Page 5 of Delirium
Benjamin Masterson, President of the San Diego chapter of Sons of Hades, was gone.
That fucking bitch delivered his head mere hours after the slaughter. She dared to do this, to attack us like this.
“What’s this?” Creed asked from behind me. As I turned toward him, I could see the letter in his hands. “What is this, Storm?” he asked again when I kept my mouth closed. “Storm!”
“That letter is from Belladonna,” I murmured, unable to look anyone in their eyes.
“The same Belladonna that’s after Ophelia?” Atlas asked. I nodded, looking at the box with my friend’s head, feeling a rage like no other.
“I got the first letter just before the gathering,” I started and sat down. “She told me to choose—it was either Ophelia or Club.”
“And you chose the Club,” Hector added, sitting opposite of me. “Storm—”
“I had no other choice,” I argued. “She somehow planted sleepers in all of our chapters, and there was no way to know who was an enemy and who was a friend.”
“Why did you keep this from us?” Atlas asked, walking away from me. “We could have helped. We could have done something.”
“There was nothing to be done, Atlas. The other presidents knew. I warned them. I told them I was going to choose the Club.”
“So that was what it was about.” Hector huffed. “I wanted to stab you myself for the way you spoke to her, Storm. You shouldn’t have done this shit, man. You let some bitch control your life, and for what?”
“I had to protect you all!” I roared, jumping up. “I couldn’t put her before you. I couldn’t do it.”
“But you did,” Creed said, a sad smile playing on his lips. “And I understand. But if we all knew about this, we could have acted differently. Hell, Storm, I don’t want to have Ophelia Aster on my ass, and you made it look as if she was our prisoner. As if she didn’t have a choice. And she’s pregnant now, for fuck’s sake!”
“I know,” I murmured.
“And this bitch, this Belladonna, is after her. She’s trying to isolate her, to make her hate you. Instead of us putting our everything into the search for this psychopath, you chose to let Ophelia go.”
“Except he didn’t let her go,” Atlas added. “He’s been torturing himself and her these last two months, keeping her here, unable to let her go, and for what, Storm? Huh? We’re not kids. None of us. We would have been able to help. Hell, Ophelia has Cillian and Tristan working on the Logan Nightingale issue. She has the Italians. She’s been doing something. Why didn’twedo something?”
“Because I didn’t want you to hate me,” I said, defeat laying heavy on my shoulders.
“So it was easier to make her hate you?” Hector asked. “It’s bullshit. You’ve hurt that girl, and she doesn’t deserve that. Hell, man, we went through so much together and you kept something like this from us.”
“I’m sorry.”
And I was sorry, but there was no other way. Every lead turned up blank. Every single time I was sure we were close to finding Belladonna, we came up blank. She was so well hidden that I didn’t even realize it was the same person Ophelia was talking about until tonight.
“What are you going to do?” Creed asked as I stood up and started walking toward the door.
“I’m going to lose the woman I love and my two kids forever.” I sighed.
“Storm!”
“No!”
All of them started talking at once, arguing their points, telling me how stupid I was. Maybe I was stupid, but the only way to save them and to keep them alive was to cut ties with Ophelia. The only way I could find Belladonna was if I played by her rules.
“Where are you going?” Atlas asked, stepping right behind me. “If you go and break her heart again, Storm, she isn’t coming back. She will never come back if you don’t tell her what’s going on.”
“I know.” But I had hope. I had hope that I would be able to explain it to her.
“Then, if you know, why are you doing this?” he cried out. “You’ll have to let her go. Stop playing these games with her head. She’s pregnant, you motherfucking idiot. She’s one of the strongest people I know, but she’s also fragile at the moment. Why, Storm?”
I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t have an answer to any of their questions, but sacrificing our relationship was a better option than sacrificing all the innocent people who depended on our Club.
I walked out the door without another word, their shouts following me through the hallway, still echoing in my ears as I went to her room, finding the room unlocked.
