Ezra makes a move to respond, but I quickly cut him off. “Wait, what am I thinking?” I hiss, shaking my head. “Of course you killed her. It’s who you are. You don’t a give a fuck about the people you hurt or the damage you cause, all you care about is yourself.”
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as the tears pour harder. I don’t care how weak I look or how much my voice shakes. After all the pain he caused, he needs to hear this. All of this. “I slept in your room today,” I confess as I visibly swallow, “because I felt so broken that I thought just being closer to you would make me feel better. Isn’t that fucking pathetic?”
He says nothing, so I continue. “But I see who you are so clearly now. You never healed me. You never made me feel better. You never made me feel loved. You changed me. You made me numb to your violence. You made me forget about all the things that make me human. And the fucked up thing is, I wanted so badly for you to love me that I was willing to do anything to be your equal. To show you how strong and how ruthless I could be. Just so I could walk hand in hand with your monster and show the entire world we belonged together. But you know what? I was wrong. The truth is, there’s no hope for you, Ezra Cole. You’re a sick, sadistic killer and no amount of love or acceptance from anyone will ever change that. I regret ever meeting you. I regret wasting my time on you. And I regret turning into the monster you always wanted me to be. ”
I stare at Ezra and wait for him to respond. Part of me wants him to deny it. To grab me by shoulders, shake me, and scream that it wasn’t him. That I got it all wrong and that he’ll do whatever it takes to prove it. But his expression is as cold as ever and as he moves closer to me, I can almost feel the ice radiating off of him.
“You’re right.” He hisses, cocking his head as he slowly backs me into a wall. “I am a monster, but I’ve never pretended to be anything else. You’re the one that thought you could change me. That I would magically transform into some prince that’ll come through and save the day. But that’ll never be me, and it isn’t my responsibility to live up to some warped ideology of who you want me to be. You may be right about who I am and all the things I’ve done, but you’re wrong about one thing. I never wanted you to be a monster. That you did all on your own. I’ve accepted the blood on my hands, Angel, your sister’s included. But when the fuck are you going to accept yours?”
As soon as I hear the confession fall from his lips, I stop listening. I’ve heard enough and hearing anymore will only make it hurt more. Ezra walks away, leaving me alone in the hallway to deal with the damage he caused.
His door slams shut, and I sink to the floor. I wrap my arms around my knees and slowly rock myself as my tears continue to pour.He did it.He actually fucking did it. Ezra killed my little sister. Pain slices into me as the reality of his betrayal hits me over and over again. I trusted him. I trusted all of them.How could I be so fucking stupid?
I look around the hallway, and the sudden need to escape hits me hard. I don’t belong here. I shake myself out of my sadness and force myself up to my feet.No.I think to myself, shaking the tears away.No more crying. You’ve already wasted so many tears on men you barely knew. Don’t let Alex’s death be in vain. Get the fuck out of here now, before it’s too late.
Stuffing my emotions back down, I rush into my room, grab my duffel bag, fill it with as many necessities as I can think of, put my sneakers on, and storm right back out. If I stay any longer, it’ll be even harder to leave.
I race down the stairs and head straight for the back door. After my first failed escape attempt, I figured out a better route. I never thought I’d have to use it, but it’s just another sign of how drastically things have changed.
Once I make it into the backyard, I slip past the servants’ quarters, scale the back access gate, and enter the lush forest surrounding the estate. There’s only about two miles of trees until I hit the main highway, but the only way I’ll be able to make it down the hill is with some outside help.
Shit.I can’t do this alone. Pulling out my phone, I scroll through my messages to find the number I never saved. The one I thought I’d never need again.
Me:Hey. I know it’s late and I’m probably the last person you want to hear from, but something happened and I have no one else to turn to. Will you help me?
As I findmy way through the forest, I keep the message app open, willing for those three little grey dots to pop up. Twenty minutes pass and I’ve all but given up hope on getting a response. It’s almost 3:30 AM, and it was dumb for me to assume they’d even want to help me again after everything that’s happened. Just as I’m about to slip my phone back into my pocket, it buzzes, and a message pops up on the screen.
Unknown Number:Sure. Where are you?
Twenty-One
Tonight was supposedto be a quiet night, but when Dimitri’s involved, it never is. After we pulled Stevie out of that fucking interrogation room, Dimitri sent Atlas a text requesting to hold a last-minute meeting at Hell’s Tavern tonight. Atlas could’ve said no, but that would’ve forced us to travel to another syndicate’s sanctuary. And after finding Dimitri so close to our girl, none of us were comfortable leaving her alone. Even Ezra, who’s been keeping his distance, agreed to head back to the house and keep an eye on her. I still can’t believe Dimitri got her in his clutches, and all four of us missed the signs.
“I can’t believe you okayed this shit.” Cyrus hisses, cutting his eyes at Atlas and we vacate his office and head downstairs.
Atlas says nothing in response, but the empty expression on his face speaks volumes. He doesn’t want this meeting to happen any more than we do.
The three of us step onto the main floor of Hell’s Tavern and it feels like we’re walking into a battlefield. It’s just after 4 AM and even with all of our customers gone, the air in the room feels stifling. We step towards our lounge, and it’s as if every eye in the room is following us. It’s fucking unnerving. We may be on home turf, but it’s hard to feel completely at ease with so many killers filling our booths.
Once we reach our section, we settle into the blue velvet couches and quietly assess our company. Given the short four-hour notice, I’m surprised to see representatives of every west coast syndicate in attendance. The Immortals of Portland. The Brotherhood in San Francisco. The Devil's Disciples of Los Angeles. Even The Forsaken of Seattle made it in time.
Like us, none of them wear any obvious markers showing their affiliations, but I spot each crew’s leader with no problem. Being head of security means it’s my job to keep tabs on everybody, including our allies. After all, the thin line between enemy and friend often blurs in our line of business.
Everyone made it on time, but no one looks happy about it. Even Dimitri’s ex-crew looks irritated. He must’ve not bothered to clue them in on his plans, either.
It’s just after 4:20 AM when the man of the hour finally strolls in.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Dimitri says, taking off his jacket and hanging it over a chair. “Something unexpected came up.”
The way he throws a pointed glare at our table elicits a flicker of rage in all of us. If we didn't know that Ezra was watching her like a fucking hawk right now, that shit would've sent us into a frenzy.
“Thank you all for agreeing to meet on such short notice.” He continues, offering everyone in the room a menacing smile. Dimitri knows none of us have a real say in the manner. If we get a text from the West Coast leader, we have no choice but to answer.
“The Reapers have been hospitable enough to offer their space as a meeting point and I want you all to know that tonight, this is a neutral space.”
“Cut to the chase, Mitri.” Alek, The head of The Immortals, calls out. “Where’s your father and what is this all about?”
Guess we weren't the last ones to find out about Oleg’s passing, after all.
