Two days had already passed since Ashe had betrayed them and opened every door for Levi. The surprise attack had cost six of their men their lives, and eight more had been poisoned. Including the cop.
Vincent was furious.
He had been the head of the clan for many years now, and only rarely had one of his men lost his life. It was solely thanks to his foresight that no one else had come to harm. He had arranged for sensitive documents and everyone in need of protection to be moved to another safehouse—one that even Ashe had never known about.
Only because of that had Levi failed to get his hands on the others.
Even so, it did not change the fact that Ashe had dealt the clan a devastating blow.
One thing was certain, however: Ashe would not live much longer. Whether Vincent or Noctis got their hands on her first made no difference. She had made the wrong choice, and she would have to die for it.
That was how it had always been, and how it would always be. Besides, they could not allow someone as intelligent as Ashe to roam free if she was not on their side. With her skills, she was always capable of tracking their every move, and Noctis definitely did not want to imagine what else she might be able to accomplish.
But no matter how he looked at the situation, they had failed. Isaac was in Levi's custody, which meant Levi had gotten exactly what he wanted. They had told the men who had remained behind that they suspected Ashe. They had not eaten the cookies because Ashe had brought them; they had eaten them because Lucy had baked things for everyone on several occasions in the past.
Ashe had simply taken advantage of that, and yes, it had been a damn clever move. Especially on the very day of the relocation. If the girl had not been on the enemy's side, Noctis would have made sure she was recruited into the clan.
However, they would never accept someone who had once committed an act of betrayal.
With a weary sigh, he pulled his bloodstained shirt over his head and carelessly dropped it onto the floor. The rest of his clothes followed shortly after. As he stepped into the shower, hot water cascaded over his skin. Dark streaks of blood and grime washed from his body and disappeared down the drain. For a moment, he closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool tiles.
The tension of the past few days was deeply embedded in his muscles.
Vincent was searching tirelessly for Isaac. All planned assassinations had been put on hold, and only a few of their assassins were still assigned to other contracts. The rest were combing through the city and raiding known hideouts of the Viper Syndicate.
Naturally, they simply killed everyone they found in those hideouts. Noctis knew the lists by heart. The idea of taking more and more of Levi's men from him was becoming increasingly appealing. Yet no one had known where Isaac was being held. Or where Levi himself was.
In fact, the members of the Viper Syndicate had seemed more surprised that they were asking about Levi than about the boss himself.
Which only confirmed to him and his brother that Levi was pulling the strings from the shadows and had handpicked a few loyal men for himself. So far, systematically wiping out the syndicate had gotten them nowhere. They had not abandoned the hideout yet, hoping that Levi would eventually return.
After all, he had threatened to wipe out the Websters.
They were still keeping the destroyed hideout under surveillance. Day and night, marksmen and scouts remained in position there.
Unfortunately, he had yet to make good on his threat, even though every single killer in the Webster Clan was looking forward to taking Levi on. They intended to give him a proper welcome before tearing him to pieces.
Isaac had to be terrified. The sound of Levi's name alone was enough to trigger panic attacks. Noctis had seen it often enough—the way his breathing sped up, the way his hands began to shake, and how all color drained from his face.
How much worse must it be now?
How did he feel when Levi was no longer just a threat in his thoughts, but standing directly in front of him?
The thought made Noctis' stomach twist painfully.
Noctis had failed to keep his promise. He had promised Isaac safety, and now the situation had escalated so far that he had no idea what to do. He could not hack into any system he wanted the way Ashe could. Moz was the person to turn to for that sort of thing, though even he could never match Ashe's abilities.
He could not break into every network in the world and pull information out of thin air. That was Moz's domain. Yet even Moz would have struggled to keep up with Ashe.
And while Noctis was someone who was rarely injured during assignments, he was, first and foremost, a killer. Even though he had mastered the art of taking lives, he lacked the other skills that opened doors.
Where Isaac used lock picks, he kicked doors in.
The cameras Ashe loved to exploit, he simply shot to pieces.
While Isaac silently opened locks with his picks, he smashed doors off their hinges.
While Ashe manipulated surveillance systems, he just destroyed the cameras with a bullet.
He was the personification of destruction, and he hated that he now had to rely on so many other people. None of their informants had obtained anything useful. Moz had discovered nothing because Ashe had overwritten all the surveillance footage. Even the cop's informants had been unable to contribute anything of value.
Noctis turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. After drying himself off, he put on nothing more than a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. He would allow himself a few hours of rest before heading out again to tear apart another favorite haunt of the Viper Syndicate. Besides, he could hardly wait to discuss the current situation with his brother again. Unfortunately, Vincent was asleep at the moment, so that conversation would have to wait.
It was the middle of the day anyway, which meant they could not operate as effectively. Nighttime was far better suited to their work, and their spies were already searching around the clock for anything suspicious.
He padded into the bedroom and collapsed onto his bed in exhaustion. Reaching for Isaac's pillow, which still carried a faint trace of his scent, he buried his face in it and breathed deeply.
I hope you're okay, darling...
At least he knew Levi did not want to kill him. Levi wanted Isaac alive so he could exploit his abilities. That meant he was physically unharmed.
Hopefully.
He closed his eyes.
I'll be with you soon. Just hold on a little longer...
He was just beginning to drift off when an unusual sound tore him from the edge of sleep. Sitting upright, he scanned the room carefully. No one had been in his bedroom, neither before nor after his shower, and no one had opened the door either. What the hell had that noise been?
"What the...?" he muttered, suddenly much more awake.
He switched on the bedside lamp and squinted briefly before looking around again.
The room lay perfectly still before him.
Had he imagined the sound? To be fair, the last time he had slept was twenty-four hours ago, and he was genuinely exhausted. Still, he had gone through far longer stretches without sleep before.
He was about to switch the light off again when he heard the noise once more. His head snapped around just in time to see something moving inside the pocket of his pants. Which was more than strange, considering the only things he kept in there were weapons, and he seriously doubted that one of his knives had suddenly come to life.
Noctis knelt down and picked up his pants. Whatever it was was still moving restlessly inside. Wasn't that the pocket where he kept Isaac's cards?
He reached inside and pulled out the deck.
At first glance, nothing seemed unusual.
"Strange..." he murmured to himself.
He really must have been overtired. Noctis was about to put the cards back into his pocket when the deck suddenly shifted. He lifted his thumb from the top card, and most of the cards immediately tumbled to the floor.
Startled, Noctis dropped the rest.
His heart hammered rapidly against his ribs. When had he last been frightened this badly?
The panic faded quickly, however, when he saw two almost white fingers pushing through the cards, holding a small note up into the air.
"Darling...!" he breathed.
He had created a portal!
You brilliant, goddamn man!
Leaning forward, he gently touched his lover's fingers. Isaac's fingers trembled slightly, and they were quite cold. Noctis took the note and quickly unfolded it. He had to know what message his beloved was trying to send him.
The handwriting was somewhat unsteady, and he seemed to have been shaking while writing the letter. Even so, the words were clearly legible.
Darling,
As you already know, Levi caught me. Ashe is the spy, just as we suspected.
I don't have much time because she'll be back soon, but we can communicate this way.
I'm far from the center of Magnolia. Last night I could see the city lights through the window, so I must be somewhere on the outskirts.
The window is barred with vertical metal bars. I couldn't make out the exact color in the darkness.
The room should be on the second or third floor of a building, although I don't know how large the building itself is.
Unfortunately, I can't really get up at the moment because I don't have the strength, but I'll try again later.
I asked Ashe to cook a stew for me, so she had to go shopping.
She wants me to be well, so I'll continue making requests that force her to leave the building. Maybe your people can make use of that.
I'll contact you again later.
I hope you're doing well.
I love you.
Isaac
Noctis read the letter from his lover twice before grabbing a piece of paper and hastily scribbling down a reply.
It did not sound as though Isaac would be able to keep the portal open for long. It was sheer luck that Noctis had not yet used this particular card. He always took whichever card happened to be on top of the deck.
He wished he could see Isaac.
More than anything, he wished he knew what condition he was in.
There had been so much blood in the kitchen that he could not tell how much of it had belonged to Isaac. Apart from the blood from the gash on his head.
Darling,
I'm so glad you're able to create a portal.
Have they hurt you?
How are you feeling?
What kinds of sounds can you hear from outside?
Does Ashe still look the same as before, or has she changed her appearance?
Have you already had to face Levi?
The others and I are fine. Don't worry about us.
We're looking for you.
From now on, I'll keep the card out in the open. Write whenever you can.
I love you, darling.
It won't be much longer before I'm with you.
Noc xxx
There was so much more he wanted to ask, but he had no idea how much time they had left. So he quickly slipped the letter through the small portal. He felt Isaac's cool fingers take hold of the note and withdrew his hand.
His gaze remained fixed on the card.
Impatiently, he waited for a reply from his beloved.
He did not have to wait long.
Don't worry. I have a concussion. The rest are injuries from the fight at the hideout. A bullet hit me, but it doesn't seem to have struck anything important. One or two ribs might be broken as well. I'm receiving pain medication.
Ashe looks the same as always.
Levi wants me to create a portal for him. I don't know what he's planning, but I'll work on the portal. That gives us a limit of two to three weeks.
I can barely hear anything from outside. It seems to be a quieter area. Every now and then, I hear children playing.
I'll contact you again later. I need to close our portal.
I miss you, Noctis.
A tear ran down Noctis' cheek.
It felt as though the stress of the past few days was finally falling away. This small sign of life from Isaac alone gave him the strength to keep going.
He picked up the card and lay back down on the bed with it. He placed it face-up, on the side that had served as a portal only moments before.
He had already suspected that his lover had suffered more injuries than just the wound to his head. The useless cop had told him as much. Still, Isaac seemed to be well enough to draw.
Isaac truly was one hell of a man.
It made Noctis proud that he had chosen him as his own. There were not many people who would endure a situation like this as defiantly as Isaac did.
Even when faced with his greatest nightmare.
He gently brushed his fingers across the surface of the card—the only connection he currently had to Isaac.
Not much longer, darling.