Zephyr
gone off the deep end.
There was nothing that explained what she was seeing, nothing that made sense of the man she’d become friends with to the monster in front of her.
Zen sat still in the chair in front of her, her eyes sharp on Hector as he walked around them, the only thing giving away her anxiety being her loud breathing.
Zephyr tried to keep hers calm, knowing it would only make her sister more anxious if she panicked.
“What the hell are you doing, Hector?” Zephyr asked, as calmly as she could. They needed to get out, get help. She didn’t know where Victor was, or if he too was involved in whatever had happened, or if help was on the way. God, could she trust anyone of her people?
“This isn’t personal, Zephyr,” Hector gave her a small smile, the same he’d always given her, his bald head gleaming menacingly under the harsh overhead light. “It’s just a deal.”
“What deal?” she demanded. What the hell was going on?
Hector circled them again, coming to stand beside Zen. He took his knife out, running the blade over his thumb. “No one escapes The Syndicate. But you did, didn’t you, 5507?”
5507? What the hell?
She saw Zen’s breath catch, her eyes flying to Hector with true fear. It reminded her of when she’d had panic attacks as a kid.
“Zen,” she called to her sister. “Breathe, Zenny. I’m right here.” She wished she could get out of her bonds and go to her, take her hand and tell her it’d all be okay.
Hector continued circling them. “Your luck must have been golden. You ran away, straight to the cops, and got adopted by a normal family. You got a new name. All traces of 5507 erased from existence. Did you know what your real name was?’
Zen swallowed visibly.
‘Morana Vitalio.”
Morana?
Wait, Morana had been one of the missing girls. Did that mean her sister had been one of them and they’d been exchanged?
What the hell?
Zephyr watched the scene in shock, pieces falling together.
She’d never given much thought to her sister’s past, or ever wondered where she came from. As a child, she’d just believed her sister was found by her parents, and that had been it. Even growing up, knowing her past sometimes affected Zen, she’d always thought she’d been orphaned by an accident. This was much, much gruesome than anything she could’ve imagined. And she knew listening to all of it must’ve been so much harder on Zen.
“How do you know this?” Zen whispered, her voice shaking, her dark eyes wide and terrified.
“Do you remember, Zenny?” Hector mocked. “You remember how you left behind your friend? Ever gave a second thought to what became of her life while you lay warm in your bed? Oh, she’s quite in demand now.”
Zephyr saw her sister trembling, and her protective instinct rose to the fore. She remembered when Zen had been a kid, scared like she was now, and Zephyr had always fought her demons.
“Get away from her,” she told Hector, drawing his attention back to herself. “I’m not a killer, Hector, but you better hope I don’t get out of these ties. I will murder you.”
Hector laughed, like it was the most hilarious thing he’d heard. “Zephyr, you were always fiery. As I said, it’s nothing personal.”
He turned back to Zen. “So, where were we? Yes. You escaped, and it was all good. The Syndicate didn’t care about one little girl running away.”
“Then why now?” Zen asked, despite the visible tremor in her body.
“Because you got on the radar, sweetheart,” Hector touched her sister’s cheek, and she flinched. “You should’ve laid low, but with your bleeding heart at SLF, seeing how pretty you’d become, they wanted you back. One of them, in particular, wants you bad before he puts you to work.”
Oh hell, no.
Zephyr struggled against her zip cuffs, trying futilely to escape.
“My deal was simple,” Hector continued. “I deliver you to them, they help me take down Alpha.”
Zephyr stilled, her mind reeling. “Alpha? You’re his friend!”
“And his second,” Hector nodded. “We were born on the same streets, to the same life. He got everything, and I got the second. No,” his voice changed, the ugly on his face coming out. “I want this city, I want the power. And the only way to take it? Get him out. And the only way to take him out? By people more powerful than he is. The Syndicate went through me so many times, it was easy to make a deal.”
“And the murders?” Zenith asked, her eyes on the knife in his hand.
Hector chuckled. “Just for fun. There is nothing better than seeing the hope strangle in their eyes. Fucking whores, thinking they’re better than this life we’re born into. They’re not.”
Another circle.
“I went to them with Alpha’s name, telling them he would help them out since they wanted to leave, and like faithful idiots they followed me, trusting his name and his word.”
He circled them again.
“I took them to an alley, held them down, raped them. Told them it was the price for freedom, and oh, they let me. For freedom, they did.”
He laughed, and Zephyr felt the ugliness in his soul creep out of every pore, nausea filling her stomach as he recounted each horrific detail with such glee.
“And then, I slipped my knife into them right here,” he whispered, putting his hand to her side, making the vomit rise up.
“There’s nothing like fucking them as they gasp for life. Makes them so tight.”
“You’re sick,” she gagged, breathing through her nostrils.
“I am,” he grinned, getting in her face. “But when they die, I am their god. I am inside them, outside them, leading them from this life to the next.”
She was going to throw up.
He pulled back. ‘But it was nothing like the feeling of knocking out the Finisher and carving him open while he lay there, helpless and drugged, unable to remember a thing that happened to him.’
Zephyr emptied the contents of her stomach to the side, shaking with the rage that filled her body. This monster had destroyed Alpha, her, and countless other women. She’d met the women he called whores, spent time with them, befriended them. Alpha’s mother had been one of them. They were people and he’d slaughtered them like they were worthless.
She swallowed, focusing on her sister. Okay, they had to find a way out. She knew no one might be looking for her for a while, not with Morana injured unless she somehow managed to get help. Even if they were looking, they might not find them soon enough. They had to rely on themselves.
‘But before I hand you over, Zenny,’ Hector licked the edge of his blade. ‘I need to have a taste, after waiting so long.’ He took the knife to Zen’s top, ripping one side off her shoulder. She gasped, and Zephyr struggled.
“Get the fuck away from her, or I swear to god—”
Her threats went unheard.
He untied Zenith, pushing her down on the floor, and her sister was paralyzed, like a deer in the headlights.
Zephyr held her stare, sobbing but keeping it together for her sake. “Fight him, Zen. He’s weak. He’s a fucking coward. You’re stronger than this. Fight him, baby.”
Her words broke whatever daze her sister had been in. It triggered something in her. Zephyr saw her look change, determination filling her face as she began to push back, catching Hector off-guard. Seems he wasn’t used to women fighting back, especially not if he blackmailed them with their freedom.
Zen somehow wiggled out from under Hector’s grip and ran to the chair she’d been tied to. Picking it up, she smashed it over his head.
He went down.
Breathing heavily, she took the knife from his side and ran to Zephyr, slicing through the zip ties with trembling hands. Free of her bonds, Zephyr jumped up and hugged her, feeling Zen’s arms tight around her, both their bodies shaking.
“Let’s get out of here before he wakes up.”
She tugged her sister out.
They both ran through the shack, out onto the abandoned pier, trying to figure out where to go. There were no lights, no boats in the area, no sign of life.
“That way,” Zen pointed to the road. “This is where Alpha came to meet the guy. There’s a road there. We might find help.”
They both started to run toward the road, both panting, Zephyr’s muscles sore and aching, and she doubted her sister was in any better shape. Chests heaving, both breathing hard, they kept going. Almost at the turn, a shot rang out.
Flinching, Zephyr increased her speed, only to feel her sister’s hand slip out of hers.
She stopped running to see what had held her back.
And everything inside her froze.
Zen stood at a spot, looking down at the blood on her hands, a large dark patch forming over her stomach. She looked up at Zephyr, her eyes wide, her beautiful face pale and scrunched in pain, right before her legs crumpled.
“No.’
Everything stilled.
Zephyr fell down on her knees at her side, pulling her sister into her arms. “No, no, no, no, no! Zen. Look at me, just breathe with me, you’ll be okay, it’s nothing. Shhhh—”
Sobs wracked her as she felt her sister trembling, similar tears on her face.
“It’s… it’s so cold, Zee,” her sister’s teeth chattered, her body shivering violently.
Zephyr gathered her tighter into her arms. “I’m here, baby,” she hiccupped. “You’ll be okay. Everything will be okay. Help is on the way.”
Zen gave a quivering smile, her eyes going slightly hazy. “Liar. I love you, Zee. You’re… the best… sister… I could’ve… hoped… for.”
Zephyr shook her head, her hands finding the blood coming out of her sister’s stomach. “Don’t you say goodbye! Zen. Please. Stay here.”
Zen’s hand came to her face, bloody and shaking, her eyes fluttering close.
Zephyr shook her, voice breaking. “Zen. Zenny. Hang in there. Stay with me please. We’ll get out of here.”
They wouldn’t. The place was abandoned, there were no cars on the street and no way to contact anybody. Helpless, in pain, Zephyr screamed, holding her sister to her chest, not knowing what to do.
Zen was just unconscious from the blood loss. That was it. Somehow, they’d get to a hospital and everything would be okay. Someway, she’d find a way.
Something moved in the periphery of her vision. Zephyr looked to see a man emerging from the shadows, his face hidden under his hood as he bent down next to them.
“Where did he go?”
She recognized his voice, the same man who’d given her the envelope in Tenebrae.
Hope blossomed in her heart.
“Please help her,” she begged him, her voice a mess with her tears. “Please. I’m begging you. Please. Please. Help my sister.”
She saw a gloved hand reach for her sister’s neck, checking her pulse.
Of course, it would be there. Slow, but there.
“I’m sorry.”
No.
No.
No.
No.
She shook her head. “No.”
Shaking her sister, Zephyr checked her pulse. Nothing.
“Zen, baby, c’mon answer me. Zen. Zen!”
Agony nothing like she’d ever known before stabbed her heart, splintering it, scarring it, a piece forever gone with the sister she’d loved more than life. Zephyr wailed in her pain, sobbing and sobbing and sobbing, until everything went black.
