Page 81 of Volatile King (The Kings of Wayward Academy #6)

N ash

The phone number I’d gotten from Vicky had been working great.

The beautiful little dot had blinked away, showing me all of Lawrence’s travels.

After a talk with Edmundo, we decided to wait a few days before attacking and log all the locations Lawrence went.

See if we could pick up on who our enemies were, or storage locations I’d never been to, but most of all… I was hoping he’d lead me to North.

Knowing where he was had also allowed me to schedule a meeting with the council members last night. I’d made them aware that Lawrence was on the run from the Mikhailov and the Genovese family, and they hadn’t liked that too much.

The Mikhailov involvement was a bit of a stretch.

Dimitri hated him, but he wasn’t actively hunting him down.

But what mattered was perception. Edmundo was able to confirm that despite my father’s best efforts, he’d lost the confidence with the families in Ireland after the stunt Owen pulled, and he lost all final backing by hiding out now.

I’d made my pitch to take over, and didn’t leave them room to say no.

However, I had promised more profits for each family, and no more ceremonial insanity.

That had been a huge plus so far. Out of the few dozen families still tied to the council, most didn’t want anything to do with the darker things that Lawrence enjoyed.

None of them had ever wanted anything to do with the trafficking, so it was a win-win…

for now. There was always one in the bunch who liked to screw things up, believing they were the better choice to lead.

Edmundo warned me about that possibility and had even pointed out the top three candidates.

I couldn’t help wondering if it was one of those men who let my father know that we were on to him.

I hadn’t disclosed that I knew where he was, but I’d said something to make him skittish because the little location dot had suddenly shut off right after the meeting.

Luckily, I’d saved and mapped out all the places he frequented the last few days, this house…

seemed like the kind of place where my mother would live.

“I don’t think he’s showing up,” Liam said, and I had to agree with him.

Liam looked ridiculous with the white rabbit head mask on, and Myles wasn’t much better with his crazy emoji one. I’d at least opted for a simple black mask with glowing neon on the face that I could turn off and on.

“Shit, come on. I was hoping for a two-for-one, but I’ll take what I can get before they all go into hiding,” I said, opening my door and slipping out into the darkness.

The three of us exited the unregistered car and jogged through the shadows toward the side door.

Myles had the skills for breaking into any location, and it didn’t take long before he’d jimmied it open.

With the mask’s night vision on, everything had turned a ghostly, greenish shade.

We stepped into the pitch black garage, wary of any traps.

If my father had turned off his phone, he most likely didn’t want to take the chance that I was tracking him.

Whatever the reason for him going dark…I didn’t trust anything in here.

“Will she have an alarm,” Myles asked as we stopped at the interior house door.

“She may. Got any tricks?”

“Aye, but be prepared to turn this into a grab and dash, just to be on the safe side,” he said.

His hands worked quickly to unlock the door, and sure enough, as soon as we stepped in, there was a little beeping panel to our left. Myles stepped up to it, punched in a few numbers, and the thing turned green.

“How did you do that?”

He shrugged. “People are creatures of habit. It’s the same code as the Collier estate.”

That figured. As we slunk through the house, I stared at the pictures on the walls and the knick-knacks on the shelves.

This must have been where she had moved to when she left.

I remembered a lot of these belongings from my childhood, and they had all disappeared with her.

Had she really been this close the entire time?

The part of me that was supposed to ache at the thought remained silent in my chest. We pulled our guns, but it was Liam who took the lead as we searched the lower level and basement to make sure we weren’t surprising anyone other than my mother.

She’d gone inside alone, but that didn’t mean anything.

Once we were sure the bottom floors were clear, we crept upstairs. Liam took each step cautiously, testing it to make sure the wood didn’t creak before moving to the next. I would’ve stomped up and kicked open every door until I found her, but I chose to follow his lead.

Reaching the landing, Liam signaled to split up.

Myles went one way, while we went the other.

We checked the two spare rooms and the bathroom, but they looked unused.

The whole house looked like it was staged for a buyer’s open house.

We reached the closed door at the end of the hallway as Myles snuck up behind us.

“Find anything,” I whispered.

“Old nursery set up for a baby, not a toddler. An office, a bathroom, and a spare bedroom that doesn’t look recently slept in,” he said.

I tapped Liam’s shoulder that we were clear, and he nodded. He moved so slowly that I rolled my eyes at the back of his head. The Second Coming of Christ was going to be here before we got to my mother.

The door silently swung inward, and then we realized that no one was in bed. Before I got the chance to lose my shit, a toilet flushed. I looked to my left and spotted light coming from what must be her ensuite.

My mother stepped out wearing silk pajamas and didn’t immediately notice the three masked men standing in her room. Everything stopped when she looked up mid-yawn. For a brief second, no one moved.

Then, she screamed, turned, and ran back into the bathroom, slamming the door closed. This time, I didn’t wait for Liam. I stormed across the room and kicked it hard. The typical, flimsy lock snapped, and the frame splintered.

Sheila screamed again as she fumbled with a drawer. She got it open, and I caught sight of a gun. I charged her before she could grab it and slammed her up against the wall. The barrel of my gun pressed under her chin convinced her to stop fighting.

“Please don’t kill me. I’ll give you whatever you want,” she said, tears forming in her eyes.

“That’s good to hear,” I said, and pushed up the mask so she could see my face.

“Nash? What’s going on?”

“You’ll find out.”

I yanked her out of the bathroom and dragged her toward the chair placed in the center of the room. Myles stood behind it, hands resting comfortably as if we weren’t about to torture my mother.

“Sit down,” I ordered.

She collapsed onto the seat, and I kept the gun pointed at her while Liam and Myles worked together to tie her up. Liam liked to be prepared, and if we had wanted, we could’ve set up an entire Dexter scene in here. But I wasn’t interested in testing out my serial killer tendencies tonight.

“Nash, I demand that you tell me what’s happening, right now.”

I smiled as I squatted in front of her.

“You aren’t in any position to make demands. Lawrence, and whatever guards he’s managed to talk into following him around, won’t be showing up tonight.”

She glared at me, and at one point that look would’ve had me crying and running for my bedroom, but not anymore. She wasn’t scary. She had never acted like my mother. Hell, she was pathetic.

“As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I’m here for answers. So, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you will tell me what I want to know, or Myles here will cut you up into little pieces.”

“I’m not telling you anything,” she said, and I smiled.

“Of course, you’ll keep helping him. Why would you want to be a mother to me now?”

She rolled her eyes. “Always so dramatic. You turned out fine.”

“Fine…she thinks I’m fine,” I said, laughing and sharing a look with Myles and Liam. “Well, that explains so much. We’ll start easy. Where is Lawrence?”

“I don’t know, and even if I did…I wouldn’t tell you. I love him, and I won’t let you hurt him. Lawrence is a good man with a vision of how to make the family stronger…better for everyone.”

Brainwashed much? I looked down and shook my head.

“Myles.”

Nothing else needed to be said. Myles brought the knife to her arm and started to cut and peel away a layer of skin.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Liam walked over and gagged her with a thick, rolled-up towel, stopping her screams. I watched as she thrashed, eyes wide, staring at her arm. There was disbelief on her face, like her brain hadn’t caught up to what was happening.

“Stop,” I said, and Myles pulled the knife away.

She was panting and glaring at me. Liam removed her gag.

“Fuck you,” she snarled.

“Continue,” I said calmly, making sure to look her in the eyes while Myles finished the strip and tossed it into her lap.

Liam shoved the towel back in her mouth when she tried to scream again. She stared at the bloody piece of flesh, then looked up at me. There was real terror in her eyes now. It had finally clicked that she was truly in danger.

“One might think that you’d be used to blood and pain after all those years living with Lawrence. Then again…I think he treated you differently. Or maybe, you were always in on the abuse. If you were, then I picture the two of you fucking in the blood of all those he’s killed.”

She was breathing heavy, and sweat dripped from her brow.

“Remove the towel,” I ordered.

Sheila sucked in a deep breath of air.

“You’re crazy,” she said, and I laughed.

“You’re right, I am. And I’ll give you one fucking guess as to who made me this way.” She didn’t say anything. “So, I’ll ask you again, where is Lawrence?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me where he’ll be. When he’s not here, I never know. He’s always been paranoid like that.”

I nodded, believing her.

“Fine, what about Mya and my son?”

She stilled, and I smirked.