Vicious Minds: Part 2 (Children of Vice 5)
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And if I am burned by its fire,
I will fly on scorched wings.”
~Segovia Amil
ETHAN
“Red sky at night, shepherds' delight. Red sky at morning, shepherds take warning,” I whispered as I watched the sunrise over the horizon, casting a reddish glow over the earth. The wind howled, and the air was colder now than it had been since the beginning of winter. I’d never seen the weather so fitting.
“This just arrived for you, sir,” O’Phelan stated, interrupting my thoughts to hand me an envelope.
Taking it from him, I nodded for him to leave before opening it, only to find a cell phone. The moment I touched it, it lit up, vibrating instead of ringing. Answering, I said nothing.
“Mio bel leoncino, do you really think it was us?”
I didn’t answer.
“Your wife sent assassins to our door this morning. Did you know that?”
“She didn’t,” I said coldly. “I did.”
“Ethan!”
“More will be coming.”
“I do not understand you. I do not understand this. Do you really want a war between us? Do you really want to do this?”
“No,” I answered, honestly. “But you gave me no choice.”
“I am giving you a choice now! Stop this. Stop her!”
“That is not a choice. That is an order and I do not take orders from you or anyone else.”
“Are you sure, because that woman seems to have a solid hold on you.”
I snickered, nodding, “She really is one of a kind.”
“You…you knew…you knew today was going to happen.”
“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t?”
“No. You are too smart not to know. She killed your aunt. She will not stop until she destroys the whole family in the name of her grandfather. Ethan, we will not sit back and watch that ha
ppen.”
“…And this is why I am on her side, not yours.”
Silence.
“You want to destroy this family too?” she said, disbelieving.
Silence again was my answer.
“So, it’s war, then?”
“We’ll be waiting for you both—that is, if you survive,” I replied before disconnecting the call, turning to stare right at Calliope’s crystal campfire still roaring beside me. I tossed the phone in it and turned back toward the house. The maids were still working to take down all of the decorations. They did so in absolute silence. The air was cold with grief, but it became heavy as Darcy stepped in the backyard. He was still blank and numb, but there were bags under his eyes.
“Who?” he demanded, and the longer I stayed silent, the more he trembled. “Don’t tell me you don’t know. There is no way—”