They Rise at Dusk (Book #1) ✔️

Chapter 41: Loyalty

Jimmy was on the first floor underground. For the past twenty minutes, he's been moving back the forth down one of the three hallways. His tactic was good; the worst possible thing to do when dealing with Edmond was staying in one place. If one were to stop moving, Edmond would get bored and go for the kill.

Dorian had figured out a way to corner him. We would introduce another player in the cat and mouse game. Another mouse, easily located and unmoving. Edmond would fall for it, because he'd recognize his hiding as inferior; a nuisance, an opponent not worth fighting. He'd go for the kill.

But...

He wouldn't see the lion sneaking from behind.

The plan was good, except it required something I wasn't willing to give to Dorian.

Complete trust.

Once we entered the basement, Dorian has suddenly gone completely serious. The sunglasses were off, the gun was in his hand, and he moved with finesse and elegance of a skilled dancer. His feet barely made any sound upon contact with the floor. Without issue, we moved down the middle hallway in an attempt to locate Jimmy.

The first level was eerily silent, making me wonder if perhaps we were too late and the hunters were all dead. The thought of so many people dying at the hands of my brothers made me feel uneasy.

There was something rotten in our family. Something dark, and devious, and perverse.

Dorian suddenly spread out a hand, halting us in place. We were at the western wall, if my coordination still worked, about to turn the corner and head north, to the other set of stairs.

Dorian turned his head slightly and put his finger on his lips, telling us to stay quiet.

"Hey, Jimmy!" Edmond's whistle spread through the air, piercing my ears.

Jax stilled next to me. My entire body squeezed into itself.

"There's no way out!" Edmond shouted, his voice playful and high. "There are guards upstairs, you know? They're waiting for you. Their fingers are on the triggers, ready to fire."

Dorian faced me completely, put his hands on my shoulder, and pointed towards the other end of the hallway. I listened immediately, and we turned on our heels and ran. We turned another corner and headed to the north.

"I won't let them kill you, though, don't worry." Edmond continued whistling, stupidly giving his location away. "They'd just capture you, and no one would touch you except for me."

Edmond let out a shrill laugh, and I imagined his face, so fucking similar to mine, distorting, twisting, glowing with malice.

"I'll keep you around as a blood whore!" Edmond shouted. "It's a fun job, trust me. Lots of drugs, and screwing, and bleeding. Well, you don't choose what you'll consume, who's going to fuck you, and which part of you is going to bleed, but, hey, no job's perfect."

As we moved to the stairs, all I could think about was Lucia and her baby. For the first time since she came to me, I wondered if she should have just aborted. If she should have just gotten rid of Edmond's son.

We rushed down the stairs, and to my surprise – some of the hunters were hiding at the bottom of the stairs, waiting in complete silence. Some were wounded, some even bitten, and judging by the look on Jax's face, some weren't here. Mikey was there, though. His dark eyes were wide and scared, and his scrawny hands were shaking.

Jax's expression quickly turned to confusion when he realised they were waiting for us.

Briefly, my gaze jumped to Dorian, but he was already giving commands, telling the hunters to follow us upstairs. Jax helped them up in complete silence one by one. Dorian instructed me to give some of my blood to all of them, which was a good idea. Some of them weren't in shape to run.