Page 204 of Knox Academy Omnibus
Once upon a time when we joined The Order, we had planned to work alongside each other. Though that was a different time, back when I thought they could have possibly been friends or brothers.
The onslaught of torture goes on for a few hours. Every time Christos passes out, they wait, giving him enough time to wake up and start again. Onyx has used just about every tool I had available, making me glad we have clean up teams to deal with this. Those poor fucks will be scrubbing blood from the ceiling for days.
Onyx douses the guy in petrol while he sleeps, waiting for him to wake. One of the most important things we are taught is to leave emotions out of it in times like this, yet I agreed to help because my emotions got the better of me.
I pull the gun from the tool bench. I have a clear shot, so I pull the trigger and the bullet hits him dead centre between his eyes.
“What the fuck?!” Onyx roars. “I wasn’t finished with him yet!”
“Crimes of passion make you sloppy,” I reply and they all turn to look at me.
“How is burning him alive, sloppy? I wanted to hear him scream as he took his last breath!”
“He wasn’t going to scream,” Slate says.
“We need to get back to Amelie, we’ve been here for hours,” Sawyer adds, clapping his brother on the shoulder.
Onyx storms from the room, muttering under his breath.
“You good to have this cleaned up?” Sawyer asks. I nod as they both turn and leave.
I use a burner phone to call the nearest clean up crew. We keep a few at all of our locations. They will be here within the hour. I also take the opportunity to call Camilla, Amelie’s grandmother.
She will have heard the news by now; I’m not the only person she has working for her, keeping eyes on her granddaughter.
“This better be good, Ragazzo.” Her voice is croaky with age, like someone who has smoked forty a day for the last sixty years, but still sharp. There’s no getting anything past this woman.
“Amelie is fine.”
“That I know,” she snaps, unimpressed. “What I don’t know is why or how this could happen?”
“Harold. He fooled his son into thinking one thing and he planned this.”
“You will kill him?” This sounds a lot like a rhetorical question. One Ireallywant to say yes to.
“I can’t. You know that. Surely you have other contacts who can?”
“We had a deal!” she seethes.
“We had a deal that I would do my best to watch her. And I have. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head; I did what I could. I can no longer go behind her back and work for you anymore.”
“How much do you trust those security men?”
“With her life. Frost is a good man and Jasper has proven his worth.”
“Would they work with me?”
“You mean for you.” I sigh. “I don’t know. You’d have to ask them. I look forward to collecting my favour in the future.”
I cut the call before she can say anything.
I have worked for weeks beyond what she asked of me, in return for a favour. I’m not sure when, or if, I will ever be in need of her kind of skills, but it always pays to have one banked up, just in case.
I earnt my favour weeks ago, but I continue to watch over Amelie anyway. There was...something...in my chest when I heard she’d been taken for real. Emotions? Feelings? Concern? Is that what friendship is? I’m not sure I like it.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Kalen
