Page 71 of Midnight Salvation

When we were outside, I phoned Dad’s chauffeur, as he rarely drove himself anywhere nowadays. Ivan had been his butler and general assistant from childhood and appeared a few minutes later at the front of the Council building.

“I’ve no idea what happened, Ivan, but everyone seems to have passed out. Take Dad to his doctor to get him checked over.”

“I’m fine.” Dad waved his hand and climbed into the back of the car. “I’ve faced worse challenges in my life. I’m sure I’ll survive this one too.”

He fixed me with his hardest look. “Eli’s funeral is in a few days alongside Josh and Noah. They are being buried together in the crypt on his property. I expect you to be there.”

“I’ll check my schedule.”

He leaned forward, his hands grasping the door frame. “Your brothers are missing, and our family is diminishing by the day. Your schedule will be clear because you owe it to Elijah after letting that madman into my home.”

I stared down at him and for the first time in my life I saw genuine fear in my father’s eyes. He had created a monster all those years ago and love had finally released the leash around my neck.

“The concept of family is a strange emotion. You can live with people for decades and have nothing in common with them. You grow up among them and they instil nothing but hatred inside you. Yet, you can find your own family that is forged through mutual experiences and friendship—not blood. For them you would walk through the fires of Hell. I’ll check my schedule and let you know.” Grabbing the car door, I closed it in his face, with him just managing to get his fingers out of the way in time.

“Problem?” Jordan appeared at my side as I watched his car disappearing down the drive.

“Do you ever get a premonition that you know you can’t avoid but you can’t face having to do it?” I asked.

His hand landed on my shoulder. “No one should ever have to kill their own father. When the time comes, walk away, and let one of us do it. He’s an evil old bastard, but he’s still your father.”

I nodded, thinking of the documents in Rome. Jordan never knew the full background of his parents before their assassination. Would he feel the same if he knew his family history?

“What’s our plan now?” I diverted the conversation away from the impending demise of my father.

That grin that made my sphincter muscles tighten appeared on his face. “It’s open season and we have tickets for the big game hunt.”

That file had been designed in a specific way. Those not involved in blood diamonds and the skin trade wouldn’t pick up the subtle messages. All the other Council members were about to discover that a huge target had just been painted on their backs.

The grim reaper stood behind us with his scythe ready to distribute retribution. The time had come for justice, and the sentence imposed was death.

***

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lucrezia

I stood in front of a more elaborate diagram of what I’d drawn in Xavier’s house. The archetypal birth chart had zodiac symbols around the outside. Five of the symbols were covered by a black card with a circle in the centre of white zodiac symbols.

A discreet cough behind me alerted me to Papa’s presence. “Is there a reason you are in my office?”

“It was never private before,” I replied. This had always been just another room in our home. Now it was a war council.

“We have never faced this level of a threat before.”

I turned to face him. “What do the black cards mean?”

He moved to beside me, his presence reassuring in this troubled time. “Those men are no longer alive. At one time we were full of youth and vigour, but evil is always waiting to steal the light from this world, or corrupt people who once had good intentions.”

I wasn’t sure if he was talking about himself or others. Papa had always been a good man in my eyes, but the world was changing, and the rose tinting was falling from my gaze. He was a criminal, but he loved us unconditionally and that had been enough in the past. The enemies were mounting up at our door because he had blood on his hands. Murder for the right reason was still murder, and that was hard for me to reconcile in my head.

“Did you kill them?” I asked, still focusing on those cards.

He shrugged one shoulder. “Two of them. The rest of them were killed because they possessed a conscience. I only just survived an attack on my life when you were little and your mama had just left us. It made me realise that I needed to stay alive to ensure my babies had one parent.”

This man seemed far removed from the one who sat and read me bedtime stories and sang to me when I was afraid in a thunderstorm. Back then, I believed Papa was the kindest man in the world.

“And what happens next?” I didn’t want to think about the threat at our door.

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