“Worth it. Some loyalties change, mate. Mine don’t. I back Byrne until the day I meet my maker. If Callum is marchin’ under a different banner, it’ll be hard for me to believe…but you know I’ll never support it. You’ve got at least half that’ll stand behind you.”
I swallowed and my teeth hurt from the pressure. “I need guns.” It wasn’t until it came out of my mouth that I remembered…I have guns. I have everything I pulled outta Kendall’s truck. I don’t especially like killing with them, but I never said I wasn’t a good shot. I’ll plow through whoever gets between me and the first two at the top of my list. Then I can play. And play I fucking will, until they’rebeggingto die.
“Never been so happy to hear you say that shit, Mal. I can get to ya about twenty deep if you’ll wait for us.”
“Not a chance. You’ve got until I finish packin’ my shit if you’re coming. Back me. But you better let ‘em all know that if Pop gets pushed to the top of my hits…if there’s an ounce of hesitation, I’ll fuckin’ kill them too. They offered this blood. I’m just the executioner.”
“Understood.”
Call ended.
I’ve packed up Bridget’s shit, every pointy thing in this house, and I started packing Sev’s stuff because I know…they both left in whatever they were wearing. One of them, in next to nothing—and my shirt. And it better still be on her when I findher, or that demon that likes to play house inside me…he’ll have his time to stretch his legs. Her phone and jewelry sat on the bedside table, and I mindlessly gathered it, about to add it to her duffle, until—
…Until a necklace I haven’t noticed her wearing dangled from the space between my fingers…
It’s a penny. A penny with a four-leaf clover cut into it and a simple silver chain. If what I suspect right now is the truth…Seven is saying a hell of a lot morequiet things. And I just became twice as dangerous. I grit my teeth, shoving the necklace into the pocket of my jeans and finished packing her bag. The Nova is already loaded up with Kendall’s leftover artillery and there’s enough ammunition in here to mow down the whole lower floor. I don’t know shit about the rest of Nolan’s compound, or where to start looking once I get there, but Declan’s already on that. There’s one more person I need to talk to, so that he knows which side of the war he’s sitting on, and which one is about to get him killed.
I slammed the front door behind me, storming out to my car and tossed the bags into the trunk. The GPS is set, and I decided to use Viper’s playlist to try to sing the monster calm. It’s not helping. There’s a knot in my throat the size of my fist and somebody like me getting emotional is averybad thing. Dust kicked up as I spun out of the long, wooded driveway and I worried my lip ring while I tried to blame my stinging eyes on the fact that my windows are down.
“I’m so sorry,” I growled under my breath.
Bridget had told me that she thought Seven could love me the way Poe loved the muse his words were about…and I had told her that I hoped she didn’t. All the while I’ve been sitting here, barging into her life when she had every reason to push me away. The biggest reason being her fucking security, and the safety of her family. I’m a fucking selfishfool. This is my fault. Icouldn’t let Shavonn go. I couldn’t convince myself to walk away from the stranger that reminded me of her while I still had a chance to rein in my crazy. And then I went and fell for her and forced her to do the same, even though I knew.I fucking knew…it was dangerous. And I dragged Bridget down too. The sole person I was born to protect. What a fine job I’ve done of that shit.
Every word and strum of an acoustic guitar rang in my ears until I felt the evidence of my fucking shame run down my cheek. They both deserve better than the cowardice of me wiping it away. I did this. I didallof this. For revenge. For my own gain. For my inability to fucking see reason and leave her alone. My phone rang and I reached over to pause the music from Seven’s phone in her purse. I reached for one phone…but grabbed another. Her burner. The cleaning line. The start of all of this. My brows lowered and I turned the song down instead, answering Declan.
“How many?”
“I’m sorry, Mal. I thought for sure—”
“How fuckingmany, Declan?”
“Three including me. You can’t go in there, Malek. We gotta figure something else out.”I flipped her burner open and smiled viciously at the last message she’d gotten.
“Get me the layout of the house. That’s all I need. You don’t have to come, Dec. I’ll handle this.”
“I’m coming with you even if I have to come alone.”
“Then I’ll see you at the fiery gates, mate.”
“With marshmallows.”
I hung up and decided exactly what kind of army I was bringing to this battle. Nobody does murder like amurderer. I’ll go down the line, ringing every number in this phone and see how much more loyal my own kind are than my fakefamily.
“Miss Black…”
“Simon! It’s Mr. Shamrock.”
CHAPTER 23
The Mortician
My head is pounding. I’m freezing. Something smells like old socks, and my tongue is so dry it reminds me of sandpaper.
“…killed him while you had the chance…”
“…This is better. Look at her.”
My eyes are so heavy, and I honestly could puke. Finally managing to open them, I glanced around a dim room with steel walls. I’m on a dirty ass mattress on the floor. There’s a door leading out, but it’s barred, and I can just make out two figures standing outside of it. My head rolled to the side, and I spotted Bridget on another mattress, pushed up against the opposite wall. She’s not facing me. I’m trying to suppress my panic. It’s not gonna do me a damn bit of good.
