Surely this isn’t Reaper, my father’s VP, with his head placed next to his body, his eyes wide with fear and shock. “We need to find Brass.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. I don’t want to think the founder had anything to do with this, but I don’t have any other explanation right now.
Egan manages to enter every room before me, then slip behind me to protect my back. When we reach the top floor, I know I’m going to be greeted with yet another gruesome scene. The stench isn’t just blood, it’s much worse.
I use the toe of my boot to push open the door. If I thought it was hard to see Salvador with his head posed next to his body, it’s even harder to see Brass, clinging to life, with his guts spilled all over the bed and floor.
Egan walks right into the room, unbothered by what he sees, but he doesn’t know Brass the way I do and didn’t spend time sitting on his back porch, looking over the water.
My throat grows tighter as a wave of guilt has me hunching my shoulders, making my wings droop. My first thought was that the old bastard finally lost the little bit of sanity he had left and killed Salvador. Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
The founder never even made it from the bed before he was gutted like a fish. If he wasn’t already part machine, he would probably be dead. Brass must have been passed out drunk when he was attacked.
I turn away from the founder. Seeing the wires that used to hold him together ripped out just as carelessly as his intestines is unnerving. What the fuck is going on here? “I’ll get help.” I rush down the stairs. I’m not confident he isn’t going to die the second I step out of the house, but there’s not much I can do for him.
I shove the door open and shout, “I need a healer!”
Everyone on the sidewalk freezes for a single second, but then my yell is echoed down the block by others in the area. The door to the club rips open so violently, the bottom glass cracks. Modeus runs in my direction, while Cyrus shifts midair, allowing his wings to carry him to me.
“Healer!” I call much lower.
“What happened? Where’s Egan?” Cyrus grabs my upper arms while his eyes rake over me.
“He’s inside. Salvador is dead. Brass… I don’t know if he will make it.”
Modeus reaches for my hand the moment he’s near enough, and then Cyrus dashes through the door.
* * *
Lore
As I exitSalvador’s house much later, my steps are sluggish. The moment we’re in the open air of the street, Egan’s wings explode from his back with hellfire churning on his black feathers.
When I enter the club, the place is eerily quiet. Several members jump to their feet, facing the door as they wait for an update on the founder’s situation. They can probably smell the blood and gore seeping off my clothing.
“Sabastian, set up routes for enforcers to triple our patrols. No one gets in or out of my territory. Deekhil, get word to every city on the border. Anyone caught trying to cross into my land or flee from it is to be detained or killed if they refuse. When that’s done, send a message to the Syndicate. Reaper and the founder are dead.” Our plan is to let everyone think Brass didn’t make it.
The healers admitted into the house were sworn to secrecy and threatened with their lives if they whispered a word about his condition to anyone. They are confident they will be able to save him, but who knows how much of him will be left when they do. Selfishly, I want him to regain consciousness so I can find out who was behind this.
A strange hum goes through the crowd of already silent members. “I want Thana and her crew brought in from the sheds, and I want the demon, Malik, in front of me ten minutes ago… Now!” I shout when nobody jumps into action.
It’s hard to know what happens first, but I think Cyrus leaps over the table to get to the door before anyone else. Deekhil moves too, but it’s more subtle. Sabastian has a map stretched across the table as he points to different areas while giving directions to the present enforcers. His hands are shaking, and if I’m not mistaken, he looks like he wants to vomit. Me too.
I realize Egan should be involved in the process, but fuck, he hasn’t even met half of the club, so I leave it to the road captain to delegate.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Thana is trying to rip her arm free from Cyrus’ hold, but he’s not letting go. The vampire is already bleeding. Funny how the sight of her blood doesn’t bother me the same way it did with Salvador and Brass. I break away from Egan and Modeus, but I know they will be right behind me when I approach Thana, not that I need them for this.
“Do you know anything about what happened to Reaper and Brass?” I’m proud my voice is even and calm, though my insides are rattling.
“No. What are you talking about?” Her tone is defiant, but she’s searching the room with her eyes, maybe looking for an escape or an accomplice. Either way, she’s already dead. I have too many snakes in my house to allow another to live.
“Release her,” I inform Cyrus, who immediately drops his hold on the vampire.
She watches my gargoyle with a gleam in her eye that promises retribution. I hope she’s okay dying with regret.
“You three.” I motion to the three men that were her devoted little troupe who followed her and Cyrus in. “Grab her.” The men move quickly, but Thana is a vampire with years of skill on her side. She spins, lifts her leg, and kicks one of the men in the side of the head, then she does a heel drop on another’s hand in the process. It just shows me how resourceful Cyrus is to have brought her to me alone while remaining unscathed. He gets brownie points.
To their credit, the men don’t give up. They come back swinging every time she knocks them on their asses, until she breaks one of their necks. The shifter makes a whining noise as he tries lamely to crawl away to safety. He could heal from this, but Thana isn’t one to let an advantage go. Before he can get away, she jumps on his back, pulls his head clean off his body, and tosses it to the side, eliminating one of the threats.
The other two freeze as she rises, looking like a vengeful queen up to her elbows in blood. I examine the shifter’s neck. Is it a coincidence Salvador was beheaded as well? The tears are rough and jagged, nothing like the scalpel clean cut from the scene in Salvador’s kitchen.
