Allies

chapter Three

Priest

“ Have you heard anything?” Lucien asks as soon as I walk into the kitchen at the ghost house.

It’s been three days since Beast stormed out of Doc’s makeshift hospital.

“No, nothing yet.” Even though I’ve called Robert and left countless voicemails in the last three days, I have yet to get a call back from him.

I’m starting to worry a little. It’s not like Robert to disappear without a trace or to go without responding to my calls. I admit, I’ve never had to call in a favor before, but he would still answer for me.

“Any luck finding Beast?” I ask Lucien.

He’s been on Beast duty since he left that day. Although I would’ve liked to have followed him and brought him back immediately, my intuition and years of dealing with Beast told me to give him his space. Something is off with my son. I’ve seen him amid his haze many times. I’ve watched him battle his mother and although she is ruthless, he’s always been able to control her. But whoever is in his head now is proving to be a much stronger adversary and much more dangerous.

“No,” Lucien says answering my question. “But so far there have been three disciples, and two deacons reported dead. At least we know he’s still around the area.”

“When will they learn,” I say shaking my head. “Approaching Beast now is a death warrant. He’s not himself.”

Lucien nods his head. Hearing about the brutal ways those Church members have been showing up shows me that Beast is far from okay.

“How is little Gabe?” Lucien asks, distracting me from my thoughts.

Pulling the chair out across from him at the table, I take a seat.

For the first time since I walked into the kitchen, a smile spreads over my face. The best thing about these three days has been the time I’ve spent with my grandson. Other than the first night he got here, he’s adapted well to me and his uncles.

We don’t fault him for his breakdown that first night. He was in a new house with strangers and off his routine. It was a lot of change in a short period of time. Not to mention his mom hasn’t woken up and his father is missing. Anyone would have struggled with that.

The kid is super fucking smart, funny, and easy to hang with. He’s not demanding and doesn’t talk much. He seems to just enjoy being in someone’s presence.

“He’s good,” I answer Lucien’s question. “A lot happier now that his mom is back under the same roof as him.”

Yesterday, we were finally able to move Summer from Doc’s to the ghost house. The pain meds she’s on have her in and out. She sleeps most of the day.

Lucien and I both turn to the kitchen door at the sound of footsteps. Maksim walks in. He’s wearing a black tank top and basketball shorts. It’s a bit weird how much he and Beast favor. It isn’t just their looks that are so much alike. Yes, they share the same eyes, but it’s more of their demeanor that is alike. He even walks the same way Beast does. However, one thing is completely different, Maksim isn’t as standoffish as his brother.

“How’s Summer?” I ask.

Even though Beast has not shown up, Maksim has proudly taken his brother’s place at Summer’s side. He sits with her every day, talking and reading to her.

“Same as the day before,” he says in his accent. “Doc says he will wean her off the meds tomorrow. She’s going to be asking for him.”

He doesn’t have to explain who he is.

“She’s still calling out his name in her sleep?” I ask.

It is the most heartbreaking thing to witness. She cries for him and he’s not there to console her.

“Yes. More frequently now,” Maksim says grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge. He twists off the top before guzzling the liquid down.

I understood Beast’s need to be away from us. Whatever is in his head wants to kill us. It was made clear at Doc’s when he nearly stabbed me. I know he’s keeping his distance for our safety. But I also know that he needs to be here. His family needs him.

“I feel like we need to be doing something,” Lucien says pushing his laptop away from him.

“So far, we can’t find Beast and you haven’t been able to get in contact with Robert. I feel like we’re just twiddling our thumbs.”

“We are being smart, Twin. Rushing out there now with no plan and no idea what we’re up against is stupid. We’re smarter than that.”

“Yeah, well you don’t have a pregnant wife that needs to see her OBGYN.” I turn at the sound of Hawk’s voice.

He, Many, and Zel are at the entrance of the kitchen.

“He’s right, Priest. Malia and Ari both need to see their doctors too. Malia is in her second trimester and Ari isn’t far behind,” Lucien adds.

“Not until we figure out what we are up against.”

The guys sigh, letting out their frustration.

“Look, in all honesty…” Lucien’s words get cut off when my phone rings in my pocket.

I quickly pull the device out and hold it up to my ear.

“This is Priest.”

“Well, hello, young Nathaniel. It’s been a while.” Robert’s voice comes through the phone.

“Where the hell have you been?” I say through clenched teeth.

He chuckles. “I was out of the country. I’m assuming you’re about to cash in one of those favors.”

“You bet your ass. We need to talk about—"

“Not over the phone.” He cuts me off abruptly. “My flight just landed. Meet me at the house in Boxwood in an hour.”

The phone goes dead, letting me know he’s disconnected. Placing my phone back in my pocket, I turn to the boys,

“You want action, we got it. Suit up, we’re going out.”

We were out of the house in twenty minutes. Hawk and Many stayed home with the women. Even though Albany, Ari, and Ms. Reese are highly trained, I still didn’t trust leaving them alone at the house. As I told the boys, we still have no idea what we are up against.

Exactly an hour after getting off the phone with Robert, we pulled up to his Tudor style mansion in the suburbs not far outside of NYC.

I step out of the Charger, and button my suit coat. Glancing around, I check out my surroundings. Everything looks clear. The street is mostly vacant. A white Hummer is parked on the side of the road two houses down, but there is no one inside.

Seth comes over to stand beside me by the front of the car.

“Is it just me, or does it seem exceptionally quiet out here?”

It definitely wasn’t just him. The silence and the empty street caught my eye as well.

“Let’s get inside,” I say.

The three of them followed me up to the front door. Before I knock, I realize the door is slightly ajar.

I look over my shoulder, and without a word, I tell them to get out their guns. Pulling my Beretta out of my back holster, I slip the safety off and hold the gun out in front of me. We frame the door, two on each side.

Using my foot, I open the front door. Silence greets us. I give the nod that I’ll go in first. I walk through the door, my gun pointed out. Seth comes in behind me.

At first glance the house looks normal. Nothing seems out of place. However, on closer inspection I notice a single drop of blood in front of the closed office door.

“This doesn’t look good,” Maksim says, standing behind me.

I didn’t respond. Instead, I push the door open and step into the office. The sight before me is so graphic, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought Beast had been here.

“Oh shit,” Zel says, turning away from the sight.

“Not bad work,” Seth adds, stepping up beside me. “A little overkill with the tongue.”

Nailed to the wall, as if he was portraying Jesus on the cross, is a naked and bruised Robert. His head hangs down between his shoulder blades. His tongue has been removed from his mouth and is now nailed to the wall beside his head. But the most alarming part are the words written in what I assume is his blood on the wall above his head. No More . The initials VC are signed beneath it.

“Victoria,” Maksim says somberly beside me. “Outside of me, she and Yohan are Corbyn’s most trusted. He must have found out his brother has been the one helping you.”

“How did he figure that out?” I ask.

“I’m assuming the phone call.” I turn to look at Zel. He’s holding up a smashed cell phone in his hand.

“Fuck,” Seth roars. “That was our only hope of getting out of this shit.”

Staring up at the mutilated body of a person I once considered a friend, I don’t have the heart to tell my son that he’s right. If we were ever going to get our names off that excommunication order and figure out how to take down Corbyn, Robert was it. Now we are back to ground zero.

Before I could say anything, the large, picturesque window in Robert’s office cracks and bullets fly in.

We all take cover. I jump behind the solid oak desk. Maksim slides behind the end of the bookshelf to my right. Seth leaps over the bar in front of me.

“Zel,” I call out.

“I’m here. I’m good.”

I can’t see him because he’s somewhere behind me.

“Maksim, Seth?”

“I’m good,” Maksim says.

“Flesh wound,” Seth groans. “But I’m good.”

“Did anyone get a visual of the shooter?”

“No,” all three say at the same time.

I peek around the side of the desk and once again bullets fly through the window, this time shattering the glass. I slide back just in time to avoid being shot.

Fuck, who the hell is shooting at us. Flipping around onto my knees I keep my body blocked by the side of the desk as I hold my gun up ready to aim if I need to. Slowly, I peek over the top of the desk.

“Is that a drone?” Maksim asks at the same time I get sight of the shooter.

Sure enough, a black drone hovers over the front yard. It’s unlike any drone you would find in a store. The size of a large remote-control car, it’s shaped like a rectangle with three sets of spinning blades. The damn thing looks like one of those military choppers.

“Fucking, Tech,” Seth grumbles.

“Who is Tech?”

“A member of the Church,” I explain to Maksim. “He’s most likely here to collect on the excommunication order.”

“Wait, I thought you guys were popular at the Church?”

At this, Zel, Twins, and I all laugh.

“You guys were poorly misinformed,” Zel says shaking his head. He’s standing on the other side of the window, his back to the wall.

“We were hard to digest for most,” I try to explain. “Some hated us for our unconventional bond and others hated us because they simply couldn’t compare.”

“Well, Tech hates us because Lucien hacked into one of his drones when we were kids and found a video of him jacking off to My Little Pony porn. He broadcasted the video in the cafeteria the next day. We all called Tech, Twilight Sparkle Cock for the next few years,” Seth shakes his head. “Don’t know why he would still be mad though.”

I roll my eyes at Seth. Turning my attention back to the window and the drone, I keep my focus on the machine.

A crackling sound like the pushback from a microphone comes out of the drone before a computerized voice speaks.

“Twins, Priest, and Zel, come out with your hands up. Don’t make this difficult.”

I scoff. One of the things I expected with this excommunication order was that a lot of agents would bank on gaining clout from capturing us. Agents that usually wouldn’t get any respect would attempt to make a name for themselves by taking us down. It’s why so many keep approaching Beast even though they know they shouldn’t. They think the benefits outweigh the risks. They will learn their lesson the hard way.

“Twin, how the hell do we get rid of that thing?” I ask over my shoulder as I keep my eyes on the drone. For now, it continues to hover outside the window.

"According to Lucien, the entire body is made from indestructible metal. Trying to get a bullet to penetrate the body is useless. However, he says there is a small hole on the top of the drone. It will be where the red light is.”

Peeking over the top of the desk, I get a quick glance at the red light before the bullets start to fire once again. I duck back down.

“Can anybody get a clear shot of that damn light?”

“Not me,” Zel says from his spot from the side of the window.

“Anytime one of us peeks out that damn thing shoots,” Maksim growls.

It takes me a second to come up with a plan.

“Seth, feel like being a target?”

Seth grumbles. “Fine, but you got only one chance at this.”

“It’s all I need,” I gloat.

Repositioning myself behind the desk, I prepare to get up.

“Now,” I shout to Seth.

I can only hear the movement of Seth behind me as he draws the attention of the drone. The drone starts to shoot at Seth. I jump up from my spot and fire my weapon. Immediately, the drone stops shooting and then starts to spin in circles before dropping to the ground.

“Are you good Seth?”

“Yeah. It missed,” he replies.

Before I could get excited and celebrate in our victory, two more appear, firing round after round at us. I drop back behind the desk.

“Fuck, how many of those things does he have?” Maksim shouts over the noise.

“Knowing Tech, probably fifty,” Seth replies.

This time the bullets continued to rain into the room.

“How the hell are we going to get out of here?” Zel asks over the loud sound of gunshots pinging off the walls and furniture.

Before I can reply, the bullets suddenly stop. I look up over the desk and the drones have both dropped to the ground.

“Are they malfunctioning?” Maksim asks.

Just then a body comes flying into the office knocking the rest of the glass out the window. We all duck down. Once the coast seems to be clear, I stand back up, gun aimed at the window. Lying on top of the desk is the body of Tech. The claw edge of a hammer is lodged in his mutilated face.

“What the hell?” Zel asks.

I look back up at the window to find Beast standing there. He still has on the same clothes he wore the day he walked out of the hospital. His blonde hair is hanging down in his face, covering most of his features.

He doesn’t speak for a long moment. He just stares back at us, breathing heavily.

“You okay?” I finally ask.

He turns his head to the side slightly. The same way he did back at the house when we found Summer. I glance over to Maksim. He’s staring at his brother as if he too is trying to get a read on him.

“I need to come home,” Beast finally says.

My shoulders immediately drop. I had no idea how much tension I was holding until he spoke.

“Absolutely, son. You can come home.”

He nods his head and steps through the window, ducking down to get his large body through the shattered glass.

“How did you find us?” Zel asks Beast.

He takes a small black phone out of his pocket. “I took it off one of the Disciples I killed. They broadcast any sightings of us through an app. Tech spotted your car from a traffic light. He sent out the message, but told everyone it was his kill.”

I run a hand over my head. “Fuck, can they trace us back to the ghost house?”

“No. They’ve only been watching the city, but we should definitely dump your car.”

“Wait. Dump whose car?” I ask. “Not my got damn Charger.”

Seth pats me on the shoulder. I turn to glare at him. “Sorry, old man. You’re going to have to get rid of your first love.”

The shit I do for these fuckers.

“Fine. But we’re going to need some new wheels to get back home.”

“I got us covered,” Beast says.

As much as I hated to get rid of my Charger, I knew that it was too well known in the Church community, and it could jeopardize all of us. Despite knowing all of this, it still pissed me off that I had to get rid of the car.

“I think we can chalk this outing up to a bust,” Maksim says coming up behind me. “I can guarantee that Victoria swept this house clean. No need to linger. There will be no information left behind.”

I assumed as much. Corbyn didn’t seem like the type of person that would leave something behind to make it easy for us. I glance over at Roberts’ body sprawled across the wall once again. The man was good to me. From the moment he got me into the Church to the moment he sent me to get Beast and my many years as a member of the Church. Despite how we were introduced, he was a good man. He didn’t deserve the death he was dealt. I would do all that I could to make the person responsible pay for it.

True to his word, Beast had his chop shop guy come and get the Charger and bring us another car. After glancing over my shoulder one last time at my baby, the five of us loaded into a got damn minivan and headed back to the ghost house. On the way back home, Lucien swept all the traffic cameras in the city clean of us.