Garden of Spiders Volume 2: A Companion Book to The Fallocaust Series Book 3

by Quil Carter

  Still though, I’d feel better if I had backup. “Shoot her anyway. If she wants to play games with the life of her child, it has no bearing on me if they both die. Stick to the shadows and let me go ahead. Shoot to kill if anything looks out of place.”

  Julian nodded and we both rose. I put on my black overcoat and tucked two handguns into the inside pockets, then sheathed a knife in the holder I had on my belt. Julian armed himself as well, and twenty minutes later we were tasting the cold January air.

  I went ahead and immediately saw Oniks, complete with a round stomach partially-covered by a trench coat, leaning up against the north wall of Alegria.

  However, there was a brief pause inside of me when I walked closer to her. Someone had used the woman as a punching bag, that was clear to see. Her left eye was blackened, her lip cut, and there was a shadow of a bruise on her chin as well.

  Well, there was hope that these injuries were acquired through some rebel killing, but I had my doubts considering the placements.

  “We’ll talk some place more secure,” I said to her as I approached.

  But Oniks shook her head, her fingers running nervously through her blond hair. “This won’t take long. We have fifteen minutes until the thiens patrol this area,” she said in a dropped tone. She closed the last several feet of distance between the two of us, pulling a trench coat over her stomach, and looked around to make sure we were alone. “I need something from you, Elish,” she whispered. “I know we’re not friends, but… I need help.”

  “I can see that,” I said back. “What are these injuries on you?”

  She deflected her gaze. “It was Dad.”

  “What?” I looked behind my shoulder as Julian’s shadow approached. So much for keeping guard. “You’re kidding? Ivan fucking did that?” When Oniks nodded, Julian’s eyes became twin blue flames. He and Oniks were friends, and I knew this information would have Julian out for blood.

  And I was right.

  “I’m going to cut his fucking–” Julian’s mouth clamped shut when I raised my hand for silence.

  I turned back to Oniks. “You and Ivan seemed to get along well. What happened.”

  Oniks put a hand on her swollen stomach. “He happened,” she said, her chin tight but her light green eyes were fixed forward and stone. I had to hand it to her, she wasn’t sobbing and falling to pieces over the domestic violence. It appeared like she was doing everything she could to appear strong in front of us. “I told Dad I who his father is, and I told Dad I was keeping him as well,” she explained. “He didn’t take the news well as you can see. Ivan is refusing to accept the baby into the family, and he says the moment the boy’s born… he’s going to have a target on his back.” She took in a deep breath. “I can’t let him kill my baby, Elish. I’m not returning to the greywastes, I’m leaving that fucking family and I’m staying in Skyfall.”

  “Reasonable if he’s threatening the boy’s life,” I said. I could have use for her if she was going to stay in Skyfall. And this malice she was showing towards her father may be of great use to me. “I’m assuming you want protection, which I can grant…” My eyes narrowed. “But what’s in this for me?”

  “Information,” Oniks said. “Ivan is leaving Skyfall tonight. His big send off that he was planning for you is non-existent. He’s packing up and leaving with the family.”

  My teeth pressed. It wasn’t like this was devastating news. I had other plans for manipulating the media, and other plans to put more stressers on Silas. But the principle still remained the same: Ivan was taking off. He was betraying me in the last inning and skipping out of Skyfall.

  “I see,” I said coldly. “So you left the family and Ivan is fleeing Skyfall with the rest of his rebels.”

  “He won’t get far,” Julian said darkly. “If he thinks we’re going to fucking let him go after that stunt…”

  I gave Julian another look. “Go and distract the guards,” I said to him. “They’ll be here soon.”

  Julian left without vocal complaint and I turned back to Oniks. “If you wish you remain here with the child, I have a safe house you can stay in for the duration. I’ll make sure the two of you have adequate care,” I said.

  Oniks’ lips disappeared into her mouth as they pursed. “That’s the other thing, Elish…”

  I didn’t like where this was going.

  “I was wondering if you would take him.”

  I stared at her. “Me? You’ve got to be kidding.”

  She looked up at me and suddenly laughed, though tears were streaming down her face. “I’ll never forget that look,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “I didn’t mean you adopt him. I can’t… keep him. He’ll be in danger. Even if we remain in Skyfall… I know he’ll always be in danger.”

  “Why?” I asked. “What reason is there for him to hate this child before he was even born?” The only reason Ivan would reject his own grandchild would be…

  … I knew why. There was only one explanation.

  “Who is the father?” I asked slowly.

  “Marcel Junior.”

  I kept my face neutral, but inside I was already stretching out my hands to strangle the dumb woman where she stood. That was Marcel, the leader of the Bratva’s, oldest son. “You’ve literally been sleeping with the enemy?” I said coldly. “Are you insane or just incredibly stupid?”

  “He’s not like the…” But then she sighed and shook her head. “I won’t bother defending myself. I know it was a stupid move. But I’m pregnant and–”

  “We have abortions for that.”

  “I’m eight months!”

  “We have dumpsters for that.”

  “Elish!” she exclaimed.

  I growled, my head shaking in exasperation. “Why did you let this go on for so long? Did you just find out about this pregnancy yesterday?” I said. “What were you thinking?”

  She shook her head again, her shoulders slumped. I saw a single tear escape and slide down her cheek. “I know it was a stupid mistake to keep him… but he’s here now and the best thing I can do for him, is to let him have the life he deserves.”

  The boy was the illegitimate love child of two warring greywaster families, he really didn’t deserve much.

  But, there was no denying that if I did this favour for the girl, she’d be under my thumb permanently.

  And if I did find this child a home… I would always have leverage over Oniks. A woman with ties to both warring families.

  Actually, this could really work in my advantage.

  “If I take this child and find him a suitable home… are you staying in Skyfall or are you going back to the greywastes?” I asked.

  “I’ve left the family, but I still want to go back to the greywastes sometimes… to see my brothers and sisters. I want to stay here though, so I can… watch over him, from a distance,” Oniks said. “I don’t want to abandon him. I still… maybe I could try and befriend his family and be an aunt?” Her voice was wobbling as she said this. It was clear that this decision had been hard for her to make. I wasn’t often moved by the tears of women, especially since Ellis rarely cried, but I understood at least that this was difficult for her.

  Even though I lived in a world full of underhanded people and twisted truths, Onik’s love for her child was genuine.

  And if I did take this child, that would be a seed I could plant and one day harvest. Oniks was versatile, and if needed be, I could place her as a plant inside of the Bratvas, and the portions of the Jackson family that she still spoke with.

  “I’m not going to do this for you because of near-worthless information about Ivan leaving,” I said to her. In the distance, I heard Julian speaking with someone and realized our fifteen minutes before the thien did his rounds, was long over. “If I do this, you’ll be a free agent for me. If I need to call upon you for any reason… you will be available. In return, I’ll find the child a home and set you up with housing and a job inside of Skyland. If you wish for a new identity, I can ar
range that as well.”

  The relief coming from Oniks was palatable. Her head bowed, and she had to steady herself on the brick wall we were standing by. “Thank you,” she whispered, and ran a hand down her face. “Thank you, Elish.”

  “Radio me once the child is born,” I said. “I’ll ask around and find him a suitable home with an elite family.” Skyland had a small orphanage, not as big as Moros’s Edgeview where Ares and Siris were currently, but it was there. However, we also had private adoptions which was more common amongst the elites. That would be the easiest thing to do, all I’d need was to get one of my men to search some profiles and the boy would have a home.

  “Thank you,” she said again. “You have no idea how much of a relief this is for me…” She put a hand on her stomach and looked down at it. “He’ll have a good life because of you.”

  I nodded. “It is of no consequence,” I said. “Have a good evening.”

  But when I turned to leave, my arm was grabbed. “Wait,” she said, a level of hesitation in her voice.

  I stopped and turned back around. Oniks’ eyes were on the ground, her body language telling me she didn’t want to say what she’d stopped me for.

  “Watch out for my dad,” she said quietly. “I haven’t been involved in family matters since I found out that my baby would be viable, but from what I’ve heard… being in Skyfall for as long as he’s been, it has tarnished Ivan’s opinion of your family.”

  My eyes narrowed. “I see.”

  “He’s never said anything bad about you personally, but Silas… and the Legion. Greywasters hate the Legion and I think seeing first hand some of Silas’s… policies. I’d just watch out, okay?”

  That was it then. Ivan was dead. There was nothing more to it.

  The moment a breath of a threat against my family reaches my ears…

  He’s a walking corpse.

  “Interesting,” I said. There was nothing more I would say on that subject. I didn’t want Oniks to know my intentions. Women could be moody things, especially pregnant ones, and I didn’t want her to have a change of heart and alert Ivan. “Have a good night. We’ll speak after the child is born.”

  Not too long after, I was walking along the exterior walls of Alegria. I spotted Julian speaking with a thien I was familiar with and one that I knew was friends with Julian. It was common knowledge amongst the thiens who guarded Alegria that Silas was enamoured with Julian, so the man could get away with murder and they’d still smile and laugh.

  The thien and Julian turned to me. “Have a nice walk?” Julian said cheerfully. The thien, whose name I’d forgotten, nodded in my direction and I returned it.

  “Yes, I did,” I replied. “Let’s go.”

  The walk back to my floor was a quiet one. I never trusted the security cameras that were all around Alegria, so instead of talking in low voices like we used to, I remained in silence. I know Silas didn’t check them, but with the nature of the subject I needed to discuss, I didn’t want to risk anything.

  Even though there wasn’t much to discuss. The answer was simple, extremely simple.

  I would be talking to my Imperial Commander brother tomorrow.

  And Ivan and his caravan would be dead by sunset.

  The next morning found me taking the elevator to Nero’s apartment. Finn was following my steps with a tray of coffees and a bag full of breakfast wraps and hash browns. A pile of them since Nero’s appetite had only grown with his age.

  I knocked on the door and stepped back, listening for either the stomping footsteps of my brother, or the light pittering of his newest sengil, Wyatt.

  But there was nothing. I knocked again, louder this time, and rolled my eyes to the ceiling when I heard a gruff yell coming from inside the apartment.

  Finally, Wyatt answered the door. He wasn’t anything like Nero’s last sengil Keela. Wyatt was tall with wavy black hair and dark eyes, thin but muscular, with several tattoos on his arms.

  “Oh, hey,” he said. “He’s just getting out of bed. It’s his day off.”

  My eyes narrowed. “You will not greet a chimera with ‘Oh, hey’. Close the door and do it properly.” I grabbed the door and shut it on the surprised sengil’s face.

  I knocked again, ignoring Finn snickering behind me. The door once again opened, and this time a proper sengil greeted me.

  “Good morning, Master Elish,” Wyatt said politely. “Master Nero is just waking up. He’ll be with you in a moment.” Wyatt then bowed, and when I nodded back, he stepped aside and let Finn and I enter.

  There was mumbling and low talking coming from Nero’s bedroom. It was two voices, one belonging to Nero, and the other one belonging to Ceph.

  It looked like the auburn-haired chimera had spent the night with my brother. This wasn’t really surprising, the moment Ceph turned fifteen he and Nero were all over each other. Ceph, in all respects, lived with Nero now, which was fine with Silas since we had a lot of children who needed bedrooms.

  “Morning, brosy,” Ceph said happily. I decided to pick my battles this morning and not rip his ear off for referring to me in such a manner. I knew he was just mimicking Nero’s way of speaking and greeting us. The boy had always been enamoured with Nero and was turning into his little clone. “Oh, you brought food!” He beelined it towards Finn, just as Nero walked out of the bedroom buttoning up a green button-down.

  “What’s up, bro bro?” Nero said in the same cheerful voice. His eyes lit up. “You brought food!” And just like his doppelganger, Nero walked past me and attacked the bag of food that Finn had brought.

  I let the two brute chimeras eat, knowing that not much was going to get done if they were hungry, and forced small talk until the bottomless pits were satiated.

  Without realizing it, I tented my fingers. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but the moment I did it Nero laughed and nudged Ceph who was sitting beside him on the couch. “Look,” Nero hissed. “When he tents his fingers like that, it means he’s about to get to the point of why he’s actually here. He’s finished with our bullshit, and now it’s time to get down to business.”

  Ceph, his mouth full of food, squinted his eyes with a smile, then swallowed. “I also notice he shifts himself around,” he said. Then he looked at me proudly. “Nero is teaching me how to read everyone’s subtle signs. Did you know we rub our noses when we’re nervous? All of us do it, and since Silas does it, we all inherited it from him.”

  I didn’t really notice that. I’ll have to enquire with Julian to see if he’d picked up on that. “Yes, I knew that,” I said. “But it is time for us to get down to business.” I cleared my thought, and both brute chimeras looked at me with their full attention. “Nero, I’m going to cash in one of those favours you owe me,” I said to him. He owed me about four favours. Mostly centered around hiding his hidden transgressions from the eyes of Silas. My brother had developed a taste for stalking and coveting the men of Skyfall, which had gotten him into deep trouble a few years previous. Nero had no intentions of stopping, so I was good at directing Silas’s attention away from him.

  “I’m going to give you coordinates and I need you to find the caravan somewhere in between and end their lives. No questions, no answers. Is this something you can do?”

  I tried not to notice Ceph’s eyes widening. I knew why as well. I hadn’t told him to piss off to let the grown-ups speak which was something we’d always done to him. This was a strategical move. The writing was on the walls (even then) that Nero and Ceph would only grow closer, and most likely Nero would tell Ceph anyway. He would also tell Ceph that this was something between brothers, and the boy would never betray the man he worshipped.

  Yes, I was still risking more than needed, but it was just another seed planted that I would one day harvest. Ceph was going to become a high-ranking officer, most likely Nero’s second-in-command, and I was going to have to trust him with sensitive information sooner or later. I might as well make it clear that I trusted him.

  Ne
ro nodded. “No problem. I know how it works. How armed will they be?”

  “Don’t take them lightly,” I said. “They’ll be armed, but if you can get the jump on them and riddled them with bullets, it’ll be a cake walk.”

  “Gotcha. That leaves two more favours?”

  I rose, and took a cup of coffee from Finn. “Nice try. I’ve cleaned up four of your messes, as it stands you still have three favours you owe me.”

  Nero chuckled and rose too. He knew I wasn’t planning on staying long. There wasn’t a single person I’d visit where I did stay longer than needed. I preferred my own castle, so if there was visiting to be done, they came to me. “Yeah, I knew better than to think this could be a twofer. Alright, Elish, I’ll take care of whoever the poor bastard was that crossed you. Can I process their caravan after? A little fringe benefit?”

  “Yes, I don’t want any evidence being left behind. Take the valuables, process their bodies, and burn the personal items,” I said. “I’ll be accompanying Silas and the rest of the family to tour that winter carnival Silas is adamant on having for our birthdays. Let me know personally when the deed is done.”

  CHAPTER 58

  “Are you going to go on any of the rides, love?” Silas asked as he hanged off of my arm.

  “Of course not,” I said flatly, making both Silas and Julian erupt in simultaneous laughter.

  With the exception of Nero and Ceph, who were in the greywastes taking care of a certain traitor, the entire family, including the sengils and the younger chimeras, were taking a tour of the future amusement park. Silas had decided that the birthday celebration would be held in Griffin Park, a family park near the western coastline of Skyland.

  In front of us was a spread of half-assembled park rides lying on the bright green grass, some huge enough to have attracted the younger chimeras. Valen and Rio were crawling around the Tilt-a-Whirl spinning chairs, and Felix and Ludo were climbing along the blue circular metal track that the chairs would eventually rest on. Behind them, there was a Ferris wheel, already standing, with the buckets one sits in currently being attached to each rung.