Cataclysm (Four Horsemen #4)(81)

“We need to search Stuart’s office too,” I put in.

“We can do that later… after everyone is dead.”

I nodded and gave him a smile. We weren’t going to leave without going through his shit. This man had haunted our lives for ten years. He’d made mine a living hell. We needed to find out everything we could before we razed this place to the fucking ground.

Francis dug the things we needed out of the bag and handed them to Prescott and Drake. Then we were looking over routes and moving out. I held West back for a moment, eyeing the safe with suspicion.

“Do you think we can get this open?”

He looked at it, then at his sledgehammer.

“We’re better off finding the combination. Would take too much time.”

I nodded and followed him out. Whilst I wanted to know what Alex was trying to access, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t important.

“What are you two doing?” Drake asked, crossing his arms over his chest as we emerged from the security room.

“Nothing, let’s go,” West said, adjusting the hammer on his shoulder and walking off in the direction of the staff living room where we’d identified a few people who had lost their battle with consciousness.

Drake and I walked after him, me gripping the crowbar tight in my fist. I wasn’t planning on killing anyone else with it, but it made me feel safer.

“Are you okay?” Drake asked after a moment.

“I guess so. Being back here is… difficult.”

I was keeping my memories at bay, trying not to think too hard about what was done to me here. Killing Alex had been cathartic, but I wouldn’t feel okay until everyone who had hurt me here was eradicated from the world.

He reached out and tucked me up against his side as we continued walking. I nuzzled his jumper, feeling his warmth and presence surrounding me. Drake could be cold, but with me, he’d changed. There was tenderness and affection in his gestures. He had more than proven he was willing to do anything for me. The fact he’d stood up to his mother in the face of her disapproval over our relationship spoke volumes. Not to mention him allowing Francis to sleep in his bed with us last night. After he’d relaxed, he’d drifted off quickly, leaving me between two slumbering men I loved fiercely. They were my shelter. My safety. And I’d fallen asleep knowing they’d protect me until their dying breaths.

The five of us would be each other’s guardians. We’d fight until the very end.

“I know this isn’t easy for you, little wisp. I want you to know I’m proud of you for coming here.”

I held back the emotions swirling in my gut from his words.

“You’re going to make me cry,” I whispered.

He leant down and kissed my forehead before straightening.

“When we’re done, you can fall apart and we’ll put your pieces back in place together as a family. Okay?”

I nodded, knowing I had the strength of my four men behind me.

We reached the staff living room and stepped in after West, who was surveying three of the people in here.

“Who are they?” he asked, swinging the hammer down and placing it on the floor with the handle sticking up.

I walked over and checked each person.

“Norman, Granger and Mirabelle.” I pointed at each of them in turn. “Why?”

“Do you want to kill any of them?”

I bit my lip and shook my head. They were the groundskeepers and had never given me any trouble. West cracked his knuckles and dug out his knife.

“Then allow us to do the honours.”

Drake flicked out his own knife, then the two of them approached the three groundskeepers. They were dispatched with ease. One quick strike between the ribs to the heart. Drake taking the first two and West the last one.

“Right, where do we put them?” Drake asked, looking over at me with a smile.

I tossed my crowbar from hand to hand, having memorised the room assignments. It was time to stage the bodies.

“Follow me.”





Thirty Six


Scarlett





After we’d deposited the bodies in their bedrooms, we walked out and heard a noise. The three of us froze. Drake put a finger to his lips and signalled to West he was going to check it out. I moved closer to West as Drake broke off from us, creeping in the direction of the noise. West took my hand and pulled me in the other direction towards the stairs. We still had a job to do. Drake could handle whatever that was alone.

When we were far enough away after making our way downstairs, West pulled me into the kitchen, somewhere I’d been many times in the past. We made our way over to the pantry, finding Cecilia, Gio’s assistant, passed out there. West set his hammer down, pulled her out of the pantry and placed her on the large kitchen island. His eyes went to me.

“This one?”

I shook my head. She wasn’t that bad compared to the other staff. The housekeeper, Moira, was the one I hated the most. Stuart had a fucking butler too. Gendry. He was a cunt who gave me shit for anything I did wrong. When I found him, I wanted to cave his head in with West’s sledgehammer, not that I thought I could wield it. Maybe I would find another way of ending his sorry existence.

West took out his knife and ran it along her throat, staring down at Cecilia with a dark gleam in his eyes.