Chapter 31

Sevina

“Don’t shoot!” Marty points his barrel at Dan. “Or I’ll blow his brains out.”

My fingers grip the gun tighter. Reid’s kneeling on the ground, his face a twisted mix of rage and pain. “What do you see?” He sputters so only I can hear, glaring at me.

It takes me a second to cling to the memory I know will keep me together. Not a memory, but essence of power and warmth. An infinite supply of strength I can draw from. Corrin…

Craze creeps into Reid’s eyes as they reveal his life to me.

I see it all. I see it raw. I see it as it is. No focus on the details.

Focus on the whole. Focus on everything.

My hand with the gun starts to shiver.

Reid was decent once, as innocent as Corrin was. There was good in him, but this is what this life does to one. It tests you and tests you again, and if you fail it breaks you…

Reid won’t stop. Reid will bring pain and destruction to all of us, like he did to countless families before. Like he did to Corrin and Dan, like he did to their… mother.

Too many times I’ve seen others kill. I remember it as if I did it. Every kill, balanced and adjusted in the right place of my mind. Every detail felt and experienced.

At the corner of my eye the men lower their weapons. With the level of mistrust they have in this family I knew they would. There are just too many cracks I can use.

Corrin’s shoulders sag with ease. But it’s not over.

I know why Corrin is that fish out of the water. Too kind for this. He was a mistake, one incompatible piece that sparked the chain reaction. He could never lead. Neither could Dan, who stands only for himself.

But I can.

“What do you see?” A bare sound leaves Reid’s mouth.

“Everything,” I whisper and pull the trigger.

Blood splatters on the silver gun and I do not meet his eyes as instead I take in his body, tumbling on its side, a red hole burned in his forehead.

I lower my hand with a pistol to my side. Corrin gawks at me, stupefied, his mouth open.

I’m sorry you had to see this. I’m sorry I used your love, the strength you gave me for this, but this is the only way. Reid had to go down and I had to find another way to continue using my powers for good.

“The kite,” I mouth to Corrin.

I face the seven men surrounding us, their weapons on me once again. Only Marty’s stays on Dan. One of the men nears Corrin, a gun to his head, but Corrin doesn’t even flinch as he stares at me, blaster in his hands shivering. Quint and two men watch us from afar, lost.

This standoff might still end in a massive bloodbath. I have to be careful.

“I am the boss now!” I declare, my tone harsh and piercing. Like Reid’s was.

Dan cackles. “Just shoot Marty and the bitch. You all work for me! I’m the one who can relieve you. I can make your lives a living hell!”

Shit. Dan can quickly instill fear into them and turn this power play around. I breathe in. My head swarms with Reid’s story and I already memorized the most important details.

A few men falter, but they don’t obey Dan and instead look at Marty for guidance. Marty’s on my side, and he’s just as lost at my declaration. Plus, he doesn’t want to be the boss. Reid’s private security consists of fifteen men, ten of which are here on the compound. I must make them mine if I want to live and save Corrin, and Quint, and Marty.

Gradually, I slide my eyes over the men and halt on a tall fella who seems most torn. His attention snaps to Reid’s dead body, then at a gun at my side, then into my eyes. I see it.

Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me— he’s considering it. “How’s your little sister doing? You killed her husband and you’re wondering how to protect her now.” He gapes and I continue. “Don’t worry, she’s safe as long as I’m alive.” It seems logical to connect their fear to my well-being. “I know the pay is shit, I’m sorry for that.” I pivot my head to another man that looks at me, now intrigued. Despite looking into the security’s eyes, I hold main focus on Reid’s life, twisting my brain in ways I’ve never done before. I have to last.

“Vary Bolden.” I nod at the man in a greeting. This man is a dirty doer, a murderer. He came from the gangs and, almost in a sick manner, Vary loves his job. He rarely takes his two days off because all he has and needs is right here, his friends as he calls them inside his narrow mindset, and a poker table back in the mansion to which over the years he bonded to. “If I’m dead you’ll lose your job. You’ll lose all you have now. Including your secret stash of money. In case you couldn’t fulfill Reid’s demands and had to run, huh? It’s a good place to hide it.” It’s in a graveyard. “Stinks a lot, doesn’t it?”

“Merde—“ Vary lowers his weapon a bit, his words thick with French accent. “How do you know that?”

I don’t answer as I pivot to a third man who avoids my gaze, thus I turn to yet another, who has his gun on Corrin. He’s the one who beat Will and carved Quint’s back. “Ambitious.” He’s been planning to murder Marty, for better pay. “You won’t have to execute your plan.” The man frowns, his weapon faltering. He’s also religious. “One less sin, right?” I give him a soft smile as despite being a murderer he’s the type that would feed a homeless puppy.

Soft pain forming at the back of my head, I pivot to another man—

“Why are you listening to her, you cunts!” Dan bellows. “Shoot her. That’s a damn order!”

“I’m dead and all this intel, your families, your friends, your habits your secret details will go spilling to everyone!” It’s not me speaking. All this came from Reid’s head— his confidence and his jittery tone. I’m using it while I’m filtering men’s lives. “I don’t want to harm any of you. But I can.” I face the last man I looked into the eyes of. “Your bank number, what was it? Starts with three, eight, one, six. And I believe you know the rest.” The men ogle at me as if Dan doesn’t exist. “And you.” I tilt my chin at the massive guy, Frenchman Vary Bolden. “Graveyard.”

“She’s bluffing, she’s no one!” Dan moves a step, but Marty’s weapon stops him. “Get away.” Dan pushes Marty aside. A shot from Marty’s weapon at Dan’s feet sends shivers through everyone. Marty grips Dan’s collar from behind and rams his weapon into his neck, keeping him still.

“Does graveyard mean anything to you?” One of the men tilts his head at Vary.

“It does,” Vary bites out.

“So do my bank numbers,” utters another.

“I have insurances,” I say, calmer, the silver gun still at my side. The men murmur, finding no explanation to the intel I provided and I think I’m winning, but I need to be sure, so I lie more. “I knew the boss, and I know way more than he ever told his son, son who couldn’t even follow his orders. Trust me, if I die all I know spills to people far worse than Dan and Reid. And I know everything.”

“What are those insurances?” One of the men breathes, his voice marred with fear.

“Wouldn’t be insurances if I told you, would they? But you can try, kill me and watch all you care for die, or—“ I pause for effect— “You can help me.”

“I’m with her,” Marty says. “It’s true. She knows the same things about me. Things I’ve never told anybody.

“I’m the second one in charge!” Dan explodes, struggling against Marty’s grip. “I too have leverage!” He opens his arms in a powerful gesture. “You all worked for me for a long time, so what? You’re going to trust this bitch because she killed the boss and because Marty supported her? Because of some private details. You better hope for my forgiveness.”

Men’s faces gain an undertone of loathing towards Dan. Four of seven men don’t even glance at Dan as they squeeze their guns, torn.

“I’m not this son of a bitch.” I point at Reid. “If Dan’s the boss, you know how it’ll end. You know you’ll be punished and you will die. I offer you a choice. You either stay with me, you work for me and do all as you did and I say. You protect me and you protect your secrets, your loved ones. Or you leave and never come back. And I will let you go peacefully.”

“Fuck this.” Vary pivots, his gun turning on Dan. “I’m protecting my graveyard. You never listened to our pleas either way, boy.”

After Marty and Vary, another man lowers his weapon, then another, and another. “It’s not like we got a big choice of who to follow. Good for me as long as it’s paid,” the man who held Corrin at the gunpoint says. Corrin stands stupefied, probably in a little shock.

I point at Dan. “Fine. Grab him then.”

The men comply and over my hurting temples, I want to laugh with relief. They seize Dan by his arms.

“You’ll pay for this,” he growls, battling as the men drag him away to the back of one of the cars. The two men who hold Quint release him and follow other men quietly. They’ve heard everything we spoke of.

I near Marty. “Look me in the eyes,” I whisper to him. I want to know his true intentions. Marty already suspects something’s up, but for all he knows I just may have a lot of information that my previous boss trusted me with and looking at people is my personal craze. Apprehensive, the grizzly man complies. He’s with me, but he’s doing this because he hopes I’ll cut him loose. I will.

I won this round, but this whole situation is thin. Dan still poses danger, but he’s my salvation as well. Because once Marty leaves he’ll be the only one who actually knows how to run the business.

“I don’t know how much intel on us you have, but don’t forget of the IT,” Marty says. “I don’t have the access, but Dan’s the only one who does now. IT’s are our accountants, they manage the majority of our funds. You’re not the boss until you make it official with the IT. Do the papers, take the ownership of the money.”

“I’ll want to talk to Dan.” Dan has to come to my side willingly, I can’t force him. “Privately and quietly. Where can I do that?”

“I suggest going back to the boss's mansion…ex-boss's,” Marty corrects himself. “You’ll be able to persuade Dan there, however long it’ll take.”

I slide my sleeve along the barrel of the silver gun, wiping Reid’s blood, and nod.