Page 16 of Ravage
I shove squares of gauze into the holes in the guy’s head and knee to stop the blood that’s now oozing from the wounds. At least I’d gotten some pain out of him before I’d gifted him to Raegan. And now I’ll make him disappear like he’d never existed. No one to miss or mourn him and certainly no one to ever find him.
Gone like ash in the wind.
Stepping back, I wave my hand to send a rush of air beneath him and the chair, then hold it in place to keep them hovering off to the side as I get to work clearing the blood from the concrete.
My special concoction of bleach and corrosive chemicals spills out of the jug I’m holding and over the blood and sweat and whatever other possible evidence might be on the concrete. It bubbles right away, foaming and hissing as it eats away at what it finds in a sound that’s so familiar it makes me smile.
After a good few minutes, it leaves wet concrete in its wake. I dust my second concoction over top in a fine white powder that will absorb any moisture over the next hour before I can sweep and dump it.
With that taken care of, I climb the walls to the metal bars along the underside of the roof and then open the unlocked window. The dead recruiter in his chair follows behind me, floating, as I slip back into the night, moving from rooftop to rooftop further away from the heart of the city.
Once the recruiter has been disposed of, I decide it’s time to return to my brothers.
I barely open the door into our primary apartment, the Loft, before Dane whines, “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
My mouth quirks into a smile as I move further into the room, then plant myself behind where Dane’s seated on the couch and cant my head to the side as I look at him. Most people shrink back with fear when I give them this look, or even just by having my attention trained solely on them, but he’s known me since we were kids and moves back out of righteous indignation rather than fear.
“Jackson. Back the fuck up. You are covered in dirt and blood, and I don’t know what else, and you reek of gasoline and smoke. Why didn’t you stop at the safe house for a shower before coming here? Hell, swim in the lobby’s fountain on your way up for all I care. We don’t bring that shit here.” He twists around on the couch to glare at me while simultaneously adding more space between us.
I shove my hood back off my head, revealing my black hair which is a stark contrast to Dane’s dyed blond hair. The blond is a reminder for himself and to all of us of who we lost. But also proof that he doesn’t know how to move forward from the past.
It’s annoying.
“If we’re dropping the rule for not bringing work back here, then I don’t want to hear shit about cleaning up here after my nights out,” Kellan drawls from further down the couch, his eyes still locked on the video game he and Dane are playing.
I may be covered in shit, but Kellan looks it. His self-care has gone out the window as his brown hair and beard grow wild, and the scent of alcohol wafting from his body is strong enough to taste it on the back of my tongue. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve seen them, and while he’s been riding the self-destructive train for a while now, it looks like he’s recently taken it to the next level.
I’d feel guilty for being gone so long if there was anything I could do about it, but years of trying have proven that the problem can only be fixed by him if he wants it.
And he doesn’t.
Kellan’s avatar dies in the game, and he drops back into the leather couch, his hand fisting around the neck of a bottle of whiskey as he guzzles it down like it’s water. Only after he’s polished it off does he whip out a cigarette and plant it between his lips.
“Oh, hell no.” Dane dives over to snatch it, but Kellan grabs him by the face to hold him back. “You are not smoking in here.”
I look to the high-backed, winged chair where Aiden is sitting exactly where I expected him to be. Rather than watching the spectacle of the other two, his brown eyes are locked on me.
I raise my eyebrows at him in question of what he wants.
“Find anything of value while you were gone?” he asks, still ignoring the ruckus happening on the couch just feet away from us. It sounds like Dane tried using his gift to stop Kellan, but the guy runs and participates in fight clubs as a hobby. Dane doesn’t have a chance against him.
The second I smell cigarette smoke, Aiden’s eyes snap over to them. “Take it outside, Kell.”
Kellan chuckles and stands, taking a deep drag from the cigarette and then exhaling it at Dane. “Calm down, Rapunzel. You know I’d never stink up your tower.” He stumbles toward the balcony and shoves the door open, then collapses into the chair out there.
Dane’s jaw ticks while watching him, then he pins his glare on Aiden. “I’m taking his gift and stabbing him next time he does that.”
My face remains blank when I look back to Aiden. I hadn’t realized things were getting this bad between us. There was a moment when we all came together, and it seemed like we would be okay, but the past year has shown me that isn’t the case. We were like broken pieces of glass. We fit together, but it was unstable. Just as easy to cut each other than it is to line up all of our jagged edges.
We were missing the glue that kept us together.
Raegan.
I finally answer Aiden. “There’s a gala happening on the twelfth at Reynard. Only Gifted Enterprise employees are in attendance, aside from the invited donors to their cause. There’s a hefty buy-in to attend and then a silent auction to support different research or specific kids.”
I have everyone’s attention now. Even Kellan’s, whose gaze I can feel through the open balcony door.
Dane nods sharply, back to business. “Right. I’ll get you an invite, Aiden.” He gets up from the couch and moves to his workstation, where he spends ninety percent of his time. It’s a long, L-shaped desk with three rows of three monitors, each curved in front of him. He taps away at the keyboard a mile a minute.
