Sancte Diaboli: Part Two (The Elite King's Club 7)

She laughs, blood still trickling down her throat. “About Lucan. Were you prepared for that, too?”

“You mean the fact he was getting into her head?” Her face pales. “Yeah, well, she and Ophelia figured that out. Mental blocks or something now stop that from happening.”

“Ah, so interesting that not even her walking out to his unmarked stone showed you that your father was tormenting her and has been for a lot longer than she even knows. Years. Even.”

I know it’s Lucan, I should have fucking known he was probably doing sick shit to her.

“Admit it, Brantley. We hit you at angles you didn’t expect.”

“Really?” Bishop says now, coming up behind me with a cigarette in his mouth. He blows out the smoke. “’Cuz the way I see it, this doesn’t look like a scene that would be played out by people who didn’t expect it. Now, you’ve killed two of our people.”

“The Kings are a dying breed,” she says, spitting blood onto the floor. “Even with you all having children.”

Bishop pulls out his gun, aims it at her foot, and squeezes the trigger. She screams in pain. “Don’t ever fucking talk about my kids and think I won’t shoot.”

“We don’t usually kill women,” I say, cracking my neck. “There has been only one exception in the past. Now you’re the second.”

I turn to face Nate and Samael. Nate nods.

“Do you have any last-minute requests?” I say, cocking my head while wiping the blood off my blade.

She blinks up at me, and I see it. The exact moment she realizes it’s over. She and Lucan’s long tirade of evil is coming to an end. “You think you won’t be the exact product of your father and me when it comes to your child, Brantley?” She laughs, her eyes darkening. She’s ready for death. Good. Because she’s not going to get it quickly. This is personal. Between her, Lucan, Saint, and me. When I walked into this, I knew this death wasn’t for anyone’s hands, only for my own. But it has to be more than that.

“Lucky for me, because I’m not ever having a child.” I take the steps needed until I’m face-to-face with her once again, kneeling at eye level.

“Ah.” She clicks her tongue. “The sweet little Saint didn’t tell you.”

I blink, and all of the blood that was erratically pumping through my veins at the mere scent of death turns to ice. “What?”

“Well, I can die happy now. I’ve surprised you one last time.”

Saint

“Being pregnant makes my stress levels difficult to deal with,” I say, standing at the window on the top floor with the curtain pulled back. It has been three hours since they’ve left. In those three hours, I’ve decided I know what I’m going to do about this baby. I’m going to tell Brantley. I shouldn’t have held it from him to begin with.

“Tell me about it,” Madison mutters, glancing down at her phone nervously while waiting for the call. Her belly has grown a lot over the past couple of weeks. Not a lot that she looks like she’s carrying twins, though, as Tillie will always remind everyone.

Valentina is quiet on the sofa opposite Tillie and next to the door. They’ve not so much as blinked at one another. Tillie, once again, is being unreasonable with her beef, but that’s Tillie. She’s protective of the people she loves, and that should be something that’s praised, more than taken as a threat.

Madison’s phone lights up and she jumps off the sofa as my heart knocks so hard in my chest it winds me.

“Bishop!” She holds her breath for a few seconds, and then sighs, falling back onto the sofa. “Okay, we will see you soon.” Madison hangs up the phone, looking to Valentina. “Bishop said your guards pulled through with their promise.”

Valentina nods, breathing a sigh of relief. “I knew they would.”

“You still have to handle The Lost Boys, Valentina. You can’t allow them to run around on you and make you a fool.” Tillie finally addresses her. Now I kind of wish she didn’t.

Valentina’s eyes water. “I know, Tillie. They’re just so wild. I find it very difficult to keep them in line.”

“You need to make one your pet, Valentina. Has my mother not taught you anything? She had Daemon. That’s how she kept them under control. Not because she was queen, The Lost Boys don’t care about that. They do, but not to the extent that others here do. You need to take one on. Find the strongest. The alpha of them all.” Tillie stands from her chair. “And if I ever hear that you’ve not told us any of the updates happening on this island, mark my words, I will take it back.” She leaves the door wide open in her departure.

Madison ignores Valentina, resting her hand on my shoulder. “Come on. We should wait for them downstairs.”