Chapter Five

I didn’t need to pick the lock on the front door. I had a key to his house and I let myself in quietly. The living room was dark, quiet and everything in its place. I walked down the hall towards his bedroom where he lay snoring in the darkness.

“Time to wake up Kurt,” I said as I pulled him out of his bed.

“What the …”

I yanked him upwards by his t-shirt and shoved him forwards where he fell on his hands and knees. I pulled him upright again and pushed him towards the kitchen where I pulled out one of the wooden chairs from the kitchen table and pushed him down onto it and tied him to the chair.

“Have you completely lost your mind?” Kurt asked me angrily.

“We need to have a little talk,” I said as I leaned against the kitchen counter behind me.

“I’ll have you arrested for this little stunt,” he said snidely.

“Who do you owe money to?”

“What?” he asked me.

“You wanted money from me as retribution, who do you owe?” I asked him again.

“Money won’t bring Megan back but at least it’ll make our lives easier,” he spat at me.

“They found a note in Megan’s car, it said ‘next time pay your debts’ so I’ll ask you again Kurt, who do you owe?”

“Maybe the note was meant for you!” he said loudly.

“Let’s start with an easier question, how much do you owe?”

“You won’t get away with this,” he said.

I pushed myself upright and picked my backpack up from the floor. I watched his face as I took out the cordless drill and the steel rods I had packed earlier. His face drained of colour as he struggled to loosen himself when I tested the drill.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. In the Hunter’s Unit they teach you all kinds of things, things you civilians know nothing about. We undergo torture training, we’re taught how to endure it, how to inflict it and how to get answers,” I said.

“You wouldn’t,” he said his voice cracking.

“Wouldn’t I? I’ll give you exactly five minutes to think about what you want to tell me, because I’m not leaving here without answers,” I said.

“Megan was too good for you, she chose you and that got her killed!” he said angrily.

“Megan was too good for you too, you abandoned her,” I said calmly.

“You’ll lose everything because of this,” he said looking more relaxed now.

“I have nothing left to lose.”

I filled the kettle and let it boil while I placed each rod on the table next to him. I took my time as his breath turned ragged and made myself a cup of coffee. I pulled another chair closer to him and sat down in front of him.

“Feel like talking yet?” I asked him.

“Do you really think Megan would approve of this?” he asked me.

“Do you really think I care?” I asked him.

I stuffed a rag in his mouth and taped it shut. I placed the drill on his right knee as he started moaning and struggling again. I drilled through his knee and pushed the first rod through the hole. His face was pale and he was sweating, screaming through the rag as I sat back and drank my coffee until he quietened down.

“Let’s try again,” I said as I pulled the tape off and pulled the rag from his mouth.

“Gideon Delanie,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Now that wasn’t so hard,” I said and sighed as Kurt slumped forward, passing out from the pain.

“Kurt!” I said loudly shaking his shoulders.

“What a girl,” Abeloth said with disgust.

‘Great’ I thought to myself. At least I had a name now. I felt Abeloth push forward and reach out to his dragon. He made him submit and then ordered him to wait until sunrise before reaching out to Bazzoit for help.

I left the rod in his knee and cleaned the drill. I packed my tools away and shook my head again at the weakness he had shown. I left the front door open and climbed into my truck and drove out of Aurora.

“It’s early Ryder, even for you,” he said when he answered his phone on the second ring.

“I need everything you can find on a Gideon Delanie,” I said.

“Now?”

“I’m eleven hours out,” I said.

“I got you little Ryder,” he said.

“Bounce my phone signal around, Lucas is going to try and track me,” I said and Tank laughed before ending the call.

I had just stopped to refuel after driving non-stop for six hours. I stretched my legs and headed to the convenience store to fill up on food, coffee and water for the next five hours. I paid for the gas and started the truck, easing my way back onto the highway.

“Grey,” I answered my ringing phone that came through the truck’s Bluetooth.

“You drilled a hole in Kurt’s knee?” Lucas asked me and I smiled.

“Hi Dad, I’m good thanks, how are you?”

“Fuck Ryder,” he said.

“He gave me a name,” I said.

“Where are you?” he asked me.

“Does it matter?”

“Ryder …”

“I don’t need you sticking your nose in my business,” I said.

“You know I can have Timothy track your phone,” he said.

“Tank’s already bouncing my phone signal.”

“I just don’t want to watch you flatline again,” he said.

“I need to know why he took Megan and beat her so badly that she died,” I said.

“You’re on your way to Tank right.”

“Five hours out,” I said with a smile. Lucas was smarter than people gave him credit for.

“If you need me, I’ll be there,” Lucas said.

“Thanks Dad, but you’ve got a vacation to go on,” I said.

“Fuck.”

“Before my mother castrates you for real this time,” I said and he laughed.

“She won’t really. I just want you to know that I’ll have your back, any time you need it,” he said.

“I appreciate it,” I said.

We spoke for another half hour about everything but Megan. It took my mind off the impending doom that I was facing. I was going off the grid, once again. I was racing towards an enemy I knew nothing about, all for revenge.

The last time I had revenge rule my actions, I had disappeared for over twenty days and was tortured for most of them. I didn’t want to inform the Elders about my mission because I knew that they wouldn’t approve it.

I’d face retribution, punishment, even exile if I had to but Gideon Delanie would die by my hands. It steeled my resolve, calmed the rage inside of me and the road sped past me as I prepared myself for Tank’s findings.

The moment I parked in front of Jack’s garage, the front door blew open and Jack skipped down the three porch steps and hugged me tightly. It had been just over two weeks since the last time I saw them but it felt like so much had happened.

“I know that look in your eyes,” Jack said as I grabbed my duffel from the truck’s backseat.

“What look?”

“The look that tells me somebody’s going to die,” he said.

“Do I detect a longing for blood in your voice?”

“Oh sweetheart, you mistake my happiness at seeing you for longing. Even Tank doesn’t have that taste for blood like you do,” he said.

“Speaking of sweethearts, where is Tank?” I asked as Jack smiled.

“Come inside and get settled down, Tank will be back soon. He insisted on going to the store so we could feed you,” Jack laughed.

I placed my duffel on the carpet of the guest room next to the bed and took a quick shower. Tank’s voice filled the hallway when I exited the room twenty minutes later, feeling much more relaxed than I had a few hours ago.

“Little Ryder!” Tank exclaimed as he picked me up in a bear hug and kissed both of my cheeks.

“I’m happy to see you too you big brute,” I said as he put me down.

“Have you called the others?” he asked me.

“No Tank, this is a solo mission,” I said.

“The last time you went solo you almost died,” he said.

“This is personal.”

“You gonna tell me?”

“When I got back home from Bermuda, Lucas called me. They had found Megan at the edge of their territory. I raced back to Aurora and Stella, Lucas’s lair doctor, had her in the infirmary,” I said.

“I thought Megan left you?” Jack asked gently.

“Yeah me too. One side of her face was so bruised and swollen if it wasn’t for the other side I wouldn’t have recognized her. She’d been beaten badly, broken arm, ribs … anyway, I made arrangements for Peter to get her back home and then her heart stopped …”

“No Ryder, please don’t tell me little Meg’s dead,” Tank asked me with tears in his eyes.

Jack and Tank both had their arms around me as we sat and mourned Megan together. Jack had never met Megan but he shared our pain because he knew that I wouldn’t have settled down with any woman if I didn’t truly love her.

“We’ll help you in any way we can,” Tank said wiping the wetness from his face.

“Scotch?” Jack asked and stood up without waiting for an answer.