“This truce isn’t going to last long.” Brett’s voice carries through the room along with the sound of several guns.
The sound of guns raised quickly behind me, and seeing guns on all sides, heats my blood.
“Put them down.” The words are torn from me and I’m quick to push Jase away. I’m walking on shaky legs, but with purpose until I rip the gun from his hand.
This war is over.
The bloodshed is over.
I’m fucking done with it.
A look of shock is written on Brett’s face, but I have no mercy for him. There is no mercy for anyone, not anymore.
“There’s been more than enough death today.”
Carter. My heart rips in half at the thought of him dying. He’s barely hanging on and I’m not by his side. I can’t stop seeing his face. Or hearing the way he said my name.
The gun is hot in my hands and I turn to my left. Standing in front of the staircase, I slam the gun down on the table, shaking the precious vase my mother used to fill with flowers when I was a child. I declare, “I won’t allow any more to happen.” The darkly spoken words leave me even though I turn to no one.
In my periphery, I barely see the men lower their guns. Their eyes burn into me, wondering if I have any authority, and I wonder the same.
This needs to end, and I need to go to Carter. It’s all I can think as the emotions well up in my throat.
“We want Romano dead,” Jase speaks and his voice carries through the large space and all the way up to the tall ceilings.
“Fight with me,” I tell him, hardening my words and feeling the anxiety stretch in every limb I have. Every inch of my body is hot. Every pulse seems loud and hard.
“Someone needs to pay for all this. And that man is Romano,” I whisper to Jase, although it’s loud enough for all in this room to hear.
“My father is dead, but I won’t let anyone else die, not on your side,” my voice tightens as I tell him, looking Jase in the eyes, “and not on mine. Is that understood?”
Jase’s lip quirks. “It is,” he says, and then turns to Nikolai.
“What about your father?” Brett asks me.
“He betrayed my mother and his loyalty,” I speak up although my words are choked. I don’t know what to think or believe; all I know is that he’s dead and my mother is never coming back. I don’t have any answers, I’ll never have a way to acquire them. “My father’s reign is over, and that’s all that matters.”
“Who reigns now?” someone to my right asks and the room resonates with the sound of shifting feet.
“We reign together.” I don’t hesitate to speak up. My voice is clear and carries strong conviction. “Until Romano is ten feet under, that’s the top priority for all of us.” I feel lightheaded with the tense air and the lack of a clear answer. “Right?” I push out the word, daring either Nikolai or Jase to disagree.
“Cross.” The word is practically spit from Nik’s mouth and the air thickens and practically suffocates me as I watch the men meet face to face.
“What’s the status of your war, Hale?” It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone call Nikolai by his last name.
“My war?” he asks with a crease in his forehead, stepping up to Jase.
“I don’t want to fight,” Jase tells him easily, letting his tense shoulders fall and moving his hand away from his gun. My heart pitter-patters and Nik steps back slightly. “I agree with Aria,” Jase says and swallows thickly, looking Nikolai in the eyes. “I side with her on this. We all fight together.”
“You were on his side before,” Nikolai comments as whispers spread through the room like wildfire. The hissing of the words doesn’t stop when Jase speaks up along with Sebastian, explaining that Romano is now an enemy and they would rather side with me and my family than with Romano any longer.
“I have to admit, I’m surprised to still see you here,” Brett says after a moment of quiet to Sebastian. “It’s been a long time since you’ve come around.” The air between the two of them is easy. They must know each other. Maybe from a time before this, I’m not sure.
“I chose my side.”
“And what side is that?”
“The one with Aria.”
My cousin’s lips kick up into a half smirk. “I like that side,” he tells Sebastian.
“You need men?” Jase asks and Nikolai answers, “We need guns.”
“We have guns,” Sebastian says easily as he leans against the wall.
“We can come to an agreement,” I say to break up the conversation, ready for it to end. “There will be no more death between us.” My voice carries a note of finality with it and no one disagrees as I walk to the end of the staircase, staring up its vacant space as I grip the railing.