Page 66 of Blood and Thorns (Twisted Ever After #1)
Sebastian
I never thought I’d step foot back in France, the country of my birth holding tainted memories I’d rather forget. Yet I hadn’t hesitated on getting on the plane, crossing the sea to arrive within hours of finding out Arabella was taken.
“Coming outside now, over.”
I moved further around the tree, watching the car outside the front of the house. It had been a shock to see the building, an almost exact replica of the place I’d once called home.
Langdon had laughed, throwing his head back when he’d first noticed the similarities. Margot had made it a little more grand, adding decorative columns and making it five times the size of the modest home I’d grown up in.
But it was still the same. The bitch had rebuilt the house she’d burned all those years ago.
“We have visual, over.”
Straightening from my crouch, I moved forward, trusting my team to protect us from the treeline.
They’d already taken out the guards that were roaming the grounds, moving silently into position so the place was surrounded.
Ryder had confirmed Margot had built the place like a fortress, to keep her safe inside the walls with her bulletproof windows and reinforced doors.
Which meant we needed to bring her outside.
Arabella shivered, her face pale as a bruise darkened her cheekbone.
I waited, the early morning air burning my lungs as Ryder said something with a smirk, closing the distance just like he’d been told so he could get to Arabella, and then protect her.
It went off like clockwork, with Ryder putting his body over hers and pushing them both lower as the first shot sounded.
A splatter of blood, guard after guard falling to the ground while Margot spun, eyes wide and mouth agape. She spotted me amongst the trees, her movement calm as she bent down for one of the dropped guns. She straightened, her arm unwavering as she swung it towards me.
Langdon appeared behind her, holding up his own weapon to the back of her head.
“ You look like him ,” she purred, seemingly in complete control of the chaos that surrounded her.
I tossed the brooch, and Margot remained still as it crashed to the stones by her feet. She didn’t even glance at it, her attention remaining on me.
“Sebastian?” Arabella whispered, her voice drawing me to where she stood to the side, Caden pulling her slightly behind him. Ryder was nowhere to be found, but right now he didn’t matter.
Margot was so much older than I remembered, but her eyes were the same. Just as pinched. Just as harsh.
Il ne m'a pas laissé le choix.
He left me no choice.
My demons roared, threatening to unravel my control. But I refused to let them .
“Do you know how easy it was to infiltrate your little empire?” she continued, her posture stiff as Lang pushed the muzzle of his gun harder against her head. “All it took was a little… persuasion.”
She laughed, her red hair coming around to brush along her bare shoulders. She didn’t seem to react to the cold air, yet the wind bit harshly at my exposed skin.
“You made a mistake, Maggie,” I said calmly, purposely using the name my brothers and I called her when she was first introduced as the nanny. “You were overconfident, which has made you arrogant.”
“You’re right, I probably shouldn’t have trusted a thief,” Margot smirked, pouting her red painted lips. “But do you really believe you have the upper hand?”
With a gasp, blood appeared on Caden’s shoulder. Arabella cried out, catching him as he fell. Another shot, this one whizzing past my head.
“You seem to have forgotten that I was beside your father for years. Every dirty trick I have, I’ve learnt from him.” Margot smirked. “Now, there’s a sniper aimed at your Arabella. I suggest you remove the mutt from the back of my head, or she’ll lose hers.”
I glanced at Arabella, who was calmly whispering to a pale Caden, unable to understand the conversation. His shoulder was a mess, his teeth gritted as she tried to put pressure on the wound. He needed medical attention, and soon.
“Langdon, step back.”
Langdon didn’t even blink, his arm unwavering.
“Lang!” I barked, and he finally looked at me before glancing at Caden. “Step back and drop the gun.”
He followed the instruction immediately, trusting that I knew what I was doing.
Margot smiled. “Good.” With a wink, she turned and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Langdon straight in the chest, the momentum throwing him to the floor with a heavy thump.
Arabella screamed, unable to move as she kept the pressure on Caden’s shoulder. I spared a quick glance at Lang, finding him limp with his eyes closed. I ignored the burning in my own chest, at the rage that perforated every single one of my cells.
A crackle in my ear. “Those on the roof have been neutralised, Sir. Over.”
Margot laughed once more, turning to point the gun at Arabella.
I didn’t hesitate, moving to put myself between them. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“As are you, but clearly we are not, no?” Margot mused. “Tell me, do I still haunt you? Does what happened keep you up at night?”
My jaw tensed, the muscles twitching as I stared her down. “You really think you have that much influence? Margot… you’re nothing.” Her smirk faltered, so I stepped closer, making myself a larger target. “An old, withered whore that my father fucked, then discarded.”
“Sir, incoming,” came another crackle in my ear. “Thirty-second warning.”
“Still your father’s son, I see,” she said, her voice sharp. “Even with those scars, you wear your anger beautifully. Just like he did.”
“And I’ll finish what he was too weak to,” I growled, goading her as I took another step forward until I blocked her view of Ara entirely.
Margot’s upper lip curled, clearly amused. “Such fire in you, something your father lacked. It’s a pity it’s come to this,” she murmured, almost regretful, though the glint in her eyes betrayed her hunger for retribution. “But don’t worry.”
She raised the gun with terrifying calm, her smile widening as her finger found the trigger.
“I’ll take real good care of your little toy.”
I ignored the burning when the bullet hit, instead reaching across the space for the weapon. Margot clawed at my skin, fighting as I twisted her own gun beneath her chin.
She screeched, her movements frantic as she tried to push me away. “Guards!” she called. “Guards…” Her voice cut off, my fingers tightening around her throat until she could barely draw in a breath. She looked so pathetic in my grip, the woman who haunted my nightmares.
The woman who took everything from me.
“You really believe you can do this?” she gasped when I relaxed my fingers . “Kill me now, and you’ll forever doubt everything and everyone.”
“If I’d wanted to kill you,” I hissed against her face. “I would have already.”
“ON THE GROUND, HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!”
I immediately released her and dropped to my knees, following the instructions as she stumbled back. Margot’s face was pale, her lips lifting into a snarl as the Gendarmerie surrounded us.
“ON THE GROUND, HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!”
Her arm shook, dropping the gun before a gendarme immediately shoved her face-down onto the floor. Another set of hands pushed me down, and I let them, turning my head to look at Arabella. She continued to hold her weight on Caden’s shoulder.
“STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!”
Ara didn’t stop, her arms shaking as she stemmed the blood that was still pumping .
“Arabella, you need to step back,” I said, keeping my tone calm. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
She looked up then, our eyes meeting. Her hair was a mess, curling around her face, and her skin was pale. Yet determination was there. “Caden?”
“Everything’s going to be okay, belle ,” I repeated, grunting when a knee was pressed into my spine. “Trust me.”
She blinked, her eyes wet as she knelt back and was immediately handcuffed. A medical team began working on Caden as I was dragged to my feet, facing a combative Margot.
You couldn’t simply chop the head off the snake and expect everything to disappear.
No, I wanted to destroy the entire fucking nest. I wanted every piece of her empire dismantled, every lie she’d built her legacy on exposed and shredded beyond repair.
So one anonymous tip later, here we are.
Her estate swarmed, officers sweeping through every inch, closing in on the evidence my team had already made sure they’d find.
I watched her struggle, making sure my face was the last thing she saw before she was shoved into the van. I smiled, noting how her eyes flickered with confusion, followed by slow, dawning fear.
That was the reason I’d chosen not to wear my mask, wanting her to see the resemblance, to recognise the face of the man she once claimed to love.
To see my brothers, and my mother.
To see that I’d won.