Tacet a Mortuis

by Amo Jones

  I turned around slowly, biting down on my lip and hoping I could sweet talk my way out of this— my face instantly fell into disgust. “What the fuck do you want?” I snapped, just as Elizabeth shut the passenger door. She was in a pearl white Lexus with chrome wheels and her driver looked half her age.

  “Got yourself a new boytoy, I see.”

  She winced but straightened her shoulders. “I understand why you’re mad at me, Madison. I guess I wanted to come see you before I left, to see if there was anything salvageable with our relationship.”

  “Well, there’s not.” I flicked my hand toward the car she arrived in. “You may leave.”

  My eyes went to Scarlet, who was shooting daggers at Elizabeth. She glided closer to her like a butterfly would if it had fangs, and her voice dropped to deathly tones. “I would listen to Madison, Liza, because if I so much as get within an arm’s reach of you, I’ll strangle you myself and bury you in an unmarked grave at the back of my home” —Scarlet grinned, whispering— “and you and I both know who your neighbors will be.”

  Pain flashed over her face, then she looked back at me. “I do love you, Madison. I always have. When you’re ready to forgive me, I’ll be waiting for you.” Then her head bowed and she retreated back to the car. A twinge of guilt pulled inside of my chest, showing my humanity. I spent most of my life loving her, and now I’ll probably spend the rest hating her.

  “Okay, so if we could get organized that’d be great as we are supposed to be at the airstrip in two hours,” Tate ordered, going straight for the front doors. Just as she was about to open the door, it flung open and Elena stood there with an apron wrapped around her waist and flour embedded through her hair, smudged on her face.

  My lips widened, but before I could start spewing a whole bunch of excuses, she interjected, “Come on, you’re on borrowed time!” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. She knew? Then I remember the conversation Scarlet and I had last night. The Tate to her Madison.

  “Come on, Swan,” Scarlet tapped my butt while walking past, and just as I was about to take the steps up to the front door, I noticed Tillie wasn’t following. Turning around, I looked at her. “Coming?” Then realization washed over me, and I spun back around to look at Elena, who was watching Tillie with interest. Her eyes flew between Tillie and the baby and then back again, and just when I thought the level of awkwardness couldn’t get much worse, Elena gestured into the house.

  “I’d love to meet my grandchild.”

  I exhaled a loud breath of air, shaking my head and walking into my house. “I’m not cut out for this lifestyle.” Dropping my bags near the front door because I knew I’d need them again, I headed straight into the sitting room where Tate was hunched in the corner suite and Scarlet was helping herself to my dad’s scotch.

  “Cheers, Joseph, you fuck.” She lifted her glass in the air and shot the amber liquid back. I could almost taste the hard liquor hit the back of my throat just by watching.

  “You don’t like Madison’s dad?” Tillie asked, slowly handing Micaela to Elena.

  Elena smiled adoringly down at Micaela. “Aw, she has never liked Joseph.” Then winked at me and took her attention to the baby. “I’ve baked pie.”

  “You did?” Scarlet snorted, one eyebrow lifted. “Judging by the amount of flour on you, I would have to debate.”

  “Don’t listen to her, she’s just scratchy!” Elena said in a baby voice to Micaela, then brought her eyes up to mine. “Before you do this, honey, you need to realize that your birth mom and dad will both be there. Are you prepared to face them?”

  The room fell silent. I mulled over her words. I thought I was. They gave me up, which was probably the only thing I would struggle to come to terms with. I miss my guys and my guy. I feel unwanted from people who were planted in my life through blood. Jesus was obviously on crack. I’d struggle with it, though. I’d come from being quite secure in my family home, single child, with both parents being married and in love, to finding out they weren’t in love, I was adopted, had three brothers, and one was a schizophrenic who had demons whispering in his head.

  I gulped. “I have no choice.”

  Elena looked at Scarlet, a silent conversation quickly passing through them before Scarlet got to her feet and came to sit beside me on the sofa. Her hand grasped around mine. She tucked her short jawline hair around one ear. “Honey, when you are ready, I will be here to talk with you about anything.”

  “We both will be,” Elena added, and that’s when I realized that it didn’t matter if Jesus was on crack and put me in the wrong family, because what made these people special was they didn’t have obligations to me. Their loyalty didn’t come from some false sense of need because we were blood—it came from the purest form. Friendship and love.

  I gave them both an appreciative smile. “Thank you both so much.”

  “Power.” Scarlet winked at me and then shot to her feet. “Right, so…” she glared down at her watch. “We’re meeting Miller in an hour. Tillie? You’ll be okay here with Elena, okay?”

  Tillie looked between all of us. “Okay.”

  “You can both stay in my room and keep using my clothes and whatever else you need. When we get home, we will all sit down and talk about what we spoke about, mmkay?” I was really hoping that Elena would work some grandmother magic and make Tillie see that she wasn’t alone. She had me and Elena, and Nate—even though he hadn’t realized it yet—but she had him as Micaela’s father, and that was what was important for right now.

  Tillie pulled her lip into her mouth. “Ok.” And just when I went to leave to get some last minute things organized, Tillie quickly jumped to her feet. “I’m really sorry!”

  I paused, tilting my head in confusion. “Sorry for what?”

  Tillie shoved her hands into her front pockets, her eyes falling to the ground. She patted down some of her hair that had fallen over her shoulder, her silver bangles jiggling in the movement. I noticed she still had her silver dream catcher diamond necklace on through it all. “For messing up your guy’s dynamic, I guess.”

  “Tillie,” I started, but Elena stepped in for me.

  “You, sweet girl, are not a nuisance.” Elena wrapped her fingers around her chin, lifting her face. “You and Micaela are family now, just like Madison, and Tate, and the rest of the Kings. Just like Scarlet and I. You will find that no matter how much we may hate each other at times, we always take care of our own.” She pulled in a breath. “I believe my son loves you.”

  I gasped. Even though I knew it was true.

  Scarlet grinned.

  Tate shuffled in her spot.

  I began to think Scarlet was more of Tate and I was more Elena.

  Elena continued. “But right now, he’s so clouded in hate and confusion that he won’t allow any other emotion in. Time, please just give him time.”

  Tillie’s shoulders relaxed slightly before she nodded. “Ok. I can give him time.”

  Wrapping my belt on, I leaned to the side, catching Scarlet staring at me. “Hey, so how many people affiliated with the Kings are actually going to be there?”

  I was getting comfortable, scanning around the plane. It was a lot different to the Hayes’ jet. Theirs seeming more superior.

  “All of them.”

  I froze. “Shit.”

  “When we get in there, I need all of you to pay attention to my body language. You don’t move unless I fucking say, or fucking incline that you are going to move, do we understand?” I called out, facing all of them. The trip was fast because we had two jets flying here with around forty or so men.

  “Yes, boss,” Spyder teased, cocking his head. Fucker.

  “Son, it’ll be fine.” Dad came up beside me.

  “I know.” I inched my head over my shoulder. “But I don’t want any mistakes. I don’t want to lose anyone.”

  “And you won’t. Hey, I’m proud of you, kid.”

  I gave him a small smile. For my dad to say that, it meant a lot,
but right now wasn’t the time to relish in it.

  “Remember,” I added, looking around at all the faces that were here, ready. Some I hadn’t seen since I was a young pup, and some I had never met, but we all had one thing in common: loyalty. “The Lost Boys are not standing with Katsia, mainly because they’re smart, but also because they’re very black and white, and they know who is in charge and who merely acts in charge. Katsia has her guards, but not that many. I’m not worried about what’s going to happen when we enter these gates, but I am stressing that you don’t make any irrational moves. We don’t want to kill her. Yet.”

  Everyone mumbled in agreement, so I turned to face the high gates, pulled out the card that my dad gave me earlier which gives us access to wherever we need to get to on here, and swiped it over the laser panel.

  Daemon

  One, two, three, four, five, six…six…six….

  Quiet! I ordered in an attempt to hush them all. Trickery, War, Rage, Deceit, Evil… The six demons were running wild in my thoughts. They had names, because they had their own voices. I became aware of this very young. There was no love, I had no love in me, but when Madison was around, I felt the closest thing I could ever feel that came close to love. She engulfed me, completed me and brought joy to my life. I knew not of joy, or happiness, until I met her. The bond between us both was unshakeable, unbreakable and as strong as a rip current in the middle of an ocean. I would die for her and then come back to life to kill whoever tried hurt her and then die for her again. The day in the forest was still a blur for me, but I figured out quickly that Deceit had taken over. His presence was still on the tip of my tongue hours after his retreat. I hated myself, still hate myself, and I will never forgive myself for that day. How do you kill the very things that haunt you in your head? How do you strangle something that morphs into smoke the second you try to mentally grasp around its neck? How do you kill someone that essentially is you? I was sick. So very sick. I didn’t deserve to share the same blood as Madison, let alone the same womb for nine months.

  “Daemon, don’t you think?” Bishop asked, leaning against one of the panels that were outside the shops on the only street of Perdita. The war was no longer brewing; it was ready to be served.

  I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked toward where Bishop was, beside Hector but front-on to Katsia and her small army of men. We weren’t outnumbered, but it would be a good fight should the war erupt. “Of what?”

  “That Katsia would look better with her blood spilled over the ground.” I felt the energy shift before I saw her. The room fell silent as I turned to see who it was, and my gut clenched. Scarlet, Tatum, and Madison were walking toward us, breaking through the thick gathering of Kings and others. Oh yes, she’s here, let’s kill her. Get it right this time. I ignored Deceit.

  “Madison!” Bishop shouted, enough to cut the silence. Madison winced. My fists clenched at her discomfort. “What the fuck are you all doing here?”

  “Oh!” Katsia taunted. “This is perfect. The Elite ladies, all in one place…” Katsia stepped forward. I leaped in front of Madison, shielding her.

  Katsia snorted. “The stray Lost Boy, move, Daemon.” As much as she tried to sound strong and demanding, the edge of each syllable fell off her tongue with a small shake. She knew what I was capable of—truly capable of. She sat with the therapists when they diagnosed me, then turned me into her own weapon. I was always loyal to her, right up until the point where Madison came back into my life. She was the game changer.

  “No.”

  Madison’s hand came to my arm. “It’s ok, Daemon.”

  Bishop pulled Madison behind him, his eyes slanting on her. “I will beat your ass for this.”

  Madison smiled. “I count on it.”

  Turning back to face Katsia, Scarlet stopped beside me, her arms crossed. “I have a bone to pick with you, oh sacred one.” She tilted her head. “Turns out, you’re not the final line of your blood. Congratulations, you’ve just made yourself disposable.”

  Katsia stilled.

  I smiled.

  Hector pulled Scarlet into him, but she shoved him away. “Don’t touch me.” Then her eyes went to Khales. “Ever again.”

  “As much as we all love this song and dance,” Spyder announced, walking between us all. “I have a party to get back to, well the fuck away from all you fuckers!” Bishop’s wild older cousin who led the Kings in the previous generation with Jase, Saint, Ace, and Ollie, announced. There were only five that year, where there were seven this generation.

  “Your pussy fest can wait,” Bishop snapped, his head turning over his shoulder.

  “‘Cause, they really can’t…”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Scarlet.” Katsia played dumb, stepping forward.

  This is getting boring. Let’s kill someone. Start with her. Start with Katsia. Always hated her. It will start bloodshed! Yes, let’s do it.

  Quiet! I roared inside my head, but they continued to push.

  Yes, now. Let’s do it now. Now, Daemon, enforce it, let it happen. Feel the power seep into your fingertips and embrace it. My eyes slammed shut, my lips pursing. Shut up! A loud round of hyena-like giggles erupted in my head, bouncing off the empty walls of my scarred soul.

  Mine.

  “As much as I’d love to continue this cute little chitchat” —darkness cloaked my vision, and my lip curled— “I’m feeling like I’d prefer to see the color red.” I slowly slipped my knife down from under my sleeve, grasping the heavy metal handle, then launched forward to Katsia, slicing it across her neck until her blood sprayed across my clothes and her death danced on the tip of my tongue to a metallic melody. My eyes rolled back in euphoria. It was like my first hit of heroin, the feeling of clouds seeping into my bones. A charge erupted through me at the same time as relaxation drifted through the air.

  “Oh my God!” Madison screeched, and then hell broke loose. I smirked as one of Katsia’s guards hit Nate square in the face with his fist, and a loud crack sounding out. Nate fell to the floor. The guard jumped on him, pulling out his own knife and sinking it into Nate’s stomach. Madison started screaming again in the background. Scarlet jumped in front of a stray bullet that was heading straight for Madison. It hit her in the throat with a loud clap and she fell to the ground, Hector’s arm shooting out to catch her. “Scarlet!”

  I pounced forward, grabbing hold of the guard’s throat that stabbed Nate and twisted effortlessly until the snap vibrated through my bones. My head whipped to where Bishop was fighting with two of Katsia’s men. One had a knife and the other had nothing but his hands. I was about to walk towards him when a sharp pain ripped through my leg. I paused, slowly turning around. My attention went down to the long machete that was sticking out of my leg, and then I smirked, bringing my eyes to Katsia’s man. I pulled it out, flicked it around on my fingers, and then launched it into his neck, where it sliced it right off. A puddle of blood bubbled where his head was once attached before he finally slid to the ground. I could see Tate lying on the floor heaving, blood was coming out of her mouth and she had a knife sticking out of her upper thigh.

  “I’m fine!” she snapped at me. “Go help Madison!”

  Spyder pulled Tate into his arms and flicked his wrist to Bishop. “Fucking go, demon boy!” I spun around, just in time to see Madison weeping near Scarlet, holding her hand.

  Bishop roared, “Mom!” shoving one of the men off him. More Kings flew in behind Bishop, after fighting off more of Katsia’s men and taking out the two that he was fighting.

  A gunshot fired.

  Silence.

  Bishop stopped, his face falling, his expression unreadable. Madison instantly stopped crying, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her blood-ridden fingers. Red.

  “Bishop?” she asked softly, before carefully standing to her feet. Bishop’s head tilted downward. I followed his movement, and my eyes caught the red stain of blood slowly seeping through his white shirt. His hand
came to his stomach before he fell to the ground.

  “Bishop!” Madison screamed with such high pitch tones that it shook the street. Whoever was still fighting instantly stopped mid-air, the last of Katsia’s men took the distraction as a time to escape, all scattering off quickly into the wild bushes. Madison flew to where Bishop laid and dropped to the ground. Hector ran, following Madison. Nate used his arms to drag his body along the pavement in an attempt to make it to him.

  Bishop’s chest was heaving up and down. Nothing was heard but the crackling of his own blood caught in his throat. The curdling desperate attempts of breathing. The hopeless endeavors at staying alive.

  Madison’s screaming grew more frantic. “Don’t you die on me!” Red.

  I started walking toward him.

  Madison’s cry slowed to a desperate plea, and when Hector pulled Bishop’s shirt up to inspect the wound, I knew instantly it wasn’t good. Blood was gushing out of his wound, trickles leaking out between his lips. He struggled to string any words together, but his hand flew to Madison’s and he pulled her down to his chest, burying his face in her long hair.

  “Bishop! Don’t you fucking die on me,” she continued to howl into his neck. I tilted my head.

  “Son, I need you to hang on tight, you hear, we have a medic team here. Don’t you fucking go anywhere, son! I just lost your mother, I can’t lose you too!” Hector roared, his palm tightening around Bishop’s other hand.

  Blackness slowly started to fade with the electrifying color of vibrancy coming into view.

  The smug smirk I had so proudly worn slid off my face instantly. “This is my fault.” Guilt slammed into me as Madison’s grief shook my bones.

  “No!” she screamed. “No, no, no!” She banged on Bishop’s chest. So much red.

  Nate tried to pull her away as Tate sat down beside her. “Madison, honey, come here.”

  “No! Leave me alone! No, he’s not dead. He’s—he’s, Bishop!” She howled again, her screams sending birds to dart from the trees. Her weeping pulled so much emotion that tears fell from the grown men who were huddled around Bishop.