The Dealers

Chapter 30 - Noah

Driving to the Elms, my brothers and I were silent. Even after scouring the study and Finn going to ask our father, we had very little answers. I knew there would be a ceremony but there rest, was up to Azrael.

A part of me wished we were doing the ceremony at Moorehouse. As much as I haven't considered that place home in a long time, it made me a hell of a lot less nervous than the Elms.

Azrael's compound was unyielding as it stood ominous in the mountainside. Nearly fifteen acres dedicated to his amassed empire, no one got in—or out—without his permission. I hated how clinical the place felt but then again, people weren't there feel comfortable.

Following the GPS for good measure, I maneuvered the first steel gate and heavy security at the base of the mountain. Dressed in dark suits, the guards checked my face against a small tablet and after a scan of my thumb, they turned to verify Eli and Finn.

Finally letting us through the gate, the guard gave us instructions to check in at a second gate ahead. Since I had been to the compound years ago, so much had changed. If I thought that Azrael was paranoid before, things had only escalated since.

Arriving at the second, similar steel gate, only one guard sat in the small, security hut. Peering into the car, he pressed his ear as he listened to something coming from his earpiece. Nodding, he looked the three of of us before waving us through.

After all of that, we finally made our way into the winding compound that stretched from the base of the mountain up to the top. Random people hustled around with their heads down as we passed building after building.

Just as we nearly reached the top of the mountain and Azrael's private quarters, I pulled the car into a roundabout driveway and the three of us got out. Wondering what we were to do next, a young blonde woman with a short white uniform on that resembled a flight attendant, came out from the large iron doors.

The woman's heels clicked and clacked on the cobblestone as she sauntered over to us. My two brothers were immediately infatuated with her. Smiling at the three of us, she gestured us through the doors she just came through.

Walking into the large, three story building, I didn't remember it being so massive the last time I was there. The marble structure was smooth and clean. Little cluttered the rooms around us aside from abstract art and sparse contemporary furniture pieces.

Looking up at the vaulted ceilings incased in metal, the place had a minimalist industrial feel to it.

Passing room after room, nearly all identical, the blonde finally led us into a vast library. Glancing up at the floor to ceiling bookshelves, all full to the edge with volume upon volume, I wondered what secrets those books contained.

In the center, a large metal table stood that could easily seat twenty people or more. The table was empty. Aside from the three of us and the blonde, we were alone.

Where the hell is everyone?

"I was told that I need to meet with the council." I asked the woman as she turned to leave us alone in the library.

Instead of replying, the woman just gave me a sympathetic smile and left the room.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

I began to grow uneasy as my brothers and I began pacing the room similarly. We were all nervous. What did Azrael have in store for me?

"Gentleman..." Azrael's familiar, unwelcome voice came from the doorway as he entered the library and we all froze in our tracks. Donning his usual dark suit, his long dark hair was slicked back and the his bright, ice blue eyes were a piercing contract to his dark demeanor.