by Bec McMaster
"I hope he doesn't. He's the only one of you who seems to understand what's at stake." Malloryn pressed both hands on the desk. "Is there any chance we could focus on the mission? Any chance at all?" He shot Gemma a look that cut through the laughter. "I thought you wanted to take down the man who put that neural implant in your brain and took over your will?"
This time it was Obsidian's turn to lance the duke with a stare. He pressed his hand to the small of Gemma's back as she abruptly sobered. She'd been trying to forget what happened, and despite his unease with the easy way these people interacted, he knew she needed it.
Gallows humor and all that.
"Of course I do," Gemma replied.
"Have you got paper?" Obsidian asked.
Malloryn snapped his fingers, and Herbert managed to provide paper and a spring-loaded pen.
"What are we to expect?" the duke asked.
There was no way to explain the breadth and scope of the Core. Obsidian began to draw instead, sketching out a map of the internals.
"Munitions factory is here. Training center here. Medical. The lab. These are the cells," he murmured, his pen moving sharply over the paper.
"Munitions factory?" Charlie repeated.
"Cells?" Malloryn's icy gray eyes locked on him.
"Where the newly created dhampir are held. Ghost wants them kept separate until their training is completed and they can prove they're in control of the increased blood-lust." It was also where he kept the most dangerous of the dhampir. "This cell on the end belongs to X. Avoid this area at all costs. If this cell door is open, evacuate the Core immediately."
"Why?" Charlie asked suspiciously.
"X is one of the original dhampir. When we were in Falkirk he started fixating upon one of the nurses. She was kind to him, and he was always... a little unhinged. Dr. Cremorne didn't approve and moved her to another area. X is the one who started the original breakout. He tore his reinforced cell door off and ripped half the building down looking for her. We took advantage of the unrest to escape, but in the fire, Mary died from smoke inhalation. He couldn't understand and he's never been the same. Ghost was forced to insert the neural implant in him to try and control him, but it had an adverse effect upon him. If he gets loose he will kill anything and everything in the Core. If he escapes the Core, he will continue his rampage until it's over. We keep a shock collar on him at all times, and Silas is the only one who can get through to him."
"Excellent." Charlie locked his fingers together and stretched them. "A volatile dhampir who makes dangerous dhampir assassins sweat. Petition to avoid this entire area completely?"
"Granted," Byrnes said, as if he had the right.
"How many dhampir does Ghost have?" Malloryn rested his knuckles on the desk, leaning over the map.
"There are thirty-four dhampir recruits in the training center—or there were. A new brand of weapon, conscripted from those of his former Falcons who survived the revolution. Balfour wanted to improve his forces and strip the weakness from them, but only one in three survives the serum transformation. Dr. Richter was forced to replicate Dr. Erasmus Cremorne's elixir vitae from our blood samples, and the initial batches proved fatal. Hundreds died until he managed to get the formula to work. Balfour's been searching for Cremorne's diary for years, but one of the former inmates of the asylum said it was destroyed in the fire."
"Thirty-four is more than enough," Malloryn replied through gritted teeth. "His Falcons were more than enough. How the hell are we supposed to deal with over thirty dhampir?"
"We're going to need the Nighthawks," Gemma said. "For manpower."
"It gets worse, Your Grace. You're forgetting the rest of us."
"Rest of you?" Byrnes choked out.
"The originals," Gemma murmured. "Those blue bloods who were given over to Falkirk Asylum and survived Dr. Cremorne's experiments. Ghost, Obsidian, Silas, and X."
"Dido is with Balfour in Russia, along with one of the Russian operatives, Jelena. Pray you never meet Jelena. They call her the Ivory Kraken, and she’s almost fanatical in her devotion to Balfour. Neither of them were in Falkirk, but created within the Crimson Court." Obsidian strolled around the desk. "X is to be avoided at all costs, and I would prefer to keep Silas out of this if possible—"
"The queen wants the heads of all the dhampir arrayed against her," Malloryn pointed out, "or she may take her wrath out upon Gemma."
Obsidian laced his arms across his chest. "I will do anything within my power to protect Gemma. But Silas is my brother. He’s the only one I give a damn about."
"He made his choices."
"And I am making mine."
They stared at each other.
"I'm not alone in not having much of a choice," he said softly. "I don't want to redeem myself for actions I couldn't help taking. But I want to reclaim what is left of me. If I let him die without at least trying to sway him, then what does that make me? I told you I wouldn't always obey you. I know where he will be. I only need an hour to warn him before we leave, and you have much to plan before the night is out."
Malloryn's eyes narrowed. "You could risk the entire operation."
"I won't risk Gemma's life. Not even for Silas. But I need to know where his loyalty lies before I completely sunder mine."
"Do you want company?" A muscle ticked in Malloryn's jaw.
"I will deal with Silas by myself. I have... questions for him."
After all, he'd been starting to think about Russia ever since Gemma told him she hadn't set that fire.
He needed to know the truth.
And he'd been away from the brotherhood for days now. Who knew what was going on within the ranks?
Silas would know.
"Fine." Malloryn surveyed the rest of the room. "I'll grant you an hour, then I want Ava to prep you for surgery. We need to get that bomb out of your head, or you're useless to me."
"Thank you for caring."
"Don't be late. I'm choosing to grant you a great deal of faith. Gemma and Ingrid, I want you to coordinate the Nighthawks for a dawn strike. Everyone else, begin preparations. I want maps of the area. An assault plan in place. Everybody armored up and carrying as much ammunition as you can possibly handle. You too, Herbert."
Everybody looked at Herbert.
"Yes, Your Grace," the butler said, with a crisp nod, and began to strip out of his superfine coat. "May I bring Molly?"
Gemma grimaced. "This place is located under tons of water, Herbert. One blast through the walls, and we're swimming. I think I'd prefer it if you didn't have an explosive shoulder cannon in your armory."
The butler looked somewhat crestfallen.
"Actually, that's why I've invited Herbert. I'm not interested in capturing these dhampir or chastising them. I want to cut Balfour's strings out from under him. The plan is to ensure all dhampir either killed or captured; and complete and utter destruction of the Core," Malloryn said. "The last of which is right up Herbert's alley."
"I can work with that," Kincaid replied.
"Hear, hear." Byrnes said.
"Let's do this," Charlie said, excitement flashing in his blue eyes.
But Obsidian felt the first stir of doubt through his gut.
Because Ghost had to know his loyalty had shifted by now, and if there was one thing the bastard relished, it was planning a trap.
"Got your note," Silas called, behind him. "Considerin' there's a certain volatile murderous scurf who'd love to get his hands on you right now, what d'you want? It ain't a good idea for either of us to be seen in each other's company."
Obsidian stared out over the city, the wind flapping the hem of his long coat and stirring his hair as he rested one foot on the edge of the guttering of Silas's favorite pub. He couldn't see a single sign of Byrnes, but he knew the other dhampir was out there, tracking him. No doubt ensuring he didn't reveal their hand to the enemy.
So much for Malloryn's trust.
"Is Ghost angry?"
Silas snorted. "
Spittin' mad. Wants your head on a pike. You know how he gets about betrayal."
"I offered him terms," he said, turning his head to look at his brother. "Gemma's life for my continued loyalty. Considering he put a bloody neural device in her head and sent her to murder the queen, I'll take that as a no. He speaks of betrayal?" His smile held sharp edges. "He's the one who deals it. And in this case, he will reap what he sowed."
"The problem with grantin' you Miss Townsend's life is that your loyalty will always be hers first. He's never liked that. You had to know he'd say no."
"I knew."
But I... hoped.
Silas scratched the back of his head. "Then why the ruttin' hell are you here?"
"Partly to warn you: Malloryn intends to destroy Ghost's operation. I'm going to light the match for him and watch it all burn. Stay out of the way. And then there is another part, the part of me that wants to know the truth. About Russia."
There.
The sudden stillness in Silas's smile. The twitch of his fingers toward his hip, where he kept his pistol. It all played out over Silas's face. Do I go for the pistol? Or do I try and play this out?
Obsidian couldn't say he was completely surprised, but it still hurt. Suspicion flavored most of his daily thoughts; he'd hoped, just this once, he'd be proved wrong. He'd told Gemma he trusted two people in this world, and now that figure was halved.
The only one you can trust is Gemma.
She was the light leading him out of his darkness.
"Russia?" Silas's next footfall came a little warily, but he managed to arch a brow. "Seems best to leave all that dead and buried, if you ask me, mate."
"I wasn't asking."
"Fuck me." Silas scrubbed at his mouth. "What d'you want to know? Why now?"
Obsidian began to tug the tips of his leather gloves from his fingers. "I'm starting to recall certain memories. Enough to make me wonder about them. For instance, I've always been able to remember the night Gemma allegedly set fire to my bedroom after drugging me. But, she claims she didn't do it, and I have no recollection of her involvement."
"Of course she'd—"
"I wasn't finished." He dropped the glove, flexing his fingers, and Silas watched the move like a hawk. "I trust her, Silas. But moreover, I trust the fact she had no reason to burn me alive. It wasn't Gemma, which means it was someone else. So I started thinking maybe it was Malloryn. I'd seduced his spy and turned her attention from his cause. He would have wanted to remove me, but from what Gemma has told me he didn't know I was working for Balfour until the day after the fire.
"Which leaves me with one other suspect. Someone who might have wanted to see Gemma and me parted, no matter what they had to do. Someone who'd made it quite clear he didn't like the attention I paid her. You said it yourself. Ghost doesn't want anyone standing between our loyalty to him. He's a jealous mistress."
"Don't."
"Brotherhood before blood," Obsidian quoted. "Brotherhood before all else. Ghost's been meticulous in ensuring our loyalties were never split. He's always demanded our hearts, our souls, and if we started to stray, then he made sure he reeled us back in. Ghost doesn't care for us. He never has. But he demands our loyalty and adoration, and he uses the ties we had—the thought of creating a family when we all lost ours—as a means to chain us to his cause.
"What we have is a mockery. A perversion of family." Especially when he could see the way the Company of Rogues operated. They'd fight for each other. Die for each other. Even Malloryn. "Which brings me to a line of questioning that makes me wonder... I went from a man madly in love with Hollis to someone who was willing to lose all his memories of her and put a bullet in her chest. That's a significant turnaround even I fail to truly believe. I can't fully remember her, but I know how I felt."
I know how I feel.
And it was the first time the Wraith made an appearance.
"You thought she'd tried to burn you alive," Silas said hoarsely.
Obsidian stared through him, seeing the flames again. "I wouldn't have killed her. Not for that." A laugh escaped him. "I can't kill her. The second I saw her, I knew she was mine, but I didn't realize some dark piece of me claimed her years ago." Silas came into focus again. "I remember snatches of information about the Chameleon Project. I wouldn't have volunteered for that, no matter how much I thought I wanted to forget her. None of this makes sense to me. So tell the damned truth. Please. You owe me that, if nothing else."
"The truth ain't always what you want it to be."
"Do you think I'm afraid of the truth?" He took a menacing step forward, his voice softening. "I always thought you saved me from being burned alive that night. But how did you know there was a fire in my room? The fire started near the bed, and while the bed was ablaze, the rest of the room was only just starting to burn. You had to be close by. Awake. Listening, perhaps. Unless, of course, you set the fire."
All the remaining blood fled Silas's face.
He shook his head, his mouth working, and Obsidian's heart felt like a lump of coal in his chest as suspicion bloomed into understanding.
"I trusted you," he breathed. "I thought you risked your life to save mine. It's the one thing that's kept me going all these years, while he turns my fucking brain to mush. Brotherhood. It meant something to me. Why?"
"Because I overheard the pair of you talking one night about runnin' away together. I thought she'd gotten to you. I thought she'd twisted your head, and I told Ghost and.... I screwed up. I botched it. You should have seen the look in his eyes.
"He told me what to do to win you back to our cause, and so I did. I drugged you. Set the fire. Rescued you. It was supposed to be enough but you wouldn't listen. You were worried she'd been in there when that side of the palace went up. You would have burst back in to rescue her, and that was when he took you down with hemlock and sent for Richter. If you wouldn't remain with us of your own accord, then he would ensure you remained out of his."
Silas squeezed his eyes shut in horror. "I didn't know what she meant to you 'til it was too late. You were still screamin' for her when they put that fuckin' thing in your head, but when you woke up you were empty. Gave me the shivers just to look at you.
"And Ghost.... He thought it poetic justice to send you after her and put a bullet in her heart. That was the first task he set upon you and it made me ill. But what I hadn't counted on—what I'd never expected—was her feelin's for you." Silas paused, as if seeing it all over again. "I was there as your handler when she ran across that bridge to you. Malloryn was going to kill you, but she threw herself between you." His head bowed low. "I didn't know until then."
"And the explosion?"
The one Gemma believed he'd died in.
Another shudder tore through Silas. "Jelena, I think." He held his hands up as Obsidian took a menacing step toward him. "I don't know. But she wanted you dead. Called you a traitor. And her and Ghost had words afterwards. He had plans for you."
"You son of a bitch."
Silas swallowed. "What are you goin' to do?"
"The same as before. Kill Ghost. Destroy his precious brotherhood. Remind him of what I promised him if he hurt Gemma."
"And me?"
All of this could be laid at Silas's door. Rage burst through him. He'd lost his mind because of Silas's treachery, and he wasn't fool enough to think Silas would have confessed if he'd never brought it up.
"I ought to kill you."
Silas turned and darted for the edge of the roof, but Obsidian had been waiting for it.
Drawing his dartgun from within his coat, he shot his brother in the neck with a hemlock dart.
Silas took two more steps before his right knee began to weaken beneath him. As Obsidian lowered the dartgun, Silas went down like a marionette with his strings cut. All it would take to end this would be to draw the knife at his side.
He took Gemma from you.
The darkness whispered through him.
A void where the darkest re
cesses of his soul blinked endless, bottomless eyes back at him. "Are you ever afraid of what you're capable of?" Gemma had asked him.
Yes.
Obsidian stalked slowly toward his fallen brother, and there was such an emptiness within him, he didn't know if he could do it or not.
Flames swirled around him again. Fear choking him. Silas coming out of nowhere to rescue him.
He could recall the almost crippling grief he'd felt when he'd thought Gemma betrayed him. The loss of all he'd hoped for between them. His heart had grieved for her. For the lie he'd fallen for.
The relief he'd felt when Silas saved him—an act that proved someone had his back, no matter how easily love had proved to be a lie—was turned on its head.
Silas had never been there for him.
Obsidian closed his eyes.
Time to put more of his pieces back together. But this time, he'd do it properly.
Kneeling down, he flipped Silas over and grabbed him by the throat. Hauling him upwards until the toes of his boots dangled off the ground, Obsidian bared his teeth.
"I could kill you. But I won't," he said, his fingers tightening on Silas's throat. "You are not my brother. You are not my family. You are nothing to me. I've been holding on to the past because of you. I believed there was an unbreakable bond between us. I would have risked my life to save you.
"But time and time again, you have proven you value your own skin before mine. Forged in the fires of Falkirk. What a joke. Blinded by the smoke of Falkirk, to be honest." He let Silas drop to his knees, and lowered his hand to his side. "There is nothing left for me in the brotherhood. There never was a brotherhood."
As much as the pain of betrayal burned within him, it felt like there was a weight lifted off his shoulders at the words.
He finally knew what mattered.
He knew who he could trust.
Who would be there at his side no matter what. Or throwing herself between him and danger because he mattered to her. His life held value to Gemma, just like all the other Rogues she'd taken into her heart and vowed to protect.
Everything he'd tried to hold on to—family, brotherhood, a sense of belonging, a reason to fight—could be found in his love for Gemma.