Page 11 of The Clash of the Damned
“Tatiana called.”
The Draven Rogues have remained quiet after that disastrous attempt of marrying their daughter, Tatiana, to Clark. While they were set to marry and cement the family lines, at the last moment, Mother decided that Tatiana was no longer good enough for our family and called the whole thing off. It wasn’t long after that, Mom sent him away on a never-ending assignment.
“She told me about Kyla. I’m sorry to hear it. She was an excellent Rogue, and an even better person. Want me to send flowers to the Thayer Rogues?” Pain clenches my heart as I hear Kyla’s name and think about how close we were to saving her. I know it won’t help now, but the guilt continues to eat away at me.
“I’ve sent flowers already, but another bouquet wouldn’t hurt. What else did Tatiana have to say?”
“She demanded I come home immediately. It’s a good thing I was already on my way.”
Tatiana knew where he was this whole time, and that hurts more than I thought it would. It doesn’t change that I hurt him too by not telling himabout our family. While we aren’t close, I can see I was wrong. It doesn’t matter now, but when we were kids, the age gap between us made it even more difficult to grow close. At one point, I was his shadow and wanted to be just like him. Then I learned what a bad idea it would be to let Alyssa Vance know I love him, giving her something she could use against me. From then on, I kept my distance. Now, he is the brother I want to know more about, but to me, he is a stranger..
“It didn’t take me long to determine that business is the worst it’s ever been, which I find odd. You know as well as I do, there are always people looking to settle their disagreements through hired murder. So it’s time to drum up some publicity. It’s why I planned this sex party as my welcome home party. I can see I made the right call.”
While I have my reservations, I can try things the nice way first. “You’re right; I’m sorry. I should have told you. And I saw at least two influential people here that we could benefit from partnering with.”
“Four. But that’s not the point. Tell me, in the months I’ve been gone, our parents have died, and I learned about a secret sister. How did you explain our parents’ demise to the empire? That was the one thing I couldn’t figure out.”
“Extended trip across the world to scout for new opportunities to expand our empire. Figured it would buy us enough time to come up with a better story. After the Druids went with declaring Edie and Eric’s death, I knew it would call unnecessary attention to us if we did the same.”
Leaning back into my chair, I inspect Clark, trying to figure out how I want to deal with him. Where I look like my mother with my dark hair, lean build, and ice blue eyes, Clark is stocky with chocolate hair. He could be the all American boy next door if he tried. “How was your assignment?I asked a few times where you were, but no one would tell me.” Clark does his own inspection of me, the both of us trying to figure out each of our ulterior motives–the strategy our mother had taught us.
“Some diplomat needed assassinating because he was getting in the way of an election that we needed to go our way. It’s annoying how resourceful he was at staying alive. But no matter, I got my way. It just took longer than planned.” The room is silent as I figure out if it’s fraught with tension, or if we’re anticipating a better future, one we could build together.
“You should burn the study now that she’s dead. Get rid of any trace of her. I hated this place as much as you did; I could never tell you that.” Clark’s face softens towards me as he adds, “Every time I wanted to be your brother, she would hold what happened to Saige over my head. I was so scared I would be next, and as an adult, I could see she was using my fear against me as a child, but well, now…I don’t want to be the head of the empire, Sebastian. I know I'm the oldest, but you need to take it. I’ll help you fix our reputation and business, but I prefer a bit more freedom in my life. Don’t let this family fall apart. Do better than she did.”
A small seed of hope blooms in my chest, through the subtle threats thrown my way. In this family, we don’t do favors for each other out of kindness. We do it out of our want for something. But that’s a battle for another evening.
I explain to him how I found Amelia; how we came up with our plan when Mom started threatening Jude again; how I was tired of living under her rule. When we found out that Lexie was murdered by her order, it set everything into motion, but we didn’t act quickly enough to save Kyla. “We never wanted them all dead; it was onlysupposed to be Mom. But things got tense, and they wouldn’t be reasoned with. We were tired of living in fear, and they couldn’t see that.”
“So that’s why the reporter left so many messages,” Clark murmurs. “The leadership of three of the four most powerful families in Chicago changed overnight, and they smell a scandalous story.” He looks up at me and adds, “We can prepare a press release and control the narrative so this disappears quickly. Maybe add a few donations to large charities too. Well, I can’t say I miss Mother. She was a piece of work and always made me feel less than worthy of your Rogue superiority.” I can almost see the gears in his head turn as he schemes like he has been here all this time. “How are relations with the other families?” The look on my face is enough of an answer as his eyebrows raise into his hairline. “All of them!” he exclaims.
“We have work to do. From what I can see, the Rhodes still hold that top spot with their business model, so we need an edge to get back in the running for power. I actually think that’s what Mother was going for, but she got it all wrong. No point looking to the past, let’s see what we can build together.”
“Well, Dom’s still talking to me. He recently returned from the South of France with his new fiancé, Sloane, but we haven’t caught up yet.”
Clark’s phone chimes, interrupting us, and his face pales under the harsh study light before he exclaims, “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Waiting to hear about whatever this new crisis is, Clark’s steely gaze meets mine. “It’s time for me to meet our new sister and induct her into our family ways.”
“What could have possibly happened in the short time you’ve been home?”
“Were you at a warehouse tonight?” I nod, and he shows me his phone screen. It’s a video of Amelia and I fighting the humans, clearly doingnon-human things, which calls way too much attention to our family and the entire Supernatural community. “It looks to me like you were led into a trap. This was leaked online. Someone is using this as evidence that we’re more than human.”
Chapter 9 | Careful What You Wish For
Luca
Death is not an unfamiliar concept to a Supernatural. Rarely do we die from old age as we should. Instead, we learn to expect death around every corner despite our gifts and the advantages they give us. Our world is run by power and money, which usually results in murder. To get to the top, hearing someone is dead is normal, moving everyone up the ranks. But I never expected it to be my parents. What’s the saying? “It never happens to you until it does?”
The wind whips around me as I race my new toy through the mostly quiet streets of Chicago in the dead of night, the stars shining brightly, leading me home.
My memories of the sitdown are blurry, like trudging through quicksand. I remember trying to attack Amelia after she admitted to being a Rogue and murdering my mom, and then there was a scream. The Rhodes were dead, and even though Sebastian was justifying it, the fury that Jude felt for him as she held her dead father’s body, must have been what I looked like when I saw Amelia. He must have caught onto that too. Itwasn’t long after Dom’s exit that they left, and then it was only Jude and me. She at least had bodies to hold and grieve; I had nothing to say goodbye to. We’re both orphans now, and I wish we didn’t have it in common.
I don’t know how long I sat there after she left, after Beau helped her collect the bodies. Where did I go? Who did I go home to? There was no one left for me. Except, there was. Silva. Jude must have called her while she dealt with her family, because Silva was the one to collect me. She told me to sort my shit out while she announced the change of power to the Undead and kept an eye on Tao. Those first few days, it was an effort to put one step in front of the other and just exist. I even considered leaving Chicago to find a new city where no one knew who I was; where I could start over. A place without all this death that follows me.
But my family’s legacy can’t end with me. I would never be able to live with that. I had to find a reason to keep going, and I realized I had one all along.Me. I want to live, and more than that, I want to thrive. One or two bad moments doesn’t replace all the good in my life, especially at Tao. I will go back there. I owe it to myself. But success and all these achievements may feel pointless because I have no one left to share them with. I may not have all the answers yet, but I’m getting there. I’ve embraced this hardened version I’ve had to become to survive my new position as leader of my empire.
Turning onto my street, I see someone waiting outside for me. My eyes narrow as I recognize Amelia. She looks good; the life of a Rogue suits her. In her floral summer dress, which is out of place at this time of night, and her long, dark hair floating behind her in the breeze, she looks as though she is coming home from a date with me. But she’s not, and while my heart does race at the sight of her, the rage I feel for what she did by takingmy mother from me makes it thrum even faster. Parking my motor bike and pulling off my helmet, I shake my hair out. “New look?” Amelia calls, pointing to my leather jacket and pants ensemble. I don’t bother explaining to her that it’s motorcycle gear and necessary to blend in.
“How did you find me?” I cross my arms over my chest.
