Page 45 of Judas (The Lito Duet #2)

Chapter twenty-three

Babalon

L ast night was a fuck up—one huge clusterfuck, of what the actual hell was I thinking. And look where we are at now. Ra left in the middle of the night. Packed his shit and went back to wherever he came from, but not before he wrote a brief note and left the keys behind.

You have coordinates pinged on your phone. Follow them without deviation. Here are the keys if you need to use the apartment. Be a good girl, Precious. - Ezra

Dickhead .

Of course he would tuck tail and run after getting shut down.

Listen, I know I have had a lot of time to work through things and move on with my life but I don’t want to.

There’s therapists out there who would love to help me heal, put me in a better frame of mind for dating; hell, maybe even fix the pieces of me that my childhood destroyed.

Going to them is the problem. Feels like if I move forward, I betray Kace.

And if Sadie is gone, then I get to go on with life like neither one of them existed.

What kind of person does that make me? Why must they be forgotten when I continue to live, choosing to wipe their memories out and live happily ever after?

They’re not a burden, never were, but I choose to take them with me forever—they’re mine.

If I ever get back to Michigan, I’ll have to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Ra and Ez—more so Fury.

They’ve done everything for me. Took me in, made me part of a family, put clothes on my back and food in my belly, let me be seen and wanted even if I am the one who fucked it up.

There ever comes a day where they need me in return, I will not hesitate to drop everything for all three of them.

Blood is thicker than the water of the womb, they say. I may be a sibling to Lucien, but my family lies in those three.

Studying the coordinates over a cup of coffee, I put things together that I’m going to need.

Being a felon I can’t carry a gun anymore, so brass knuckles, knives, and—a baton.

Not just any baton— mine . Holy fucking shit.

Snatching it out of the bag, I wield it around.

Then with a hard swing, it protracts and a laugh escapes me.

I’m going to kiss Ra again. Bet on that.

Can’t believe he found this, the one I cracked against the back of Lucien’s head.

Poetic justice? Yes, please. A new energy settles inside of me when I put the weapon back in my bag.

I even down the rest of my coffee in one gulp.

Giving myself ten more minutes to clean up the space, the plan runs through my head a few more times.

Then before I know it, I’m stepping out of the door and locking it behind me.

Time to get my daughter. Anyone who gets in my fucking way will be beneath the fucking dirt before I leave this damn country.

Babel

“Hey, yeah. She’s on the move. What’s your ETA?”

Pausing to let Havok respond, I watch as Nadia leaves the building she was held up in overnight.

She’s got a pep in her step, not quite the reaction I would have preparing for an all-out war—definitely odd.

While she did that, I observed her daughter nearly drown under Lucien’s hand.

The last twenty-four hours, though? They’ve been enough to set anyone off on a rampage, so I’m playing my cards the right way. Especially with death on the horizon.

I’m not much of a talkative man, but an important aspect of my job is knowing what should be said and when, then what shouldn’t.

This, and watching Sadie retaliate in a way that shook me to my soul, are not details Havok needs to know.

Not yet. Solely because I don’t know how he’s going to react, making him an uncontrollable variable—there’s just too many of those right now.

“En route. Keep an eye on her.”

Click.

Text him moving forward. Got it.

Throwing the truck into drive, I tail Nadia. We have a long road ahead of us, and even less time to get there.

Babalon

The drive is quiet without Ra invading my space—I’m assuming he’s on the plane.

Not complaining; concentration and calm is a requirement right now.

I remember some of the things Fury and I used to talk of when we first started putting together the groundwork for finding Sadie and getting her back in my life.

How I can’t react off of pure emotion anymore, even anger, and how illogical reactions could ruin everything I’ve worked so hard for.

If either of us know a bit about anger, it’s her, so I’m taking what she said to heart.

For someone a few years younger than me, she has wisdom I never received as a child.

Blame my mom for that one. Fathers teach you survival, mothers teach you emotional maturity—fucked me up on both sides of the fence.

I just hope Sadie’s adopted parents were able to give her what I couldn’t. I don't want her to end up like me.

More hours pass, and even more roads, before I creep up to the entrance of the park. It’s stunning. Michigan in the fall is pretty, but it has nothing on the view rolling out in front of me.

“How’s it going?” a Ranger greets me, just as the window finishes rolling down.

“It’s going, thanks.”

“Purpose for your visit?” he asks. I see him looking into the car. “Passengers?”

“Just me. I’m meeting my family up here for some hiking. They’re already out there. Was stuck at work.”

Too much information, Nadia.

“Aye, lots of those up here this week. Get in those last hikes before the snow reaches the valley.” The Ranger taps the top of the car and uses his other hand to point down the road—one I recognize from the footage Ra showed me.

“Stay on the road and it will take you to the campsites. Don’t leave the trails unless you have a guide. Got black bears and other predators out here.”

Can fucking say that again.

“Will do, thank you.”

He nods, giving me a smile and a slight tip of his hat before waving me off. I shift the car back into drive and pull away, keeping under the speed limit. Trying to remember everything from the surveillance, I take the road that Lucien headed down when he came in and drove deeper into the park.

The longer and further I go, the less people there are.

I swear I haven’t passed another car in several miles.

Pronouncing the isolation in this area. Coming up to what appears to be a lake, I finally see people.

They’re fishing mostly, some of the younger ones are running around playing, while more adults sit under the awnings of their campers or the canopy of tents.

A bit of envy turns me green for a moment—to have a life like this, one that I didn’t have to fight through just to fight some more.

Life’s not fair, which I hate. Never expected perfection, but happiness would have been nice.

The road splits to the left and to the right in a perfect T-shape when I get close to the camping area.

I take the left, remembering the area Ra pointed out to me.

This spot, if I recall correctly, is too far north—that means I’ve already passed where Lucien and Sadie are hiding out at.

He would expect someone to come from the same direction he did; maybe coming in from the north will give me a slight advantage.

I’m winging everything at this point, since I’ve not ever had to hunt someone down.

The animals were always brought to me, already subdued and in chains.

Now I’m on the front lines and in territory I know nothing about.

A few hours ago, I parked the car at another camp site and took off on foot.

Leaving my getaway vehicle at one of the least populated spots I’ve come across since entering into the park.

Must be the same thing someone else was thinking; I realized this when I heard another vehicle pulling up just before stepping into the trees running along the edge of the lake.

I only looked back once, to make sure it wasn’t a Ranger or police officer, and watched a large SUV park several spaces away from my hot wheels.

The last thing I needed is some self-righteous asshole coming in and ruining all of my plans.

When I figured the coast was clear, I dipped into the trees, allowing the Canadian forest to absorb me into its world.

Nothing prepares you for the dead silence of a forest on the verge of plunging into winter.

The animals are few and far between, preparing their homes for hibernation instead of mating season.

Birds aren’t chirping that much nor have I come across a single rodent-like creature, or even a dead one at that.

Serenity is one way I could explain existing in this world outside of worlds.

Very easy to get turned around too, especially in the dark of night, where your mind can start playing tricks on you.

I keep walking, though. Not allowing anything to deter me, especially the haunting thicket.

Looking over the top of a slight hill I’ve come up on, I can see the brush getting thicker a ways down, as well as the lake that’s bordering this part of the land.

Inside the densest part of trees, I see one of the lodges Ra spoke of.

It’s grand in size; no lights on, an external building, and close enough to the lake for the owners to access.

Creeping down through the trees, I aim to get a better look.

Fighting the cold that set into my bones a while ago despite the leather jacket that came with the wardrobe Ez provided.

Halfway down, a blood curdling scream pierces the air and I drop down, hiding behind a tree.

My back is pressed to the solid foundation of it, hands fumbling with my backpack to drag out weapons.

The weight of brass knuckles surrounding my fingers is almost a relief, my baton in the other, one of the knives shoved inside the waistband of my jeans.

It’s not a whole lot, but it will get the job done—man, bear, monster, whatever.