Page 167 of Demise

A faithful servant to a holy cause

Yeah, a real holy cause. He went out on a job for the Brethren and ended up losing his life instead. For what? The Brethren is fucking nothing but a group of murderers. A group of bullies. A group of vindictive self-serving piece of shits.

I’ve seen Christopher smirk seven times now, I’ve counted. I know he was behind it. I can feel it in my bones. I don’tknow what I can do about it, but I know that I want him gone. Decimated. Buried beneath the dirt like my Vincent.

My heart breaks at just that thought. There is no way this is actually real. No way he’s buried beneath my feet right now. There is no way I’ll never see those silver eyes again. That I’ll never hear him call me siren. That I’ll never…

A sob rips through me as Asher holds me closer, hushing me softly.

“I know you’re hurting, princess, but people are staring. We have to keep it together. Can you be my brave girl?” he whispers.

“What’s the point?” I choke out, attempting to keep my voice soft. “He’s gone. Nothing more can happen to him!”

“But it can to you. He lived and breathed you. If he knew that his death caused yours, he’d never forgive himself.”

I want to tell him it doesn’t matter. That he’d never know because he’s not here, he’s not anywhere. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I obviously grew up religious, but I don’t feel so religious right now. I begged God to bring him back to me. For five days, I’ve begged and pleaded and bartered, yet here we are, standing over the grave of one of the loves of my life. A piece of me is forever gone, my heart forever shattered.

Once the priest is done talking about the afterlife and a whole bunch of other shit that doesn’t matter, everyone disperses as Andrew Hutchinson approaches me. He gives me a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I know you were close to him.”

I don’t respond and Andrew gives a quick sideways look before pulling me in for a hug. Asher goes to rip him away as he hastily whispers into my ear.

“Sweep your house. They planted more bugs.”

“Get the fuck off my wife!” Asher snaps, and I push him off Andrew as I lean in closer.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

He shakes his head, making eye contact with his dad as he begins walking away.

“Sweep the place,” he says before he’s gone with the rest of the crowd.

“What did he say?” Ronan asks.

“He said to sweep the house. That they planted more bugs.”

Wesley screws up his face. “Impossible. If anyone were going to do it, it would have been me.”

“Unless Christopher doesn’t trust you anymore,” Asher points out.

Wesley frowns at that as Ronan nods.

“Let’s go check.”

Sure enough. Five new cameras and thirteen more listening devices were scattered around the house. Wesley and Ronan found and destroyed each of them as Asher began raging while I sat in Liam’s arms numbly on the couch.

“WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?” Asher fumes. “He thinks that he can just bug my goddamn house whenever he feels like it? What the fuck is he hoping to find?”

“Anything he can use against you and Skyla. Just like he does with everyone.”

“I don’t give a fuck! I’m done. Maybe you had it right in the first place, Ronan. Let’s just go in there, guns blazing. His security can’t stop us all. One of us is bound to shoot the son of a bitch.”

“So that Skyla can lose two boyfriends in one week? Maybe all of them? Use your fucking head, Ash,” Liam scolds.

He flips around to face Liam, ready to give him hell when he looks at me. I feel my face frozen in place, a blank look, but I also feel silent streams of tears pouring down my face. It’s an odd thing, to feel so much pain yet be so numb to it all.

Silently, I stand up and make my way to my room. No one asks me where I’m going, no one tries to follow me. I just climb the stairs, push inside my room and collapse on the bed.

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