Page 93 of Fragile Facade

The husband spits, ready to weakly defend himself, but Krypt is fed up. He shoves the wife to my chest, and I hold her around the waist as Krypt buries one dagger in Mr. Newton’s eye. His right one. He screams. The wife screams louder. The ravens cheer and the moon winks.

I laugh like Soren.

“Oh my god!” she wails. “Oh my god!” She vomits down her chin, and I bend her forward so none of it gets on me.

“No time to delay, Mrs. Newton. He’s only got one eye left. Where the fuck is Yates?” I haul her up by her hair. She smells putrid and brittle, nothing more than another lamb who can’t avoid the slaughter. Her red face annoys the living fuck out of me. Learn to control your reactions, woman!

“He’s escaping!” she screams down Crucifix Street. “He betrayed us! We were all supposed to get out together, but he locked us in our cellar and took all our weapons.”

Krypt rips his knife free from the husband’s eye, and blood pours down his face in pretty streams. Because there’s time, I compliment my brother on his knife skills. Didn’t even fuck up the guy’s brain.

“Where?” Krypt asks.

She vomits again at the sight of all the blood coming from her husband’s eye socket. Mr. Newton reaches for his eye to stop the flow, but Krypt twists his arm around his back, kicks him in the thigh, and forces him to kneel. When that same blade presses to the man’s throat, he asks his question again.

“Where are they escaping?”

“Please,” Mrs. Newton begs.

Krypt cuts.

“Please!”

He pauses, looking at her for his answer. Fuck, I love him when he’s ruthless. His purple mask is the best backdrop, but if only I could see all the monsters that writhe in his eyes.

“Janie’s Woods! He’s meeting Benton Wentworth!”

“How long ago?”

“Less than an hour.” She slumps in my grip, and I shove her towards her kneeling husband. We have our answer, but it’s up to Krypt what he wants to do with these two.

Krypt shrugs his shoulders at me, not giving a shit one way or the other. Murder isn’t allowed when we don’t have a justifiable reason, but… we have one. So…

“Axel?” Krypt asks. “See if he can find out what else they know about Wentworth?”

Logical, since the billionaire has shown interest in Remi’s property, and he’s meeting with Director soon to negotiate a new alliance. Might be a way to protect Director if we know more about Wentworth and whatever ties he has to Yates, and since I’m experimenting with this whole ‘thinking of others’ bullshit…

But… murder.

I almost pout. Instead, I bloody my brand-new blade by slicing both their Achilles tendons. “Wait here. Don’t hobble too far. Someone will be by to pick you up soon.”

Krypt laughs. “You’re sick.” Remi changed that word for him, and he now has it branded on his chest. I’m not great at gratitude, but I’ll never be able to properly thank Remi for everything he’s done for my brother.

“Oh?” I look at him. “We’re cool with that word now?”

He turns his back to me, strolling down the raven-lined street, but I know he’s grinning in that twisted way he does.

34

JUST IN CASE…

GHOST

Fuck,they’re dumb. I’ve been following Krypt and Riot since they left Willow Olenna with the information I wanted. And now I’m going to beat them to Janie’s Woods and claim Yates for myself, earning my position at the head of the rank line.

Where I fucking belong.

Director never said how we had to find Yates, and while I don’t like cheating, I don’t consider this duplicitous. I have a fucking skill, and being a ghost is it. Like hell I’m not going to use that skill whenever it benefits me. I’m not as dumb as they are.