“It’s from my father.”
The atmosphere in the room instantly sharpened. Lawler Rowan’s days were numbered, of that I was fucking certain.
Wilder’s hands trembled slightly as he lifted the packet, bracing himself just in case his father had imprinted a memory on there again. He held his breath for a moment, before releasing it on a long exhale.
He opened the envelope and pulled out a letter and a photograph. “It says, in case you were thinking of ignoring my invite, I’ve included some added motivation for you to join me.”
He looked at the photograph and gasped, his hand flying to his mouth.
I peered over his shoulder and saw what had shocked him. It was an image of Astrid, bound, gagged and hanging from a hook. One of her eyes was swollen shut and there was a nasty cut through her eyebrow that was bleeding. Other than that, she looked unharmed, but I couldn’t see all of her in the picture.
That fucking asshole.
“I’ll kill him,” Wilder said, his voice raw and trembling with rage. “I’ll kill him for this.”
I grabbed his hands and forced him to look in my eyes. “And we will. I promise you, we will make him suffer and his life will end.”
“What do you need?” Damyr asked, ever ready to go into battle. “What’s the plan?”
“Plan?” I huffed. “We go to Misthaven Central Park, kill some bad guys and rescue Astrid.”
Benji shook his head at me. “You can’t be serious? Surely, your father knows we are coming? This is going to be suicide.”
Wilder looked at the photo of Astrid and then back to Benji. “But this is my friend. I can’t let my father hurt her because of me. I need to finish this.”
There was a moment of silence as Damyr stared firmly at Wilder, his gaze assessing and harsh. Finally, he nodded, a decision made. “Fine, I will order the men to get the weapons and vehicles ready. We will do this together, Wilder.”
“Thank you,” Wilder said, his voice shaky.
Damyr stood and straightened his custom made jacket. “You don’t need to thank us, Wilder. You’re family.”
“Besides, who doesn’t like a bit of murder and mayhem on their birthday?” I said with a smile.
“It’s your birthday?” Benji asked. “How did I not know this?”
I could see the cogs in Benji’s mind turning as he started planning where he was going to get a cake and all that birthday shit from. If I didn’t know better, we’d be having a full-blown party tomorrow.
“I’ve always celebrated it on New Year’s Day, but I was born at midnight on the dot.”
“A soul caught between the old and the new,” I muttered aloud. “That’s a powerful moment to be born.”
Wilder took my hand in his and warmth crept into my soul like it always did when he touched me. “Let’s finish this. Together.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Wilder
Well, to say this had been the weirdest week of my life, would be an understatement. I’d all but moved in with a psychopath, met my dead mother, found out more about me than I’d ever thought possible and I was now standing in Misthaven Central Park about to take down my father.
Oh, and I was pretty sure something strange was going to happen at midnight. I had no idea if it was going to be goodor bad, but I was here, in the freezing cold, with people who actually cared about me.
I just never thought it would be a mafia full of vampires.
“Why is it so fucking cold?” Aleksey grumbled, a black beanie pulled over his white blonde hair.
“It’s December,” Benji snorted. “It’s supposed to be cold.”
“Can’t you regulate your body temperature?” Byron asked, his head cocked to one side.