Revenant (The Midnight Society #3) (8 page)

Chapter Eleven

Shadow

“Your brother would have killed you, you know,” I said, looking at the pile of broken flesh on the motel bed next to mine.

Beau slowly turned his head towards me and grinned. “It was a gamble. I agree.”

“Did you actually think you could take Braydon in a one-on-one fist fight?” I asked as I kicked off my shoes and leaned back on the single twin bed.

“Not at all, chief. Not at all.”

No more needed to be said. I knew what Beau had done.

Braydon would have never agreed to help us as long as there was still a chip on his shoulder with regards to Beau. Having Braydon kick his ass all around the brothel was all part of Beau’s plan to allow his brother to save face and get the revenge he desired. Only when he felt things were square between them, would he have been willing to work with us.

I had underestimated Beau, taking him for a country bumpkin who made decisions with his dick rather than his brain.

That still didn’t excuse him from scratching himself with my salad tongs though.

“So what’s the plan now?” Beau asked. He sounded exhausted.

“You get to pass out,” I replied. “I have a phone call to make.”

Beau grinned. “Sounds like the perfect plan to me.”

I rose from the bed, grabbed my cell phone, and then left the motel room.

There was something about the country air that was absolutely invigorating. The stars tonight had decided to burn brightly in the sky, high above the scented pine trees that surrounded the motel.

I took a moment and reveled in the silence of nature before finally making the call.

“Shadow?” the woman on the other end answered. Her voice was soft like a melody, but still authoritative.

“Yeah Leah, it’s me.”

“You make contact?”

“Braydon’s in.” I paused. “All it took was one of my guys getting his ass kicked all over kingdom come.”

From the sound of her voice, I could tell Leah was smiling. “Was the guy a prick?”

“You know, at first I thought he was. But the deeper I dig into this guy, the more okay he seems.”

“Be careful of who you trust though. As I mentioned before, I have a strong suspicion that Calisto has a mole planted within your organization right now.”

I could count all the members of my ‘organization’ on my fingers: Aria, Cairo, Reiko, Beau, and Isadora. Meanwhile, Lincoln was being held captive by my sister.

Who, of all these people, was working for Calisto?

“Has your mole been able to get any more information on The Midnight Society’s own personal Judas?” I asked.

“No. I’ve pressed them about it but they don’t have a clue. Their current assignment, issued by the Revenants, has them working away from their base of operations. It’s hard for them to get a pulse on what upper management is planning down on their end. All they know is that you’ve got a leak in your camp somewhere. They’ll do their best.”

I guess that was all I could hope for.

“So I have to ask, Leah, who are you working for?”

She seemed puzzled by my question. “What do you mean?”

“I know you’re busy over at CIA headquarters right now, but I know what you’re doing for me won’t sit well with the higher ups of your organization;
if
they ever find out.”

There was a moment of pause.

“I just don’t want to see you killed, Shadow. Despite things going sour between us in our old love life, I still want to see you come out of this alive.”

“That’s all?” I asked.

I heard her take a sip from her beverage on the other end of the phone. At this time, it was a fine red wine no doubt. It was one of her vices. “When I found out Lucian was murdered, you have no idea how angry I was. I wanted to kill your sister myself, but I knew deep down I could never do it.”

“Because she’s my sister?” I asked.

“No, it wasn’t because of that. I just couldn’t stomach having any more blood on my hands,” Leah said. “I just don’t want to hold a gun anymore.”

“Something tells me there’s a story behind this,” I said.

“There is.”

“Will you tell me?”

I could hear her taking another swallow of her drink. “I don’t know, Shadow. It’d be ripping open an old wound.”

“Leah, please,” I said in such a way that invited her to open up to me.

She sighed. “Okay, Shadow. Okay. Two years ago, I was part of an operation. We were to break into the compound of a well-known terrorist hideout in Boulder, Colorado of all places. I won’t go into the details of the operation, but we were given faulty intel from our informant. Everything went to shit. Fifteen men and women were involved in that operation, good people whom I’d grown close to, and only three made it out alive, including me.

“I killed four men and one little girl that day, Shadow; a little girl, for Christ’s sakes no older than ten. She had a gun. Those bastards had given her a gun and instructed her to shoot everyone that came through the door.”

She took a deep breath. “What was I to do? What else could I do?”

“Sometimes, the Universe leaves you with only one choice.” I agreed.

“Remember back in the coffee shop when you called me a manipulator?”

“Yes.”

“You were right. You nailed it right on the head. I want your sister dead, but I don’t want to get my own hands dirty. Every time I hold a gun, all I can remember is that little girl and that scared look on her face as she lay dying on the ground because of the bullets I sent through her lungs.”

I didn’t know what to say. It had been a long time since Leah had opened up to me about anything. I still remembered those days when we stayed up until dawn, her telling me all of her hopes, dreams, and fears. And I listened.

Leah had meant the world to me then.

“I’m helping you now, because I know what needs to be done, despite me not being able to do it myself. The Midnight Society has been and always will be, larger than the CIA as a collective whole. My organization is out of their element when it comes to bringing your sister to justice. She’ll find her own way to work the system. You and your band of misfits are the only hope I have in bringing Calisto down.”

I took in her words and let them settle in the back of my mind.

“So how are things going with the new girl?” Leah asked me. “I believe her name’s Aria?”

I shook my head, annoyed Leah had pried into my personal life. “I’m guessing you pulled up all of Aria’s legal documentation and history and did a thorough background check,” I sighed.

“No. I just looked her up on Facebook. She’s a cute one, Shadow, and from the video clips I saw of her playing the piano, extremely talented as well.”

“Jealous?” I asked.

“More like curious. I wanted to know the girl who could ignite that cold, grey heart of yours. And yes, a smidgen of jealousy does exist.”

“Well, things are at a shaky point between us,” I admitted.

“Let me guess, she’s still pissed at you for acting like an ass. I know how you are when danger rears its ugly head around the corner. You become all doom and gloom and push everyone as far behind your back as humanly possible. I hope she gave you an earful for that.”

“She did.”

“If she truly loves you, then complete forgiveness is only a few fleeting moments away.”

I took a deep breath.

“It’s not that,” I said.

“Oh? Then what is it?”

I reflected on everything for a brief moment. I was about to tell her the whole story, but then I stopped myself. What the hell was I doing? Why was I even considering confiding in my ex-girlfriend about the problems of my current girlfriend?

I was pretty sure that made it onto the list of top ten things NOT to do in a committed relationship.

“Forget it,” I said. “Just forget I said anything. We have our problems but they’ll work themselves out. In the meantime, the priority is getting Lincoln out of Calisto’s hands. You have all the information I’ve uploaded onto your encrypted server?”

“Last I checked, it was still uploading,” she said. “Let me have a look now.”

“This is basically the blueprint of the army airbase along with a satellite geographical layout of the surrounding area up to thirty kilometers in radius. I already have Reiko mining for data about the roads and the electrical grid, amongst other things. What I need from you is any restricted or classified information about the area that we’re missing and could prove useful during the extraction.”

“I’ve just logged in,” Leah said. I heard her mouse clicking in the background. “Yup, I got your files along with another file. That’s odd…” her voice trailed off.

“What is it Leah?”

“It looks like some sort of video,” she replied. “I’m trying to run a trace on the location where it was uploaded from. This is a secure server. Only three people even know about it: you, my mole, and my direct supervisor.”

I waited a few seconds. “Any luck?” I finally asked.

“No. There’s no meta data or tracking history for this file at all. I’m going to open it.”

What followed were two minutes of dead silence between us, though I could hear Leah’s breaths grow more rapid on her end.

When she spoke again, her voice was quivering. “Oh my god, Shadow,” she said. “It’s…Jesus Christ.”

“What is it Leah?” I asked. “What was on that video?”

“Lucien’s death—my brother’s death. They caught it all on film.”

I was stunned.

“Can you provide more details, Leah? Was Calisto in the video?”

“She wasn’t. But the man who murdered my brother was.”

“Who was it?” I asked. “I promise you, Leah, we’ll find the bastard.”

Her next words rippled throughout my body like tremors from an earthquake.

“Shadow, it was you.”

#

Chapter Twelve

Lincoln

I remembered my first time, every single detail.

She had slipped into my bed smelling like flowers and mint, waking me up from my dreams—about her, coincidentally—with soft kisses to my neck.

Karina was a princess among the kindly paupers.

I was so young and inexperienced back then, barely seventeen. Karina, being two years older, had already experienced many of her firsts with another. This made me insanely jealous at the time.

Contrary to belief that all males finished quickly during their first sexual experience, I was the opposite. I was so nervous that I couldn’t come, though not for a lack of her trying.

She had gone down on me, flicking the tip of my head with her tongue and then licking the length of my flesh before swallowing the entire thing whole in her mouth.

Despite the pleasure her warm mouth brought, I was still shocked of what was happening.

I was going to lose my virginity to my beautiful Karina.

I brushed back her hair and stared into her gorgeous brown eyes; innocent eyes that were fixated on me. I gasped every time her lips touched the tip of my balls, her head bobbing up and down in a steady rhythm.

As much as I enjoyed the warmth of her mouth on my flesh, I knew I needed to return the favor. I pulled Karina’s head up and laid her down onto the bed.

I spread her legs apart and stared at her soft lips wet with desire.

She begged for me to go down on her and it was at that moment I realized I had no fucking idea what to do.

So I started licking, up and down, with a slow and evenly paced rhythm, while listening to Karina moan in response.

I personally thought I was doing an amazing job, but it wasn’t until she whispered, “Gentler,” that I realized I wasn’t.

There was still much to learn when it came to pleasuring a woman. Of course, with a lot of practice, I became a master in the arts of the female orgasm. A legend if you will.

But back then, I was a novice. One filled with good intentions and terrible execution. Karina eventually pulled my head up to her own and kissed my lips, not caring that seconds ago my mouth had been all over her wet pussy.

“Fuck me,” she whispered. “I want to make you come for the first time.”

“I came before,” I had replied.

“With a woman.”

She had me there.

I slipped myself inside her and moved in and out, slowly. Gently.

My mind was blown. I was actually having sex.

“Is this okay? Are you alright? Should I go slower? Let me know if you’re not okay. Do you want me to continue?” I had asked.

Looking back, it was such foolishness, asking if my partner was okay having my penis inside of her. It was a virgin’s mistake.

Three minutes later, I would ask her again, to which she had replied, “Stop asking and just fuck me, for God’s sake.”

And I did.

I savored her body in missionary style first, plunging my full length in and out of her, my fingers exploring her soft, brown nipples. We shifted positions and she moved on top of me, sliding her tightness up and down my full length while she let out long, heavenly moans.

“Come,” she whispered. “Come for me.”

I was trying. Oh lord, how I desperately wanted to lose myself with Karina. But once again, it was the nervousness factor that prevented me from doing so.

We eventually moved to doggy style position. I grabbed her hips and began fucking her, this time with more urgency. I took pleasure in the sounds of her gorgeous ass, slamming against the hard belt of flesh surrounding my cock. I must have been doing something right, because before I knew it, she was coming, her loud moans laced with insurmountable pleasure.

“Holy shit. I…I never felt that before.”

What I had learned later was that I had hit her G-spot. Conveniently, when fully erect, the length in combination with the curve of my cock was perfect for finding that sweet spot when fucking a girl from behind.

We switched positions yet again as I desperately tried to finish. Alas, I couldn’t come.

My body wore out before my cock could.

She took me in her mouth again, sucking off the taste of her own orgasm, pushing me as far back into her throat as she could.

Eventually I retracted myself from her and kissed her fully on the lips.

“You don’t have to,” I had said.

“But I want to.”

I shook my head. “Just sleep with me tonight,” I had replied. “That would mean the world to me, even more so than sex.”

It was the truth.

Having the woman I loved with her naked body pressed against my own, was far more satisfying than any orgasm I have ever felt.

The feeling of being in love and being loved back; that was truly what I desired most in life. Not empty, unfulfilling sex.

I loved Karina, but like most love stories, ours came to an end.

We stood at a crossroads in our lives, thrust before us due to misfortunate events. I walked amongst the shadows of one path—a long and lonely road—while Karina took another.

I never blamed her for leaving me. The path she took was the one best for her. It was a path that would make her happy again, a path that would allow her to heal from her deep wounds. It was a path I had no business being on.

A few years later, after we vanished from each other’s lives, I discovered the Midnight Society and the rest was history.

I always wondered what had happened to Karina.

Today I had my answer.

Calisto had found her, ripped her away from whatever innocent life she had, and forced her onto her knees while tears streamed down her face.

The crowd of stupid people sat there silently and watched.

“Lincoln, do you know this girl?” Odin asked me.

Karina looked up at me, confused. She didn’t know me as Lincoln. She knew me by my real name.

“Let her go, Calisto,” I said.

“Clearly he does,” Calisto replied, addressing Odin’s question directly.

Odin nodded, like a bitch to his master, and directed his attention to me once more.

“You have been found guilty, Lincoln Richards, of adultery. Therefore, for your transgressions your first love shall bear your cross. Because the Revenants are not done with you yet, Karina shall die on your behalf.”

“Don’t do this,” I said. I was responsible for too many deaths already. I couldn’t stand watching Karina die as well. She still owned a piece of my heart.

“There’s no other choice, Lincoln,” Calisto said. “Someone needs to be punished.”

“Punish me then,” I demanded. “If I was the one who sinned in your eyes, then it’s my cross to bear. Let her go.”

Calisto shook her head. “You know we can’t let that happen. She’s seen everything. She’s seen all our faces. She’ll talk. You know she will.”

“No, she won’t,” I replied. “I swear to you, she won’t talk. Isn’t that right Karina?”

I looked at her with desperation in my eyes. I needed to save her. For once, I needed to save someone from Calisto and her twisted vendetta against me.

Karina looked at me with sadness in her eyes. I knew that look. It was one void of hope.

No, no, no. Karina, don’t give up hope yet, please. I can still do this. I can still save you.

“Give me the opportunity to bargain with you.” I begged. “I’m asking you for a fair trade. What do you see as the equivalent value for her life?”

Calisto raised her brow. “Well, Lincoln, what do you think her life is worth?”

“You perceive the value of life differently than I,” I said. “I’m asking
you
, what value do you place on the life of a civilian?”

She laughed. “You know that I don’t place high value on the middle class working folk. They’re all vermin in my eyes—weak and expendable.”

“Then let’s trade. I’ll give you something of higher value, in exchange for her life.”

Calisto laughed. “You must be kidding yourself. Whatever I want from you, I can take.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and then directed my attention towards the rest of the court and spoke. “I once called you all colleagues and friends. Many of you once belonged to an organization with rules and boundaries. We never killed civilians before and we certainly never murdered our own. However, in an effort to take control of the Midnight Society and rebrand it under her own organization, Calisto murdered five council members. I want you to remember James Takeshi, Lucien Gamble, Brevin West, and Donald Huff. I want you to remember Abraham Constantine. These five men were killed in Calisto’s ruthless plot to wrestle control away from Shadow.”

I swallowed hard. “You also witnessed Calisto’s insanity when she burned a civilian alive—an innocent man who did not belong in this world of ours. I know that the Midnight Society was never on the side of angels but we left the innocent alone. This is not what we do. Think about it. How many of you have civilian friends of your own? I can tell you the answer, each and every damned one of you.”

Calisto yawned. “I don’t see the damn point to all of this, Lincoln.”

I turned to Odin. “You hate me, don’t you?”

“Immensely,” Odin nodded.

“You want to see me suffer, yes?”

“Of course.”

I pointed to Karina. “Do you think she needs to suffer also? She’s a civilian.”

Odin pursed his lips.

“We used to have order in the Midnight Society,” I said “What this is here, the Revenant’s, is insanity. All I see is mindless bloodshed.”

“To start anew we need to burn everything to the ground,” Odin said.

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Calisto sold you all promises of a better tomorrow. Well, have you seen her move towards that direction? Because all I’m noticing here are decisions made based on a personal vendetta. You guys all sit there following her blindly, but what you don’t realize is this: at some point, you’ll do something to piss her off. God forbid the day that you do because she’ll sit across from you at the dinner table, with a smile on her face, and proceed to slit your throat.”

“Why Lincoln, are you trying to turn my own organization against me?” Calisto asked.

I shook my head. “No. What I’m trying to do is to reintroduce the concept of humanity back into them. They can start by letting Karina go and punishing me for my crimes instead. Take my life as the offer Calisto. In your eyes it’s of higher value.”

Odin shook his head. “Calisto is right, she knows too much. When she leaves, she’ll talk.”

I looked at her with pain in my eyes and then nodded. “Fine then, in exchange for her silence, take her tongue.”

I could see Karina’s heart sink to her stomach as she closed her eyes and covered her face.

“I’m sorry Karina,” I said, despite knowing that no apology could ever make things right.

I looked at the jury. “Find your humanity. Take her ability to speak, but give her the opportunity to live. Is this acceptable for you?”

I watched intensely as they began conversing amongst themselves. After a minute of discussion, Alexis, their spokesperson, rose from her seat.

“The jury finds this solution acceptable,” she said. “We side with the defendant on this matter. Take the civilian’s tongue and allow for Lincoln to accept the punishment, whatever it may be.”

I felt relief wash through me.

“
We side with the defendant,
” Calisto mocked. “Fuck, all of you are sheep.”

Odin slammed the gavel down. “Regardless, the intent of this entire exercise is still a trial and with that comes the democracy of one. We shall take the woman’s tongue, and then let her go.”

I looked at Odin with the intensity of a man, begging for his own life. “Promise me, Odin. Promise me that no harm will come to this woman once she’s set free.”

Odin looked at me and frowned.

“Your word always meant something. You were the only man in the Midnight Society who knew how to keep their word. Do me this one favor, please.”

All I said was true. I couldn’t recall a single damned time he never followed through with his promises, which of course included ruining my life.

“Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll ensure that she’s looked after, and protected. However, should I get any hints of her speaking to someone outside the organization about our business, there will be no mercy.”

“She won’t,” I said, “That I can promise you.”

“She’s been silent thus far, much to my amazement,” Odin remarked. “In her shoes, any other sensible person would have begged for her life.”

I wasn’t surprised.

The thing that no one else knew about Karina was this: shortly before we parted ways, her vocal chords were permanently damaged. To this day, I still cursed the old bastard and his bony hands, the same ones used to crush Karina’s throat. If I had only gotten there sooner, perhaps I could have saved her voice. Perhaps the rape attempt would never have occurred and the scarring wouldn’t have been permanent.