“I do,” Abel says. “He could kill you right now, and if it meant he’d join my side, I wouldn’t give a shit.”
This is obviously not the answer Leona is looking for, but when she’s willingly working with a psychopath like him, I’m not quite sure how she could possibly be surprised.
“What do you hope to gain out of this?” Callum asks, and I have to hand it to the man. I didn’t think he’d be someone who’d speak up while the blood from Harris’s head runs down the table toward him.
Abel is visibly enjoying the tension that has coated the room. “Honestly, it doesn’t fucking matter. But I’m feeling good today, so I’ll answer your stupid questions. Well… I was feeling better before Mads fucking shot himself. But I’m still feeling good because it’s become evident how insignificant those who stand up against me actually are. There is no one in this room with true power besides me. I have played a long fucking game sliding thepieces into place, removing those who are insignificant to me. Most of you were sent by higher-ups who are already on my side. They sent you, believing you had strengths that could benefit me. So this is your chance. And this is the only chance you’re going to get.”
His eyes shift up to me. “I’m speaking about all of you. This is your last chance.”
I smirk at him.
Of course that irritates him. Everyone in this room could drop to their knees in front of him and offer their throats and still, his eyes would only be on me. “Ender, come on. You really think you can take me down? You really fucking think—surrounded by all of these people—you could kill me? I saw the way you cared for Mads. I saw that you were willing to risk yourself for him and still, death is all that found him. Everyone you care about dies. You try to fight so fucking hard against what is laid out before you when you need to embrace it.”
Still, I say nothing, and this seems to piss him off. With a growl, he throws a woman out of her chair and she hits the ground hard enough I hear bones break as he starts toward me. This is what we needed, to get him away from the door so he can’t quickly leave and we have time to stop him.
The moment he’s fixated on me, Marcus will kick off the plan and the chain of events will fall into place.
The only question is… will they fall right?
Abel rounds the table, and I see Marcus nod. There are many in this room now who might see what we’re up to, so I step forward and slam one of his men into the wall, causing all eyes to immediately focus on me.
“I would rather die than join you.”
“You’ve always said this, Ender. Again and again, you repeat the same shit. Yet you did as I asked. You killed for me.”
“You pushed me out of my control,” I snarl, my attention fully on Abel. Discreetly, I stab myself with the antidote as I throw someone’s phone at him. He smacks it out of the way and one of his vampires goes for me.
I grab him by the throat and Abel does nothing while I crush it. Others try to fill his place but Abel growls at them.
“Do not touch him,” he snaps.
They immediately pull back, well aware that if they don’t listen, they’ll find a fate similar to Harris. I think they’re beginning to realize this sick fascination Abel has with me, and that even after so many years, none of them rank above me.
I hear something hit the table and then combust.Thatsnags Abel’s attention. He’s been so fixated on me that he has absolutely no idea what the others have been doing. They’re so inconsequential to him that he hasn’t even bothered to look up. It’s not until the canister is set off, tossing the poison into the air, that he seems to realize that things are wrong. He’d never fathom that we might risk our lives, so what would he have to fear bringing his own men and women into this place?
The ones closest to the canister just drop. A few turn, like they’re going to run for the door, but none of them ever reach it.
“No… no, no. What the fuck have you done?” Abel yells as he rushes for the door. I slam into him, but he throws me off just as fast. How the fuck is he so strong? It’s like the drug doesn’t even affect him at all.
He pushes through the door, leaving all of his people to their deaths while the council members who have no idea what’s happening panic and flee the room. They get in my way, and I end up having to throw a few back to get through that door. Abel is just going to run, he’s going to flee and find Rylee and Mads, and this will all be for nothing. He’s going to?—
I’m slammed to a stop as pain rips into me. I look down at the pipe rammed right through my stomach, staking me to the wall.What the fuck was that? Why was I so wrapped up in my mind that I would let myself get caught like this?
“You’re getting sloppy,Ender,” Abel snarls. “I really think I taught you better than this. How is it that no matter how many chances I give you, you still insist on pissing me off?”
Alexei is on him, trying his hardest to drive a sword through his back and into his heart, but Abel quickly draws back. It only takes seconds before vampires swarm into the building and force Alexei back. Thankfully, Claude isn’t going to let any of them get near Alexei.
I use the moment of reprieve to tear the pipe out of my stomach and hold it tightly in my hand as Abel turns to face me again.
“You were the only creation that I was ever truly proud of, and you’ve thrown it all away,” he says as he shakes his head. “Everything you could have become. Everything?—”
Abel jerks back as Marcus attacks. I use the distraction to rush him, hoping that if his attention is on Marcus, I can come up from the back. The problem is that there are just so many of his men and so few of ours that every plan is thrown to shambles.
Even the explosion I hear outside doesn’t seem to cut down on the numbers. He truly has spent years finding those he could manipulate and twist until they followed him unwaveringly.
Marcus is cut off from Abel by at least fifteen vampires, allowing him to come for me again. I dodge his hit and swing the pipe, which he grabs with his hand. He crushes it and throws it so hard it impales Callum who was either fighting or fleeing, I can’t tell. Callum hits the ground hard as Abel’s vampires tear into him.
“They’re just so weak. All of them,” Abel scoffs as he darts to the right. I push into him and when I dodge a strike of his, he doesn’t see my attack until his side is bleeding, but he healsimmediately. He’s just on a whole different level, and it doesn’t help when he has so many assisting him. Any time I could possibly get a hit in, I sense someone coming after me and have to move back to protect myself.
