Revenant (The Midnight Society #3) (24 page)

No one else was hungry either.

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Chapter Thirty-Five

Shadow

I traced the location of Beau to the old mansion, my old home. There was so much history, buried deep within souls of the house, memories that lingered like smoke in the air. It was the place where my parents were murdered, the place where I shared a roof with their killer, and the place where I met the love of my life.

And tonight, it’ll be the place where I’d throttle Beau with my bare hands.

I pulled the vehicle onto the long driveway and parked it. I stepped out and stared at Beau’s empty car which was only footsteps away.

The others pulled up beside me and got out of their vehicles as well.

“Why the hell did Beau come here?” Lincoln asked.

I shrugged. “Damned if I knew.”

I looked at the mansion, its grey gothic exterior, and took a deep breath. I hadn’t stepped foot inside since the events at the Inferno. “Come on, let’s find that shithead.”

I walked up the stone steps and rested a hand against the large wooden doors of the entrance. They were unlocked.

With the thoughts of Aria’s safety lingering in my mind, I took a deep breath and pushed them open.

We entered into the foyer, the sounds of our shoes echoing against the white marble floors.

“You lived in extravagance, Shadow,” Isadora commented.

“It’s overrated,” I replied. “Give me warm weather, a tiny hut and a hammock by the beach any day.”

“Don’t come to Canada,” Braydon said. “You’ll freeze your pretty-boy ass off.”

We stopped in the middle of the foyer where the Heinztman, the world’s most expensive piano, rested.

It was on that piano which I heard Aria play for the first time.

Her music was breathtaking. She was breathtaking.

“Out of all the places Beau could go, why would that little bastard choose to come to your old digs?” Braydon asked, his voice pulling me back from the glow of my memory.

“Because it’s a trap you idiots.”

I spun around and saw Beau emerge from my study. He was holding a semi-automatic, aimed right at us.

“And yes, from this close, I can hit all of you with this gun in a matter of seconds,” he added. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll demonstrate.”

He aimed the gun at Abel and fired.

Bullets ripped through his body causing tiny red bubbles to explode through his white shirt.

He crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide and staring into the empty void that was death. The blood flowed out of him like a red river over the snow colored tiles.

Leah screamed. “Abel, oh shit, shit, shit.”

“Quite frankly, I have no idea how you could have worked with him. The guy was so drab and boring. He also had poor time management skills. Everything was always categorized as urgent. No sense of prioritizing.”

“You mother fucker,” Leah hissed.

Beau brushed off her insults and blew her a kiss. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

I looked at Abel and felt the red, wild anger build inside of me. I made a silent vow that both Beau and Calisto would pay for what they’ve done to both Abel and his innocent daughter.

“Where’s Aria?” I demanded.

“At this moment, she’s insurance,” he replied, his eyes fixated on me. “Now before you go into the cliché of: ‘if you hurt her, I’ll kill you’ blah blah blah, take solace in the fact that I’m quite fond of Aria. Not to the degree of fondness that both you and Lincoln have, but I’d be very upset if something happened to her.”

Braydon stepped forward. “You’re not my brother, are you?”

“No.”

The tall biker smiled. “Good. It’s bad karma to kill your own kin. Now I can do so with a clear conscience.”

Beau gave him a sideways glance. “Really? You’re threatening me while I’m holding a gun to you?”

“Yes,” Braydon replied.

“You Canucks are quiet dense, aren’t you?”

“We’re just not pussies who need to hide behind fake names and guns,” Braydon replied.

It was a perfect lead in to my next question. “Who are you really?”

Beau grinned. “My first name probably means nothing to you. It’s my last name that’s important and the legacy behind it. My father was Elias Rose.”

Well that was unexpected.

“Who the fuck is Elias Rose?” Braydon asked.

“Years ago, the Midnight Society went to war with The Ascension, a zealous cult of religious fanatics who at one point rivaled the Society with power. They were led by a man named Elias Rose. We crushed them.”

“Elias Rose was my daddy,” Beau said. “One who was brutally murdered by the Midnight Society.”

“Let’s not play that game,” I said. “Your father was far from innocent. He ruined the lives of many innocent people, crippling Cairo’s sister and murdering Reiko’s mother. The Ascension took the first shot at us. We made sure we took the last.”

Beau shrugged. “Are we going to play the counting victims game? You fucks killed my older brother—my real brother—along with my mother,” he scowled. “But you do have a point, Shadow. I won’t dispute the fact that my father started the war. He always was an ambitious man. He wanted to build an empire for his offspring and give them the world as their birthright. But here’s the matter of fact: as the war was winding down, your friend, Abraham Constantine, negotiated a truce with him. The war should have ended that night after a treaty was signed between the Midnight Society and the Ascension. What happened afterwards, Shadow?”

I knew full well what happened. It was a mistake on our part—on my sister’s part. I chose not to answer him.

“Explain to all the outsiders here, what happened? What happened after peace was called?”

“Go fuck yourself,” I replied.

“Calisto, your evil conniving sister, hired the Crow brothers to kill my father. They murdered him while I hid and watched. Your sister took away the last of the family I had.”

I frowned. “I didn’t order her to do it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“You also didn’t stop her, did you?”

“My sister has her own free will, if you haven’t noticed. She killed my parents along with many of my close friends.”

Beau sighed. “Well then, I guess we’re not so different, you and I. We both had family taken away by Calisto.” He took a step forward and pointed the gun in my direction. “Look, Shadow, this is what I’m going to do for you and this is probably the best offer you’ll ever get. I’m going to kill you first…”

“That doesn’t sound like a very good offer to me,” I replied.

“Wait, hear me out,” he said. “I’m going to kill you first and then I’m going to have your good friend, Lincoln, kill Calisto for me. Once that’s done, I’ll hand over Aria without a hair out of place.”

“So why do I have to die?” I asked.

“You didn’t stop your bitch sister from murdering my dad when you had the chance,” he said.

“Fair enough.”

“How about I snap your neck instead, you little twat?” Braydon seethed.

Beau sighed. “Remind me to put one in between your nuts, you giant waste of sperm.”

That was when Beau raised the gun and pointed it at me.

“Well, Shadow, it’s been a slice. I wish I didn’t have to kill you but things just won’t seem complete if I don’t.”

I braced for the worst. I knew as long as Lincoln was still breathing, he’d find a way to get Aria back safely.

He was always good like that.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I watched as Beau moved his index finger on the trigger, his eyes trained onto me with joyful malice.

However, before he could pull the trigger, sending flurry of bullets to rip me apart, Leah lunged at him in a desperate attempt to wrestle the gun away from him.

“Leah!” I screamed. What the hell was that crazy girl doing?

The sound of the semi-auto going off right at that moment crushed me.

I watched as Leah collapsed to the ground, lifelessly, while red, jagged circles appeared on her back.

He had shot her. The fucker had shot my first love.

I didn’t know whether to scream or cry and whether to lunge at Beau or drop to my knees and cradle Leah in my arms. I was confused.

I was hopeless.

Beau looked at her impassively. “I didn’t want that to happen,” he said. He genuinely looked remorseful.

The grief overwhelmed me like a tidal wave of ice cold water entering into my mouth and nostrils, filling up my lungs.

It was so damned hard to breathe. I dropped to my knees and cradled Leah in my arms.

Her eyes fluttered opened and she looked at me as tears trickling down their corners.

The entire world around me suddenly seemed miles away, though I could hear Beau speaking. His words were hollow and empty, like the ranting of a dead man.

“Fuck,” Beau muttered. “Well, none of this is going to the way I envisioned it. You know what? Fuck it. Kill everyone.”

And then I heard the sounds of Braydon’s fist connecting with Beau’s cheek, followed by the sound of the gun, dropping to the ground. I took some pleasure in that.

My focus came back around to the dying girl in my arms. “Leah,” I whispered as my heart felt like stone. “Don’t close your eyes, sweetheart. Don’t close your eyes.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t’ work out between us, Shadow,” she said through strained breaths.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.”

She sputtered as blood welled up in her throat. “You know, there never were any other men for me after you.” She reached out and touched the side of my face. One fingertip touched my damp cheek. “I guess I never was good at finding my happily ever after…”

And then she was gone.

The sounds of my screams echoed throughout the mansion.

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Chapter Thirty-Six

Lincoln

I watched as Braydon clung onto Beau’s throat with the determination of a man, hanging onto the edge of a cliff.

He was going to kill him and I for one was perfectly fine with it.

However, everything ceased when the little girl emerged from the study, blindfolded and smiling, displaying the cute little gap in between her two front teeth.

She wore a pretty red dress with bright yellow sunflowers.

This was fucking weird.

“Uh, hello?” I called out to her. “Are you lost, miss?”

She shook her head and smiled. “Nooo,” she said in a way that only kids could say it. And then she began humming the tune of ‘London Bridge is Falling Down.’

Braydon, who had been focused on caving Beau’s larynx in, took a few seconds to look up at the girl.

“What the fuck?” he asked.

He must have loosened his grip on Beau as it gave the bastard a chance to wriggle free from the giant’s clutches.

Beau sucked in a deep heavy breath as he scrambled to his feet and rubbed his throat.

“Jesus,” he rasped. “Fucking thought it was the end.”

“Thought I’d give you a little taste of death, you little shit,” Braydon said. “I got a knife in my boot that’ll do just fine in sending you right to Satan’s arms.”

“What’s with the girl, Beau?” I asked.

She was now spinning around in a circle, while still humming the nursery rhyme.

“Insurance policy,” he muttered, “To deal with all you assholes.”

Beau must have lost his mind. “You sent a little girl to take us down?”

“Not the girl, you idiot,” Beau said as he pointed behind me, “That guy.”

I spun around and was immediately greeted with the sight of a barbed wire bat, coming at my face. Thank God for my above-average reflexes that allowed me to dodge it in the nick of time, saving my head from being crushed.

I took a step back and looked at the oddball standing in front of me, an idiot’s grin plastered over his face. He was thick man, with greasy matted brown hair. His focused eyes were amplified by glasses so thick I was convinced they were bullet proof.

“Things just keep on getting stranger in your world,” Isadora whispered.

“That man’s dangerous.” Shadow said as he gently laid Leah’s body on the ground and rose to his feet. “Cairo and I took him on in Hong Kong and we lost. Badly.”

The odd man smiled.

“Well, I’m pleased you’re already acquainted with Duckface Dudley,” Beau said. “I regretted not shelling out the extra cash to have you killed while you were in Hong Kong. Duckface has the reputation of being a stingy assassin. You pay for one target you only get one target, which at that time was Elena Zhang.

“This time, however, I decided not to pinch those pennies. There’s a contract out on all you witless fucks. I would have liked to have spared Lincoln so he could murder his own baby mama, but looks like the plan fell apart. Fuck it. All of you die.”

Without another word, Duckface began swinging the barbed-wired bat wildly at us. His movements were unsuspectingly fast as the deadly bat cut through the air, narrowly missing Isadora by a hair.

She quickly countered with a kick to Duckface’s midsection but he absorbed the blow as if her leg was made out Styrofoam.

Meanwhile, Beau had taken the opportunity to run.

“Shit, that cocksucker is making a break,” Braydon spat as leapt back, avoiding another one of Duckface’s deadly swings.

“He’s mine,” Shadow stated as he bolted after Beau, who had dashed out of the open front entrance.

That left the three of us to this homicidal maniac with coke bottle glasses.

While Isadora and Braydon had Duckface distracted with close quarter combat, I dug out the gun, hidden behind my back. All I needed was one clean shot to take out this idiot.

As if he had some spider-sense to danger, Duckface immediately lunged at me before I could aim the gun. The bat made contact with my shoulder and it instantly exploded in pain.

For a split second, I saw bright lights and blood as the pain overtook me. The gun fell out of my hands and dropped to the ground as I staggered back.

Duckface grinned at the sight of the weapon on the ground. He reached down for it. But before he could snatch it, Braydon grappled him from behind in a desperate attempt to subdue him. Duckface frowned, planted his feet, and then drove the top of his head straight into Braydon’s jaw.

“Mother fucker,” the biker cursed as he released Duckface and grabbed his mouth.

Isadora’s was next to have a round with the assassin. She had armed herself with a letter opener, lying on one of the oak countertops in the foyer. She targeted his neck and, with the speed of a coiled cobra, struck at him. Duckface was faster, however, and his reflexes saved him from a lethal blow.

Watching the quickness as these two sparred was surreal. Every attack was met with a counter as the two moved around the foyer like dancing partners. But in the end, Duckface managed to catch Isadora off guard as he secured her by the wrist and knocked her to the ground with a heavy shoulder. Duckface grabbed her by one foot, and then swung her into the Heintzman piano as if she were nothing more than a doll, taking her completely out of the fight.

And then there was me.

Duckface smiled as he made his way towards me, his prey, stalking me like a famished predator. This wasn’t going to end well.

There was no way I could take down this psychopath in armed combat. My only chance was the salvation on the ground in the form of a gun.

I lunged for the weapon again, reaching out for it with my remaining good arm.

My efforts were met with a stifling blow to my ribs from Duckface’s boot. I sucked in wind as I found myself lying flat on my back, wondering how many ribs he had just broken.

He stood over me and snarled.

“I knew I should have shelled out some cash for Kung Fu lessons,” I muttered aloud.

Duckface’s mouth contorted into something that was a cross between a grin and a scowl. He showed me his clenched fist and then pointed it at my face.

“Yes, yes. That’s a lovely fist,” I said as I staggered to my knees, my good arm clutching my ribs. It was a struggle to breathe, let alone stand. But I wouldn’t give this asshole the satisfaction of killing me in anyway other than on my feet.

“Are you going to get that gun?” I asked. “If not, then I’d appreciate it if you stepped aside for a moment so I could—”

My words were cut short as a brick, in the form of his fist, smashed into the side of my face. That one was definitely going to leave a mark.

I staggered backwards, determined not to fall to ground again. It was a little tiring getting my ass kicked on a regular basis.

If I made it out alive, Kung Fu lessons were definitely high on my list of priorities.

And then the moron started laughing.

“Heh heh heh heh heh.” It was the laugh of someone who was either mocking me or genuinely out of his mind. I voted for the latter.

Still shaking off the effects of his fist while trying to regain my composure, I accidentally backed into the little girl, knocking her to the ground.

Instantly the demeanor of Duckface changed into pure, unhinged rage. The man had a strong affinity to the girl.

Before I could say anything, he smashed into me with a hard shoulder, driving me into a wall. Internal bleeding wasn’t out of the question at this point.

“No touch her!” he grumbled as he drove his forehead straight into my chest. “No touch her.”

Meanwhile, the girl on the ground was back on her feet and crying, despite me not even knocking her over that hard. She was a sensitive one, though I suppose at that age, they all were, weren’t they?

There were so many things I didn’t know about children.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Isadora climb to her feet. My eyes darted in the direction of the girl, hoping she understood what I was getting at.

All the while, Duckface continued his brutal assault on my body, liquefying organs and shattering bones with each strike of his fist. Several times, I wanted to collapse to the ground but I steadied my legs and endured the pain.

I would die on my feet like a man.

Duckface grabbed me by the neck with one hand while the other one wound up for one final blow.

I guess this was it. Goodnight cruel world. Silent kisses to all those I love or have loved.

With my thoughts halfway to the heavens, it was Isadora’s voice that pulled me back down to earth.

Perhaps I wasn’t done yet.

“Hey asshole,” she said in an authoritative voice.

Duckface released his grip on me and turned around to see Isadora holding the knife to the little girl’s throat.

“No!” he shouted. “No! No! No! No! No!”

And for a second, I almost felt sorry for the man. Someone who loved another that much couldn’t possibly be all that bad, could they?

I struggled to stay awake, allowing the cries of the little girl and Duckface’s hysterical pleading to keep me conscious.

My movements were slow and hindered, as if I were wading through molasses. Gravity was not my friend at the moment but I needed to fight through it and do this one last thing.

“You hurt her, I kill you. You no hurt her, you no die,” he screamed.

“I was never one for negotiations,” Isadora said as he pressed the knife tighter to the little girl’s throat.

Don’t cross that line Isadora,
I thought to myself.
Let me finish this so you don’t have to do anything you’ll regret.

With every ounce of energy I had left in my broken body, I picked up the gun on the ground, and then aimed it at Duckface’s big fat head.

“Don’t be afraid,” Duckface said to the girl in a reassuring voice. It almost sounded father-like. “Don’t be afraid.”

I pulled the trigger and watched as the bullet smashed into the back of his head, dropping the assassin to the ground.

Isadora immediately dropped the knife in her hands and held the girl in an embrace.

“I’m sorry, little one,” she whispered into her ear. “I’m sorry.”

I was starting to like this woman more and more. Isadora was a demon in both battle and in the sack and a woman with a golden heart the rest of the time.

I allowed the gun to drop to the ground while the rest of my body followed.

“Lincoln,” I heard Isadora cry as she rushed to me. “Lincoln, stay with me.”

It was getting late. It was midnight and there was nothing left to do but sleep.

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