12. ~Asher~

12

~Asher~

“Why can’t we just go with the first two plans Revenant worked out right here in these files? Then replicate them for the remaining eight?” Killian asked, as he darted around the kitchen, while me, Aurora, and Jonah sat up at the island, reviewing the printouts I’d made of the files on the flash drive we’d obtained from Olivia.

Aurora smiled at me from across the island.

Jonah chuckled, then took another bite of his omelet, almost done now, while the three of us had barely started the breakfast he’d made. Aurora and me, because we’d been distracted reviewing the data. And, Killian, because he couldn’t sit still for more than a few seconds as usual when it came to intense concentration and high-level thinking.

He’d now decided he needed to get up yet again to retrieve ketchup from the fridge.

“Because we can’t,” I snapped back.

He jolted, but then focused on studying the ketchup bottle. He fingered the date. As if Jonah would ever allow anything to expire inside our fridge—or anywhere in the kitchen. Killian damn well knew that.

“Whatever you did to get him to study with you for hours at a time, I’d do it again now, or Asher’s gonna blow a gasket,” Jonah warned Aurora, gesturing with his eyes at Killian.

First, it had been another cup of coffee, then it had been more sugar, more milk, followed by him then deciding to make a protein shake and fire up the blender, disturbing the entire process with the aggravating, abrasive noise. And now, this.

He brought it back to the island and settled on his stool beside Aurora.

Then he opened the ketchup bottle and started squeezing it, making yet another aggravating sound as he tried to force out what little was left of it onto his omelet.

I snatched it from him, then shook it brutally hard, pouring out enough ketchup on the side of his plate to end this infuriating debacle.

As I slammed it down beside me, Aurora reached up and stroked his hair, telling him in a soft and patient tone, “I’ll be fine doing this. I promise.”

Hmm. So there was more to it than the usual with him. And she’d either recognized the root cause from his antsy and restless behavior alone, or they’d talked about it earlier when he’d taken a bath with her, while I’d been preparing this and Jonah had been making breakfast.

I hoped it was the latter, because if she’d become that intuitive to his emotions and behavior, if she could read him that well, then it would only be a matter of time before she was able to manage it with Jonah and me too. I couldn’t have that. For a whole slew of reasons, but the most prominent one right now being that I couldn’t risk her finding out that, not only had her dad been the one to intervene in our battle with the Heretics a few nights ago, but that I’d actually met with him and kept it all from her.

The fucking bastard trapping me had really gotten under my skin, so much so that it had blown right past enraged and almost had me unleashing.

I didn’t take well to having my hand forced.

And he’d done more than that.

He’d trapped me.

That was another fucking level for me, given my history with that sort of thing.

It hadn’t escaped my notice that it might have been his intent, to work me up emotionally, to destabilize me. If I wasn’t on the ball, it would make it a hell of a lot easier for him to come for Aurora, and he likely also assumed it would make me malleable.

He’d called my father out on possessing an ego that threatened to lead him down a detrimental path, but Lance was far from immune to it himself.

“What if you’re not?” I heard Killian asking Aurora.

She cupped his face. “You trust me, don’t you?”

“I do, but—”

“And you respect me?”

“Yes, of course, and—”

“You’ve seen what I can do. You’ve seen that I can hold my own.”

“You can do a whole lot more than that,” Jonah cut in.

Slowly, yet reluctantly, Killian gave a nod.

She released him and took a sip of her orange juice, then said, “Besides, this is what I came down here to Hexwood to do.” Her gaze dropped to her ring and she smiled, then looked out at each of us in turn as she added, “Although, things have definitely evolved beyond that now and there’s the three of you too.” She kissed the ring, making me smile, before she continued on to Killian, “The point is, I’ve been preparing for this for a long time. I’m ready. I’ve been ready for a while.”

“I don’t doubt you can do this, that you’ve got the skills and know-how, and that you can kick ass with the best of them. But what if you lose control like… like last time?”

She paled at his words, at his challenge.

Son of a bitch.

I cut in quickly, “That won’t be possible. She’ll be with me.”

“What?” Killian asked. His gaze darted to Jonah. “I figured on you and Jonah partnering if we’re gonna divide and conquer.”

“It will be me with Aurora.” When he moved to protest, I shot him a look. “You need it to be me.”

To contain her darkness.

With mine, basically.

But it was actually more than that.

It was a safeguard.

It had to be me with her, in case that fucker, Lance, showed up and decided to obliterate our Option 2 agreement and make a move to take her and steal her away into the shadows.

The hell I was going to let that happen.

But it certainly wouldn’t be an easy feat to stop him.

Lance “Revenant” Carlyle had a reputation for a reason. He was the best of the best. Hell, even my father, the almighty fucking Carson Monroe, considered him an actual threat. So much so that he’d been actively searching for him for years because he was so fucking worried about what he could do to the Infidels empire. And to him personally.

But while my father made it very well known exactly what he was capable of, and his power plays and numerous shows of force were publicized among the criminal elite and the underground alike, I didn’t operate the same way. People knew enough not to cross me, but the things I’d done were buried beneath rumor and legend, the truth obscured as a result. It painted me in an unpredictable light amongst the Carson and Revenant types.

A wild card.

Somebody impossible to pigeonhole.

Lance thought he’d acquired what he’d needed from his deep dive into me.

I smiled to myself. All that research had been wasted.

Because everything I’d accomplished, acts I’d committed, demons I’d unleashed… all of that had occurred under heavy shadow. In the dark of fucking night. Either no witnesses, or said witnessed having been swiftly silenced.

The rumors and reputation I’d crafted so well had been enough to sustain my position at the top of the food chain in Hexwood.

But, much more importantly, it had halted my father in his tracks many a time.

The moment I’d left the proverbial family home and gone out on my own, I’d begun crafting that reputation, learning well how to blend reality seamlessly with smoke and mirrors.

As such, he didn’t know what he was dealing with and Carson Monroe didn’t like unknowns. And acting on unknowns was a whole other thing.

It was part of the reason he’d left me be here in Hexwood.

Right up until Aurora had come into the picture.

His obsession with her, which I now knew the roots of, had transcended a lot.

It made it more dangerous than ever, but it was also something I could use, that I might even be able to go as far as to class as a weakness and an in against him.

The same went for Lance.

But the problem was, I wasn’t above it either.

It was fast turning out to be a convoluted shitshow.

It was also a catch-22 situation, because if she hadn’t come into my life and if I hadn’t let her in to see my good side, she never would’ve come to trust me, and I wouldn’t have the intel on the dollhouses and be about to strike at the heart of the Head Infidels.

“Asher?”

I jolted out of my thoughts and swung my head toward the sound of the voice calling for my attention—Jonah.

He was frowning.

A brief spark of suspicion lit his eyes, before it snuffed out, and he went on as though it had never occurred, asking me simply, “You all right? I toned it down with the dose of painkillers I gave you earlier, but I can take it down another notch if it’s affecting you?”

I smiled inwardly. He knew it wasn’t that. Fuck, he knew me much better than that. He was aware there was something else at play that had just had my mind wandering right in front of everyone. He was trying to cover it up for me by quickly claiming another source for this slip I’d just had.

The fact I’d had it at all bothered me to no end.

Nobody was truly infallible or able to put on an unaffected and impenetrable front at all times, but I came pretty damn close.

This, though, what I was dealing with, all these different and highly hazardous and unpredictable elements I was trying to juggle, it was a lot. And the stakes not just if I couldn’t, but if I made a single fucking mistake, were dangerously high.

“I’ll be fine,” I answered, pinching the bridge of my nose and summoning all my mental fortitude as I rapidly scanned the data for the thirtieth time, double checking the strategies I’d already formulated in my mind before even bringing it to the three of them.

“Is it more than that?” Aurora asked. “More than the painkillers and what-not?”

My gaze skimmed over Killian who was eyeing me with obvious suspicion, not snuffing it out like Jonah had, but holding onto it as he usually did. Good luck with that. I slid my eyes over to Aurora and quirked my lips. “Don’t be shy now, little beast, state your point.”

“The Heretics. That’s my point. Are you considering delaying our takedown of the dollhouse network now that this unknown enemy is in the picture?”

“If that was the case, why would I have called this meeting?”

“To give us crumbs, some hope, and to ensure morale doesn’t take a big hit, and to tamper down frustrations. You’d have us work out our strategies, but tell us we’ll have to wait on actually carrying them out.”

Hmm. She was certainly sharp.

“I’m not delaying anything.”

“No?”

“Really?” Killian asked, finally joining in. “There’s an unknown enemy, one that admitted their intent was to abduct you and Aurora, and that’s not a factor now? Just like that? How?”

“They’re background noise.”

“Really?” Killian pushed. “Since when has any threat against us been background noise to you? Someone comes at us and you don’t stop until they’re buried—oftentimes, literally.”

“Do you want this issue to stop us from obtaining our objective?” I threw back at him.

“That’s not what I’m—”

“Because Olivia might have assured you that your mom isn’t actually completely gone after all, that there’s still something left in her that’s not just a doll, but that won’t last forever. In fact, I’d wager it won’t last much longer at all. It’s absolutely time-sensitive.”

He burst to his feet, kicking back his stool in the process, so aggressively that it actually toppled onto the floor. “How fucking dare you use her to make your point? As some kind of bargaining chip to get me to stop asking questions we all have every right to ask!”

He went for me, but Jonah was there in the next moment, pressing his hand to his chest.

“Kill, back up,” he rumbled.

“Fuck you for defending him, J! Always his fucking bodyguard and advocate, even when he treats you like his goddamn servant! Even when he knows how you feel about him, but doesn’t give a shit. Worse, he uses it to his advantage and to manipulate you!” He scoffed and shoved against him, but Jonah held firm. “It’s bullshit. You’re bullshit for taking it. For being his perfect little soldier. And the sad part is, I’m the one who’s really got your back, and you always taking his side hurts me and throws all that in my fucking face.”

“Without him, we both would’ve been decimated by Samuel and Reed years back, Kill,” Jonah told him calmly.

His voice was steady, his words coming out as such, but his free left hand that wasn’t occupied like his other with holding Killian back from me was shaking, giving away just how much Killian’s emotional outburst was actually affecting him.

While it was important that we were united, now more than ever, keeping these new dirty truths compartmentalized had taken precedence in this particular instance.

I’d known mentioning Killian’s mother would incite that reaction in him.

Rage and intense emotion.

And it was currently depicting him as unstable and emotional, someone who couldn’t control himself. Given that with what was coming, they needed a stabilizing influence, someone who could stay the course and not waver, it served to highlight the coveted rationality and steady hand in me. Exactly what I’d needed to undercut his suspicion and devalue it.

It wasn’t my favored way to do things—at least not with those closest to me—but he’d taken it there. And I’d had to shut him down before all hell had broken loose. Things were precarious right now, I had to ensure we weren’t thrown off track.

Because that’s what all these things were—Olivia, Lance, the Heretics—distractions. Distractions and interference threatening to divert us from our goal. It was a goal that had seemed near-impossible to achieve for so many fucking years, so now it wasn’t, now it was within our grasp, now I could see a clear path to finally winning out over the Infidels and actually tasting freedom, there was absolutely no way in hell I was going to let anything or anyone stand in my way and ruin that.

Aurora finally rose from her position on her stool, where she hadn’t moved until now, even during the near-brawl that had taken place and likely would have if Jonah hadn’t stepped in and formed a deterring wall of muscle in front of Killian. I’d already exerted myself last night as it was when I should’ve been taking it easy in a bid to heal faster. Responding to put Killian down would’ve pushed it even further—too far. It would’ve been another risk to my endgame.

She stepped right between Killian who was still frothing at the mouth, and Jonah who was still holding him off, tensed and ready for anything.

Jonah dropped his hand as she moved in between, but he didn’t take a step back, a groan escaping him as her sexy jean-clad ass inadvertently rubbed against the front of his boxers. As usual, he was the only one of us not dressed. The only time he bothered with it was when he had classes, or when he was busying himself in his workshop. Every now and then he’d put his chef’s jacket on while cooking, most often when he was working on something complicated or decadent.

She pressed her hand to Killian’s chest. “Stop,” she spoke softly, yet also firmly.

“I can’t just—”

“I know,” she told him, and the wild look in his eyes faltered at the understanding she was giving him. “You’re not being paranoid, your suspicions aren’t unfounded, and the way you feel isn’t without validation either.”

He very clearly didn’t know what to do with that and it had him taking a couple of staggering steps back.

She reached out and took his hand and, not letting go of it, she twisted to face me. “What do you know about the Heretics? Why are you brushing off their threat, or the interference they could pose to our mission?”

She’d almost backed me into a corner.

And it was all very impressive, including her handling of Killian.

It had the corner of my mouth turning up. Nicely done, sweetheart.

“Asher,” she pressed in that sexy, no-nonsense tone of hers.

“The Heretics knew we were there. At an abandoned house, one that had no value remaining. We weren’t tailed, I made sure of that. We all did, in fact.”

“You think they were tipped off?” Jonah asked.

“Things were secure on our end. We were very careful,” Aurora countered.

“Olivia would’ve been too. She’s fucking good, trust me,” Killian said.

“They infiltrated the contact protocol of Revenant’s that I used. More specifically, they were tapped into the signal that was sent out to Site A in Strenwell.”

“Jesus,” Jonah exclaimed.

“So, they have a connection to my father,” Aurora posited.

“Given that they wanted to take both you and me, the connection is likely to your father and Carson.”

“So, you think that attack wasn’t about the dollhouses, per se, but about the two of them? That’s why you’re not worried they’ll come at us when we take these other sites? They didn’t know we were there about the dollhouses, specifically, especially seeing as though the one we went to was disavowed long ago.”

“I think they’re watching everything and anything to do with both Revenant and Carson. They’re looking for the opportunity to strike. Taking us would’ve be used to draw them out.”

“Little did they know that caging you would’ve brought out the animal,” Jonah said. “They would’ve been slaughtered.”

Aurora’s eyes flamed. It was brief, but definitive. Mmm, you like that, little beast?

She looked away, then frowned in thought. “There was no mention of this enemy of my father’s anywhere in his files. Even data completely unrelated to the Infidels.”

I bet there wasn’t. “Those files were related to his security firm. This enemy clearly exists beyond that, nothing to do with his work.”

“So, it’s either related to his time in the military or it’s personal,” she mused aloud.

Personal? Interesting.

“What about Olivia?” Killian asked. “She knew all about them. That was obvious with her able to track them so quickly that she was there in time to snipe them and spare you all from a second-wave attack that night.”

While that wasn’t the truth, it would have to do as an explanation for them. I just couldn’t have them looking any deeper into it, so I said, “Olivia is in the wind. Given her background, if she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be. Not even by me. I have my own resources looking into the Heretics. We’ll know more soon either way. In the meantime, we can’t allow them to throw us off course. Our immediate objective is to take down the dollhouse network.”

“Besides, we put down a shitload of them,” Jonah said. “They took a massive hit that night, it’s gotta put them out of commission for a while.”

“Hence, why we also need to stay on track and act ASAP,” I said.

“And that’s why you don’t want to follow the plans Revenant laid out for all ten sites?” Killian asked, returning to his calmer state during this discussion.

“We won’t be following any of his plans, as a precautionary measure,” I informed them. “We won’t be taking the sites in the order he’s laid out either.”

Not just in case the Heretics had intercepted more than the signal at Site A, but because of the man himself. Throwing him off-kilter and mixing things up, instead of following his predictable path was a must considering his threats during that meeting.

I snatched up my copy of the printouts, then angled them so they could see, gesturing to Sites K through to T. “We’ll work backward with these. We’ll split into two teams—me and Aurora, Jonah and Killian. Bryce will be Base Ops back here where we’ll use my office as a command center of sorts. He’ll also have four of his team members on standby for each of our teams should things go south and we require additional ground support. The goal, however, is to have as few bodies on the ground as possible. The more there are, the greater the risk of drawing attention to ourselves.”

“We’re going in like ghosts,” Jonah said.

I nodded. “Swift, efficient.”

“What about the guards at these sites?” Killian asked. “Take them in with us and turn them?”

I shook my head. “The risk is too high. My father has already gotten his hooks into them, so turning them will be next to impossible.”

“And too time-consuming, even if it could somehow be done,” Jonah pointed out.

“So, we’re talking murder?” Aurora asked. “There are between six and eight guards at each property. And these site doll trainers as well, sometimes two at a dollhouse, sometimes more, depending on the size and the number of victims housed.”

“That’s a lot of blood on our hands,” Killian stated, gesturing to Aurora with his eyes, flashing them at me.

“Another function of the partnerships. Jonah and I will deal with that aspect.”

“I’m not against doing it. These assholes have enslaved these victims in the most despicable of ways,” Aurora said, basically seething as she uttered the distasteful words.

“Even so,” I said. “Besides, I need your talents focused elsewhere.”

Before she could counter and we ended up wasted time getting into a detailed discussion about the justification of murder and hell knew what else, Jonah thankfully cut in, “So, we take two a night? Two sites?”

“Two every other night. Along the way, we’ll anonymously feed the Infidels false breadcrumbs to follow, having them believe that there are going to be strikes elsewhere, at the slaughterhouses, for instance, other facets of their enterprises.”

Jonah grinned. “I like it.”

“All right, let’s lay it out in detail. Afterward, I need to reach out to my contact and arrange transportation.”

“For the victims?” Aurora asked.

“Yes. He’ll send two transports for each of our teams, then the hostages will be treated and taken care of and kept off the Infidels’ radar going forward. They’ll be protected.”

“Good,” Killian said. “Good.”

Aurora reached out and stroked his hair, registering his personal connection to it all with his mom. “This will all end soon,” she promised him. “We’re so close. She’ll make it.”

He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

It would all end soon.

And I’d make damn sure that happened on our terms at long last.