Page 56 of Midnight Salvation

“Nothing to report, sir. There doesn’t seem to be a disturbance anywhere inside the house. The router box outside for the alarms appears to have signs of scorch damage, so we think it has been a power surge.”

Noah pinched his nose and turned to stare at the man. “Do another sweep. My family has too many enemies for me to believe in coincidences.”

The guard saluted and left. Who the fuck got their guards to salute?

“Asshole,” Noah muttered and lifted his crystal glass to drain it in one mouthful. He didn’t bother to phone Josh, but he didn’t know that his brother was already dead and wouldn’t answer the phone. It appeared I wasn’t the only disobedient son in this family.

Xavier moved counter-clockwise around the room, and I moved clockwise to cut off Noah’s escape routes. He saw me first and went to press his alert button beside him, but Xavier cocked his pistol and pressed it to the back of his head. I activated my comms device at my ear so the others could hear what was happening.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” Xavier warned. “I’m happy to pull this trigger.”

Noah watched me move toward him. “Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?”

I almost groaned since he asked the same stupid question as his brother. “Yeah, it’s why we’re here.”

His eyes narrowed. “I know that voice. Who the fuck are you?”

If he didn’t sit and look so bored in our family meetings, he would know who I was. At least Josh knew who I was when I spoke.

“Does it really matter, Noah? Your family has come under the attention of the Council and you have been marked for death.” He would know who the Council was, and realise this was a real threat.

“Hold up! My Uncle Matteus runs that fucking organisation.”

A sinister smile played on my lips even though he wouldn’t see it. “Who do you think marked you? His plans are in place for his son to marry the woman he specifically chose for him. Now he needs all the witnesses to that plan to disappear.”

Noah held his hands up in front of him. “Wait! I know how to keep my mouth shut. I don’t care what sort of sick, incestuous games my uncle wants to play, just leave me out of it.”

“No can do,” I replied. “A kill order has been signed.”

His eyes widened when Xavier tied the metal garrotte into place around his neck. We turned to leave, and I knew it would give him about a minute. The first few seconds he struggled, then he hit his panic button, and then he lifted his phone.

The last act of a dying man, he sent a text that would start a war, his fingers speeding over the keyboard even as his oxygen supply ran out. He never knew that his alarm had been disconnected when we first walked into the room, and that no one would be coming to his rescue. He gasped, his fingers once again trying to loosen the weapon at his neck.

I lifted his phone and read the message.

Matteus betrayed us. Eliminating everyone who knows about Nicole. Dying.

Short and to the point. Now all I had to do was ensure that Nicole was lifted before anyone realised what had happened. He hadn’t managed to hit the send button which gave me a few minutes to play with.

I texted Nicole myself, hoping to draw her out before any more players stepped onto this already crowded board. We didn’t have time for someone to take their eye off the ball.

Me:Need to speak to you ASAP. Any chance of a meeting tonight?

It was a shot in the dark, but I was about to press the button that would start a war.

Nicole:I don’t know if Dad would be happy with me going out.

Me:I’m not marrying Dylan.

Nicole:Okay. I’ll see what I can do.

It was better than nothing. I pressed the send button and left the library. Jordan and Lucas were in the hall, both of their faces tight.

“I’ve already texted the doctor. There is an antidote to Thallium.”

Lucas’ eyes were tortured but we were out of time. Any second now, Uncle Eli would have every security officer under his command en route to here. We raced out the front door and across the garden, using the same area of fence we had cut to leave through.

We were hiding in the bushes when the house behind us flared into life with all the lights coming on inside and floodlights outside.

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