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Sienna’s voice trembles as she speaks, worry etched on her face, “This sounds dangerous.” Her fingers twist together and her knee bounces with restless energy.
“If there is, we haven’t found it yet,” I say, voice grim. “You don’t have to stay if this is too much for you. I know you never signed up for this.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Sienna says, crossing her arms. “You guys are too important to me.”
“We should go check on Annabeth and Beau,” Caleb speaks up, his tone almost eerily calm. His eyes are staring off in the distance and his shoulders are by his ears. “They need to know that we’re here for them.”
“I’ll go with you.” Sienna stands up.
I turn, holding out a hand. “I need you to stay here,” I say, my eyes betraying the vulnerability inside. “Please? I need to know you’re safe.”
She seems to understand so she nods. “Okay,” she says. “But I want to help.”
“When I figure out what you can do, I’ll tell you,” I reassure her, reaching out to pull her into my chest for a tight embrace. My heart is racing, my mind in turmoil as I realize how serious things have become now.
“Be good,” I tell her, leaning in for a kiss. She hugs me back and kisses me, then gives Dominic and Caleb a kiss as well before we head off.
I can’t shake the tightness in my chest as we take the Firebird over to the Brant’s place.
We went to school with Annabeth. She was in Dominic’s grade, and she used to invite us over to her apartment complex on hot summer days, where we’d play together in the pool.
I think back to the memories I have of Nathaniel, and how he used to give us popsicles all day while we swam. He was a kind man, but fiercely protective. And now he’s gone, leaving behind his daughter and his grandson.
My jaw clenches so tightly that I fear it might crack. “We need to rally everyone together,” I say. “Reinstate the Crimson Blades, but as protectors this time. We’ve acted little better than thugs ourselves, lording over the community. It’s time we become the protectors that the Blades were meant to be.”
“We will,” Dominic vows, eyes never leaving the road as he drives. His hands are clutching the steering wheel with a death grip. “And when we take down the Serpents, we keep it running, to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
The sky is dark as we get out of the car, clouds covering the sun. The complex is teeming with officers still, and paramedics are taking away Nathaniel’s covered body. A chill runs down my spine at the sight of him there, lifeless.
We approach their door, avoiding the cops lingering and talking to witnesses.
“Hey,” I call out. Beau runs up to us and throws his arms around Dominic’s waist.
“They’re taking my grandpa away,” he sobs. Dominic lifts him effortlessly, tucking him against his shoulder as he begins to walk and rub circles into the boy’s back.
“How are you holding up?” I ask, coming to sit next to Annabeth on the couch. She looks up at me, face red and swollen from crying.
“I want you guys to get them.” Her voice is hoarse as she stares me down, clenching her hands into fists. “I don’t care how. They deserve to pay.”
“We’re going to,” I tell her, reaching out to grasp her hands. “Annabeth, look at me. We’re going to get those bastards, and we’re going to kill the man who did this. We’ll make sure that they never do anything like this again.”
Her grip on my hands tightens as her shoulders shake. Tears fall from her eyes as I pull her into a hug. “Thank you, Bastian. Knew you guys would have my back.”
“Your dad was a great man,” I tell her. “We’re gonna avenge him.”
I spend a few minutes just calming her down while Dominic walks around with Beau. The cocky little boy that we know is gone, replaced with someone more quiet and subdued. It feels unnatural.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch while Caleb walks around and talks to some of the cops in a low murmur. A few shake their heads, but he talks to one officer for a while before coming back over to me.
“I got intel,” he says quietly as he passes by. “Let’s get out of here. We can reconvene at Dave’s.”
“We gotta go, Bethy,” I tell her, pulling away. “But I promise you, we’re gonna take care of this.”
“Thank you,” she says again. “I’ll let you guys know when the funeral will be and stuff. Just … be safe, okay?”
I nod and the three of us take off again while making phone call after phone call on our way to the bar.
As we step into the bar, the air feels heavy with tension, the usual buzz of activity replaced by a somber silence. The neon signs flicker weakly, casting eerie shadows across the dimly lit room. The smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke hangs in the air, mingling with the palpable sense of apprehension.
