Page 77 of Delirium
The smirk that overtook his face should’ve been scary, if I didn’t know better. “I have my ways,” he shrugged. “You don’t have to thank me for this,dorogoy.” He smiled. “Maya is family. She’s your sister, and I will do anything I can to help you guys. But,” he looked at Storm, “this is not the only reason why I’m here.”
“It’s not?” Storm asked, frowning. “Then—”
“Have you heard from Cillian, Ophelia?” Lazar asked, that dangerous gleam in his eye.
Cillian? The last I heard was that he was still with Skylar, helping her with the situation in Winworth.
“No,” I said. “Why?”
“Where’s your living room, Storm?” Lazar asked. “There’s something you might want to see.”
Storm and I looked at each other, confusion obvious in both of our gazes and followed after Lazar. He entered the house, as if he knew where he was going. Storm took over, leading us toward the living room, where most of the members tended to gather at the end of the day. The large television screen was attached to the wall opposite of the couches.
Zoe sat in the corner already, with Felix next to her, smiling at something he said. But when she looked at us, her eyes widened, and I knew what she was seeing. She hadn’t met Lazar so far, and I knew he looked more like Nikolai than he wanted to admit.
“Zozo,” I said as we stepped in. “This is Lazar.” I looked at him. “My father.”
“Holy shit,” she breathed out, getting up from the couch, leaving Felix behind. “He looks just like—”
“That one actor, right?” Lazar said, smiling at her. “I get that a lot.”
“Uh, yeah?” she stammered. “I guess. But…” She plastered a smile on her face. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. Now,” Lazar turned toward us, “we need to turn the TV on to Channel 4. You’re gonna want to see this.”
“See what?” Storm asked as he walked toward the small coffee table where the television remote stood. He turned the television on, searching for the said channel.
“You’ll see.” Lazar grinned and sat down on the couch, getting comfy while the rest of us stared at him, confused. “Come on,” he urged us. “Sit down. You don’t want to miss it. Turn the volume up.”
I moved my attention to the television. As soon as Storm located it, the voice of a reporter boomed around us, while the video of a man being dragged to a police car started playing.
I knew the man. I knew him very well. Along with Nikolai, he was responsible for so much misery, so much pain, and I knew he was involved with the Red Manor.
“Logan Nightingale has been charged with the allegations of human trafficking, racketeering, drug trafficking and more,” the reporter said. “The FBI has been working diligently to bring this man to justice. Now that they have arrested him, it looks like he will be facing a sentence of up to eighty years.”
“Holy shit,” I said, sitting down on the couch. “They did it. They finally did it.”
Storm came behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders, holding me to him.
“It’s over,” I murmured, looking at Lazar. “He’s been caught.”
“Oh no,dorogoy.” Lazar grinned. “It’s only starting, at least for him. He has no idea what’s waiting for him once he gets to prison. He has no idea what pain really is, but he will find out.”
And I believed him. I knew Lazar wouldn’t let this go that easily. Logan might not be free anymore, and the men and women who fell victims to him would be able to breathe, but that didn’t mean that jail was the only punishment he would get.
“I need to call Cillian,” I murmured, looking up at Storm. “I need to check if he’s okay. He didn’t tell me about this. He didn’t tell me they were taking him today.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“Nah,” I answered, placing my hand over his. “I need to talk to him alone. I need to tell him about Kieran as well.” I frowned. “Not sure how he’s going to take that.”
I wasn’t sure if losing another family member would shake him or if it would finally liberate him. No one hated Logan Nightingale more than Cillian, but if something happened to Kieran… I didn’t want to think what that would do to Cillian.
I truly didn’t want to.
Standing up from the couch, I looked down at Lazar. “I’ll be back. You’re still going to be around?”
“Oh yeah.” He smiled. “I’m not going anywhere. You need to tell me all about my grandchild.”
