His stomach tumbled but as far as his aunt knew he’d done the right thing, in the end, and brought Nixon Hadley in.That he didn’t trust his family any more than he’d trust a hungry crocodile was his problem.All he had to do was play the dutiful nephew.
The door swung open with a groan.The man who opened it was familiar, some distant cousin whose name he couldn’t remember climbing the ranks the way he’d once wanted to.
Lance nodded and pushed Nix in.“Delivered as promised.”
The man immediately frisked Nix.Nix managed to keep his mouth shut, but his lips twitched as though it was taking all his effort not to be a smart ass.
“Don’t you think I did that already?”They were doing this right, like he’d actually caught Nix.
“Can’t be too careful.”
Lance let the man do the same to him, but when he started to confiscate the weapons.Lance stepped back.“What are you doing.”
“Your mother’s orders.No weapons.”
His mother was there.Had he really expected his aunt to deal with this?Maybe.He hadn’t seen his mother in over a year.Ever since Lance had failed to be blooded, she’d refused to talk to him.She wasn’t going to show him any sympathy; if anything, she’d be crueler because he was her son.A bead of sweat traced down his spine, quickly followed by another.How were they going to get out of here without weapons?“You’re armed.”
“I’m allowed.You aren’t.”
Nix’s body tensed, but aside from that small movement, he didn’t react.
“Fine.”Lance handed over the two guns and the knife he usually had at his back.“Happy?”
The man smiled.“Go through.”
Going through meant going down the corridor of what had once passed for office space at the front and into the cavernous warehouse.The space was filled with dust and litter.They weren’t the first to use it for nefarious purposes, and they wouldn’t be the last.Old oil stains marked the floor, and three of the glass windows high on the side were broken.
In the middle, as though untouched by the mess, stood his mother.
She didn’t look a day over twenty, and she probably had another two decades before life caught up with her.Her white suit and long hair looked more suited to a fancy party than this.But she’d never worried about blood stains as someone else would clean them out.
Lance stopped ten meters away.Not a safe distance—such a thing didn’t exist.“Mother.”
Nix flinched.
“Lance.So nice of you to finally join us.”She didn’t bother with a smile.
Theuswas the men in the shadows, waiting along the walls.The windows were too high to jump to, and the doors were now guarded.How long had his aunt planned for this place to be used for the handover?Or was the warehouse owned by his family in case they had something that needed done in the west?
“So nice of you to come and witness my success.”He shoved Nix to his knees, pretending he didn’t care about the sound his knee bones made as they hit the concrete.“Hadley for your entertainment.”
“Or was he for yours?”She stepped closer.
Lance kept his face fixed.“I studied and learned what my enemy liked.Blonds he can ruin.I baited the hook and landed the fish without bloodshed.”
Nix lowered his gaze to the floor.He was predictable, but then everyone had a type.He’d decided that he liked cute hipsters with hidden knives and an unhealthy fear of sleeping at night.
She checked her watch.“I had planned to have a little fun.”She pulled garden shears out of her handbag and let them dangle from her fingers.
Nix’s hands clenched behind his back.
“But I don’t have time.Someone alerted the cops.”She gave Lance an icy glare.
“Why would I do that, Mother?I want to be blooded.I have done as asked.”
She squatted down.“Look at me, Hadley, and make this go fast, or I will take your meddling fingers.”
Nix didn’t move.Lance did the only thing he could; he grabbed Nix’s hair and jerked his head up.“Do as she says.”
