“I don’t want to sound like a broken record on the entire trust issue but Nathan…”
Shadow seemed to agree. “Nathan Tse should be the last man I ever trust. However, he kept me and Aria alive. He could have just as easily killed us both, end of story. He has nothing to gain by sparing our lives.”
“You sure about that?” I asked.
Shadow thought about it for a moment. “What are you getting at?”
“If the reputation of Nathan Tse is true, keeping you alive will benefit him in some way. Think about his current situation.”
“He’s working for Yuen Xi now,” Shadow said.
“And what do we know about Yuen Xi?”
“He’s a tough man to work for. To him, death is a fair punishment for failure.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Nathan is scared of Yuen Xi. He needs a dark horse—a secret weapon in play that just might help him get out of the mess he’s in. If anything, he’s hoping you can find a way to take down Yuen Xi.”
Shadow shook his head and walked over to the bar to pour a drink. “With the state we’re in, we have no chance against that old, psycho dragon.”
“I know. Calisto’s poisoned that old kook’s mind. He thinks I’m the one who ordered the hit on his daughter.”
Shadow frowned. “You’re in shit.”
“I’m in shit,” I agreed. “Along with anyone that’s associated with me. This little fellowship you’ve gathered—Beau, Braydon, Isadora, and now Leah—they’re in danger as long as I’m around them.”
He offered me a glass, but I shook my head. I wasn’t in much of a drinking mood. For now I needed my head clear as well.
“It’s the risk they’ll need to take being a part of the Midnight Society,” Shadow said.
“Shadow, let’s face it. The Midnight Society is dead. It died that night at the Inferno.”
He shook his head. “The Midnight Society is dead only after Calisto pays for all that she’s done,” he replied.
I shook my head. “Shadow, everything’s changed. Whatever plan you had before…it has to change.”
“Nothing’s changed!’ he snapped.
“Calisto is pregnant. The baby in there is quite possibly mine.”
“Is that what she told you? You know she’s lying.”
“There’s that chance,” I replied. “But what if she’s not? If that’s not my kid in her belly—and I ran the calculations in my head hundreds of times, it’s a strong possibility—what then? Are you going to kill her? Are you going to force her to confess to Elena’s murder, and then hand her over to Yuen Xi so he can torture her?”
Shadow took a deep breath and sat back down.
A moment of silence passed between us, with the only sounds audible in the room being our breathing.
I finally spoke. “Regardless whether that kid inside is mine or not, he or she is going to be your blood Shadow. Calisto is an evil bitch who deserves to be punished but the child inside her doesn’t. It deserves the chance to live.”
My words seemed to have an immediate impact on Shadow. His eyes softened—no longer lit with that dark fire that was there only seconds ago.
“So, pro-life, huh?” he asked.
I nodded. “When it comes to my kid, yes, pro-life. And please, let’s not talk about the possibility that it’s not mine…yet. I can’t write that off until at least that child sees the light of day.”
Shadow nodded. “So what are we going to do then?”
“I don’t know, Shadow. You were always better at making these decisions than I was. That’s why you were the leader of the Midnight Society.”
“As you put it, the Midnight Society is dead. I led them to their end.”
I sensed the remorse in his words. He was feeling the weight of failure. However, no one could fault him for the decisions he had made given the circumstances.
“None of it was your fault. The Midnight Society is dead. However the men and women who’ve rallied around you aren’t. Lead us not as Society members but as your friends. Lead us as people who care about you and each other. You can still do that, can’t you?”
He smiled. “Yeah. That I can do.”
“Good. That’s good,” I replied. “So then, what’s next, fearless leader?”
His answer was almost instantaneous, as if he had a plan in his head all along. “I take down Calisto’s organization as a ghost, under the cover of darkness.”
“Like Batman,” I said.
Shadow laughed. “Yeah, like Batman.”
“Great. And what does Robin over here do?” I asked as I pointed to myself.
“Survive,” Shadow said. “The façade of the Midnight Society must always be there. While I cut off the heads of Calisto’s organization, I need you to bring all the old members back to our side.”
“Seriously? This will be the third time in the same conversation I’m going to mention the word ‘trust.’”
Shadow finished up the last of his drink, and rose to pour himself another glass. “Don’t worry. If anything, those bastards will serve as pawns—a layer of padding when Yuen Xi tries to take a swipe at you.”
“Sacrificial lambs, eh?”
“Yes.”
I grinned. “I like it.”
Shadow nodded. “I’ll pick off all of Calisto’s generals, one-by-one. Without strong leadership, they’ll be begging to return to this sham Midnight Society you’ll be running. At the same time, we’ll need to find a way to get to Calisto directly. I know the perfect time and place.”
“Do tell.”
“My grave,” he said. “I’ll get Leah’s mole to leak a rumor directly to the high ranking members of the Revenant’s organization that both Aria and I have tombstones with fake names. The fake names are used to prevent both the authorities and Yuen Xi from showing up to our gravesite. At some point, Calisto will show up there.”
“How are you so sure?” I asked.
Up until this point, Calisto had been nothing but careful. After the incident at the Inferno, she had practically disappeared in my eyes—up until she blindfold fucked me.
“Because I’m her twin brother,” Shadow replied. “As twisted as she is, I strongly believe that a part of her still loves me.”
“She’s got a warped sense of showing her love.”
“Yeah, she’s terrible at it,” Shadow agreed. “But it’s because she loves me that she’ll need to come to my grave, despite it posing a huge risk. We’ll keep a watch over the place. When she shows up, we can nab her.”
“You do realize that everyone will want to kill her on the spot, right?”
I thought about Beau and Isadora—though Isadora did seem to understand that the situation has changed. However when it came to understanding the mindset of that sexy witch, all bets were off. She could descend into a beserker rage in a matter of seconds, ripping Calisto to shreds—baby or no baby.
“Then you’ll have to be there,” Shadow concluded. “Take Braydon as well. He seems to be more-or-less level headed and passive compared to the others, despite being one tough mother fucker.”
“Probably because he’s Canadian,” I figured. “I guess once we have her, we’ll figure out what to do then?”
Shadow nodded. “You were right when you said that the baby changes everything.”
I thought about the baby, and then the word ‘family’ suddenly popped into my head—a simple word that terrified me.
I shrugged off my nervousness. There were other things I needed to ask of Shadow before he went all midnight crusader on Calisto’s people.
“When you confront Odin, I need you to do a favor for me,” I said.
Shadow raised a brow.
“Odin is keeping someone safe for me. She’s important to me, Shadow. I need you to make sure that a woman named Karina Markov is being protected. If he has kept his word, spare him.”
“The first part I can do,” Shadow said. “However sparing him is asking a lot. He’s Calisto’s second in command and one of
the pillars of his organization.”
“Bring him to me then,” I said. “And let me deal with him.”
I took a deep breath and silently prayed that Odin had kept his word. This world deserved more people like Karina—honest, caring, and kind-hearted. What it needed less were greedy jerks like us.
“And if he hasn’t kept his word?” Shadow asked.
There was no hesitation in my answer. “Destroy him.”
Shadow seemed agreeable to that. “Alright, I can live with that.”
There was only one matter left to discuss.
“What about Cairo and Reiko?” I asked. “You sacrificed those two to save me.”
Shadow frowned. “I know.”
“How do we get them back?”
He collapsed in his chair and buried his face in his hands, before looking up at me and replying.
“I think they’re dead, Lincoln. I pray that’s not the case, but I think they’re dead.”
It was a horrible reality to face, but at this moment in time, I couldn’t say I disagreed with him.
Chapter Thirty
Aria
Despite the simplicity of the task I was given, I understood its importance. Read ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ put the pieces together, and unravel the phrase that triggered Shadow’s transformation into an evil badass.
I entered into the study. Beau and Braydon were sitting across from each other, playing a game of chess.
They were bickering, as always.
Both men were holding ice bags to their faces and popping aspirins, remedying the pain of Shadow’s brutal beat down.
“Your already moved your rook. You can’t just take back your move,” Beau stated.
“Is it in the rulebook?”
“It’s in the universal rules of chess. Once your finger is off the piece, your turn is done. Now take your fucking rook and put it back to where you had it—out in the open where my bishop will purge it off this board.”
“No, that’s not the move that I’m making,” Braydon said.
“But you took your hand off the piece! That’s as good as done. It’s like thrusting yourself a couple of times in a girl, and then pulling out and saying it doesn’t count as sex.”
“Does two thrusts really constitute as sex?”
“According the courts of law it does.”
Braydon’s eyes widened. “Do I even want to know?”
“Shut up, bastard, and let my bishop take you.”
“No.”
That was when Beau took notice of me. “Aria, would you like to tell this cheater over here the universal rules of chess?”
I shook my head. “I’m not getting involved. I just came to get a book to read and then I’m outta here.”
Braydon leaned back in the leather armchair. “How’s Shadow doing? Is his brain still mud?”
I shook my head. “No, we managed to get that sorted out…for now.”
The massive biker smiled. “I have to tell you, it’s been a long time since I received a beating like that. Shit, that man of yours got heavy fists.”
“Hey, I gave you a good run for your money back at the whore house,” Beau pointed out.
Braydon snickered. “Yeah, sure.”
“Admit it, I held my own against the bad ass biker man.”
“I squared off against tougher men in my pick-up hockey league,” Braydon said.
It was hard picturing this monster of a man skating.
“Now, I’m moving my rook here,” Braydon continued as he repositioned his piece on the chessboard.
“I told you, you can’t do that you fucker.”
I left them to their sibling rivalry and scanned Shadow’s bookshelf.
Alice in Wonderland was right smack dab in the center of it. I pulled it out and flipped through the pages. It was a pretty book, bound in soft leather, with beautiful black and white illustrations inside. I turned to the inside jacket of the book and scowled at the pen-written words on the white space.
To Shadow,
A happy memory to chase away all the monsters at night.
Love,
Leah.
It was a sweet message that revolted my stomach.
I sighed. I had to live with the fact long before I came along Shadow had already discovered love with another.
I just wish we weren’t sharing the same roof at the moment.
“Find anything good?” Beau asked, not bothering to look up from the game.
“Just an old classic,” I replied as I quickly closed the book and shoved it underneath my arm. With the possibility of a traitor still among us, I didn’t want anyone to figure out what I was doing. “Anyway, I’m going to head out. I need some quiet time to myself. You boys behave.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Braydon said. “Peace and quiet would be nice as opposed to listening to my brother’s chirpy nonsense.”
Not wanting to listen to Beau’s comeback, I left the study.
The sun was starting to set out over the horizon of the crystal ocean. The orange sphere against the backdrop of purple sky was absolutely enchanting.
I decided to take my reading outside on a comfortable patio chair decorating the balcony. The moment I sat down, exhaustion quickly overcame me.
The side effects of the tranquilizer still hadn’t fully left my system. I wanted to sleep, but resisted the urge. I was determined to put a dent in Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece.
Shadow was depending on me.
I loved him, and I was going to read every damn word of this book if it meant helping him—if it meant figuring out whom the traitor amongst us was.
Chapter Thirty-One
Lincoln
There was no heavier weight in this world than the weight of guilt. Two lives were the price paid for my own.
It wasn’t worth it. I just wasn’t damned worth it.
If there was a God, then he’d keep Reiko and Cairo safe until we found them. But they weren’t in God’s hands at the moment. They were in the devils.
They were in Yuen Xi’s hands.
Thoughts like this these ate me alive—wounds so deep that they’d never heal. If the scars inside me manifested themselves outwards to my body, I’d look like one of the dead.
I walked past the lounge area of Shadow’s mansion to pour myself a drink.
Isadora sat by the bar, alone, having a drink of her own.
“It’s a terrible habit to drink alone,” I said.
Isadora smiled. “I’m not alone. Delilah’s with me.”
I took a seat next to her. I needed a distraction, something to clear my head from thinking about Cairo and Reiko.
Isadora grabbed a glass and poured me a drink—a stiff bourbon. She was drinking the same.
I took a sip. “So, I have to ask you, what is it that Delilah says to you when you’re hanging out like this, just the two of you?”
Isadora raised a brow.
“If I’m being too intrusive, just tell me to shut up and I’ll gladly do so,” I added.
“You’re not being intrusive,” Isadora replied. “Whereas Delilah lived her life with transparency and openness, I’ve always buried everything within me. Perhaps it’s time I lived a little more like Delilah. She was always so happy, up until the day she died.”
“It ended up being me who brought the trouble,” I said, regretfully. “I can’t help but feel responsible for her death too.”
Isadora shook her head. “What happened was not your fault. It was that terrible bitch, Calisto.” She set down her glass and then looked me in the eye. “Lincoln, you’re living with far too many ghosts. Many of them are clinging onto you, undeservingly so.”
“On the contrary. I believe I deserve to be haunted. I’m messed up.”
“Aren’t we all?” Isadora said.
I raised my glass. “Cheers to that.”
We both downed the entire contents of our drinks.
“So you want to know what Delilah says to me?” she asked, ret
urning to my original question.
I nodded.
“She tells me things will get better,” Isadora replied.
“Do you believe her?”
“She’s never lied to me,” Isadora paused and licked her cherry soft lips. “At the moment however, it’s hard for me to believe those words. There’s no greater hell I can think of than living the rest of my life without Delilah.”
I frowned. “And what will make things right?” I asked.
“I thought revenge would have restored order in my heart,” Isadora said. “When I took apart Buchanan piece-by-piece, I thought I was healing myself of old wounds. The truth is I lost so much more while torturing the man the way I did. I’ve lost a large piece of my humanity in that shed.”
“Was Delilah there while you tortured Buchanan?”
Isadora nodded, slowly. “She was frightened of me,” she replied. “Can you imagine that? The person whom you love more than anything else in the world becoming afraid of you.”
I thought I’d levy the brevity of the conversation with a bit of humor. “Sounds kind of odd, don’t you think? A ghost afraid of a witch?”
Success! Isadora frown stretched into a playful smile. “When you put it that way, yes. Yes it does seem a little odd.” She pushed her empty glass towards me. “Now pour me another drink, sailor.”
I complied, filling up my own glass as well.
“So what’s next for our little group?” she asked.
“I hope you packed light because we’re moving out tomorrow,” I replied. “This place is compromised.”
“We’re like a Ronin,” Isadora said, “Wanderers of the world, without a place or a home. Only our desires for vengeance keep us going. There’s almost a sad romanticism to it.”
“What’s the lifespan of a Ronin?” I asked.
Isadora smiled. “The number of years lived doesn’t matter. I’d rather live a single year happy than a thousand years miserable. Wouldn’t you?”
“Words of wisdom from a witch,” I said. “If you weren’t so damned scary, you could start your own motivational videos.”
“You think I’m scary?” she asked.
“Lady, I’ve seen and heard some of the crazy things from you when shit’s going down. I’m just glad you’re on our side. I’ve got ninety-nine problems but the witch ain’t one.”
Revenant: The Midnight Society Book Three Page 21
