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Victor gave a low, mirthless laugh. "I'm not in the mood for your shit, Grayson."
"I figured," I shot back, leaning my head against the cold window of the backseat. My gaze trailed over the passing cityscape, each building a blur of color and light without Sofia in them.
"You boys done?" Jace drawled from the front passenger seat, his attention still firmly on his phone. "Or are we going to keep having a pissing contest while Sofia's out there somewhere?"
Victor's jaw tightened. "Just focus on finding out more about Stephen."
Jace ignored him, continuing to type away rapidly. The clicking sound filled the silent car, each tap a reminder of how badly we were spinning our wheels in this mess.
Silence descended once more. The city passed by outside in an indistinct blur, each street looking dangerously like the last one. It seemed like hours later when we finally pulled up to the hospital.
Despite my earlier words, I didn't move to exit the vehicle at first. There was a sense of trepidation that knotted my stomach and caused my heart to hammer loudly in my chest. The hospital gleamed in the sun, its imposing structure a stark contrast against the clear blue sky. It was a hub of activity, people rushing in and out. A monument to life and death.
I really didn’t want to talk to Teo about this. He would be furious, for good reason.
The sound of a car door closing brought me back from my thoughts. Victor stood outside, his sharp gaze fixed on the hospital entrance. He shifted his weight impatiently, his posture rigid with tension.
"Are we going in or are you just planning to stare at it?" He asked, breaking the silence. His voice carried a bitter edge as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
"Yeah," I said after a moment, pushing my door open and following him out. The heat of the Everglades sun hit me harshly, causing beads of sweat to trickle down my back.
Jace walked by my side, his phone still clutched in his hand. His brows were furrowed, etched with intense concentration as he continued to tap away on the screen. I could sense his frustration simmering beneath the surface, the silent tension coiling like a spring ready to snap.
Without a word, we all walked into the hospital lobby. The rush of cold air from the AC was a stark contrast to the heat outside. Sounds of beeping monitors and distant conversations filled my ears, making my already throbbing headache worse.
Victor walked next to me, his head cast down.
“2 o’clock,” he said. “Is that just me, or is that the law?”
I followed his gaze, squinting against the harsh hospital lights. Two men in suits stood near the nurse's station, their eyes scanning the crowd of people passing by. One was on his phone, his expression severe as he barked out orders. The other was watching us.
"That's not just you," Jace said, his fingers momentarily pausing their dance over his phone screen. "We need a plan."
Victor grunted, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Yeah, we do."
“First, we need to talk to Teo,” I said. “Then we can figure everything else out.”
The Everglades Viper III
Ichecked on my son before I left.
I didn’t walk in to talk to him. I wasn’t stupid. I knew he had a hand in making sure that the Blades went to get him, in inciting his sister to come and get him.
He was the perfect bait. He hadn’t known it. That didn’t mean I wanted him to get hurt; in an ideal world, he really was running my operation with me.
I didn’t really think he was ever going to try to do that. He was too much like his mother. I had been fond of her, but she had been naive.
She believed the world was far nicer than it was. But when she had an inkling of injustice, she decided to make it her business to track it down and discover the “truth.”
But she didn’t understand truth.
Her reality was distorted, strange. I knew that there was no chance I was going to be able to talk sense into her. That was why I had to kill her.
But our children were very attached to her, and it struck me as unfair to do so before they left the home. Things had lined up, thankfully.
They were out and I could disappear into the Everglades.
I had, despite myself, missed them. They were amusing. Fun, even.
