Page 112 of Heathens

I open the car door and motion for the two of them to follow. A wave of heat from the smoldering cars hits me right in the face, and I wince as I make my way toward the front of the building. Sofie and Ruby are close behind, guns at the ready. I feel like I should be doing more to protect them, to prepare them for something as dangerous as this, but it’s too late for that. All safe houses could be compromised. My other men haven’t been around in days, maybe weeks. I’ve let things slip, been… preoccupied. We’re weak, but hopefully so is he. This is our best shot, it’s now or never.

As we approach the house, I’m amused to find a good chunk of the front entrance in pieces from the explosion. As I move through some rubble, kicking away some errant metal and glass, I can’t help but think back to the lab. Here I am, wrecking another one of Rene’s beloved holdings with no sort of plan. We’ve come full fucking circle.

As I step through the threshold, my heart sinks. Rene’s left me a gift: Mateo’s corpse pinned up against a massive wooden door that leads into the foyer. He’s a mangled mess, two large silver stakes smashed through his wrists and another in his throat. I can still see the agony in his brutalized face.

Ruby retches, the sight a bit too much for her, but Sofie stands completely still, unaffected.

As I walk toward him, I notice the note pinned to his jacket, written in blood.

Dom, come and play.

Sofie’s breath is shallow, the gun in her hand trembling despite her cold demeanor. Maybe she’s taking it harder than I thought.

“Someone’s waiting for us,” she mutters. “Was this his plan? He knew we’d make it past those fuckers outside?”

She’s right, but if Rene knew we were coming, there should be vampires crawling over this whole fucking place. Why is it empty?

I want to pull her in close, to kiss and comfort her. This is the world that I’m used to, and she’s stumbled into it because of me. But it’s the world she wants to be a part of now that she’s demanded space in it. I guess she’s learning the hard way.

“You two ready?” I ask.

“No, but we don’t have a choice, do we?” Ruby shoots back, adjusting the duffle bag on her shoulder.

I sigh.

“At this point? Even if we all left, he’d just—“

“We know,” Sofie murmurs. “We’re finishing this, one way or the other.”

I can see the wheels in her head spinning, worrying about the bar, about the future, about what lies ahead of us. I can’t help but wonder if there’s even going to be an us when it’s all said and done, or if I’m gonna have a new rival, one to fight for power every step of the way.

But it doesn’t matter.

I lean back and kick the door open, the three of us moving past Mateo’s corpse. My head is filled with the sound of beating hearts, rushes of breath, and blood flowing through their veins. I have to remind myself to keep calm, to manage my senses, but this entire situation feels like a powder keg I’ve chosen to light it with no plan of escape.

As we step into the foyer, the depth of the darkness slows my two companions to a crawl. I can see everything in sharp detail, but to them it’s pitch black. I move around, looking for a light fixture before finally finding one beside the spiral staircase that leads to the rest of the house.

I flip the switch, turning at the sound of a creaking floorboard behind me.

A man lounges in a door frame, smoking a cigarette, his mouth curled into a wide, devious grin.

“Evening, sunshine,” he calls, in that soft Irish lilt. “It’s been a wild few nights.”

DOMINIC

Rene's Mansion

Rage,whitehot,explodesthrough my body like a bomb. I feel everything all at once – betrayal, shame, and guilt, all covering the tiny sliver of relief I’m holding onto, despite the circumstances.

Theo clicks his tongue and takes a drag of his cigarette.

“Oh, Dominic, it was so nice of you to bring Sofie and her little friend out to play. Rene can thank you for that personally before he rips you to pieces, but… running straight into his big scary house without a plan? Have you learned nothi–”

Sofie barely hesitates, raising her gun and taking the shot before he even has the chance to finish his speech. The bullet whizzes past his head as he leaps to the side. He doesn’t advance, though, remaining near the doorway as his face contorts and he lets out a vicious snarl.

“Keep your bitch on a fucking leash,” he snaps.

I cock my gun and move in front of Sofie.

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