Merion had betrayed them all.
Merion had betrayed him.
This was personal.
Making sure that the leather jacket hide the weapons that he was carrying, as he was heading out to a densely populated area of the city and running into trouble with the human law was something he could do without tonight, Kelton leant over to swiftly kiss Kayleigh on the cheek, deftly avoiding her questions with a smile as he headed out the door.
No one stopped him on his way out of the mansion and into the cold night. He didn’t bother explaining anything to Michael, who was covering security detail at the front reception area, when he picked up the keys to one of the cars. He didn’t need to. No one would have thought that there was anything out of the ordinary, anyway. They would have assumed that he was most likely going out on patrol as per usual. It was better that way. Better to let them assume. He could fill the rest of the warriors in on what happened when he got back.
Not only did he need to do this for himself, he didn’t want to raise the others hopes up. The information he’d been given was reliable, but until he set eyes on the traitor himself, he wouldn’t say a word.
Settling into the seat and kicking up the heating, Kelton grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket. Throwing the car into gear, he raced off into the night.
As soon as the phone rang, he didn’t even bother pulling over to answer it. “Yes?”
“Kelton, it’s me.” Patrick said. “He’s on the move. We’re trailing him.”
“Keep me posted. I’m on my way.” Kelton hung up and threw the phone back on the passenger seat, gunning the car toward the city.
Patrick had been his friend and confidante for more years than he could remember. They were as different as night and day. Kelton was regimented whereas Patrick was rough and ready. They were like chalk and cheese, but as they say, opposites attract. Their friendship worked well for both of them, giving each a little light relief form the daily struggles they had to endure.
He had first met Patrick when out patrolling the deserted streets of the city. They both had enemies that needed to be eliminated and a race of people that needed to be protected. They were both fighters and found that common ground was a step to an unlikely friendship. Sharing a beer after a hard nights fighting was often on the cards for the pair of them.
It worked well for both of them and although they travelled in entirely different circles, sometimes they were able to share pieces of information that were vital. After all, word travels fast on the streets. This was the biggest piece of information shared between them so far. He and the rest of the Sons had had no luck in tracing Merion, so this call that had come out of the blue presented an opportunity that Kelton was no way going to pass up.
The city lights blinked ahead, disrupting the beauty of the night. Kelton thoroughly enjoyed the solitude of the academy’s new location, but sometimes he missed the hustle and bustle of being smack bang in the middle of the city action. Mason was a safe haven for the warriors to return to after a night fighting the enemy, a place away from it all that could give them a little peace. But, although Kelton truly was a city kid and the move itself had been born out of an unfortunate situation, he had grown to appreciate everything the mansion had to offer.
A text came through on his phone and after a mere glance at the screen, Kelton put his foot down, wanting to reach the location that Patrick had provided as soon as possible.
Pulling up at the curb, Kelton jumped out of the car just as Patrick was getting off his beast of a bike. Kelton had grinned like a little boy when he’d first laid eyes on Patrick’s Harley, who had proudly showed it off like a shiny new toy. Kelton had been playing with the idea of getting one for himself ever since, but he had yet to take the plunge and make the purchase.
Patrick was nearly as tall as Kelton and was ripped with a body of solid muscle. The five o’clock shadow that lay permanently across his jawline gave him an edgy, badass look. Kayleigh always described Patrick as obscenely attractive. It was easy to see even to Kelton how attractive Patrick was to the opposite sex and he always had women falling over themselves to get near him.
As he approached, Patrick shook his hand and they stepped back further into the shadows to talk briefly.
“He’s here?”
Patrick nodded toward a house on the opposite side of the street. “He just walked into the one with the red door, number 1102.”
“And you’re absolutely positive that it’s him?”
“One hundred percent. There’s no mistake, I assure you. It’s Merion, alright. I’ve known the guy for years. I’d recognise him anywhere.” Patrick spared a glance at the house. “He appears to be alone. My guys have scoped out the back and there is no sign of anyone else in the property.”
Kelton glared over the road. He could feel the blood rushing through his body as hot as lava. The man who had tried to destroy them all was merely steps away from him. This was the moment he had been waiting for.
“We’re going to stick around.” Patrick said, interrupting his thoughts.
“There’s no need for that. I’ve got this.”
“I don’t care. We’re staying.” Patrick insisted. “I had the feeling that you’d be showing up here alone and there isn’t a cat in hell’s chance that I’m leaving you here without any backup, so suck it up.” Patrick glared at Kelton knowing his stubborn streak well.
Kelton glared right back, but he knew that Patrick wouldn’t back down on this one.
“Look,” Patrick said, “I know that you can deal with this with your eyes closed, but I’m not going anywhere. There’s something I need to speak to you about after you’re done here. It’s important.”
Kelton nodded reluctantly before returning his focus to the house. Whatever Patrick wanted could wait. This couldn’t. This had to be dealt with now. “I’ll be back.”
Stalking over to the house, he frankly didn’t give a damn if Merion saw him coming. Now that he had him in his sights, Merion could run but it would never be fast enough to get away from him. It was over now.
This was the end.
Kelton didn’t pause. He wasn’t about to knock politely on the door and wait to be ushered inside for a cup of tea. Raising his foot, he delivered a harsh front kick that splintered the door and destroyed the hinges, leaving a gaping hole that invited him inside. Kelton leaped into the house.
“Merion!” he roared, storming through the house. It didn’t take him long. He found him in the first room he looked in.
Merion was sat on a dusty old sofa, nursing four fingers of whiskey. He looked and smelled like hadn’t had a bath since he had left the warriors. A beard few haphazardly where once Merion had been clean shaven. He’d always taken pride of his appearance it was a shock to see him looking like some down and out hobo. The man before him looked like a pale, broken imitation of the man that Kelton had once known.
The guy appeared to have aged dramatically since the last time Kelton had seen him. Stress could do that to a person. He looked worn and tired, like the guilt of what he had done was taking a terrible toll on him. Kelton didn’t feel a single ounce of sympathy for the piece of shit that had brought this all on himself.
“Kelton.” Merion said in a soft tone. “I was hoping that you would find me. Eventually.”
“Well, here I am.” Kelton sneered, palming one of his daggers.
“I know why you’re here. I deserve it. I have been waiting for it.”
Kelton laughed bitterly. “Damn straight you deserve it. What were you thinking? How the hell can you live with what you’ve done?” he stormed.
“I can’t.” Emotion was thick in Merion’s ragged voice.
“Oh, so that’s why you were waiting for me to catch up with you? So I could put an end to your pitiful existence? Because you don’t have the goddamn balls to do it yourself? You’re nothing but a coward.” Kelton spat on the floor at Merion’s feet. The mere sight of this man made his stomach churn.
Merion
looked up at Kelton imploringly. “You don’t understand! I didn’t have a choice!”
“There is always a choice. You could have come to me.”
“They threatened my family! What did you expect me to do? What would you have done if they had threatened Kayleigh?” Tears sparkled in his eyes as the weight of what he had done crashed over him once again in a tidal wave. The guilt was too much for him to live with. It was crippling him.
“You don’t ever say her name.” Kelton grabbed him by a fistful of his grubby shirt, hauling him to his feet. “You should have come to me, no matter what. You know that we would have protected them. We’ve done it before and there’s no doubt that we’ll have to do it again. That kind of bullshit won’t wash with me.”
Merion wrenched himself out of Kelton’s grasp with surprising force. “You think that you’re so goddamn perfect, Kelton. You have no idea what I’ve been through, what I went through. You have no idea. You’re clueless.”
“Clueless?” Kelton strode forward once again so that he was nose to nose with the man that he hated most in the world. “Clueless? I know everything that I need to know. You sold out Bartholomew. You sent Aisline down the river. You betrayed us all. You took your oaths as a warrior and then threw them out the window when the going got tough.”
“I was protecting my family! Can’t you understand that?”
“Horse shit! You were thinking only of yourself! Your family? You don’t give a shit about your family. Are you there with them now? Protecting them? Taking care of them? No! We are! The warriors that you turned your back on are the ones that are keeping them safe.”
Merion suddenly crumpled to his knees and sobbed pathetically. Still, Kelton felt nothing for him. The man had brought this all on himself. He deserved no pity.
“I was wrong. I didn’t know how bad things were going to get. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Any of this. You have to believe me. What can I do to make things right? There has to be something I can do.” Merion begged.
“There is nothing that you can do. Amends cannot be made.”
“I’ve known you for so long. You are not the kind of man to turn your back on someone who needs you, Kelton.”
“I help those that deserve help. You deserve nothing.”
“Kelton, please. I implore you. You know me. You know that I would never have done this lightly. They were going to slaughter my entire family!”
“Bullshit! I don’t know you!” Kelton roared. “I thought that I knew you but I was clearly wrong. I thought that you were someone to rely on. I thought that you were strong. I was wrong. You’re nothing. You’re weak.”
Merion sobbed at his feet. “Forgive me, my brother.” He pleaded.
“You are no brother of mine.”
Merion sucked in a shuddering breath. “I can’t go on like this. I can’t live with this. You need to do what you came here to do. Please, Kelton, I beg of you.”
“Are you asking me to end your miserable life?”
“That is why you came here, is it not?” Merion looked up at Kelton, a broken man with tears of self-pity streaming down his face.
“I sure as hell didn’t come here to ask for your permission to do it.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Just do it! Exact your revenge! End this misery!” Merion wailed, grabbing hold of Kelton’s trouser leg and tugging as if to egg him on.
Kelton looked down at the man who had once been his friend with utter disgust. Roughly kicking him away, Merion stumbled across the floor and sprawled on his face. Kelton couldn’t believe that this snivelling wreck had once been a respected warrior.
“Do you have no respect for yourself? Get up off your knees and face me like a man.” Kelton demanded of him.
Merion shoved himself up off the floor and struggled to stand, swiping at the tears that fell from his cheeks. “Please. Let me make this right by dying an honourable warrior’s death. At least let me die in the right way even if I didn’t live it.”
Kelton knew what he was asking. He wanted death by the blade. Kelton couldn’t bring himself to do that. The broken man in standing front of him, staggering on his feet, was no warrior. He didn’t deserve a death worthy of a warrior of honour.
“I can’t do that for you.” Kelton replied in a dull, lifeless tone. He placed one of his hands on a gun. Merion looked alarmed for a moment before resignation crossed his features.
Raising the gun, Kelton said no words as he screwed the silencer on the end. The thoughts that flitted through his mind were along the lines of hoping that Merion could find forgiveness through his death that no one could give him in his life.
Pulling the trigger, Kelton shot Merion straight through the heart and watched as the body fell silently to the floor, dead even before he hit the dirty carpet under foot.
It was done.
Vengeance was served.
Holstering the gun, Kelton felt nothing. With one last scathing look at the crumpled body on the floor, he walked out of the house and didn’t look back.
Chapter Eleven
“It’s done.” Kelton said as he approached Patrick.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he snapped.
Patrick narrowed his eyes. “Because you’re not a fucking robot. That man you just killed was once like a brother to you.”
“Not anymore he isn’t.” Kelton replied stubbornly. He refused to think of the man that Merion had once been. He could only focus on the back-stabbing, lying worm he had become.
Patrick signalled to his guys that were loitering in the shadows nearby, sending them on their way. “You look like you could do with a drink. A stiff one.”
“I don’t need anything.”
Patrick smirked. “Well, I don’t give a shit. I need a drink and I need to talk to you, so you’re coming with me.” He strode off to his bike and called over his shoulder. “Follow me.”
Kelton didn’t reply, but he didn’t need to. They both knew that he would follow. Patrick needed to talk to him and after everything he had done to help with the Merion case, Kelton felt like he owed him. Sure, he wasn’t exactly in a very socialising mood right now, but he also wasn’t ready to head back to the academy just yet. He wasn’t ready to tell the others what went down. A drink was starting to sound more and more inviting by the second.
He followed Patrick as best as he could, but the guy rode like he had the devil on his tail. There was no way to keep up with him on the winding streets of the city. Finally, Kelton pulled up outside one of the seedier biker bars on the outskirts of Brandestowen. Patrick’s bike was already parked up and he was nowhere in sight.
Pushing his way through the heavy wooden double doors, Kelton instantly felt more relaxed. The sound of the eighties rock music was blaring out from the old jukebox at the back of the bar, the smoky atmosphere and the raucous laughter was all familiar to him. It was good to be back.
This wasn’t the kind of place that anyone would come looking for him. The Lamia didn’t hang out in places like this. It was a relief to know that he had a little time to get his head together and chill before going back to the academy to face the music.
Spotting Patrick standing over at the bar, he was talking to a sexy blonde that was wearing little more than underwear. She was typical of the type of girls that hung around the bar, hoping for a piece of action with one of the bikers. Grinning to himself, Kelton shouldered his way through the sea of leather clad men.
“Damn, Kelton. You took your time.” Patrick grinned. Picking up the beers and chasers, he dismissed the blonde and led Kelton to one of the empty tables at the back.
Sliding the beer across the table, Patrick said, “Here. You might say that you don’t need it, but you sure as hell look like you do.”
Kelton accepted the beer and the chaser, quickly tipping the shot down his neck. The burn in his throat was somehow comforting.
He noticed that the blonde was still hovering near the table, but Patrick didn’t e
ven glance in her direction. That didn’t surprise him in the least. Patrick could be a total flirt, but he had a woman at home that he loved more than life itself. He wasn’t any kind of cheat and wouldn’t dream of sleeping around. He had more respect for him woman than that.
“Come on, then. Spit it out. What did you want to talk to me about?”
Patrick took in a deep breath and put his beer back down on the table. He glanced around furtively to make sure that no one could over hear them before leaning across the table, “We have a bit of a problem.”
“What kind of problem? I’m guessing that it’s something I can help you with, seeing as you’ve asked me here.”
“I sure hope you can. Two of my boys have received the mark.”
“What mark?” Kelton looked puzzled.
“Your goddamn warrior mark.” He hissed.
Kelton abruptly sat up in his chair in total shock, the beer sloshing on the table. That couldn’t be right. There was no way this could have happened. He had to be wrong.
“Are you sure about that? Are you positive it’s not something else?”
Patrick laughed bitterly. “You don’t think that I have been through every single other option? I’ve been around you bloodsuckers long enough to know what it is when I see it. It’s the warrior mark of the Sons of Satrina. I’m sure of it.”
“Shit.” Kelton whispered.
This was not something he had ever expected to happen. It was bad enough that the warrior mark had appeared on Aisline, the first female warrior of their race. But, this? None of them would have seen this coming.
“I need you to help them.”
“Of course.” Kelton nodded. His thoughts were running a mile a minute. It wouldn’t be easy, that’s for sure, but he would do everything in his power to make sure that things worked out for them. “When did this happen?”
“Seven days ago. I tried to give them a bit of time before I contacted you. I had to make sure myself that this really was the warrior mark that we’re working with. I had to see if there was any way to fight it.”
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