The man pointed through the window. There was a tray next to the bed, covered in things that were dripping in blood. But right there, clear as day, was a knife that everyone recognized all too well.
The solid-piece black material of a Silence blade.
“They’re calling us out,” Wayne said. “But is it a threat or a warning?”
“My guess? Both,” Kohara said.
Hadley
I tried not to gag.Truly I did. But I couldn’t look away from the man stretched out, looking like anything but a person or a monster. He was a heap of body parts. Because I couldn’t look away, I was almost choking on the contents of my stomach as it tried to regurgitate breakfast.
And also because my gaze was glued to the body, I saw when he moved. It was slight and the second he did, he was surrounded by people who seemed to come out of nowhere.
Turning my face into Nephele, I felt the bright heat of a Nephilim, maybe several, beyond the glass. We were silent as we stood there, watching and waiting. Though I didn’t watch. I couldn’t. My eyes stung, my heart raced. All I could think wasthat could be someone I know.
The real problem wasn’t any supposed personal connection to this man. And while his life was the primary focus right now, the message behind it was what needed more conversation.
Our meeting had been interrupted and when we filed out of the hall back toward the elevators, I thought for sure we were heading home so that they could focus on the newest development.
I was wrong. Once more, we piled back into the conference room, settling into silence as the gory image burned behind our eyes. I stared at the table, but all I saw was a broken body, bloody and raw.
“We’ve never hidden our sites,” a man said. “Any of them.”
I looked up, taking in the expressions around the table. Tension was rolling through the air and while I knew that, I wasn’t sure what the issue was. Silence hadn’t hidden any of theirs, either.
Someone swore, lowering his head into his hands.
“We need to work on security,” Kohara said. “Shut them all down temporarily.”
“All of them?” Wayne asked.
Kohara nodded, getting to his feet and pulling out his phone. “All of them. Lockdown. Pull reports of those inside the buildings and see if there’s been anything suspicious. Check all security footage.”
Wayne and a handful of others pulled out their cell phones as Kohara paced to the far end of the room to stare out the window, his phone to his ear as he spoke into it.
“What’s his job again?” I whispered to Nephele.
He chuckled. “He’s president of the department that monitors Silence,” he said.
I stared at Kohara, eyes wide. “I didn’t realize he was a big boss.”
Several of my men looked at me, smirking at whatever expression I had pointed at Kohara.
“Sexy, yeah?” Tem asked. I caught his wink when glancing his way. “I love when he gets all business bossy.”
Saar nodded. “But he’s all business here. Doesn’t even allow fun in his office.”
Tem snorted. “You’re loud, Saar.”
Saar shrugged. “Whatever. I could be quiet for one time.”
“No, you can’t,” Bronte murmured, looking away when Saar turned his dark eyes toward him. Bronte licked his lips, fighting a smile as he stared at Kohara’s back.
I giggled, covering my mouth to hide the sound. Kohara turned, his eyes sweeping over us as he spoke into the phone. He rolled his eyes at whatever tell he saw in the way we were trying to look innocent as we watched him. A smile pulled at his lips before he turned his back on us again.
“Yep, sexy boss man,” Tem said, sighing.
“There’s one of those in every family,” Lazarus said. “You should see Hadrian go all legalese over the phone. Calm as fuck, while the other person fumbles and stammers their way through it.” He shifted in his seat.
