Page 107 of Hell Breaks Loose

I almost fall for it.

But there’s something off in her eyes. The tension in her stance.

“Aunt Rachelle,” I mutter, thrusting out one arm to keep her at bay.

“My darling girl,” she starts, until she sees my expression. My denial.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Rachelle?!” Marco barks, drawing the attention back to him.

“I’m delivering on a promise. Didn’t I say I was going to bring you the Sinful as a wedding present? Well, here we are. In all of our fury.” She lashes out, striking him across the face.

“Traitorous bitch!” he shouts in pain, spitting blood.

“You never deserved my allegiance, Marco. I am only loyal to the Seven.”

“And the gold? The government assets?”

Rachelle stalks around him and the vacant, beautiful man holding him tightly.

“The gold dried up two hundred years ago, you fool. Even before the gold rush for the West Coast, the founders of this town tapped the mines dry. The rest is real, however. The government contacts, the multitude of files containing dirt on key individuals. But not. For. You.”

“You need me. My men. You can’t hold this place without me!” He squirms, fighting uselessly against Evan’s grasp.

My Evan.

Who hasn’t even so much as looked at me since they stormed in.

“Another miscalculation. You think that my children have been killing everyone they find? No. Every hour of every day, we turn another soul to the cause. Make another devotee. You did some of the work for me. And you brought me even more soldiers, ready to join us.”

“You’re a lunatic! I knew it! This won’t stand, you conniving?—”

Three gunshots ring out above the press, drawing some attention from the immediate surroundings. She stands in the center of the stage among the madness, her hand raised high.

Rachelle steps forward, aiming the gun at Marco’s head as she dips, scooping up the minister’s microphone, abandoned when he fled.

“Vice is done!” she starts, her cry a clarion over the chaos. “My children have you outnumbered.”

This time, more of the fighting stills. A hundred eyes look to the stage.

Even the wild-eyed Ghosts pause in their frantic assault, turning to hear their leader's voice. Her orders.

A stillness embraces the world around us.

“Hear me. This war is over. There was never any other outcome possible. The Seven, the Sinful, have always owned this place. That remains true. They never left. And I am here to reassert order.”

“You’re a fucking hack! And a liar. You are out of money and that’s why you needed me!” Marco jerks away from Evan, dropping to his hands and knees. Rachelle waves one hand, keeping her attack dog from pursuing as Marco sags, blood pooling from the trickle spilling down his arm.

“He’s right,” I add quietly, shying away from her wrath as she turns on me. “You killed some of them. The rest are gone. There are no Seven, Rachelle.”

“But I hold the power. Every one of their assets is mine or will be soon. They speak through me, the Herald, as they always have.”

“My men?—”

“Are pragmatic. They see the cracks in your organization, Marco. That you’re stretched just as thin as I am.”

Marco pales, swallowing hard. “Hellena… don’t let this happen. I know we have our differences. I know I am not a kind man. But I am a better option than this.”

I look between them.

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