Final Debt (Indebted #6)(88)

Tension smouldered between us, itching for a naked flame to incinerate.

Tex looked at Vaughn. They shared a silent conversation until finally Tex exhaled heavily. “Fine. We agree to cooperate.”

“Good.” I crossed my arms. “I’m in control from here on out. I’m the only one who knows where to go, how to get in, and what we need to do.”

“Like f*ck you are. I’ve stayed in your house of horrors. I know enough to guess—”

Tex placed his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Enough, V. Let him. I just want my daughter back, and if he says he can do that, then…let him get her back.” Twisting to face an elderly man with a black beanie on his head, Tex motioned him to come forward. “Change of plans, Dec. Follow Hawk’s orders. Let’s move out.”



The silent journey through the estate twisted me with fear.

The driveway went on for a f*cking eternity, revealing our black line of cars clearly. I just hoped Cut was busy elsewhere and didn’t look out the south-facing windows onto the sweeping vista as we crept over Hawksridge.

Rolling hills and soft dirt hindered but didn’t slow; we chewed up distance, bringing me closer to Nila and my dreaded birthright.

I rode with the ringleader, Declan. He’d given me his resume in a few short bullet points.

Retired military.

Awarded service.

Highly trained and skilled with the best men loyalty and money could buy.

Sitting with him, I suffered flashbacks of hunting animals for food and sport. For someone like me—someone who felt not just human emotions but even the emotions of the basest of creatures—I struggled to hunt like a normal, unfeeling being.

Cut knew that.

He’d forced me to hunt until I could switch off the panic of the prey and focus on the joy of the predator.

It’d been one of his most valuable lessons.

Focus on the hawk stalking the rabbit, not the rabbit running for its life.

Focus on the dog’s infectious joy bounding after a deer, not the deer galloping from death.

Those two parallels had been so f*cking hard to choose between, but I’d done it. I’d even been so successful, the predator’s joy infected me enough for hunting to become almost…fun.

And now I was on another hunt. About to hurt others, about to feel their pain.

But I could do it because I was the beast, not the quarry. And I was surrounded by men who focused on the same sweet victory.

That was all I needed to know. I trusted Declan and his men. I just hoped they’d be enough if the Black Diamonds decided to fight against us.

I hope Flaw came through.

I didn’t want bloodshed. The Hall had seen enough f*cking death. I wanted to end terror without more of it. But I was prepared for either scenario.

Hawksridge appeared above us, watching us with its impressive turrets and spires. The ancient building had been my home all my life. The grounds had been my salvation. The animals, my lifeblood.

I’d grown up running away from this place, but now, I wanted to turn my legacy around. I would rule a different dynasty from the one Cut envisioned, and I would do it on my own terms with Nila by my side.

Pointing at a service track—an un-tarmacked path with weeds growing through pebbles, I said, “Follow that road. It’ll cut across the chase and head in behind the main entrance. We might prevent being seen a little longer.”

Hawksridge sat perched on a hill. The design was deliberate for times of war and protection from enemies who might try to topple the estate. No ambush could happen. No entrapment. We would be seen—it was a matter of time. I just didn’t want to show my hand before we were close enough to launch an attack.

Where are you, Nila?

Was she with Bonnie on the third floor?

Was she with Cut on the fourth?

Or was she already in the ballroom on the ground floor, on her knees and about to become the latest stain in a horrendous basket?

“Step on the gas.” My order lurched us forward, tyres grinding gravel, skidding around bends and hurling us closer to the awaiting battleground.

I’d deliberately chosen to travel with two mercenaries and not Nila’s brother or father. I needed to keep my head clear and I couldn’t do that with Vaughn’s emotions bouncing kamikaze in his skull or Textile’s secrets gnawing a hole in my patience.

No one talked as we pulled to a stop by the stables. A wash of homesickness crippled me. Not for the Hall but for Wings. Being around so many people set my nerves on edge. My condition flickered with intensity and numbness. One moment, I was blank from sensory overload, and the next, I’d succumb to frivolous things of what the men would do afterward, what they planned to do during.

People saw fellow humans as respectful and civilized. Only, I knew the truth.

They were as animalistic as they’d been hundreds of years ago. Inner thoughts and unspoken quips painted them as vindictive, selfish, and focused on things that should never be revealed aloud.

It almost made me happy to know I wasn’t as terrible as I’d feared. I was normal. I was human. I had faults and flaws and fears, but despite all of those, I tried to be better, bolder, and braver than I truly was.

And that was what made right triumph over wrong.

Isn’t it?

At least, I hoped so.

The convoy rolled to a stop, and Dec gave the order to leave the cars behind. Boots landed on gravel, and car doors quietly closed. Concentration levels of the men added to the cauldron of emotions, and I wiped away a combination of fever and sweat from trying not to listen.