Chapter 34
Tico
I pace in Doc’s office as he works on Corvus—several of us had carried the heavy fucker down earlier.
Wire’s currently in his cave, cursing up a storm and trying to figure out how several of his cameras went black and why his failsafe’s had failed.
His security system was supposed to tell him whenever a camera goes offline, but tonight, he didn’t get any notifications.
Corvus groans as Doc finishes stitching up his shoulder and my head whips toward him. Earlier Doc said he didn’t think Corvus had a concussion, just that he was knocked out.
“Em…Ember,” he groans and I quickly come to stand on the other side of the bed.
Then his eyes snap open, though they still seem a bit dazed, and he starts flailing, fighting us off until his eyes clear and he recognizes us. A moment later, the pain hits and he winces as he looks down at his shoulder.
“Fuck,” he hisses out and after a few seconds, his worried eyes snap back to me. “They got her, didn’t they? Ember?”
“Yes, but why the fuck were you even in my room to begin with?”
He looks at me, his forehead creasing in confusion. “What do you mean ‘what was I doing in there’? You texted me yourself that you wanted me in there while you and the other officers were in Church. Ember even texted you to verify before opening the door to let me in.”
I grit my teeth. “I didn’t text you or Ember. The only text I sent was to call for Church.”
He goes to move his arm and then hisses in pain. He uses his other hand to get out his phone and after a few moments, turns the phone around, showing me a text that I never sent.
Tico: Corvus—Since you’re still up, I need you to go up to my room and sit with Ember while I have Church with the officer’s. I don’t want her alone after what Wire just found out.
Tico: She can text me to verify if she’s hesitant.
My hands fist as I lean against the bed. “Someone fucking mirrored my phone. I never sent those.”
Corvus’ eyes widen. “Zane must have had someone doing it then.”
My head whips back up to face him again. “What did you just say?”
“Zane betrayed us. He was the one who shot and attacked me. Someone else came in and attacked Ember. I don’t know who, though—they were wearing a mask, gloves, and all black clothing.
I didn’t see it, but I heard her say she was darted.
Right before Zane knocked me out, I saw the other guy get Ember on the ground and I heard zip ties. ”
My phone buzzes in my pocket and when I pull it out, my blood runs cold at the message on it.
Bobby: Prez—there’s someone at the gate asking for you. Says he has information on Ember.
“Doc, hurry up, I need to be out there,” Corvus says, gritting his teeth as he sits up and I realize he saw the message on my phone.
I turn back to him, about to tell him to stay the fuck put but the look on his face stops me.
“I failed her. I failed our Queen. I’m not going to fail her again. I need to be there. I need to be a part of this.”
My lips thin but I look back at Doc, silently asking his opinion. He hesitates, but finally nods.
“Just let me bandage him up.” Then he turns and gives Corvus a hard look. “But if you tear my stitches out, you won’t get local anesthesia next time.”
I dial Wire, who picks up on the second ring.
“Wire, do you have a visual for who is at the front gate? Bobby just said we have a guest who knows something about Ember.”
“Yeah, let me pull it up.”
I hear a few clicks in the background and then he curses.
“It’s the guy Ember said is the fucking Shadow.”
My blood runs cold. Why the fuck would the Shadow be here? Is he here to demand a ransom or threaten us?
“Can you see anyone else?”
“No, he appears to be alone. Heat sensors agree it’s just him.”
“Send out the emergency signal for everyone to get their asses down to the main room. And keep an eye on us in case anything changes with the Shadow. We’ll go see what he wants.”
“Will do, Prez.”
I hang up and snag a fresh club shirt out of a cupboard and toss it to Corvus since Doc had to cut his other shirt off him earlier. Once he has his shirt on, Corvus grumbles. Doc is making him put his arm in a sling. While Doc helps him, I shoot off a text to Bobby.
Tico: Bobby—Give me a few minutes and we’ll be out. Keep him outside the gate for now.
Bobby: You got it, Prez.
I give Corvus a hard stare before leaving Doc’s office. “You do not jump the gun on this güevón (asshole). We don’t know what he’s here for, though I am assuming the worst. But in the off chance he can help us, I don’t want you fucking that up. Do you understand me, hermano (brother)?”
He nods, though his jaw is clenched so hard I can see the muscle ticking, but I don’t know if it’s from the pain or from the situation.
“Yes, Prez.”
I turn, heading out into the main room to find that Wire has moved out here already and set up a couple of laptops on one of the tables.
A few of mis hermanos (my brothers) are down here and judging by the clomping of boots upstairs, the rest are on their way.
Pyper and Rochelle look up from the table they are both sitting at and I curse silently.
I’d asked them to head upstairs earlier.
Chingar (Fuck). Then I sigh in defeat when Mamá (Mom) gives me a look that says to leave it alone.
I glance at Xochitl and Poison, who had stationed themselves nearby them and they both dip their chins, telling me they’ll watch out for them.
I scan the room, relieved that the bunnies are still in their rooms, though if any are awake, Wire’s warning would have told them to stay put.
Taco steps up beside me. Then, Daemon steps up, planting himself in front of mis hermanos (my brothers), staring at me with his arms crossed over his chest. His body has been radiating with anger ever since we discovered that Ember was gone.
When everyone is present, I clear my throat. “The officers already know this because it happened after an emergency meeting, but tonight, we were betrayed by one of our own. On top of that, Ember was kidnapped and Corvus was shot trying to protect her.”
Angry voices erupt around me asking who the rat is as they look around to see who all is present and who is missing. I raise my hand for silence.
“Zane. It was Zane who attacked Corvus and shot him. A masked man fought with Ember, drugged her, and restrained her before they kidnapped her. We have no video of this because our cameras were hacked.”
Murmurs break out, and once again, I raise my hand for silence.
“On top of all of that, Bobby texted me before the emergency message. The Shadow is at our gates saying he has word about Ember.”
Dameon’s eyes widen as hesitation crosses his face. I glance over at Rochelle and Pyper to see how they’re taking this new news only to find Rochelle has stood up in shock. Then, I immediately stand taller at how pale she is and how badly she’s trembling.
“Rochelle?”
She opens her mouth a few times, but no words come out at first.
“I… I didn’t know if it was true or not.”
I frown, sharing a confused look with Pyper and then with Daemon before looking back at her.
“If what’s true or not?”
She swallows a few times, glances down guiltily at Pyper and then back at me. “I…I found some of Renee’s journals she’d hidden in her closet—Ember and Pyper’s biological mother. I found them after the girls left. She wrote… She wrote that she suspected Jerry wasn’t their biological father.”
It hits me then. The original thought I had when Ember first showed me The Shadow’s picture. That if you were to cover up his black hair, Ember and Pyper are the spitting image of him. Well, with more feminine features, of course.
“He’s their father,” I find myself saying, and Rochelle nods shakily in response, her eyes misting with tears as she glances down at Pyper with regret before looking back at me.
“That’s what she thought, but without proof, she didn’t want to say anything to the girls.
She even wrote that if anyone found her journal, to not tell them either unless there was proof.
” She pauses as she wets her lips. “But with him showing up, hours after Ember was kidnapped and not being surrounded by the usual crowd he comes with to the Chrome Vipers compound… I think… I think she may have been right.”