The Emperor (The Tarot Club 2)

Dimitri

Darkness consumed my entire being, and for a moment, there was a silence so pure I wanted to fall to my knees and weep in relief. No guilt. No thoughts. Just an empty nothingness that was almost peaceful.

Was this peace?

Only, I couldn’t fall to my knees, because I couldn’t feel my body. And that thought alone seemed a comical thing, because what use was a body when one was in this state? Was I even alive? Or was this what it was to truly live - to float along the ether of being?

Despite the peace, the urge to struggle was overwhelming, and suddenly the feel of my body came back in waves of pins and needles and pain. My chest ached as if something was pressing down on it, making the very act of breathing almost impossible. My wrist burned, stinging me into action, forcing me to pry my eyes open - to fight.

Silence consumed me as I stared at the dusty white air surrounding me.

I’m in my warehouse.

The thought was sobering, because it was the start of the thread that I needed to trace my way back to where I was - and what happened. I was at the warehouse where we stored all our product - the same one Arlo had died outside of, and for a heartbeat, the thought of burning it all to the ground seemed almost poetic in its justice. Ravi was here, and I hoped that he was okay - hoped that he was alive. I may not always like him, but he was family, and that counted more than always getting along with someone.

I shifted my body, mentally categorizing where it hurt. I hissed in pain as my chest clenched beneath whatever pinned me down. Only I couldn’t hear myself hiss - could only feel it. Although my hearing went from deathly silence to outright ringing that seemed to ebb and flow with the pounding of my pulse.

We were attacked, and I was alive. That was all that mattered. My wrist burned fiercely and I craned my neck to take stock of my injuries.

Only there looked to be absolutely fuck all wrong with my wrist, even as I clench and unclenched my fist, rolling it to ensure that nothing was broken. Despite being intact, the skin beneath Corinne’s bracelet was raised and inflamed, and suddenly, I recalled the marks that were sketched in the ground outside the property - the same marks I had yet to inform Corinne about.

I shifted once more, trying to get an idea of where exactly in the warehouse I lay - because that might help determine what the fuck was on top of me. If I had to guess, I’d say a pillar, but I wasn’t certain.

A face formed above me and even though I was pinned, I attempted to pull my firearm out. His lips were forming words that I couldn’t hear. I shut my lids once more, aware of the heaviness that weighed me down as I forced them open once more. This time the vision before me seemed cleared, and I found myself staring up at Ravi.

He was covered in the same white powder as I was, and I suddenly realised that it wasn’t the plaster from the building that coated us, it was our product. Laughter shook through my body at the absurdity of it all. We were fucking bombed, and not only did I somehow escape death, but I was covered in my own fucking supply.

We needed to lock this shit down because it didn’t matter how many cops were on our payroll, they couldn’t ignore something like this. They’d be all over this place. I tried to speak - in fact, I was certain I did speak, only I still couldn’t hear a thing. It was a strange experience to not be able to hear the sound of your own voice.

Ravi stood above me as he shook his head frantically, motioning towards the slab of concrete. He wanted to move it off of me, and that was a fucking plan I could get behind.

I pushed whilst I lifted, the two of us working in tandem to shift the piece of building off of me. It was slow going and I watched Ravi pant in between the maneuvering, blood dribbled from his arm. He needed to see a doctor - anyone who survived this shit needed to see the doc.

I wasn’t certain how long it took, but at some point, the weight that pinned me down released me. I inhaled deeply, and as the sharp ache in my ribs kicked back, I only added it to my metal list of aches.

But I was alive. Ravi stretched out his hand, offering me assistance in standing, but I wouldn’t take it - not when he was fucking bleeding. He was a good man, but he was also a fucking idiot, and I didn’t need him passing out on me from blood loss because I yanked on his arm too hard.

I pushed myself up, forcing my body to tower up into a standing position. The world dipped black for a moment as my head spun before finally coming back into focus.

We limped out of there, shoulder-to-shoulder, and I knew without asking that Ravi and I were the only two to survive.

The sun somehow seemed too bright for the death we had simply walked away from. I wasn’t opposed to death - a man like me couldn’t be, not when I dished it out frequently. But this felt different.

My driver sat across the street, oblivious to the turmoil we had just experienced, and when I turned to look back at the warehouse, it appeared intact - at least from the front. How had they managed it? How had they managed such destruction without anyone being even remotely aware?

It was a question I would have to ask Corinne.

As Ravi and I slid into the backseat, I was only half aware that my body pressed that white powdered product into the leather seats. It was my last conscious thought before darkness claimed me.