The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison (10 page)

“Nicky, come here,” Savage says, holding out his hand to him. Neither Kayla nor I want to let him go; however, he lets us go and walks bravely to Savage, taking his hand. Savage smiles wide and picks him up in his arms. My blood begins to heat up. “And this is my great grandson, Nicky. He is a sure General in the making.” I can barely contain myself when Kayla rests her head against me and Brayden presses his little hand on my face with an innocent giggle. As always, Kayla, calms me.

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Nicky says, shaking an elderly gentleman’s hand and causing everyone to laugh and enjoy the sweet moment. Even my tough as nails grandfather laughs joyfully, and Rabbie nods with a smile towards him.

For a brief moment, I feel good; however, the moment passes, and I sense something else coming our way. I grab Nicky and hand him and Brayden to Kayla before stepping in front of them and watching everyone around us flee when two men come running at us with dark-age styled blades. They get no closer than another step once I spot them. Down on their knees, they surrender to death, and I take a deep inhale before exhaling even greater.

Savage turns towards me with a slight nod. “They were after me Nicholas. I rarely need the help, but thank you for the support.”

When I turn to Kayla and the boys, she is shielding them from the scene and shaking in fear.

“Take your family home, Nicholas, I will take care of everything here,” Savage says.

“Is this what I have to look forward to?” I ask.

“Is your way of life any easier? There is always someone who wants to cut you down, and even more so when you are the one closer to the top. You know this as well as I. I believe you have battled before for members of your family … have you not?”

I really don’t want to say anything to him, but I reply anyway. “I have, but nothing like this.”

“Nothing like what? If someone wants to kill you or your family, does it matter who they are, or where they come from, or even why? I don’t think it does, Nicholas because either way, you are going to do all you can to get them first. Just like you have always done.”

He stares at me as if he knows every moment of my life and has an argument for anything I might say. One thing I have learned over the years is that some arguments just aren’t worth having with people who don’t care to understand your point of view. “I am taking my family home now,” I say, picking Nicky up and wrapping my arm around Kayla as she carries Brayden and safely leading them to our awaiting car.

The boys, thankfully, saw nothing and are completely unaware of what happened. They both happily fall asleep in their beds. Kayla, however, saw everything, and falls into my arms in hysterical tears.

“I’m sorry Nick. I didn’t want you to know how scared I was but …”

I scoop her up, trying to quiet her cries and kiss her tears away. “No one is ever going to hurt you, Princess. Anyone that tries will have to deal with me. No matter where you are, or what I am doing, I will come running to protect you. I will come running for you whenever you need me. Just call my name.” I lay her down next to me and wrap my arms around her, promising, to my death, to protect her and our sons.

Chapter 11

Nick

After last night, I feel as though I have no choice but to do everything in my power to become stronger. I sit in my father’s chair with the power moved up by ten, not something that anyone else is happy with, but I don’t care what they want. I have to be able to protect my family to the best of my abilities, and I am determined to have those abilities heightened as fast as possible.

“Eddie, now,” I say, waiting as he silently argues with me. “Now Eddie!” He curses me, but finally does as I ask. The steel pain shooting through me is hard to take without screaming, and before long, I can do nothing but scream. Ryan runs at me in fear, but I fight his attempts to release me until he finally curses at me and stomps away. Once it’s over, I demand them to come at me. “Don’t hesitate, force me to recover!” Brady slams me backwards and Bo strikes me hard before Dwayne comes at me and grabs me by the collar. He holds me up, ready to slam me on the ground. Hitting the ground hard, I grimace, trying to move before Dwayne can strike me again, but I have nothing left to keep him from doing it.

“Stop! Put him down, Dwayne. Nick, are you out of your damn mind!” Elijah screams before grabbing my shirt and shaking me. “Stop this now Nick! There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t Eli.” I choke out at him.

“How do you know? How do you know there isn’t an answer somewhere? Have you been through everything? Have you studied Savage completely, talked to everyone that could possibly have information to help?” I have nothing to say, not that I have any energy to say it even if I did. “You know you haven’t! You ran straight for the one answer you had. You haven’t checked every solution. I know you are short on time, but you do still have time.”

“Do I Eli? Do I still have time to protect my family? How do you know? Because Savage says he is giving me a numbered amount of days? Since when is he to be trusted?” I ask, but he has no response.

“Nick, do you even know what the chair is for, what its purpose is at all? All this information and your Dad never said why. He never explained why he built it? You say it is to make you stronger. Okay, I can see that, but make you stronger for what? For Savage? Or for something else? Maybe it is for something else, and these attempts to push yourself are for nothing. Maybe you have already surpassed what you need? You say your strength is coming from this machine, but I think you are getting stronger just by practicing, just by learning to focus. I don’t know why you need this machine. You don’t need to torture yourself in order to accomplish what you want,” Elijah emphasizes, looking down and into my eyes for the first time in a long time. I am too exhausted to argue with him, so I simply close my eyes and shake my head. “You spent a long time denying who you are Nick. It is only just now that you are facing it head on, so of course you are getting stronger.”

I push him away and struggle to my feet to go clean myself up before returning home. I force myself to stand up as straight as I can and use the wall as a prop. Ryan follows me and is there when I stumble exiting the room. He stiffens as he pulls me back up. The look in his eyes is hard to see, but I am doing this for him just as much as the rest of them.

“I’m not going to let you kill yourself Nick, and I am not going to let Savage take you away either.”

“You stay away from Savage, Ryan,” I cringe, trying my best to not need him to lean on. “You enjoy your life. Start that family you have always wanted and let me worry about Savage.”

“I don’t remember a time that you ever let me down, Nick, and you better believe that I am not going to ever let you down either. You’re my only brother, and together we can solve anything, remember? Together no one can stop us, remember?” he says, reminding me of the time sitting together, goofing off from school, and talking about the life ahead of us.

“How are we ever going to escape being poor, Nick? We are fucked for eternity. We are going to be forever nothing.”

“No. No, Ryan we will be something. I know it. Together … no one can stop us as long as we stay together. We are brothers, and we are both smart, and handsome as fuck – I mean just look at us.”
We would both laugh nodding at our scrawny bodies.
“But most importantly, we are together. We will never turn on each other, and with us together, we can’t be defeated … by anyone.”

“Remember Nick? Remember, no one can defeat us when we stick together,” Ryan says again.

“We are not kids anymore, Ryan, and this isn’t as simple as stealing cars or overcoming poverty.”

“No, but do you think my love for my brother, my determination to stand with you, is any less because of the situation?” Ryan asks.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you Ryan,” I say to his hardened stance in front of me.

“And I don’t want anything to happen to you either,” he replies. Finally, my legs give, my body fails, and I collapse against him. Ryan holds my shaking body with a strong hold so no one can notice my weakness. “Don’t worry, Nick. I got you. Your brother’s got you, now and forever.”

Ryan takes me home and helps me to the door but knows enough to let me go into my home on my own, no matter how drained I am. Kayla greets me, full of energy, and instantly, my day is behind me, and my wife is all that is on my mind.

“Hello Princess.” My hands immediately find their way underneath her clothes and my lips trail down her neck while she warms me up and hums her love for me.

“Did you have a bad day?” she asks.

“No, not at all. It is not over yet, and already, I am here - home with you. That is a good day as far as I’m concerned,” I say, but my voice shakes a little. Kayla takes my hand but suddenly looks over me with concern.

“Why are you so weak?” She grabs my clothes and pushes them from side to side, examining my wounds. “Nick, what are you doing to yourself?”

“It’s nothing. I just over did it a little bit today. No reason to worry; it’s nothing that some rest and my wife can’t help with.” I wrap my arms around her, but I can still feel the vibration in my touch, and from the look on her face, so can she. “I’m going to go to bed and lay down for a little while. Don’t hold up dinner for me, but save me a spot on the sofa before the boys go to bed.” Kayla nods and, without a word, helps me up the stairs and to our bed. Kayla’s touch has always calmed me, but apparently, she can’t rejuvenate me. Or, maybe I did more damage than I thought. Even the pressure of the bed hurts. Once Kayla leaves, I freely cough up blood that I have been hiding from her.

“Daddy?” Nicky says, peeking in from the doorway.

“What do you need son?” I ask him, trying to hide my pain.

“Do you want to see my drawing I did today?”

“I do. Can you show it to me later …”
Oh damn the pain.
I lie back, trying to get the room to stop spinning. I forget about my son until I feel him touch my hand. Taking my hand with his, Nicky curls up next to me and just breathes, in and out, in tune with me. The rhythmic sounds of our breathing cause me to fall asleep and the pain to subside.

My mind drifts for I don’t know how long when I hear Kayla calling for me.

“Nick? Nick honey, the boys are going to go to bed soon, and you should probably eat something, too.” Kayla looks over me and smiles. “Well you do look better, even your bruises are healing up nicely.” I sit up and look over myself. My once damaged body looks nearly untouched. I feel … great. I feel as if I have slept for days. “How do you feel?” Kayla asks.

“I feel fine. I guess the nap was all I needed.” I smile at her. “I’ll be down in a minute, and yes, I am hungry too. Do you mind making me a plate of food?” I say, getting up and feeling good about my strong legs.

“Not at all. I should warn you though. Nicky has a whole new list of things to tell you about. If you want, I can tell him to keep it to a minimum,” Kayla says with a questioning expression as she looks me over herself.

“No, I want to hear all about his day,” I say happily.

Kayla nods and disappears downstairs while I continue to check out every part of myself. Reaching, stretching, and punching, I analyze my abilities, and I am wonderfully surprised that my body is better than ever. Wow. I guess I didn’t give Kayla enough time to help me. Now, how do I tell her what she can do for me, or should I not? Should I continue to keep her secret to protect her from Savage, someone that I still don’t completely understand? For now, I think it best to keep my secrets to myself and save them from getting out to the wrong people.

Chapter 12

Savage

Nicholas is stronger than I thought. What he did, what he was able to sense before it happened … he is so much like his father.

“Did you see what my grandson was able to do Rabbie?” I say as he sets down a drink for me. “He has the senses of his father, but the strength … oh, he has the strength of his uncle and cousin all rolled in one. He needs us more than ever; he needs me for certain.”

“Do you really think he is going to willingly do as you say, especially with that beautiful family of his? They are his priority, not you Father,” Galena says, kissing me on the cheek.

“That isn’t a problem, not a problem at all. He simply needs to be convinced to leave his family behind.” Galena laughs. “You doubt me, my daughter?”

“Never, Father, but this time, I think you may underestimate his bond to them. If he is anything like his father, and as we already know, he is plus some, then he will fight like no other for his family.”

“His bond to them is what we will use to convince him to leave them behind. He will come to us, willingly, once he realizes he is what is dangerous to them,” I say as Galena expresses a silent agreement in my direction.

Nicholas. I have known he was strong since he was a child. He was so young, and yet, he dismissed my attack on him with little effort, not that I put too much heart into hurting him. He was small at the time; he didn’t need much to kill him or so I thought. To have him at my side now would make my army unstoppable. Nicholas scared those assassins right into their death. I savored the look in their eyes as they realized they were done, and I certainly relished the look in Rein’s eyes as he watched his men dying on the floor in front of us. His men were scared shitless of Nicholas. My men? Well, they would follow him anywhere, and he would lead them to one takeover after another. My enemies would be on their knees in front of him and giving me whatever I wanted just to have me pull back the reins on him. But how to get control of him?

“How is your relationship with Amery these days, Galena?” I ask with an idea in mind.

She growls, with a turned up lip. “About the same, why?”

“I think we should introduce Amery to Nicholas.”

“But Father, if Amery finds out who he is, he will do everything he can to provoke a war with him and try and kill him before he can be of any use to you,” Galena says.