A creak woke me instantly. I opened my eyes, my pulse booming from a nightmare I couldn’t quite remember. Somehow, I was glad for that, knowing whatever waited for me in the darkness wasn’t something I wanted to face…not yet, at least.
Creak.
The sound came again. I sat up, leaving the warmth of Riven’s bed behind. He was still snoring, deep in that faraway place. But there was a nagging feeling that called me, forcing me to climb out of bed and make my way to the bedroom door.
The moment I cracked it open, I saw him. Thomas, slowly making his way up the stairs. I moved out of the doorway, quietly closing the door behind me.
“Thom?” I whispered, my barely focused eyes fixed on the bright red blood splattered over his face and across the white clerical collar hanging from his shirt. “What happened?
He froze, almost at the top of the stairs, and lifted his gaze. Those once warm brown eyes were haunted, fixed on mine. Still, he said nothing, just held my gaze for what felt like forever until he climbed the last stairs to stop in front of me.
“You don’t have to worry about me anymore.” He lifted his hand, the edges of his nails stained with blood. Still, I didn’t move as he grazed the back of his fingers down my cheek. “I found my calling. I know what I have to do.”
Those words scared me. That and the emptiness in his stare made all the fear resurface.
“They have to pay,” he said quietly. “They all have to pay.”
He turned away then, leaving me behind, and went to his room. It wasn’t until the door closed that I moved. I jerked my gaze to the door as that darkness inside my mind crept closer.
Memories came with it. Like a terrifying storm that rolled in carrying all the horror I tried not to remember. Hands reached out. Fingers clawed, desperate to drag me back to that nightmare. The one that waited, lurking in the shadows.
I forced my gaze away, my knees trembling as I reached for the railing and slowly made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I needed to keep myself busy. I needed to do…get her on the table. I closed my eyes and gripped the counter as the terror pushed in.
“Coffee,” I whispered. “That’s what I need.”
I pushed away, wrenched open my eyes, and spun around to find the filter and the coffee, then set to work filling the pot. Steam rose seconds later, filling the kitchen with the heavenly scent. I poured a cup, splashed in some creamer, and lifted it with a shaking hand to my lips.
I know what I have to do.
They have to pay.
Thom’s words rose as I swallowed.
They all have to pay.
But when a face rose from my memory, it wasn’t Thom’s…it was my father.
They have to pay.
They all have to pay.
Screams invaded. Flickers of my memory. I could almost feel myself falling as they’d pushed me from that stage to the floor littered with men and women ready to buy and use.
Let’s see what four million gets us! Melody’s cry was followed with bellows of cheering and laughter. My pulse thundered as I remembered their hands forcing my face against the table. My legs were forced wide, fingers pushed between them. But it was the faces that stayed with me. Faces that blurred and sharpened…focusing on one in particular.
“No.” I shook my head.
Low voices moved in, desperate and pleading.
“No.”
“Helene, baby, it’s me. It’s Kane. Come back to us.”
The touch came against the back of my hand. I jerked my eyes open and wrenched my hand away to find Kane, Riven, and Hunter staring at me over the middle counter.
“Trouble,” Riven murmured. “Baby, you’re scaring us.”
“I know what I have to do now,” I whispered the same words Thomas had. “I know where I have to go.”
Not once did they look away. Each of them nodded.
“You tell us where you want to go and we’ll take you.” Hunter stepped around the corner of the counter, moving slowly. “But know this. You will never be alone, nor will you be at their mercy. Never again.”
“Never again,” Kane echoed.
Out of all the demons of my past, my father hurt the most. His betrayal cut so deep I didn’t think it would ever heal.
“He has to pay.” Tears filled my eyes as I met Hunter’s stare. “They all have to pay.”
The mountain of a man scowled down at me. “And they will, believe me. They will.”
He wrapped his arms around me. Riven and Kane watched from the other side of the counter. But they knew…they knew.
Hunter held me until my body stopped shaking and the tears dried. I lifted my head and met his stare. No words were needed. I knew now what I had to do. I left the rest of my coffee behind and walked upstairs, but before I headed for Riven’s room, I stopped and quietly opened Thomas’ door. He was passed out face down on the bed. His arms were hugging the bunched-up comforter.
He looked peaceful, content, a stark contrast to the tormented man he normally was. I turned around, my hand on the door handle, then I stopped. His clothes were shoved into the small plastic wastepaper basket in the corner of the room. The sides of the basket were bowed out, the blood-splattered shirt shoved all the way down, his jacket on top. But it was the clerical collar that had stilled me. Bright red spots marred the white. I focused on it, finding the small indents of where he’d bitten down earlier.
They have to pay.
“They will,” I whispered. “They sure will.”
I closed the door, leaving him to sleep, and headed for the bathroom in Riven’s room, turning on the hot water and stepping into the spray. Just like Thomas, I knew what I had to do now. Purpose filled me, steadying my movements as I washed, then turned off the water and stepped out.
Riven was dressed when I walked into the bedroom. My clothes were laid out on the bed. Black jeans, black shirt, and sturdy boots.
“I thought you’d appreciate not worrying about—” he started.
I rushed forward, wrapping my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his chest. “Thank you.”
I’d never had this…someone to protect me, to care about me and stand with me, even in the darkness. This is love. My own words came back to me as I tightened my hold. He brushed my hair, smoothing the strands.
This was love.
I straightened, then hurried to dress before tugging on my boots.
“YOU SURE YOU’RE ready for this?” Kane asked, lifting his gaze to my father’s expensive three-story modern Tudor.
“No,” I answered honestly, opening the door. “But I’m doing it anyway.”
The place felt deserted, soulless somehow, even though the sun shone and the wind blew, swaying the wall of wild bamboo that grew on the east side of the gardens, leading to the expansive private retreat at the rear. But it was the house I wanted, the house I needed. Because if there was anywhere my father would be, it was here.
I closed the gate behind me and walked up the long, sloping flight of stairs to the frosted glass entrance of the single black door.
I pressed my thumb on the keypad and held my breath, almost expecting the light to stay red with the ultimate betrayal. But it didn’t. The light turned green and the lock released, allowing me to turn the handle and step inside.
It felt like a dream coming back to this place, especially after all that’d happened. All the lies and the betrayal and the sick alliances with men my father had sworn to destroy. Had I ever really known him, the man others knew as King, or was my entire life nothing more than a lie?
I moved through the foyer, heading deeper into the house, before I turned.
“Trouble,” Riven called my name cautiously.
I guess he had a right to be cautious. There was an eeriness about this place. A feeling that it was a little too perfect. Light cascaded through crystal clear windows, giving you an illusion of brightness, but that feeling didn’t last, not when you turned into the hallway and lifted your gaze to the room at far end.
The meeting room, my father called it.
But it was the one place where we truly came together. I kept walking, stopped at the keypad, and pressed my thumb against the sensor. If there was a point of shutting me out, it was this one. The information we gathered in that room was all we had.
Click.
The light turned green and the locks disengaged.
Only, he hadn’t shut me out. I swallowed the tremor of hope and pushed down on the handle, then stepped into our own seat of command. In my head, I still saw wall to wall maps, photographs, and a timeline of events. I saw Haelstrom Hale’s face in black and white sitting on top of the long list of men and women who’d become the players in that vile institution called The Order.
But that seat of command wasn’t what I stepped into now.
“What the fuck?” Riven muttered behind me.
At first glance, it looked like the place had been tossed, that somehow my father’s estate had been broken into and this one room had been destroyed. I stepped further inside.
“Hunter, search the perimeter.” Riven commanded.
But I shook my head, staring at the mess of strewn photos and trashed furniture. One chair was even embedded into a wall.
“Don’t worry,” I said carefully. “The place hasn’t been trashed.”
“What?” Riven stepped deeper into the room, scanning the utter destruction. “So, this is normal?”
Normal?
No.
No, it wasn’t…
I moved forward, finding the shattered screen on the large monitor mounted on the wall, then the upturned desk below it. Something had happened here. Something…painful. That’s what I saw…pain.
I moved deeper into the room, then headed to the one thing that hadn’t been disturbed, the drawn reproduction of DNA strands. Three of them, to be exact. The image was of big, muted colors against a background of the galaxy.
This is you and your sisters.
Your DNA, Helene.
Your’s.
Vivienne’s.
And Ryth’s.
You’re my entire world. Don’t you know that?
“Helene?”
I shook my head, trying to shake his hold free. I’d come here to confront him. To demand answers, not to torment myself even more with the lies of the past. But that’s all this place was, a goddamn lie. I winced, ground my teeth, and lifted the framed image from the wall, staring at the safe embedded in the wall behind it.
The stainless safe shone, drawing Riven’s focus even more.
“What’s in it?”
I punched in the sequence, day, month, me; day, month, Viv; day, month, Ryth.
Click.
“Flash drives mostly.” I murmured, staring into the empty space. “Well, usually.”
There were no drives, none of the bundles of cash my father stashed everywhere. There was nothing but a single yellow envelope with a note attached.
“What the hell is that?”
“I don’t know.” I reached up, grabbed the envelope, and pulled it out.
I’m sorry.
My father’s neat scrawl was written on the note attached. My pulse skipped, forcing me to lift my gaze. Riven’s eyes were fixed on mine. Those dark eyes shimmered with fear and excitement. He knew it was something. Because it was…something.
I looked down at the unsealed flap, the sticker tape still in place. “Shit.”
My fingers trembled as I reached inside.
Medical Report for Weyland King.
D.O.B…
I let my gaze move down the page. This wasn’t just any report—I glanced around the room, finding the utter destruction. Then turned to the only untouched thing in the entire room—so it couldn’t be anyone other than my father. Who else would leave this for me to find?
CAT Scan evaluation, Glioblastoma Multiforme, Grade IV.
“Grade four?” I whispered, fumbling for my cell to punch in the details Glio…Glioblastoma Multiforme.
I stared at the information as it filled the screen.
Glioblastoma is a fast-growing, aggressive brain tumor that invades nearby brain tissue. GBM is a devastating brain cancer that can result in death in six months or less if untreated. It’s imperative to seek medical care urgently.
“Six months?” The words were a squeak. My stomach rolled and heaved. I crushed the report as I braced my hands on my knees. “Six months? Six fucking months?”
“Give it to me.”
I handed over the report, focusing on the gray carpet at my feet and the corner of what looked like a list of names.
“Jesus Christ,” Riven moaned.
Movement came behind us. Riven handed the report over to Kane, who read it quickly. “This could explain a lot.”
I lifted my gaze, straightening. “What do you mean?”
There was a sincerity in his stare. “If you had six months to live and three daughters to save, what would you do?”
What would I do? In the world of Haelstrom Hale and that festering pit of vipers. “Everything.”
I looked around the room, finding deep gouges in the walls before I looked at that chair with the leg embedded in the wall. This wasn’t the room I remembered. I looked down at the note still stuck to my hand and unfurled my fingers.
I’m sorry.
He knew I’d come here, knew I’d open the safe and find this. I couldn’t imagine how desperate he must’ve felt! I crumpled the note in my fist and brought it to my chest. What the fuck were you doing, dad? And why the hell didn’t you confide in me?
“This report is over six months old.” Kane said. “Did you know about this?”
I shook my head. “No. I knew he was having tests, but he told me it was just routine.” I lowered my gaze to the three strands of DNA all entwined against the backdrop of a galaxy. You’re my world, Helene. I want you to know that. You and your sisters mean everything and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect you.
That anger and rage I’d carried into the house trembled and suddenly fell away. I’d wanted to hate him for what he’d done to me and what he’d failed to do. But how could I hate what I didn’t understand? Six months. Six goddamn months.
I didn’t understand any of this.
Not one bit.
Beep.
Riven reached down, grabbed his cell, and stared at the screen. “Looks like we need to head back into the city. St. James has some guys he wants us to meet.”
“What guys?” Hunter asked.
“Fucks me. Some men who are willing to lay a lot of money on the table…men who deal in diamonds.”
I jerked my gaze upwards. “Diamonds?”
Riven met my stare, those dark eyes twinkling already. “Yes, Trouble. Diamonds.”
