Page 95 of Reaper Flame

“I knew he was looking for him,” he mumbled. His eyes darted around the room and landed on West. “West, she’s crazy. You understand, don’t you?”

West didn’t respond. He watched on from the sidelines. He was as angry as I was about what Hiram did to Q. How far would he let me go before he stepped in?

“Bullshit!” My fist slammed into the Blackbird’s ribs. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and gasping for air. “You know everything Hiram is up to. You are his intelligence guy! You had to know he was tracking Q down and getting close. The real question is, how would he have found out without someone feeding him that information?”

“I-I-I don’t know,” he croaked.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” I reasoned. “You know exactly what I’ll do to get answers.”

“Kitt—Candy! Please!”

I curled my lip in disgust. The Kitten didn’t listen to men who begged. She didn’t listen to anyone. I punched him square in the jaw, knocking his thin and wiry frame down like a coat hanger being bent out of shape. My knuckles would be bruised and bleeding by morning, but it’d be worth it.

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Blackbird,” I snarled. “You told him where to find Q, didn’t you?”

“No!” he lied, grabbing my leg and pleading like the pathetic sack of shit he was. “I said nothing!”

“You’re lying!” I raised my sneaker, readying to stamp on his ribs again and make sure they were broken.

“Wait!” The Blackbird held up his hands. “I didn’t have any choice.”

“You could have given us a warning,” I said, lowering my foot. “But you didn’t. Why?”

“There’s nothing I could do!” the Blackbird said as blood from my earlier hit dripped down his chin. He started choking, then burst into a coughing fit like a cat trying to hack up a furball. It resulted in him spitting a tooth out with a clink against the floor. His face paled. “Hiram knew you were on a boat. I had to give him something. I had to throw him off the trail. Give him something else to focus on while we get ready to make our next move.”

“You’re wrong,” I hissed, grabbing a tuft of his greasy hair and yanking his face upwards. He winced as he looked into my eyes. “You could have tipped us off. We could have warned Q, but you said nothing. You let Hiram murder him.”

“Hiram would have killed him anyway,” the Blackbird blathered on, but I didn’t listen. Words meant nothing. They couldn’t bring back the dead. “Just like he’ll kill you. You can’t hurt me, Kitten! You need my help! You need me!”

“We need nothing from you,” I snarled, releasing my hold on his head. He collapsed into a heap, breathing in relief. “We can take him down without your help.”

“Hiram made you, Kitten,” the Blackbird said. “He will destroy you if you’re not careful about who you trust.”

I didn’t let him say another word. I kicked him in the side with all of my strength. The bastard grabbed my ankle with his sweaty fingers, knocking me off-balance and making me fall. The next few moments seemed to play out in slow motion. As I got to my knees, the Blackbird rolled onto his back and used his good hand to reach into his suit jacket.

West appeared out of nowhere, catching the Blackbird’s wrist and crushing it with his monster grip until the Blackbird dropped the weapon.

West’s eyes were black. His monster had been unleashed, and I was hardly keeping mine together. We were out of control, and no one was here to stop us.

“No one turns a gun on my girl,” West growled.

“Come on, West,” the Blackbird whimpered. “All of this is a misunderstanding. We can work it out like men, can’t we?”

“The only misunderstanding—” West’s voice came out in a deep and threatening rumble. He grabbed the Blackbird by his jacket and pulled him onto his feet. “—was trusting you.”

“What about Zander?” the Blackbird pleaded desperately. West lifted the Blackbird into the air, carrying all of his weight like he was a toy until the tips of his shoes brushed against the concrete. “He won’t be happy if you hurt me!”

“You should know better than to believe everyone follows orders,” West snarled. From the crazy look in his eyes, he’d already surrendered. Usually, I could bring him back from the edge to make him regain control, but I was too far gone. I didn’t want to stop him.

“Hold him still,” I ordered West, wiping myself down and wearing a manic smile.

“Please!” the Blackbird begged. He flailed around like a freshly caught fish, but West didn’t let go. He grasped him by the shoulders and spun the Blackbird to face me. “You don’t need to hurt me! I’m sorry, okay? I should have told you!”

“Talk is cheap,” I hissed, getting up in the Blackbird’s face. I could smell the fear on his acrid breath as tears streamed down his cheeks. I put one hand on his chin and the other on his shoulder then smiled. “This is for Q.”

I twisted his head in a slick motion. His neck cracked then his head lolled forward like a scarecrow. West let his corpse fall to the ground with a thump. The Blackbird’s eyes were still wide open, capturing his final moment of disbelief. Like Hiram, he underestimated what I was prepared to do to get justice for those I loved.

I brushed my hands together and scowled as I looked down at my top. Maybe I should feel remorseful, but all I could think about was how I’d never get out the bloodstains.

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