Temperance (Defiance #4) Read online

  And even though he knew they were there, knew they were coming…he still froze.

  “Well, this is interesting. I expected we’d have to drag you out of Defiance, and yet, here you are, waiting for me, like the sacrificial lamb you are.”

  Declan steeled himself and turned to see the Nomad named Malachi. Until this point, he’d only seen the man in pictures, blurred…and given to him so he could identify the enemy from the time he was six years old. He’d seen sketches, heard tapes…and seeing the man in the flesh, looking only slightly older than he’d been in those photos, was an experience Declan wasn’t sure he could ever be ready for. “There’s nothing sacrificial about what I’m doing.”

  Malachi touched a finger to his chin and tapped. “You certainly got my attention with the killings. I like your style.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you like.”

  Malachi’s expression hardened for a brief second. “I’ve been watching you for a while. But you knew that.”

  “Did I kill a family member of yours? So sorry,” Declan said dryly, even as the scar on his hip began to burn, the way it had for days and months post-brand. Like it knew it was around its kind.

  Malachi stared at him. “You’re one of us. Much as you pretend not to be, deep down, you know it’s true.”

  “I’m a Keller.”

  Malachi frowned. “Renouncing your mother?”

  “She renounced you when she escaped. She didn’t want anything to do with you—and she didn’t want me involved either.”

  “She was misguided. We were hoping you could bring her back—”

  “She’s gone,” Declan said flatly. “Left when I was twelve.” And Declan knew why—that was typically the induction age for the Nomads. She was afraid that her escape had been too easy, was worried the Nomads were simply waiting for him to turn twelve.

  She hadn’t worried about that with Victor. Declan figured she must’ve known Victor was most definitely not Nomad material. He hadn’t been Keller material either. Instead, he’d been some kind of cross-bred projected-to-be wunderkind who hovered somewhere between Keller and his former-Nomad wife, like all the bad from their previous generations had poured into him.

  Declan oftentimes felt sorry for Victor—wondered if his brother was too dense to understand that he most definitely wasn’t the chosen one. “Why not take Victor?” he asked Malachi now, even though he knew the answer.

  Malachi smiled. “Just because you’re born to a Nomad doesn’t mean you are one.”

  Declan’s blood ran cold at how easily Malachi was giving him this information. The more secrets Declan knew, the fewer chances there were that the Nomads would let him escape with his life. “What’s to stop me from killing you right now?”

  Malachi barely got the start of “Nothin—” out before he was gurgling with surprise, the steel-barreled pen sticking out of the side of his neck until Declan swiftly yanked it and let him bleed to death at his feet.

  The Nomads who’d been waiting at a respectful distance began circling him slowly. There was nothing they could do to save Malachi. They were all about conserving energy, not wasting time on emotion and sentiment.

  The fact that Declan could kill one of the leaders actually made him a stronger candidate for induction.

  The fact that Declan just killed his half-brother made him the perfect Nomad in their eyes. The only loyalty was to the strongest. They were the only ones who survived.

  Today, he would be the only one who survived. That was imperative. That was the goal.

  He’d trained for this fight for years, sparring with Keller guards, two and three and then five and six at a time. Sometimes he’d go off the compound incognito to join the underground fighting league to further test himself.

  Infiltrating the Nomads wouldn’t give him what he ultimately needed. But becoming a ghost, like the Nomads prided themselves on being, coming after them the way they stalked others…

  That was his goal.

  Even if it meant living alone for the rest of his days. And that was something he couldn’t let himself think about too hard. But for now he let the anger at that lonely future carry him through the fight, man by man, until he was covered in blood…and the last man standing.

  And then he set about sending his message.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Siobhan

  On the way back to the house from Keller’s office, her headache got worse. Siobhan squeezed the sides of her skull with her palms, eyes narrowed and looking straight ahead as she wound through the woods.

  There was one dead man in particular she didn’t want to see. Maybe he was too powerful to be banished…

  Her mother’s voice echoed in her ears. Everyone can be banished with the right intentions.

  She made it to the door, but barely. Sashi opened it for her and Siobhan practically fell inside the house. “Declan…”

  “I know.” Sashi helped her over to the couch. Shook out some pills but Siobhan brushed them off.

  “It’ll pass, Sashi. Keller knows about Declan. And Kev saw it happen. He’s here.”

  “He can’t be. He’ll come here to you, and they’re coming, Siobhan. You know that.”

  She didn’t answer her sister, as if that could change the outcome.

  If only.

  “They’ll kill him,” Sashi persisted.

  “I know.”

  If Sashi knew that, was already too late? No, Siobhan refused to believe that. At one point, Sashi’d told her it was too late for both of them…and they’d escaped. And they were here, years later, very much alive. “We’ll be okay.”

  “No, we won’t. They’re coming. If they see you with him, they’ll kill you—or him. Or both.” Sashi whispered as if someone was listening. Siobhan looked out the window and saw no one, dead or living.

  She blinked, looked again and saw a glimpse of Malachi in the woods. Smiling at her.

  She turned away. Shook her head. Not real, not real, not real.

  *

  Kev

  Kev almost drove the bike straight through the guards and the gates of Keller’s. He was closer to there than Defiance, and while the guards drew their guns, he stumbled off his bike, breathing hard enough to vomit. But he said, “They’ve got Declan,” and “Get Keller,” and he didn’t remember much after that, except being led off by a group of men.

  Now, facing Keller’s interrogation, with Carter being held in the hall, he recounted what he’d seen.

  “Why did you stop?”

  “Because…” Kev shook his head. Ever since his first meeting with Siobhan, he’d been paying more attention to his gut feelings. Or maybe his gut feelings were stronger because of her. “I just had a feeling, dammit. I told Carter we needed to pull over. We did…and then we heard talking.”

  It’d been so damned quiet. Calm weather, and even though Declan and the man he’d been talking to hadn’t been yelling, Kev heard them clearly.

  “And you got close,” Keller prompted.

  “Yeah. Saw Declan surrounded. If Carter and I thought we’d be of any help, we’d have jumped in. You goddamned know that. But we figured better to come get you, let your army here go find him.”

  “Who was Declan speaking with?”

  “Some guy with dark hair and something on his palm.” Kev held up his own and pointed to it. “Looked like a big scar or burn, maybe. And there were other men around, but they weren’t right up on Declan.”

  Keller nodded. “Thank you for coming here to tell me. I’ll take it from here.”

  “I’ll go back out to look for him.”

  “No.” Keller’s tone was firm. “You’re staying here until this matter is resolved. I have no idea if you were spotted, which puts you—and my compound—at risk.”

  *

  After Hammer went to tell Caspar about Goose—and Rebel’s part in it—Rebel remained in place. Nowhere to run to, no matter how badly he wanted to chase after Declan.

  It was an hour later when Rebel
saw Mathias coming toward him, motioning for Rebel to walk with him.

  “I have to…” He trailed off as he pointed to Goose’s body.

  Mathias’s eyes flickered disdainfully over Goose and it was obvious there was no love lost there. He wrote something and showed it to Rebel.

  Caspar knows. Wants to see you. And I have other news.

  It was then that Mathias used his voice to tell about the secret call from Bishop to him, before Bishop made the official call to Caspar. Rebel sat in shock, listening to Mathias’s voice machine tell him the story.

  Declan’s been kidnapped. Kev saw it happen. Keller’s suspicious about that, thinking that Kev is giving Defiance an alibi…and pretending that Nomads took Declan. Word is that Kev’s not going to be let off the compound…

  And then, before he could react, Caspar was barking at him and Mathias to “Get the fuck into the clubhouse. Now.”

  Rebel followed numbly behind Mathias, ready to put on the surprised act. He didn’t really have to, since it was only them and Hammer.

  Caspar started with, “This is all coming from Bishop. Keller’s going to get back to me after he confirms it.”

  Caspar looked ready to confirm the fuck out of someone, and he was only holding back because he was in charge. The Caspar Rebel’d known a few years earlier would’ve been off this compound, flying to Keller’s.

  Which is what Rebel planned on doing the second Caspar ended this meeting.

  “This is bullshit,” Hammer was saying. “Just because Keller’s losing a man—and we don’t even know if the kidnapping was for real or if it was staged—suddenly that means Defiance is plotting against Keller? Are you kidding me? Declan might be a great assassin, but these days, those are a dime a dozen. I think he’s been taking too much of whatever drug they give out like candy there.” Rebel’s body tensed as Hammer pointed to him. “All we know is that Keller’s got Kev and Carter. He’s not letting them go. And Bishop’s under house arrest, along with Luna.”

  Caspar looked ready to break something—or someone.

  “I don’t think he was kidnapped,” Rebel said bluntly. He was walking a fine line here, keeping information secret while doling out just enough to get both Declan and Defiance the help they needed.

  Caspar looked at him hard. “You got news, now’s the time to share it.”

  Rebel gave a side-glance to Hammer. “Look for Goose’s sons. I’m betting they’re off the compound. Check their rooms—also betting they’re emptied.”

  “Maybe they’re afraid you’re going to kill them,” Hammer challenged.

  “Or maybe they’re in with the rest of the LoVs and the Nomads, by default,” Rebel shot back.

  “You thinkin’ that they’re in on this?” Caspar demanded. “You’d better be right, because I’ve had enough of you takin’ justice into your own goddamned hands.”

  “I had to, Caspar. If I’d thought his boys were in on kidnapping Declan, I’d have—”

  “Don’t fuckin’ say it,” Caspar warned.

  “I’d strangle them with my bare fucking hands,” Rebel told him, and again, the room stilled. Caspar tilted his head and looked at Rebel like he could see right through him, and in that moment, Rebel didn’t have time to parse it. Because it didn’t matter—Declan did. “I’ll do it now. Bring them to me.”

  Caspar narrowed his eyes at Rebel. “Is that why you killed Goose? Or did Declan kill Goose?”

  “I wanted Goose dead,” was all Rebel would say. “There’s damned good reason, beyond the fact that I think he sold out this club. If I’m right…”

  Caspar translated Mathias’s signs. Wait—you said that Declan wasn’t kidnapped. Where is he, then?

  “He’s been hunting the Nomads. For his own reasons—but also to protect Defiance. Turns out Lance sold them some tubes—through Victor.”

  Caspar growled at the mention of Victor’s name—the room vibrated with it.

  Hammer shook his head. “What does this mean for Kev?”

  “I plan to go find out. Either way, Declan’s in trouble—and he’s trying to help us. We can’t leave him alone,” Rebel said.

  Caspar stared at him with those icy eyes, didn’t look away when he said, “Hammer, permission to go inside Goose’s tubes.”

  Hammer didn’t wait. The three of them—Caspar, Mathias and Rebel—sat in silence, waiting for his return.

  Ten minutes later, his report was, “They’ve cleared out. Vehicles gone too.”

  “I bet they don’t even know Goose is gone,” Caspar muttered. “Probably waitin’ on him.”

  “Which means we could ambush them,” Hammer suggested.

  Gotta find them first. Need a team, Mathias signed and Caspar translated, then said, “How about you lead that?”

  Mathias nodded.

  Caspar turned to Rebel. “I’m leaving you to deal with Keller. Whatever he’s hiding, I want to know. And I want his men—and Bishop and Kev—to help out with the ambush.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Kev

  Kev walked in to find Siobhan looking pale as shit, and Sashi somewhere between glaring at him and shaking. She took one look at him and almost crumpled, and Kev was confused, but only for a moment.

  She knows. And he could barely get the word, “Declan?” out.

  “No,” Siobhan said at the same time Sashi announced, “They’re coming.”

  He wanted to ask if the “no” from Siobhan meant she hadn’t seen Declan’s ghost…but wanted to know who was coming more.

  He had to assume Sashi was talking about the dead people she and Siobhan always saw. But no, apparently, those sightings were nothing compared to the live people who were close, based on the look in both women’s eyes.

  A chill went through him as Sashi seemed to go into some kind of trance. He shivered, and her voice was monotone when she told him, “Someone just walked on your grave.”

  Siobhan admonished her with a hard, “Sashi, stop,” and then took Kev’s hand in hers. “You should go into the tubes.”

  “And leave you both here to face…whatever’s coming alone?”

  “Not whatever. It’s another…club.”

  “Even more reason for me to stay.”

  “Kev, downstairs. Please. I’ll never forgive myself if I let you stay up here.”

  “What’s this about?” he asked.

  “You, mainly. You’re not supposed to be involved with me. And now they’re going to make me pay.”

  “Who are they?” Kev demanded, although he was pretty damned sure he already knew.

  She swallowed hard and admitted, “Nomads. And the best thing you can do to help is to listen to me. Please. If for no other reason than for the fact that I saved your goddamned life the first time we met.”

  *

  Siobhan

  Kev finally listened to her about getting underground. He was no doubt pissed that she locked him down in the tube, but it was the safest place for him. No way the Nomads missed him walking through the woods.

  No way had the Nomads not seen her going to Keller’s.

  She didn’t ask Sashi if any of that was true, though. Not yet, anyway, and when she finished securing Kev’s safety—as best she could, from both the living and the dead—Sashi was gone.

  “Shit. No.” She ran to the window, ducked down and looked between the bottom of the curtain and the windowsill that was warped just enough for her to have a clear view outside without moving the cloth and alerting people she was inside.

  The sun had begun to come out about fifteen minutes ago, just in time for her to get the full, chilling view of her sister surrounded by Nomads—several living and one dead.

  Malachi.

  “Sashi, get out of there,” she murmured.

  Sashi moved her gaze to stare at the window, and Siobhan heard No, as clearly as if Sashi had spoken it out loud. Sashi had already circled Malachi in with salt and he was slowly fading.

  But that wouldn’t do anything to the flesh-and-blood men. One o
f them grabbed Sashi, held the knife to her throat.

  Everything after that happened in a flash. She flew outside, stood in front of the Nomads, saying, “Let her go.”

  One of the men she recognized as a grade-school classmate shook his head and said, mock sadly, “You never did realize you don’t run the world, Siobhan. Maybe this will help.”

  Without further discussion, he slid the knife across her sister’s throat, held her there, gaping helplessly at Siobhan. Holding out her hands…

  And then the Nomad let her drop to the ground, gracelessly, and Siobhan stood stock-still, grief and surprise stiffening her spine. Behind them, Malachi smiled and his form faded.

  “Sashi was always unstable,” the Nomad told her. “Lose the MC member, Siobhan, and we’ll call it a draw.”

  He stepped over her body and they disappeared into the woods. Siobhan walked stiffly over to her sister’s body, then doubled over. She pressed her fist to her mouth so she didn’t cry out and possibly alert Kev—or anyone—to what had happened.

  She would get rid of him. Bury Sashi.

  What were the other choices? After what Sashi sacrificed, Siobhan couldn’t simply go on with her life happily.

  “No way to keep them off the property,” she whispered. She swore she felt Sashi touch her hair, the way she always did to comfort Siobhan and then…nothing.

  At least she’d gone peacefully. Because nothing else in Siobhan’s life from here on in ever would be again.

  *

  Rebel broke records getting to Keller’s compound, and Keller must’ve known he was coming because the guards were already holding the heavy wrought iron open before he could ram it. Which would’ve been damned satisfying.

  He tore through the compound and was being waved into Keller’s private lot. He stopped the truck, blocking the pathway, and left it running as he headed into Keller’s. Because he had no idea if, after he told Keller what he thought, he was getting out of here alive.

  Without Declan, he didn’t really fucking care.

  “No appointment necessary,” Kammy told him as he clomped through the outer office and pushed against Keller’s heavy interior door.