The Gallows at Midnight

by Courtney Lynn Rose

  “Lily, what happened?” He moves to pull up my shirt, but I shuffle back, pushing his hands away.

  “Nothing, babe.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Lily. You never cry out like that. Last time you did, someone had torn your back up with a cane. Show me.”

  He takes a step forward and dread fills me as I hold my hands up in defeat. He’s going to flip. I’m not angry about the bruises, just surprised by them. Gently, I slide my pants down an inch and lift the bottom of my shirt.

  “Oh my god. Did I— are those from— Christ.” He holds his hands above my skin, matching them up with the bruises.

  “Blake, it’s nothing. They’re just bruises.”

  He recoils, tears shining in his eyes. My hands dart out and grab his shirt, pulling him to me. His hands stay at his sides, terror etched on his perfect face. I knew this was going to happen.

  “I’m so sorry, Lily. I didn’t even realize . . .”

  I lean up and plant a kiss on his lips. Finally, he puts his arms around my midsection. My arms tighten around him and he sighs, pressing his forehead against mine. His warmth envelopes me allowing a clarity that’s been lacking to settle over me. It’s time to move this show on the road, kill some motherfuckers, and get our life back because frankly, I’m sick and tired of waiting.

  †††

  Everyone’s in the living room waiting for Hyde’s impromptu meeting to start. Apparently, Interpol is making some changes to our arrangement.

  This ought to be good.

  “James and Carmen will be leaving today, with my wife and me, to head for another safe house, along with Dr. Kinderson. This one’s getting too crowded. We’ll also be looking for an alternative for the rest of you since this one has been compromised. Until then, you’re confined inside. Only agents go out and you go in pairs. No one alone. Understood?”

  “Sir,” Vlad says, standing. “Sammi’s found information about the shooters that were here. We’d like to share and get your permission to initiate a side mission to deal with the threat.”

  “Give me the information and then we’ll discuss.”

  Vlad nods to Sammi and she gets to her feet.

  “Using satellite imagery, I’ve found three camps in the woods about two miles from the house. Each camp has roughly seven people in it.”

  “Who are they?” I’m trying my best to control my anger, but it isn’t easy.

  “A Nigerian mercenary group called the Umbazi. They contract out to criminal organizations all the time. There’s a man at the center camp that I’m certain is Taurus.”

  She hands me a printout. He’s built, blonde-haired, and the edges of something blue are on his neck. Definitely a Taurus hitman.

  “Hyde, twenty-one men is a cakewalk. If we can use Sammi to get the jump on them, we can take them out easily,” I say handing her the picture back.

  Hyde’s face tightens.

  “We’re leaving in an hour. Do it tonight. And if one bloody person is injured, I swear to god, after this, I’ll put every one of you on a desk job.”

  Slow smiles creep across every team member’s face. This is something we can do, and we can take as long as we’d like. All this time, I’ve been trying to get revenge for what the Taurus did to me, but now, it’s for my fallen friends. The saying is, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’, but tonight, hell hath no fury like a crazy bitch with a hunting knife.

  20

  ~Lily~

  Three men, bound and bleeding, kneel in the backyard. Taking the camps were easy, but Vlad argued when I’d demanded the leaders and Taurus member be brought back alive. Obviously, I won the disagreement. Now, vengeance is in order.

  “Lily, civilians should go inside before you do this,” Vlad says, brushing my hair off my shoulder.

  “They’ll still hear it, Rattlesnake, what’s the point?”

  Humanity is nothing but a shimmer in the back of my mind. The rational part of me is overtaken by images of Samuel and Jameson, staring at me with unseeing eyes. Images of the gruesome possibilities of what might’ve happened to Blake and Sorina had the house been weak in any way.

  The monster inside me, that kills without mercy or remorse, the one Blake tries to banish every moment he’s with me, has resurfaced with a fucking vengeance. It’s time she got what she wants— blood and answers.

  Walking around the men, my eyes never leaving them, Blake’s energy surrounds me. He’s going to touch me, and if he does, the rage will disappear, and I can’t afford that right now.

  “Don’t, Blake,” I growl.

  “How’d you even know I was close to you?” He’s close enough for his breath to move my hair.

  “I can feel you. Always have. Even if I’m not with you.”

  He sighs, but his energy retreats, leaving me bathed in my own anger. Tunnel vision sets in; registering only the three assholes and me, and I’m going to make them wish they were dead. The hunting knife is heavy in my hand, the moonlight catching the steel at just the right angle.

  Glaring at the men who cost me two team members, my psyche snaps. Everything I’ve been before tonight falls away. Interpol agent, friend, lover, mother, fiancée— it’s gone. Replaced by the two things Jax tried to bring forth in me, the two aspects of me that scare the shit out of everyone . . . even Dresden. He’s seen it once when I was twenty-five, and I’ve been careful since then not to give in to it since.

  But tonight, these men are meeting those aspects— torturer and executioner.

  †††

  ~Dresden~

  As soon as Lily dragged the captives here and tied them to the training posts, I forced Shannon, Sorina, and Teresa to go in the house. Blake refused, as usual. That guy really is a glutton for punishment. He and Dr. Saladinya stand together watching Lily like hawks.

  They aren’t going to like what they see.

  I’ve only seen her like this once, three years ago, and everything in me prayed I never would again. But it’s here tonight. The moment she looked over her shoulder, locking eyes with me, it was there. The moonlight hit her sapphire irises just right, and they glowed, a carnal, malevolent smile on her lips— more snarl than a smile, really.

  The tension radiating off the team is so thick it’s suffocating. Shaking my head, I move to Blake’s side, my hands shaking in my pockets. Trying to stop Lily right now would be a death sentence. All rationalization and humanity leave her in these moments. The anger in my veins is white-hot and makes me want to find Jax and rip his throat out. He did this to her. Not the ring, not her parents, not her emotions . . . Jax.

  I should’ve questioned his training of her earlier. Looking back, the warning signs were so obvious. It’s too late now, though. This mode, this version of Lily, is a true beast. Calling her a woman is out of the question . . . human is even far-fetched.

  She twirls her hunting knife in her hands, watching the light bounce off it. Her body is relaxed, fluid, as she moves around the Taurus hitman. The lump in my throat sticks as she slowly and methodically cuts his clothes away, leaving him in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. She even kneels down to remove his shoes and socks.

  “Here we go,” I whisper.

  Blake’s eyes widen, following her every move as she presses her body flush against the captive in front of her. “Li—”

  I grab his arm, effectively shutting him up. “That ain’t Lily anymore, Blake. Keep your mouth shut for now. Trust me.”

  “Then who is she if not my Lily?”

  “That . . . creature is The Viper. The heartless, unfeeling, inhuman assassin Jax created. If you even get near her right now, she’ll slit your throat, not realizing you’re the man she loves.”

  There’s only one other person on this team that can let themselves go like she can and do the things she’s about to do. It must be a Romanian thing. He’s also the only one she seems capable of having near her and communicating with, without snapping and killing him by accident.

  “Rattlesnake,” she calls.


  Vlad doesn’t hesitate. He strolls to her side, stopping an inch from her body, his eyes hard and blank. I hate seeing them like this. Once was enough. If I thought for one second I could stop her and keep my life, this wouldn’t even be happening.

  “Viper?”

  “Second bag, a bottle of alcohol.”

  He retrieves the bottle, opening it before handing it to her. Rubbing alcohol assaults my nostrils. My stomach heaves. She only does this for one reason. The Viper gets a high off causing people pain. The more pain, the greater the high. We’ve tried to save her from herself, from this aspect of herself a lot. Vlad won’t defy her now, though. It’s too late.

  “Who sent you after us?”

  The Taurus hitman stares straight ahead as Lily pours the clear liquid over his body and trails the tip of her hunting knife down his arm. His shivers are visible and the only thing giving away his fear.

  “I’m going to ask one more time and then I’m going to get pissed. You won’t like me when I’m angry. Who sent you?”

  His head doesn’t move, but his eyes dart to her face. She grins and leans close, whispering something in his ear. The color drains from his face. The nod to Vlad is unnoticeable, almost, as she moves to the Nigerian man on the left.

  The Taurus man screams as Vlad’s fist connects with the side of his face, blood pouring from the man’s nose as a sickening crunch reverberates through the space. Without hesitation, Lily shoves her knife into the hollow at the base of the Nigerian captive’s neck and twists— blood sprays on her clothes looking black in the moonlight.

  I look away, her grunts filling the night air. She’s going to open that corpse up like a pig on a butcher’s block and that’s the last thing I need in my nightmares again. It took me a year to get over it the first time. The blood isn’t what bothers me. Watching Lily do it is what haunts me. It’s worse now. Knowing how gentle and loving she can be.

  I don’t regret making love to her. Never will. She needed it, I needed it, and I’d fantasized about her too many times in the past. It’d never happen again, but once was enough. Glancing up, Shannon and Sorina stare at Lily, horror in their eyes. Quietly, I jog to the window and Shannon opens it.

  “Dres . . . what the fuck?”

  “Please don’t watch. Go inside. Shut the blinds. Please.”

  This is going to get worse, a lot worse. Lily’s daughter doesn’t need to see this side of her.

  “Why doesn’t she just kill them quick, Uncle Dresden? Like she has before.” Sorina trembles, her eyes glued on Lily over my shoulder.

  “She can’t, Sori. This is how she works. They have information she needs, and this is how your Momma was trained to get that information. This is how she gets revenge, for Samuel and Jameson.”

  “What information does she need?” Shannon’s voice is laced with fear. I don’t think she or Sorina ever really thought about what Lily is capable of. What we did to Khoui last year was controlled, Lily still in her right state of mind.

  “Who sent them. She wants the leader of the Taurus or the name of someone high enough up to make a difference.”

  “Will they give that information up?”

  “By the time she’s done . . . yes. Now please, go inside and don’t watch this.”

  After the curtain is closed, I jog back to Blake and Hastin, both of them looking like they want to puke.

  “You’re going to tell me what I want to know or so help me, I’ll make you scream like a bitch for hours before I kill you,” Lily hisses, her voice cold, emotionless, and scary as fuck.

  The Taurus hitman still says nothing. Lily strolls to the second Nigerian captive. “Last chance.”

  She only waits a second before running her blade across his throat. Before the blood is done squirting from the wound, she sticks her fingers inside, clenches her fist around something and pulls forward hard. The man’s tongue hangs down through the gaping slit and Lily’s hand drips with blackish liquid, webbing sticks between her fingers as she holds it in the moonlight, opening her hand wide.

  Colombian Necktie.

  Vlad never should’ve taught her how to do that. She presses her hunting knife into his hand and kneels, unzipping the duffle bag closest to her. Vlad wipes the knife off, removing most of the blood and taps her on the shoulder with it. She stills, her head turning fractionally before she takes it back from him.

  “Now what?” Blake is visibly shaking.

  “Now, you should go inside because this is going to get ugly.”

  “That isn’t ugly,” he snaps, his voice echoing through the space.

  Lily whips around, her gaze falling on Blake. Their eyes lock on each other, and the charge between them is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. An electric current tying him to her, and her to him. Without blinking, she walks toward us, sliding something into her pocket. Stopping in front is him— her eyes glow, a silver hint from the moonlight, igniting the deep blue of her eyes.

  Every nerve in my body trembles, my fists clench, ready to tackle her if she moves for him. This whole mission is to protect Blake from all threats. That includes Lily. The depth of depravity in her will take days to bring her out of, and her guilt for losing control will last for much longer than that. Good thing Hastin is here.

  “Not another word,” she says in a low voice.

  Blake’s smarter than I give him credit for because he nods, small and slight. She stares blankly at him, searching his face, confusion flittering into her features for a second before they return to stone. She turns on her heel and goes back to the Taurus hitman.

  “Now, you’re going to give up a name, or you’re going to scream until your last breath. The choice is yours.”

  A smile on her beautiful lips, she lays her blade flat against his bicep, pressing firmly and drags it to the bend in his arm. Several layers of skin peel off, and he screams. It echoes through the night. Before the sound stops, she moves the knife over an inch and does it again.

  Fifteen minutes later, the hitman is still screaming and has no skin left from his shoulders to his elbows on both arms. Blake’s hand is clamped over his mouth, and Sammi’s turned her back on everyone, looking off into the trees.

  “You’ll never find him,” the man sobs, banging the back of his head against the post he’s tied to.

  “Oh, yes I will. You see, it’s what I do.” She pulls an X-ACTO knife from her pocket, sliding the tip from the top of his chest, down the center, to the beginning of his belly button.

  My stomach heaves as blood drops down his stomach. She and I are going to need to talk about this. Really talk.

  Vlad reaches into his pocket, pulling out some cylinder-shaped tube. Pushing a button on the side, Lily stares at it, her smile demonic, nothing of the beautifully broken woman I know and love. The tip glows red as he hands it to her, and the air passes through my lungs in heaves. What the fuck is Vlad thinking, helping her with this? Giving her more sadistic shit to do to this guy.

  He screams bloody murder as she lays the piece to his skin. The burning of flesh clings to the air. Fucking Christ, he gave her a soldering iron. She holds it like a pen, moving it across his chest.

  Shit . . . she’s writing something.

  “I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

  She doesn’t stop until she’s finished writing. “Who is running the Taurus operation? I want the bastard in charge or someone high enough in the fucking food chain that I can get to him.”

  The hitman’s breath is uneven, his eyes fluttering open and closed. “His name is Razvan Marandici. He’s been organizing and running rings for the last forty years. He’s not the founder, though.”

  Lily pulls her hunting knife from the sheath, stalking forward.

  “Wait,” the man stammers. “You should know one more thing.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “The Taurus has an insider, passing details about you and your team. The Constrictor, they call him.”

  Every muscle in Lily’s body tenses, a growl emanating from he
r lips. Sammi spins around, her eyes full of tears and a look of regret and terror on her face. Lily turns, stalking toward Sammi as Blake breaks into a run toward her.

  I’m on his heels and a foot from Sammi, who cries, apologies spilling from her lips. He tackles Lily to the ground, knocking the knife out of her hands.

  “Lily, no,” he yells as she pulls her knees up.

  He swings his legs around, straddling her and pins her arms above her head. His face hovers over hers, just out of reach of being head-butted. She tries to thrash under him and his muscles bulge with the effort to keep her in place.

  “Stop, Lily. Look at me, baby. Come back to me.”

  Their gazes lock and I damn near pass out. No one has ever been able to control her like this. She’s raged for days in the past, damn near killing us, herself, and anyone else that got in her path.

  “Listen to my voice, baby. This isn’t you. You’re not a monster. You’re my Lily. My love, my life, my everything. Come back to me.”

  With every word, the malice and psychotic rage recede from her eyes. She sucks in a breath as if she’s been holding it this whole time. Tears pool in her eyes, clouding over the sapphire irises and she looks around frantically. Her gaze finds Sammi, the rage creeping in again.

  “Look at me, not her. We can deal with her later. Right now, I need you, baby. You gotta come back.”

  My heart is going to explode out of my chest. After a few minutes, Lily exhales, slowly. “Blake?”

  “Yes, Lily?”

  “Sit me up, please. Don’t move off my legs and don’t let go of my hands yet.”

  Relief floods through my veins as Vlad helps them readjust so Lily is sitting. The worst is over. Once she’s lucid again, we’re in the clear. Now comes the fun part. Regret, pain, anguish . . . and dealing with Sammi.

  “Dresden,” Vlad calls as he throws a rope in my direction.

  Something is shining in his eyes, but I can’t place it. He nods toward Sammi and without any preamble, I go to her. She willingly holds her hands out and lets me bind them. It hasn’t hit me yet that Sammi’s working for the Taurus. It’d taken a year before I accepted Hayato betraying us.