“He’s fucking coming for you, Czar, and when he destroys the only thing you love, what will you do?”
His dark eyes glow, and he glares at me, the coldness in them multiplying with each second that ticks by. “I’ll become worthy of my name,” he states, and a spark of electricity ignites my veins.
My attention is piqued, and my thirst for vengeance has been rejuvenated.
The cloud partially covering the moon slips away, creating space for a small light to shine down on us.
It’s as though the stars have aligned, this moment defined.
What happens next will become our destiny.
That, I will make sure of.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Azrael
Czar shoves the glass of Scotch in my direction while I take a drag of the joint Jensen procured from somewhere. The tension crippling my body slowly edges away with each inhale.
“Go ahead and explain,” I ask Jensen, pushing aside the way it comes out as an accusation.
“The moment you left, I went back inside and just had a feeling to check on your room. But I heard voices in the kitchen.” I sit forward, and he continues. “I listened outside of the door, Elizabeth explained we’d left. She obviously didn’t realize I’d not gone with you.”
Fucking Elizabeth!
“You think she was in on it?” Czar asks.
“Absolutely,” Jensen says.
“She’s been fucking watching you all this time, Azrael,” Czar asserts, and I take a drink of the Scotch.
“We knew I was being watched. We’re all being fucking watched.” I glare in Czar’s direction, hoping he can readbetween the lines. “But fucking Elizabeth?” I shake my head at her betrayal.
“Doesn’t surprise me.” Jensen lifts his shoulder. “I just didn’t expect her to feed another woman to the wolves, knowing what the fuck they’re capable of.” The venom in his tone is evident.
“What the fuck are we going to do? With Hevan, I mean?” Czar asks, and I’m slightly taken aback by my brother’s concern for the woman I love.
I clear my throat. “Leave that to me.”
“She’s on his radar, Azrael,” he snipes out, getting to his feet.
“You think I don’t know that?” My voice grows louder. “We just lost our fucking baby, Czar.”
He swallows hard. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He takes his seat again. “I just…” He drags his hand through his hair. “I’ve no clue how to fix this for you.”
The truth behind his words constricts my chest. He’s always been the same, the fixer. The one who takes control.
The leader.
Silence hangs heavy in the air. My thoughts of Czar and every action he’s undertaken in order to protect me over the years play on repeat in my mind.
When I always believed he was simply a good brother, the one to take the fall for me, I was missing the fact he was a quick thinker; he was ten steps ahead of me, not just having my back, but covering my front too.
He should have been the older one. The balance in him is full of equal measure. I’ve always seen his softer side as a weakness, but for the first time, I see it as a strength.
It allows him to have a perspective someone as hard as me struggles with. The compassionate side a family craves and a business mind should be aware of.
Czar would never allow the trafficking of children. Ever. Hell, it wouldn’t reach the stage of discussion if it were left to him.
