Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Take off!”
Aiden and Luke haul the plane door shut again, and the pilot treats the private jet like it is a fucking fighter plane. I had no idea how fast one of these things could taxi, or how steeply it could take off. We have to grab for the seats as they turn almost horizontal with the angle of the incline.
The plane levels out and for the moment, the danger is over. It doesn’t feel like it though. It feels like the world is ending and it will never be the same, and if only I had made different choices, everything would have been okay.
The pilot, a man who has up until this point not really existed at all as far as I was aware, suddenly becomes extremely relevant. The door to his cockpit is open, and he talks back over his shoulder.
“Secondary landing spot? We’re going to need one soon. I think the fuel tank was hit, and if we don’t explode in a ball of flame, we’re going to need somewhere to put this thing down.”
Aiden goes up to the pilot and starts talking to him. I sit down and put my seatbelt on, which feels stupid, but there’s nothing else we can do.
Aiden’s back out in a moment or two, and goes to check on Leo.
“Doctor’s been shot,” he says.
One of the bullets has gone straight through the plane and hit the doctor, who is doing an admirable job of patching himself up.
“We’ll double your fee. I’m sorry. We didn’t anticipate that kind of hostility on home ground.”
The doctor shrugs and keeps working.
“Everybody is being shot,” Leo says.
“It’s very in right now,” Luke chimes in.
The doctor seems to have just been grazed, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. This is madness. I wonder what it must be like to live in some normal version of the world where the worst thing that happens is a parking ticket. Then I wonder if that normal version of the world really ever existed at all, or if it was just made up to make everyone feel like the strangeness they’ve been experiencing day in, day out, for their entire lives was an anomaly. Nobody I know, or have ever met, really has a normal life. Everyone is constantly beset by oddness.
But this is beyond weird, even for me, even for these men.
“Looks like we’re not going home yet,” Aiden says grimly.
“We know who did this,” Leo says.
“Mr. Red. We denied him what he wanted, so he deployed a kill team,” Luke says. “What an absolute bastard. He’s obsessed with you, Aiden. I swear to god, he loves you.”
“He doesn’t love me. He’s not capable of love. He’s capable of fixations. He wants what he wants, and if he can’t have it, then it can’t exist at all. Standard abusive behaviors.”
“So are you going to kill him?” Luke questions.
“It’s not as simple as killing him,” he says. “Eric is better connected than most people. He might be better connected than anyone. He makes BP look like a complete amateur.”
“What, then?”
“We’re going to have to negotiate,” Aiden sighs.
Aiden
The bastard. The absolute, utter bastard. He thinks he smells blood in the water. This is what I was worried about when Teddy died, after the wash of grief had passed over and through me. I knew others would start taking their shots as well. I had hoped it wouldn’t be this literal.
My phone rings.
“We’re all alive, and you’re lucky for it,” I say.
“I knew you wouldn’t be harmed by anything as simple as bullets,” Eric says. “You’d take a more complex trap than that, I’m sure.”
“Eric, we are not going to be integrated into your little empire, so it’s about time you gave up on the idea.”
“It’s all about leverage,” Eric says. “And I feel like I have found some against you. And she’s pregnant? That is going to be a really difficult situation for you. Hard to sweep a baby into the air at a moment’s notice. Much easier to just give into the man who can make a dozen armed men appear out of anywhere at a moment’s notice.”
“A mercenary magician,” I say. “Don’t forget, Eric. We have resources too.”
“You’re threatening me?”
“Of course I am threatening you. You just attempted to wipe out my bloodline, you pathetic wet teabag…” I wasn’t meant to talk this way, but my anger is getting the better of me as adrenaline starts to surge again, as I remember the hail of bullets, and how easily we could all have perished to them.
“If you have any loved ones, say goodbye to them,” I growl down the line. “Because this, you fucking soggy sandwich fuck, is the fucking end of you.”
That’s when Luke slides the phone diplomatically away from me and ends the call.
“Great negotiation, buddy,” he says. “For our next attempt at diplomacy, let’s throw a brick through his window, and insult his mom.”