| |
I’D BEEN AWAKE for centuries.
I’d travelled thousands of miles. I’d fought hundreds of battles. I’d lived a million lives in a matter of days.
My brain gasped for rest. My eyes screamed for sleep. But my heart pushed relentlessly toward the end.
“Stop here.”
The taxi driver did as I asked, pulling to a halt beside a grass verge a few metres away from the entrance to Hawksridge. As soon as we’d landed, I’d paid the crew for their fast service and hopped into a taxi.
The flight had gone as planned. Once I’d made phone calls for Tex to gather his enforcements, Flaw to sort out the brothers, and Kill to hide on the grounds and watch from a distance, I’d focused on ensuring my body would continue to obey me and the strength I’d need for the future tasks wouldn’t fail.
I’d eaten and tended to my wounds in the airplane bathroom. I’d patched up my gunshot wound as best I could and added a Band-Aid to the cut on my forehead. I asked the flight crew to give me the first-aid kit and took what pills I could to lower my incessant fever and subdue the aches and pains I didn’t have time to deal with.
When we finally traded air for earth, I wasn’t recharged or ready for carnage, but I was better than I’d been a few hours ago.
I had enough energy to finish this...and then...then I would sleep for a fucking eternity and let others worry about the world for a change.
Nila, I’m coming.
Once she was in my arms, I was never letting her go again.
Looking through the taxi windshield, my eyes widened at the countless cars and SUVs decorating the entrance to the Hall. All of them black and threatening—waiting for commands.
I hope to fuck that’s Tex and his men.
“That’s ten pounds twenty.” The driver twisted in his seat, pointing at the metre.
I threw him twenty quid from the bankroll the captain had given me in exchange for another diamond and climbed out. “Keep the change.”
The driver nodded, shifting into gear and pulling away from the verge. As he drove off, I prowled toward the convoy, peering at men I didn’t recognise.
No, that wasn’t true.
I did recognise them. I recognised the ferocity in their gaze. The merciless stare of a hired killer. I felt their quiet thoughts and slipstream of emotional commitment to a job they’d been hired to do.
I wanted to grab them all in a fucking hug and thank them profusely for being on my side after a lifetime of war.
Vaughn spotted me first.
Nila’s brother careened around a 4WD, pointing his finger in my face. “You. What the fuck is going on?” Gel plastered black hair away from his face; his eyes ready to slaughter me.
Not giving me time to reply, he grabbed his right forearm, shoving it beneath my nose. “What did you do to her? Why do I have an ache in my arm?” Grabbing me by the neck, he growled, “Tell me what the fuck you did to my sister!”
His internal thoughts flew haywire, screeching in fear and fluster.
I held up my hands, submitting to his hold. “Your fight is not with me.” I held my ground as he clenched his fists, tightening his grip. “I didn’t touch her. I love her. I’m on your side, Weaver.”
“Let him go, V.” Tex appeared from around another vehicle, dressed all in black like his son. They truly looked alike, whereas Nila looked very much like Emma. A true family. The only thing my family had in common was insanity and golden eyes.
Damn genetics.
Damn contracts and debts and greed.
Vaughn bared his teeth, ignoring his father. “I asked you a question, Hawk. I said what the fuck is going on? I didn’t ask if you’re on our side. That’s debatable, and we’ll make up our own minds without you telling us thank you very fucking much.”
I dropped my hands, my fingers itching for one of the guns holstered to the men slowly surrounding us. Each man held an arsenal on his body, fully equipped for battle and not afraid of firepower or injury.
My back ached from bowing with my neck in a headlock, but I wouldn’t fight. I refused to fight with the Weavers anymore. “Let me go.”
“No. Not until you talk.”
“We’re going to end this.” My voice sounded tired to my ears, but truth rang loud. “That’s what’s going on.”
V shook with anger. “Where’s my sister?”
“At the Hall.”
“Is she safe?” Tex asked, his aging face strained but resolute. In a different world, I would’ve liked Nila’s father. His inner thoughts were gentle and quiet—almost like Kes with the ability to switch off overwhelming hate or happiness, living a mediocre life of monitored emotions. Unlike Kes, who’d learned to hide in order to live a better existence, I doubted Textile did it for fun.
My suspicions were he kept his true feelings locked away, padlocked and buried, so he didn’t have to deal with a daily drowning of sorrow and regret of losing the women of his family.
Surprisingly, there was no guilt. He’d allowed me to take Nila with no fight or fury. He should feel some patina of shame for handing over his daughter, even if he’d been trained to do exactly that. There was more to his defeat than he let on. Something lurked on the outskirts of his thoughts...wrapped up in flickering pride and solemn dignity at something he’d done where Nila was concerned.
What did he do?
Vaughn suddenly released me, pushing me away from him and rubbing his forearm. “She’s hurt. I feel her—always did.”
My eyes shot to his, appreciating the twin-link he and Nila shared more than he knew. He might feel her physically, but I felt her emotionally. And he was right, she was hurt.
Tex sucked in a heavy breath, his large shoulders rolling beneath stress. I made a note to ask him what he’d done when this was all over. I wanted to know his secrets. I had a feeling he held the answers to a lot of loose ends.
But now is not the time.
Nila.
We’d stalled enough.
Is she safe? Are you safe, Nila? Please, be fucking safe.
I shook my head. “We need to go. You’re right, she’s hurt. My father broke her arm, and I have no doubt he means to do more than that. That’s why we have to move fast.”
“What!?” V’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You’ll pay, Hawk. I’ll make you pay for every injury Threads has endured because of your fucking family.”
My heart pattered irregularly—my rhythm always struggled when faced with such overwhelming emotion. “I’ll pay whatever you want, Weaver. But for now, we have to work together.” Eyeing up the cars, I counted eight in total. At least two men to a car, so sixteen men.
Sixteen men to kill Cut and whatever brothers remained patriotic to him. I didn’t relish the thought of killing club members who’d served beneath me for years, but maybe I wouldn’t have to if Flaw managed to separate the loyal from the traitors.
I cocked my chin at the silent mercenaries. “They work for you?”
Tex nodded. “I told you I’d hired help. I found them before you came to take Nila.”
My nostrils flared. “Before?”
If he had them before, why not use them to protect Nila from ever falling into my hands?
Tex swallowed, looking away. “I meant after you took Nila. I gathered an army. I won’t let you take another of my loved ones, Hawk. I won’t.”
His slip-up and sudden lie to switch timelines didn’t make sense. There was no one else to take. Nila was the firstborn girl. We never went after Weaver sons.
So what is he hiding?
Pushing aside my curiosity, I nodded. “I know. And you won’t have to.” Searching for the ringleader, discarding ex-Army and Marines by the way they held their shoulders and weapons, I ordered, “Who’s in charge here?”
Vaughn stomped closer, poking his annoying finger in my chest. “We are, motherfucker.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine, if that’s how you want to play it. How about you give them orders on how best to infiltrate. If you know where Cut will have Nila and how to get inside the estate undetected, be my fucking guest.”
Tex growled under his breath. “Watch it. We’re tolerating you right now. Doesn’t mean we’ve agreed to be your taskforce when you’ve already taken so much. We’re here for Nila and that’s it. You hear me?”
I swiped a hand over my face. “If you’re here for Nila, prove it. She’s in trouble. The longer we stand here comparing dick sizes, the worse she’ll need help.” Spreading my arms, I snarled, “You decide. You want my insider knowledge so this goes well or would you rather do things your way and risk Nila dying and yourself in the crossfire?”
Tension smouldered between us, itching for a naked flame to incinerate.
Tex looked at Vaughn. They shared a silent conversation until finally Tex exhaled heavily. “Fine. We agree to cooperate.”
“Good.” I crossed my arms. “I’m in control from here on out. I’m the only one who knows where to go, how to get in, and what we need to do.”
“Like fuck you are. I’ve stayed in your house of horrors. I know enough to guess—”
Tex placed his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Enough, V. Let him. I just want my daughter back, and if he says he can do that, then...let him get her back.” Twisting to face an elderly man with a black beanie on his head, Tex motioned him to come forward. “Change of plans, Dec. Follow Hawk’s orders. Let’s move out.”
* * * * *
The silent journey through the estate twisted me with fear.
The driveway went on for a fucking eternity, revealing our black line of cars clearly. I just hoped Cut was busy elsewhere and didn’t look out the south-facing windows onto the sweeping vista as we crept over Hawksridge.
Rolling hills and soft dirt hindered but didn’t slow; we chewed up distance, bringing me closer to Nila and my dreaded birthright.
I rode with the ringleader, Declan. He’d given me his resume in a few short bullet points.
Retired military.
Awarded service.
Highly trained and skilled with the best men loyalty and money could buy.
Sitting with him, I suffered flashbacks of hunting animals for food and sport. For someone like me—someone who felt not just human emotions but even the emotions of the basest of creatures—I struggled to hunt like a normal, unfeeling being.
Cut knew that.
He’d forced me to hunt until I could switch off the panic of the prey and focus on the joy of the predator.
It’d been one of his most valuable lessons.
Focus on the hawk stalking the rabbit, not the rabbit running for its life.
Focus on the dog’s infectious joy bounding after a deer, not the deer galloping from death.
Those two parallels had been so fucking hard to choose between, but I’d done it. I’d even been so successful, the predator’s joy infected me enough for hunting to become almost...fun.
And now I was on another hunt. About to hurt others, about to feel their pain.
But I could do it because I was the beast, not the quarry. And I was surrounded by men who focused on the same sweet victory.
That was all I needed to know. I trusted Declan and his men. I just hoped they’d be enough if the Black Diamonds decided to fight against us.
I hope Flaw came through.
I didn’t want bloodshed. The Hall had seen enough fucking death. I wanted to end terror without more of it. But I was prepared for either scenario.
Hawksridge appeared above us, watching us with its impressive turrets and spires. The ancient building had been my home all my life. The grounds had been my salvation. The animals, my lifeblood.
I’d grown up running away from this place, but now, I wanted to turn my legacy around. I would rule a different dynasty from the one Cut envisioned, and I would do it on my own terms with Nila by my side.
Pointing at a service track—an un-tarmacked path with weeds growing through pebbles, I said, “Follow that road. It’ll cut across the chase and head in behind the main entrance. We might prevent being seen a little longer.”
Hawksridge sat perched on a hill. The design was deliberate for times of war and protection from enemies who might try to topple the estate. No ambush could happen. No entrapment. We would be seen—it was a matter of time. I just didn’t want to show my hand before we were close enough to launch an attack.
Where are you, Nila?
Was she with Bonnie on the third floor?
Was she with Cut on the fourth?
Or was she already in the ballroom on the ground floor, on her knees and about to become the latest stain in a horrendous basket?
“Step on the gas.” My order lurched us forward, tyres grinding gravel, skidding around bends and hurling us closer to the awaiting battleground.
I’d deliberately chosen to travel with two mercenaries and not Nila’s brother or father. I needed to keep my head clear and I couldn’t do that with Vaughn’s emotions bouncing kamikaze in his skull or Textile’s secrets gnawing a hole in my patience.
No one talked as we pulled to a stop by the stables. A wash of homesickness crippled me. Not for the Hall but for Wings. Being around so many people set my nerves on edge. My condition flickered with intensity and numbness. One moment, I was blank from sensory overload, and the next, I’d succumb to frivolous things of what the men would do afterward, what they planned to do during.
People saw fellow humans as respectful and civilized. Only, I knew the truth.
They were as animalistic as they’d been hundreds of years ago. Inner thoughts and unspoken quips painted them as vindictive, selfish, and focused on things that should never be revealed aloud.
It almost made me happy to know I wasn’t as terrible as I’d feared. I was normal. I was human. I had faults and flaws and fears, but despite all of those, I tried to be better, bolder, and braver than I truly was.
And that was what made right triumph over wrong.
Isn’t it?
At least, I hoped so.
The convoy rolled to a stop, and Dec gave the order to leave the cars behind. Boots landed on gravel, and car doors quietly closed. Concentration levels of the men added to the cauldron of emotions, and I wiped away a combination of fever and sweat from trying not to listen.
Once Nila was safe and Hawksridge secured, I would need to be alone. I knew the symptoms of system failure. I knew when I’d reached my limit. A wash of nausea climbed up my gullet, and my hands shook as I wrapped fingers around the gun Dec handed me.
I was borderline.
Overtiredness and over-empathy would end up killing me if I didn’t kill Cut soon.
“Come on.” I waved for the men to line up behind me, a black line patrolling from the stables toward the Hall.
Leaving the cars behind, I guided the men up the hill toward the house. We stuck to the trees as much as possible, moving in short waves. Weapons were drawn as we crested the hill and made our final descent.
I didn’t say a word, too focused on seeking weakness and attack points of my family’s home. I searched the shadows for Kill and his men, trying to see where they hid, but spotted no one.
The closer we got to the Hall, the more my heart pounded.
V and Tex shadowed my every move and luck kept us shrouded long enough to sidle up to the ancient architecture and fan out around the buttresses of Hawksridge.
Left or right?
I couldn’t decide.
Dining room wing or staircase leading to boudoirs and parlours?
The wind howled over the orchard, sounding like someone screamed.
I froze; my head tilted toward the dining room wing...the ballroom wing.
The noise came again.
Haunting.
Lamenting.
Dragging chills over my flesh.
It came again, shrill and cut short.
It wasn’t the wind.
Fuck surprise.
Fuck the regimented ambush.
Fuck everything.
Nila!
I held my gun aloft and charged.
