Page 24

Chapter twenty-four

Aiden

“She said not to kill them,” Kellan growls, clearly displeased with the request she made of Jackson.

“I don’t trust spineless dicks like them to not come back and cause trouble.”

I rub my thumb and finger over the smooth metal forearm gauntlet beneath my sleeve, molding it to a blade and combining it with its twin.

The steel evens and sharpens to a point, its sides just as deadly up to the hand guard.

“Then we’ll make sure to give them enough reason to never come back.”

“I’m taking Rafe. He was the talker.”

Irritation stirs in my chest. As much as I’m playing calm and collected on the outside, I’m furious within.

I’d given these Pits fighters a home.

Safety. Training and food.

And they threatened my woman .

I’m half-tempted to throw the rest out with them.

“Fine. They're both mine if we ever see them again.”

“Only if you see them first.”

Prick .

Stopping at their apartment door, I knock first, nudging Kellan to the side so I’m the one they’ll see through the peephole. I withdraw my phone and prepare my first phone call, tapping Reid’s name once the door opens.

“Yeah? What’s—”

Kellan drives his fist into Rafe’s face before he can finish, knocking him back into his apartment. He pushes forward, grabbing Rafe and shoving him through to the living room as I follow and kick the door shut behind me. The call rings while Kellan proceeds to beat the shit out of Rafe. The Pits fighter, to his credit, gets his own swings in and tries giving as good as he can. Unfortunately for him, it only fires Kellan up more.

The second fighter, Snyder, storms into the room just as Reid answers.

“Hello?”

“Hey! What the fuck’s go—”

I hold my sword to his neck, stopping his words and momentum, then answer Reid, “Are you available? There’s a small matter I need dealt with. The sooner the better.”

Snyder steps back and to the side to maneuver around my blade. I spread the metal thinner, willing it to wrap his neck in a loose circle.

“Move again, and you’ll behead yourself,” I warn him.

“Where are you?” Reid asks, unperturbed by the threat he just overheard.

“Room 15401.”

“Am I bringing anything or anyone?”

“No. ”

“I’ll be there in a few.”

The call ends, and I slip my phone away. A quick glance shows Kellan’s already knocked Rafe out where he’s lying bloody on the rug. We’ll burn it with the rest of their things.

Snyder’s shaking within the small circle of space his neck has, his nervous stare flicking from Rafe’s body to Kellan and back to me. His forehead shimmers with sweat. “You’re crazy,” he spits.

“In future, before you begin harassing or threatening someone, make sure you know exactly who you’re speaking to,” I begin.

“We didn’t know she was his—”

“—and mine. As the leader of the Guild, there are no lengths I wouldn’t go for its members. I would—and already have—killed for them. I’d take on a shadow organization of thousands to eliminate that threat to them.” I step closer, thickening the blade. “So, what do you think I’d do for the woman I love? To protect her from those who threaten her?”

Beads of sweat slide down his temple. “A-anything.”

I nod. “If either of you had laid a single finger on her, you’d be dead right now. Since it was only words, we’ll let this serve as a warning.” A knock sounds at the door, but I ignore it to finish. “We’re going to drop you off near a hospital where you can take Rafe. It will be far away from here. If anyone asks what happened, you tell them your friend got jumped in an alley and didn’t see any faces. Do you understand?”

Snyder sniffs and slightly tilts his head to avoid the sword.

“If we see you in this city again, or we ever hear from or about you again, then you won’t be dealing with Kellan next time. You’ll be dealing with me.” I lower my voice to a threatening whisper. “I’ll bury you alive in a seamless steel coffin with your friend and you can spend your last hours fighting to have the last breath.”

He shivers, and I use my gift to reshape and move the metal back to my forearm and then stretch it over my knuckles.

“Any questions?” I ask, and he quickly shakes his head.

Good.

I slam my metal-wrapped knuckles into his jaw, knocking him unconscious to the floor.

When I look up, Reid’s taking in Rafe’s beaten-up body and then Snyder while Kellan stands behind him, arms crossed. “What did they do?”

“Threaten Raegan,” I reply.

Reid’s stare returns to Rafe as if he’s reassessing his injuries. “What do you need me to do with them?”

I pull up a map of the opposite coast, searching for a hospital and then switching to satellite view to find and expand on a nearby alley. I text him the coordinates. “Take them both and leave them at the location I just sent you. Snyder can help Rafe to the hospital once he wakes up.”

“Anything else?”

“No. You can go back to what you were doing once you’ve done that. Thank you for coming on short notice.”

He nods. “Next time something like that happens, invite me before the cleanup.”

Kellan snorts, but I counter, “There won’t be a next time.”

After Reid teleports away with Rafe and Snyder, I call Evie. She answers on the first ring. “I’ve got a job for you and Silas when you’re both free.”

“Yes, sir. We’re both free now. How can we help?”

“I have an apartment which needs to be cleared out. You can donate or burn the items. The rug will need to be disposed of, but the rest of the furniture will stay.”

Evie’s quiet, then asks, “Did the apartment belong to the two giving Raegan a hard time earlier?”

“It did.”

“Then it doesn’t need to be a job. We’d be happy to do it.”

“Hey, wait—” Silas’s voice sounds muffled in the background as if he or someone else is moving between him and the speaker. “—know I’d do it for free—” More shuffling sounds. “—if he’s offering to pay—”

After a thud, Evie says, “Which room is it?” I give her the number. “Great. We’ll be right up. Just leave the door cracked for us before you leave.”

“I’ll call Cibrina to reset the lock and give you a temporary key. Pick it up from her first.”

I prepare to call Cibrina next, when an unknown number flashes on the screen and I pause my thumb. Almost all my contacts are in my phone. Even disagreeable, irritating contacts like Elias. Dane’s put my number on every do not call list and registry possible so I’ve never had the issue of a salesperson calling me unless I’d initiated it.

Kell steps closer when he notices I haven’t accepted the call right away. “Who is it?”

“We’re about to find out.”

“Guild Master,” Charles greets formally with an edge of mockery when I answer. “I thought we could speak like civilized men, you and me. Master to CEO.”

I grip the phone tighter, my blood heating in anger at the sound of his voice. All the ways I want to inflict the years of Raegan’s pain and suffering on him cycle through my mind in an instant. Ways that I’ll keep him within an inch of his life and then serve him to her on a platter.

“Civilized men don’t treat other humans as animals to train or involuntary test subjects.”

He chuckles. “I see. Your Guild is still new, still growing. You’ve yet to begin looking at the bigger picture. In business, in life, and for the future of our kind.”

“I see it just fine for those under my protection.”

“And what about the ones out there who aren’t protected by you? The other gifted individuals in the world who are in hiding, ashamed of who they are or too afraid to be noticed? There’s a world full of our kind finally ripening in strength. I’ve helped to keep any missteps out of the public eye for decades, you see. Keeping all our gifts secret and safe.”

My breathing stills. Not just in our country. He’s been covering up gifts worldwide . For decades. How deep does his influence run ?

“Taking down my enterprise puts people like your Guild members at risk of exposure. I can’t tell you how many slip-ups there are that almost make the news. The number of people we’ve had to pay off or color them as conspiracy theorists. I have an entire sub-division dedicated to this most important of tasks.”

“Are you expecting a thank you?”

“Oh, no, of course not. It’s my honor to look after our kind. And while I do dabble in experimentation, it’s for the greater good of the gifted population. The more we know about it, the better we’ll be.”

Kellan huffs where he’s leaning in to listen, circling his finger at his ear to silently call him crazy.

Charles continues, “I think, if you’d be agreeable, we could come to a compromise that may work out for the both of us. You and your friends have killed upwards of a hundred of my people, by my count.”

“What’s your point?”

“I’m owed those lives, Mr. Guild Master. And, according to your Guild records, your onsite membership closely matches that number.”

I clench my teeth, anger spewing through my veins at the threat. And confirmation that Vera copied data from our servers during the last attack.

“I suggest a merger. You keep your Guild name and status but work under me. Under Gifted Enterprise. We’ll supply you the jobs, the funds, and I’ll buy out your Tower to eliminate the lease.”

Kellan glares daggers at my phone, looking a second away from trying to reach through the phone to murder Charles. I take a step back before he loses his head.

“What about Dane?”

As expected, Kell’s neck nearly snaps when he turns on me. It’s impulsive anger clouding his judgment. Charles is feeling me out; there’s no reason I can’t do the same to him to understand his intention and goals.

“Dane will be handed over to me. He’s unfortunately non-negotiable. But one life for the almost two hundred gifted you’re currently harboring is a small sacrifice. And being a true leader is nothing if not sacrifice, as I’m sure you well know.”

“And Raegan?”

Kellan snarls and seizes my shirt in his fist. I shoot him a look to calm the fuck down.

Charles is quiet on the other end for a minute before he finally responds, “I’ll leave her up to you.”

“Meaning what?”

“Either you keep her contained and controlled yourself—no efforts to attack myself or any aspect of Gifted Enterprise again—or else I’ll be forced to kill her. I don’t care how you do it. I’ll even offer you a gift-blocking collar or cuff if you desire. So long as I hear no sight nor sound of her, she may live and stay with you.”

Deep, calm breath. Don’t overreact.

“And if I refuse?” I manage slowly and with every ounce of fortitude I possess.

“Then I’ll destroy you and your Guild. Every skeleton, every missed penny…I’ll find them all and leave you barren. Your members will be tossed to the streets, ripe for the picking. ”

Considering the resources I now know are at his disposal, it’s no idle threat.

“Is that the end of your offer?”

“It is.”

“Good,” I purr. “Here’s my counteroffer. You can save us all the time and effort by taking your own life while you’re ahead now by your own preference, or you can live now knowing that we’re coming for you. Your days are numbered, Charles, and I’ll take immense pleasure in tearing you apart piece by piece before Raegan finishes you off.”

He chuckles. “Very well. I think I’m going to enjoy this game. We’ll see which straw makes you break, Guild Master. And then I’ll take your life as you’ve promised to take mine, and you can die knowing that your precious Guild members will belong to me.”