Page 25 of Black Hand
“What?” The pain was clouding my mind, his forearm still flexing in his attempt to rip the pendant off me.
“They killed my whole family.” So many emotions flickered through his green eyes that I forgot all about my own pain and suffering.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Not even in his fury could he deny the sincerity in my voice, which took him aback. “I was born into the Syndicate, but I never agreed with their lifestyle or methods.”
Dominic stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time, his hand dropping to his side and releasing the chain he was tugging on. I knew this was my one chance to penetrate the preconceived perspective he had of me, so I decided to tell him the truth. Not all of it, but enough so he could see in me as more than just a heartless Syndicate Atua.
“I never knew my mother, and I was very young when I lost my father. Raised like the vermin you call me, I did all I could to survive. I never killed out of cruelty, only to protect myself.” Seeing his eyes narrow, I pushed through so he didn’t cut me off. “Yes, I have killed. And so have you, so don’t you dare judge me. That was until someone befriended me and I foolishly believed I could trust them. To cut a long story short, who I believed to be my friend turned out to be someone sent to keep an eye on me. The Council wanted to know my every thought, every action, every word spoken out of my mouth …”
My body trembled slightly from the onslaught of memories, so I pulled my hand away from his chest so he didn’t notice. To my surprise, Dominic’s hand took hold of my forearm as if offering courage to continue. Not wanting to see sadness or, fates forbid, pity in his eyes at the next part, I stared over his shoulder, my unseeing eyes clouded with what came next.
“I abhor violence.” A humorless laugh burst through my lips. “A pathetic example of my kind, don’t you think?” He stayed silent, so I continued. “The Council said I was ready to go up the chain one night. I dreaded the day, and after centuries I believed it might never happen. But it did. It was a week after I stupidly stood up for someone when they were being cornered. My friend was with me, and it was his idea to help. I believed him. So, the Council decided that my way of stepping up should be for me to kill the only friend I had. It was how we show our loyalty is only to the Syndicate, you see.”
“You killed your friend.” This time there was no accusation in Dominic’s voice. No, it was worse. He felt sorry for me. My eyes locked on his for a moment.
“No, I didn’t kill him.” He couldn’t hide the shock fast enough for me not to see it. “Johnathan is very much alive, even today. I told him to run. Even went as far as finding places where he could hide and I can go later to help him disappear.”
“They found out?”
“He told them, actually.” Rolling my shoulders to shake off the tension, I slid my back on the wall because it was getting stiff from standing still for so long. “I was sent to the cages.” The sharp intake of breath told me Dominic was well aware of the place the Council used if they wanted to prolong your death. “Johnathan, on the other hand, became their most trusted pet.”
“No one escapes the cages.” The distrust was back in his baritone, and it rubbed me wrong.
“Yeah, well, meet no one. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance,” I deadpanned sardonically. “Anyway, I clawed my way out of that nightmare, and since then I did good convincing them I was ready to do anything they wanted so I would never be sent back there again. All my jobs from that day were shifters, and so far every single one of them is still breathing, as far as I’m aware.”
“If you are telling me this so I don’t kill you, you didn’t need to waste your breath.” Turning away from me, he stared across the tree line, taking away his scent with him, which was helping to calm me. “I don’t trust you, but that’s not enough reason for me to take a life.”Unlike my kindwas left hanging unsaid in the air between us. “All of you that I have killed deserved it. I was waiting until I caught them in the act before ridding the world of the plague they were.”
My mind went back to the night I first felt his scent. “You were there that night.” It also meant he saved my life twice if he killed whoever followed me there and killed that woman. “It was you watching me and Alice when we found the body.”
“You didn’t kill the human, so you lived.”
“How very noble of you.”
“Why?” Ignoring my snark, he glanced at me over his shoulder.
“Why what?”
“Why did you tell me all of that if not to stop me from killing you?”
Wiping my sweat-covered palms on my borrowed pants, I plunged through with my decision. “You have an insider in the Syndicate, and you can get in and out without being killed. I know you are not willing to share details but… I need your help.”
“For what exactly?”
“I’m going to bring the Syndicate down, but I want them to suffer first.” Dominic slowly turned to face me at my fevered words. “I want them scared of their own shadow before they meet their maker.” Just like I was for as long as I was locked in that cage. The same way Veronica felt before Isiah took her life.
Dominic squinted at me, rubbing his chin in thought. I wasn’t sure what he could see on my face, but whatever it was it curled his lips up at the corners and made his green eyes glint in the moonlight peeking through the moving clouds.
“You are planning on becoming a vigilante hunting them down on your own?” The mocking tone he used made me want to slap him.
“Listen asshole, just because I don’t see violence as the only option to solve a problem doesn’t mean I’m not capable of it. There is a reason that you hate my kind. You can help me, or I’ll just do it alone. It makes no difference to me one way or another.” But it did make a difference and we both knew it.
“Why do you change the color of your hair like that?” I was so confused all I could do was blink at him like an idiot. “Why do you make it red?” he clarified when I continued staring mutely.
“I was born like this.”
“And you claim to be Atua.” My nostrils flared in irritation at the way he said that. Like I should be aware that he caught the lie. “None of them have hair like that.”
“Thanks, I wasn’t aware of that fact.”
