New Allies

chapter Twenty-four

Beast

T he car ride to the cemetery is silent. It’s been four days since Doc made the announcement about Priest.

The ghost house has not been the same. Many hasn’t spoken a word since that day. We haven’t seen or heard from Seth. Zel has been locked away in his room. Even Hawk has been quieter than usual. And Albany…. I’ve never seen anyone as broken as her.

I’ve been so thankful for Summer and Malia. They both stepped in to handle all the arrangements. Priest had mostly everything taken care of as far as the burial went. He even picked out the cemetery and the plot. But there were a few things that needed to be dealt with, and Summer and Malia were the only ones in a clear enough mindset to deal with it.

“I miss Grandpa Priest,” Gabe says in the quiet car.

I swallow hard. The bond Priest and Gabe formed in such a short time was incredible. I never thought he would ever get the chance to experience the relationship we had with him.

“I know, baby,” Summer says behind me.

“I never got my nickname.”

My heartbreaks even more. I shut my eyes and try to breathe. “You failed them,” the dark voice whispers. “ You should have taken the shot. You let them all down.”

The guilt of my actions has weighed heavy on me in the last few days. The demon voice is back. I’ve been trying to talk to Alicia to keep it at bay, but my guilt seems to bring him out. It’s how he came out the first time after Summer was shot. Although no one has said anything to me, I know they all feel it. I know they all think that I was the one with Priest when it happened. I should have protected him.

“Are you well, brother?”

I look over to find Maksim watching me. He’s been doing it a lot lately. I don’t open my mouth to respond. Instead, I dip my chin to my chest.

He turns back to the road before glancing in the rearview mirror.

“Do not worry, little nephew. I will give you a nickname when the time comes.”

I glance over my shoulder to look at Gabe. He nods, but I can tell he isn’t happy about Maksim’s words.

“If his father had done his part, he wouldn’t have to settle.” Fisting my hands in my lap, I shut my eyes to once again fight against the dark voice in my head.

“Who are all these people?” Summer’s voice brings me back to the here and now.

One of the biggest issues we had with burying Priest, was keeping everything quiet. We still had an excommunication order on our heads. But there was no way we weren’t going to bury our father.

Maksim pulls the black SUV to a stop behind the one in front of us. In the car with me are Maksim, Summer, and Gabe. In front of us, Many, Ari, Zel, Emory, and Phoenix who flew back three days ago. Brooklyn, Fem, Hawk, Lucien, Malia, Charlie, and Ms. Reese are in the first SUV.

“Do you know these people?” Maksim asks.

Glancing around at the men and women in all black, I growl.

“Stay in the car, Summer.” I grab the gun at my back and climb out of the SUV.

“Gabriel, please,” she pleads.

Yes, I could be climbing out to my death. But the rage brewing in me right now seeing these members of the Church at Priest’s funeral had me ready to face death head on.

“I got him,” I heard Maksim say. “Stay down.”

He climbs out with me. The doors to the SUVs in front of us open. All my brothers climbed out. I can tell by the expression on their faces they are just as pissed as I am. Maksim rounds the car to my side.

Bishop Gates leads the pack of Church members. Alongside him are three other men that I have never seen before. My brothers and I draw our weapons, aiming them at the crowd.

Gates holds his hands up. “We come in peace,” he says looking at all of us. We have yet to drop our weapons. “Today you are burying a friend, a brother,” his voice catches on the last word. “A father, and a damn good man. We are here to make sure that he gets the burial he deserves. You can relax, boys. You are amongst allies.”

Hawk’s arm drops first, followed by everyone else. I’m the last to put my arm down.

The three guys I’ve never met before step forward. All three are tall, but not as tall as me. One has short blonde hair and scars on his face. The second younger looking one has dark brown hair and as many tattoos as Seth. The other one is a business type guy with the same dark hair with brown eyes.

The business guy holds out a hand toward me. I shake it.

“My name is Niccolo Basille, I’m a friend of Priest. These are my brothers, Salvito Delgado and Kazimir. Our oldest brother Mason couldn’t make it. However, he sends his condolences and his own personal guards.” He points to the men up on the hill with large guns.

“We wanted to make sure that Priest was put away with all the respect he deserves.”

I nod, thankful for their help.

“How long have you known Priest?” Lucien asks beside me.

Niccolo smiles. “We all met him when we were young boys. What age do you think we were, Vito?”

The guy with the tattoos chuckles. “I might’ve been about five or six.”

Church recruits? But they aren’t members of the Church and they damn sure didn’t come in under Priest because he never had another class.

“We appreciate the fire power and you guys joining us today,” Maksim says.

“Between their guys and ours,” Cardinal Taylor says. “We have the cemetery covered. If anybody steps on this land with the intent to cause problems, they won’t live to see another day.”

“Thank you,” Lucien says. “I know Priest would appreciate this.” His voice cracks at the end of his sentence.

“He would do the same thing for all of us,” Bishop Gates says.

They step back making a pathway to the burial site. I turn around and open the back door. Summer steps out first and then she turns to get Gabe out. She picks him up and he buries his face in her shoulder. After shutting the door, I take him from his mother. He looks me in the eyes as the first tear falls. He swipes it away.

“I’ll be brave, Hulk.”

I shut my eyes and inhale before opening them back up to stare at him.

“Not today, Gabe. Today, you don’t have to be brave.”

He nods his head as his tears start to fall freely. Grabbing Summer’s hand, I walk over to my brothers. Brooklyn is on one side of Albany and Pheonix is on the other side of her. She’s holding onto Charlie as she visibly shakes with her sobs. We follow behind her as we walk over to Priest’s casket.

I didn’t hear most of the things the priest said. I don’t even know if anyone got up and spoke on his behalf. My mind was blank as I stared at the black casket with gold trim. My father, the man that made me who I am, was gone. A part of me was going with him.

As I stared, I made a vow to him. I vowed that I would avenge him, and then I would join him. If my father could not be here to be with his family, then neither should I. I was the reason he was there. I didn’t deserve the happiness he couldn’t have.

Summer’s hand tightens around mine. I look over at her. Her eyes are red, but they stare at me with so much concern. It’s almost as if she could hear my thoughts. As much as I loved her, I knew that I would have to break my promise to her. I told her I wouldn’t leave her again, but I had to. I couldn’t stay on this side with her. My guilt would never allow it.

Instead of telling her that, I squeeze her hand back and drop a kiss on her forehead. When I lean back up, I shift Gabe in my lap. I would make sure they were taken care of before I go.

We all stand when the priest tells us to. The cemetery workers hand the women with us a rose. They all walk over to the casket and toss them into the hole as they lower Priest’s body down. Summer walks back over to me and grabs my hand. I set Gabe down when Emory comes up beside me. She takes his hand after handing him a rose. They both walk hand and hand over to the hole and toss their flowers inside. The last one to walk over to the casket is Albany.

She still has Charlie in her arms. She clutches her rose to her chest. Her body shakes as she sobs. When the cries break away from her closed lips. My tears start to fall.

“Please, God. I can’t,” she pleads. “You can’t leave me, Nathaniel. You can’t,” she sobs.

Her body starts to tremble. I recognize it before it happens. Releasing Summer’s hand, I rush to Albany’s side. My self and my brothers all get to her at the same time. She collapses to the ground, but we are all there to grab her. She lets out a gut-wrenching sob.

“You can’t leave us. You can’t leave Charlie,” she repeats.

We wrapped our arms around her. I looked into my brothers’ faces and there was nothing but pain and determination staring back at me.

“We got you,” Hawk says. “You and our brother. No matter what. We got you.”

“Forever,” Lucien adds.

We held Albany just like that until she was able to stand on her own. I don’t know how much time passed. But by the time we climbed back in those SUV’s I was determined to set things right.