Devils Inheritance | Peaky Blinders

06.

Matilda did exactly what she knew was right— she went running to Tommy. No, running was an understatement, the poor girl was sprinting, her heart pounding in her chest, desperate to get to her brother as quick as possible.

She can't recall a time in her life when she was this scared. She'd dealt with a lot of things in her life, things that heightened her worries, yet this? Being threatened by a copper who managed to torture a blinder already? That was on another level.

Her little legs went as fast as they could go, and considering she was only 5,3, it wasn't that fast. Still, she found it in herself to carry on running, all the way down to Watery Lane and inside the house of the Shelby's.

As she burst through the doors, Tommy was sat in one of the armchairs, smoking a cigarette as usual. She took a moment to catch her breath, her hands falling to her knees.

The man could tell something was up with her almost immediately— he rose from the chair, walking over to her in a calm and collective manner, despite his previous state. "What's happened, Tills?" He asked, his voice low.

Matilda held her hand up, signalling to him to give her a moment before she stood up straight. He waited patiently, nodding to her as a symbol of saying 'take your time.'

"The copper." She managed to spit out, her chest still rising and falling rapidly due to the long run. "The copper!" She repeated.

He grabbed her arm gently, leading her over to the sofa before pulling them both down onto it, side by side. "What about the copper, Matilda?" He asked again, "tell me. Tell me everything."

"I've been threatened by him, Tom." Matilda said, biting down on her bottom lip nervously. A stupid habit she couldn't let go of.

The man's eyebrows narrowed and his eyes turned dark. He reached for his infamous peaky cap, clutching it tightly as if it was going to escape his grasp. "Threatened you how? When was this?"

She gulped, "now, at the cinema, Thomas." She replied, keeping her focus on the ground. Matilda couldn't find it in herself to meet his gaze. "He said that if you don't meet him somewhere at midnight tonight, apparently you know where, then it's my life that will be at risk."

"He said what?" Tommy shouted, getting up from his chair. Anger was evident in every feature on his face. "No one threatens my fucking sister and gets away with it. There's no chance i'm waiting till midnight."

"Tom..." she whispered quietly, her voice cracking.

He nodded, his eyes softening just a little as he looked down at her, "what is it, Tills?"

"Am I going to die?" She asked, the words sounding foreign to her as they fell from her lips. "Will he actually kill me? Because he said, quote on quote, that my sad excuse for a life will be over."

He reached down and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, "under my protection, Tills, you will not die. The only person who is going to be killed is him, eventually."

She nodded, "okay..."

"Now." He said, placing his hands in his pockets, "you stay here, i'll send John or Arthur in for you. I have somewhere to be."

She hummed in response. She wasn't going to lie, she expected a little more comfort or affection than what she had been given, considering the state she was in when she rushed through the door.

But at the same time, she knew what her brother was like, and she knew he wasn't one to handle sad emotions. A little reassurance is all he managed to provide her with, yet that meant enough to her if that was all she was going to get.