Page 92 of Remnants
Kellan snarls and seizes my shirt in his fist. I shoot him a look to calm the fuck down.
Charles is quiet on the other end for a minute before he finally responds, “I’ll leave her up to you.”
“Meaning what?”
“Either you keep her contained and controlled yourself—no efforts to attack myself or any aspect of Gifted Enterprise again—or else I’ll be forced to kill her. I don’t care how you do it. I’ll even offer you a gift-blocking collar or cuff if you desire. So long as I hear no sight nor sound of her, she may live and stay with you.”
Deep, calm breath. Don’t overreact.
“And if I refuse?” I manage slowly and with every ounce of fortitude I possess.
“Then I’ll destroy you and your Guild. Every skeleton, every missed penny…I’ll find them all and leave you barren. Your members will be tossed to the streets, ripe for the picking.”
Considering the resources I now know are at his disposal, it’s no idle threat.
“Is that the end of your offer?”
“It is.”
“Good,” I purr. “Here’s my counteroffer. You can save us all the time and effort by taking your own life while you’re ahead now by your own preference, or you can live now knowing that we’re coming for you. Your days are numbered, Charles, and I’ll take immense pleasure in tearing you apart piece by piece before Raegan finishes you off.”
He chuckles. “Very well. I think I’m going to enjoy this game. We’ll see which straw makes you break, Guild Master. And then I’ll take your life as you’ve promised to take mine, and you can die knowing that your precious Guild members will belong to me.”
Chapter twenty-five
Raegan
“Thisismadness.He’sgoing to know.” Harvey paces the floor of the office he’d previously been detained in. The bars are gone, now that he’s been moved to a locked-down apartment, and there’s room for us to spread out. He tugs at his shirt, fanning himself as he mutters an endless stream of negativity. “He’s going to look at me, and he’ll know. He knows everything. He’ll kill me, just like he did Wyra. I’m too young to die. I can’t do this—”
“He needs to calm the fuck down orI’llkill him,” Dane grumbles as he clicks and taps on his laptop at the desk still pushed in the corner.
“Hey,” Reid interrupts Harvey. I’m not expecting Reid to slap him across the face. It happens so fast and unexpectedly that the room falls silent to watch on in surprise. “Get your act together. I’m not going anywhere with you if you’ve already given up.”
Kellan snickers where he’s leaning against the wall while Jack smirks next to him. I’ve paused my internet search on the laptop next to Dane to watch.
Harvey gapes at him, his hand pressed to his cheek before he seeks out Aiden.
“He has a point, Harvey,” Aiden says before he can ask for sympathy. “There’s no use continuing with this plan if you can’t control your emotions.” He strides closer, crossing his arms. “Do we need to go over what you’re going to say again? How you convinced us that you were meeting with Claudia and were only a terrified witness. And that you heard us searching for someone with immortality to hide from him.”
He nods, swallowing. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Good.” Aiden looks between him and Reid. “You’ll have Reid with you to teleport back if anything goes wrong and we’ll be listening through his earpiece. Just make sure he stays invisible, or else Charles will know you betrayed him.”
Harvey shoots a sharp look at Reid. “Whatever you do, don’t let go of my shoulder.”
Reid stares at him, deadpan, not bothering to reply.
That’s probably for the best.
Aiden sighs, checking the time on his phone and then running his gaze over Harvey. “Are you ready? Take a couple of deep breaths—no, don’t make yourself hyperventilate. Slow, long breath—yes, like that.”
Dane grimaces and rubs a hand down his face. “He’s fucked,” he whispers to me.
Harvey turns to look at us, but it doesn’t seem like he heard what Dane said, thank fuck. I offer him an encouraging smile, then elbow Dane hard when he turns away.
Reid also looks unimpressed by Harvey even after he appears calmer and more put together. It’ll have to do because the timer goes off on Aiden’s phone. Reid gazes around the room, his blue eyes falling on me last. He places his hand on Harvey’s shoulder and tilts his head forward. “I’ll be back,” he promises, and I wonder if he forgot to say ‘we’ or if that was on purpose.
They disappear before Harvey gets a chance to say goodbye.
