarily stationed. ”
“Do you think she is betraying Malachi?” Red asked. “Or do you think Malachi ordered her to play Marla and get these Initiates here?”
“Questions in need of answers,” I sang. My eyes shifted to the rose. “Did you get all the information you needed to lead this little meeting?”
She nodded, checking her phone as she did. “Everything that’s important,” she confirmed. “I’m sure they’ll beg for me, but you taught me well. Excuse me, my pet is calling.”
Scarlett’s eyes found mine as I smiled slightly. Oh, I did appreciate when the light reflected off her thorns. “Taught her?”
“Lessons can be learned effectively from a distance if you know how to articulate,” I explained. “The rose had her foundation strongly built already, I simply…pushed her along.”
“She’s allowed a burner?” Red asked, pulling my attention away from my wife. “Nobody else is allowed a burner.”
“Nobody else has the skills to keep them from being found,” I replied easily. “Jacky boy might, but I doubt he could look past his frustration long enough to consider getting one.”
Red pressed her lips into a thin line. “We all know that Olivia is your favorite.”