22. ~Jonah~

22

~Jonah~

Adrenaline thrummed through me.

It wasn’t just the usual ramping up before battle. It wasn’t just me preparing for the massive takedown that was coming real soon.

It was the fucking messages Asher had just sent, shortly after he’d sent me off to track down Killian.

Asher: No answer from Aurora. Checking in with Bryce.

Asher: Bryce is MIA.

Asher: Can’t access surveillance at Hexwood House. System down.

Asher: Home territory has been compromised. They know. Change of plans, when you find Killian, take him and get out.

The fuck I was gonna follow that order.

I wasn’t leaving him to face the firing squad all on his own.

I wasn’t leaving him at all.

We were in this together.

He’d made that clear to me the other night.

Finally, he had.

I wasn’t gonna lose that now it had finally happened.

I wasn’t gonna lose him.

Jonah: Not leaving you.

Asher: We can’t all fall. You need to endure.

I growled and stuffed my phone back in my suit jacket pocket. There was no point responding, he’d just keep pushing for me to follow his orders. His fucking suicidal orders. Nobody could win an argument with him, so there was no point trying.

I just had to find Kill and we’d then fight our way back to Asher and get the fuck out.

Jesus, he was gonna flip his shit when he found out the house was compromised and that Aurora was obviously in danger now.

I rushed down the back corridors of the sub-level, just outside where the auction was being held. It was like a fucking labyrinth, even though I’d mapped the place out mentally when I’d been doing recon earlier.

I made another turn, then voices reached me.

I followed the sounds that were coming from underneath one set of stairs.

“Are you kidding me, Mom? This is why you reacted weirdly when I mentioned Aurora earlier?”

“Yes. Carlyle’s daughter is marked, Kill.”

“Marked for what? For… for death?”

“Worse. Your father’s errand was to retrieve a doll at Hexwood House.”

“Fuck, I need to go. I have to—”

“You can’t. You interfere with this and they’ll hurt you.”

“I don’t fucking care.”

“You don’t understand, they’ll destroy you. Everything about you. Everything that makes you who you are, all the goodness still left in you, all the hope.”

“Mom, I won’t just leave her to—”

“You need to come with me.”

“What? Where?”

“A safe haven. I’ve made arrangements, we need to leave now.”

“How the hell are you—”

“There are things you don’t know. About me. About the bigger picture. Things your father and Carson don’t know either. But there’s no time. We need to go immediately.”

I heard a struggle, more footsteps and voices over there, and I bolted forward, only to be brought to a jarring halt as my old man stepped into my path.

Fuck! Kill! What was happening?

Muscle that rivaled mine was barely contained in a slick gray pinstripe. His hands were fisted at his sides, rings on every finger like knuckle armor. His shoulder length dark-gray hair was slicked back. That Infidels tattoo on his neck matched mine exactly. At one point in time I’d been proud of it, now it made me sick. He’d aged a lot since I’d last seen him, several more lines etched into his leathery skin.

Reed Keller.

“What’s going on? I need to get Kill, then head into the auction,” I told him coolly.

“You won’t be doing that, Jo.”

I shifted my weight, my muscles locking, adrenaline surging. “Why’s that?”

He lunged forward and shoved me into the fire exit. It gave way and I stumbled out into a back alley.

As I spun around, my father rushed up to me. “We need to go.”

“Where?”

“The Infidels are crumbling. It’s got Carson and Sam making some dangerous moves. All this charity shit tonight is going into setting up some big-time arms dealing project. The fuckers won’t listen to me, their egos taking control. All they can see is power. It trumps their own survival. I’m supposed to leave tonight overseas to meet with some new contacts, weapons manufacturers, while Carson secures some buyers tonight—two birds and all that with the dolls.” He stepped up closer, making me tense. “I am leaving and heading overseas, but not for the reason I’m supposed to. I’m getting out, and I’m taking you with me.”

Jesus Christ.

He was seriously abandoning the other two? They’d been working together for decades.

They really were fucked-up shitheads. They had no loyalty, nothing like what I had with Asher, Kill, and Aurora.

“I can’t come.”

“You have to.” He grabbed my arm in his usual harsh way and jerked me closer as he whispered, “They know, Jo. Carson and Sam know what Asher’s done. They found out a couple of days ago that he’s had a hand in the destruction of the dollhouses.”

My blood ran cold.

“He doesn’t know all the details, but he’s gonna remedy that tonight. He’ll force it out of him, then he’ll destroy him in the brutal way only that sadist can. He wanted to do the same to you as well, but I convinced him that you weren’t responsible, that you were just following orders as you were taught. Even with that, there’s no relying on the sturdiness of Carson’s mercy. He could flip on a dime, because of how personal this whole thing is. So, I’ve gotta get you out until things settle down. Maybe longer. We’ll start anew, all right?”

I yanked my arm from his grip. “I’m not leaving.”

“The fuck you are. Right now.”

I growled low in my throat. “I’m. Not. Leaving. Him.”

His eyes flashed.

He shoved two fingers into his mouth and whistled sharply.

Footsteps sounded and I spun around to see ten big motherfuckers striding out from concealment down the alley toward us.

Well, toward me.

“The hard way it is, son.”

Fuck.