There was only one outcome, and I couldn’t outrun it anymore.
My mother was right.
Jolfer whispered, cutting through my destroying conclusion. “Prest, they’re leaving. Someone is shouting. I’m hidden in a laundry chute, and there’s some sort of chant. They’re getting amped up.”
I knew that chant.
I knew the incantation before battle.
“Laugh at our prey’s pleas, feast on our defeated cries, no one survives while the Chinmoku thrives.”
That part of my life had been brief, but fuck, it’d imprinted itself onto my soul in more ways than one.
“Thanks for the warning, Jolfer.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Stay safe.”
Hanging up, I cast my eyes over the people standing in the foyer. The Mercers who I didn’t know, didn’t trust, didn’t like, but were now my priority. My responsibility. My burden.
I couldn’t look at Pim.
I couldn’t let her see the resolution in my eyes or the goodbye I was about to utter.
Clenching my fists, I braced for yet another war, already knowing how it would end. “They’re coming.”
Chapter Eighteen
______________________________
Pimlico
“THEY’RE COMING?” MY eyes popped wide as instant terror iced my veins. “What do you mean they’re coming?”
Elder tossed the unwanted cell phone at Selix and marched/hopped directly toward me. The torment swirling in his gaze shuttered, blocking me from reading him. His jaw tight and unyielding, a master of the situation with all the answers and no uncertainty. “I mean, I need to get you out of here. Right now.”
“But—”
A black blur charged, bowling into Elder, wrapping furious fingers around his throat and slamming him against the wall. Elder groaned as his body suffered yet another attack.
Q panted in rage, his hand white from squeezing as he repeated my question with venom. “What the fuck do you mean they’re coming?”
He lost all hint of being generous and friendly, showing just how nightmarish he could be. The blackness on his face reminded me all too well of the men I’d been sold to and the life I’d once led.
I wanted to save Elder, but I couldn’t stop the self-preservation in my blood. Falling backward, I bumped into Tess who grabbed my hand. “It’s okay. He’ll calm down in a—”
Q roared, shaking Elder who chopped both his hands on the grip Q had around his throat. With a twist and skill gained from years of fighting, he dislodged Q and stood braced like a predator about to attack. “They looked up my browser history. The last thing I searched was you, asshole.”
“And you didn’t fucking wipe it? You didn’t encrypt it?” Q dragged hands through his hair. “For fuck’s sake!” He launched into a tirade of French, growing louder and harsher with every syllable.
Tess stayed beside me, knowing not to interrupt anything—human or beast—when their temper was this unravelled.
“I can’t believe this!” Q snarled, switching back to thick English. “I can’t believe you’ve brought danger to my family. To my wife. To my son! How the fuck could you?” His eyes turned wild, nostrils wide, skin white with fury. “I failed my esclave once. I let her be taken because I was a goddamn idiot and didn’t cover my tracks. And now you’ve gone and done the same fucking thing!”
He whirled on Elder, slamming his arm against Elder’s collarbone, pinning him once again to the wall. “This is your fault. This is your mess. Get the fuck out.” Grabbing Elder by the scruff of his t-shirt, he yanked him toward the door. “Get out. Now!”
Elder tripped and whatever decorum he clung to shattered as his ankle bent and pain drenched. He matched Q’s anger lash for lash.
Tearing Q’s hold off him, he shoved the Frenchman and stalked him. “Don’t lay another fucking finger on me.” He pointed at me. “She is the only thing I care about, and believe me, we’re leaving. I’m not staying here for those assassins to take her from me.”
“So you’d let those assassins take my family instead?” Q laughed bitterly. “What a fucking cunt.” Another stream of French fell from his lips as Tess stepped toward him and laid a gentle hand on his heaving chest.
He breathed hard as Tess murmured things I couldn’t hear. Her gaze fixed on her husband, imploring him to calm down and listen.
Slowly, breath by breath, Q blinked away his bloodlust and focused on whatever his wife said.
Elder spied his opportunity. “Come on, Pim. We’re leaving.”
I froze to the spot.
I’d only ever known Elder to be selfless and hold family—any family—in the highest regard. The fact he wanted to leave Q and Tess alone to face the Chinmoku, knowing how deadly and ruthless there were with no support——wasn’t right.
It went against everything I knew about Elder.
It made me wonder if he wasn’t as pure hearted as I thought.
Shaking my head, I crossed my arms, rubbing at a sudden awful chill. “We can’t go.”
Elder hobbled toward me and grabbed my bicep. “We can, and we are.” Dragging me toward the front door, he muttered, “The sooner we leave, the sooner we can intercept the Chinmoku.”