Page 80 of Cedar Edge
“Didn’t you know? Some of the most toxic plants are the most beautiful.” I slide the jagged, dull, steak knife across his skin, so unlike one that Logan would carry. I can’t help the laugh that comes from me again as I have to saw the slit into his throat. The blood from the cut pours onto my hand, but I hold his gaze until the very last moment, ripping the knife free and shoving his body to the table in front of us.
“The rest of you will be dead within 6 hours, if not before. I’d suggest you make peace with whatever god you pray to but let's be honest, no god is going to give you salvation for the evil you’ve done.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Witches were devoted to Hecate, the Grecian goddess of Hell, who presided over magic and enchantments.”
-Fez Inkwright,Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Secret Lives of Plants-
Ace
It’s been three weeks since Thea was taken. Three weeks since my stomach dropped out when I watched her tracker go silent, and since I learned that Logan had put experimental tech in the tattoo he gave her. We had watched the blip in downtown Seattle relentlessly as we waited for Law to wake up. Cedar Edge Memorial had kept him sedated while he healed from the gun shots. He had taken two liters of blood in a transfusion just to stabilize him. And when we weren’t with him Axel or one of his men had eyes on him at all times.
We had a serious debt with the MC now.
“Got eyes on the room.” Logan crackles through the radio in my ear.
“In position.” Ghost responds. The VP had volunteered to come in lieu of Law who was still recovering. He had beenfurious when Lo and I told him he wasn’t coming but when I pointed out his injuries would only be a liability in retrieving her he begrudgingly agreed.
I take a deep breath, my back pressed into the shadows of the hallway. Blood splatters my mask and face as it drips from the knife I have clutched in my hand. The security may have been innocent, they may have never known who they worked for and what he stole but in my eyes there would be no survivors tonight. The Grim Reaper would take them all.
Logan had been chosen to stay on the roof, his sniper skills better placed there. He hadn’t been happy but understood. Ghost I put on the perimeter, his special skill set ideal for picking off any of the runaways.
“He’s got company.” Logan says calmly despite it not being part of our plan.
“You need help?” This from Ghost.
“No. We stick to the plan. Lo has me covered from above.” My movements are sure and confident, slinking closer and closer to the target. I’m slow and methodical as I remove each threat when I come upon them and while I know this is how it needs to happen, I hate how long it’s taking to get to the penthouse. The whole time we had been planning anxiety had been a constant companion, worried that at any moment the single would drop or move and it would all go to shit.
“I see the flower.” Logan’s voice cracks into the radio. “Oh fuck… Ace…. fuck!”
I’m moving before he finishes the sentence, ripping my gun free and forgoing the stealth I had been using. Cold fear trickles down my neck as I think about whatever Logan is witnessing. Every horrible thing Royce could do to her plays out through my mind. I’m so preoccupied that I don’t register the laugh of pride bursting through the radio.
My gun shoots the lock on the penthouse, boot kicking in the door, and I’m rushing in without a thought. I clear the living room, the stairway and the kitchen before I come to a full stop in the dining room. Standing in the corner in a white dress, covered in blood, is an angel of death. She doesn’t seem to register my presence, her eyes glued to the dead man at the head of the table. His throat is cut in a hacking fashion, the slit rough and anything but clean. My eyes travel to the other men around the table, some clinging to life, but just barely, and others slumped over in their chairs.
“Did you know in Southern India there is a legend around the Pala Tree?” Thea’s voice almost startles me, jerking my attention back to her. “It’s said the tree is haunted at night by ayakshi,a female vampire dressed in white. She is a vengeful spirit who waits under the tree for men and when they are near enough she transforms and devours them.” Her eyes stay glued to the man in front of her. Her body utterly still, as though she truly is a spirit.
“Cricket?” I take a step towards her, hesitantly. She says nothing, just keeps staring. I keep my body calm, steps sure as I make my way over to the woman I love. When I’m standing in front of her I notice the steak knife she still has clutched in her hand. The brutal slash over Royce’s throat making sense now.
“Baby?” I duck down so my face is in her line of sight and I watch as she blinks rapidly, as though suddenly being thrust into this reality. The knife releases from her grip as her body starts to slump forward. I catch her in my arms, dragging her into my body and shielding her from the rest of the room. “I got you baby.”
Thea shudders. “I killed them, poisoned them all.” She whispers. “But I needed to know Royce was gone, needed to feel it. So I used the steak knife, just in case. It’s better to be safe than sorry, you know?”
I stroke my hand down her back over and over again imagining how hard that would have been, cutting through his skin with a dull knife. “You did so well, Cricket. We are so proud of you.” She shudders again and I take that as my cue to get her the fuck out of here.
“He told me you were all dead.”
“We are all fine.” I try to assure her. “Everyone is safe. We are okay, baby.”
She seems to let out a shuddering sigh of relief before continuing. “I thought to myself, if you three are in the afterlife he should join you. So you could make him suffer. After all you can’t kill Death itself, right?” She turns and finally locks eyes with me, her hand coming up to the mask I’m still wearing.
“Maybe I need to make your new nickname Persephone. If I’m supposedly Death.” I respond with humor shining through the words.
She lets out a small laugh, the sound music to my ears as I watch life flood back into her eyes. “Alright Hades, take me home to Thanatos and Charon. ”
Two Weeks Later
Thea
