Darcy grinned.
Sedric sighed in mock relief. “There you are, Wyatt…you disappeared for a little bit in there.”
“No, it was still him. Just dark Wyatt. You know they call him the Mahdoc now,” Darcy replied.
I grinned at that, walking toward them and taking a seat on the coffee table. “Mahdoc…mad doctor…you’d think they’d be a little more creative.”
“At least they aren’t referring to you as kid anymore,” Darcy reminded me, and it was true.
“The secret to their respect is apparently abuse, the savages,” Sedric joked as he handed me a small sliver flask.
“No, the secret is and always will be the money,” I reminded him before accepting the flask and taking a long swing from it. When I paused to breathe, wiping the corner of my mouth, I continued, “They put up with the abuse because they want the money. What is death and pain to poverty? People would sacrifice their own children at our feet if it meant they could get even 1/100th of our wealth.”
“Maybe that’s why everyone is now thinking they can be us,” Darcy responded seriously, sitting up to the edge of his seat, leaning in closely to me. “No one has checked their greed.”
Tilting my head to look directly into his brown eyes, I asked, “Then why am I the mad one? Mahdoc? I’m a Callahan. We are Callahans. Everyone knows the rumors, and yet even still they are testing us. Everyone. Our own people. Our city. The goddamn police. They know who we are and what we can and will do, and yet they still come to die. They are the mad ones.”
“Moths to the flames,” Sedric said while walking over to the one-way mirror, watching as the guards tried to wake Greyson’s sorry ass up. “Just like moths, they can’t help themselves. They are programmed to seek out the light because that’s the only way they know how to survive. We’ve been raised to be flames; they’ve been raised to be moths. They aren’t loyal to us, they are loyal to anything that shines bright.”
Again, I looked to Darcy, and he gave me the same look. As I put the flask down on the table beside me, we both began to clap, causing Sedric to turn back around.
“Bravo.” I nodded to him.
“Who knew you could be so deep?” Darcy said with a laugh, leaning back into his chair.
Sedric flipped us both off before crossing his white arms over his chest. He leaned up against the window. “I’m not. The first time I saw my dad…at work…I was scared and confused. So I did what I normally did. I played outside in the woods until it was dark outside, and even then, I didn’t want to come back in. I wasn’t sure how to explain to my dad. But Ethan came out and sat next to me. He told me not to see them as the same as us. They were moths. We were flames. Moths that try to touch us must burn. That is the way of the world.”
“How old was he?” I questioned.
“Ethan? Sixteen,” Sedric answered.
“A natural-born Ceann Na Conairte,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “I would have just told you I don’t know why they do the things they do and to just suck it up and get back inside before you freeze.”
“It was summer,” he shot back, and this time I flipped him off in return.
“You would have thought of something,” Darcy cut in. “You have your moments. Problem is, you don’t realize when you’re having them.”
“It’s the mark of a true genius,” I said, winking at him. Rising from the table, I thought for a moment. “It’s late to deal with the Chicago rats. The shipment was today. It will be on the streets by morning. It seems I’m not even going to get a chance to fight the southern cunts anytime soon. After all, I must defend the homeland at all cost.”
I said the last bit with an Irish accent for my own amusement.
“Should we take a tour of the Chicago Police Headquarters before it magically…I mean accidently catches on fire?” Sedric asked.
I gasped in fake concern. “I would never waste the tax dollars of my fellow citizens like that!”
“So how are you going to find the traitors in blue?” Darcy questioned, now much more serious.
“Good question,” I replied but didn’t answer the question. I could tell they were waiting, but I pretended I didn’t know. Instead, I looked at my watch, only to see blood had gotten on it. “Goddamn it! I swear these people are the reason I can never wear nice things!”
Taking it off, I tossed it to Sedric and moved to the mirror, pressing the intercom. “Call the clean-up crew, then have the usual doctor come and have them both checked out…I need them alive. Well, truthfully, I only need Emilio alive, but you all seem fond of Greyson, so I guess he can stay alive as well. Then one of you...actually, no. Let me just end there seeing as you all haven’t been able to even walk and chew at the same motherfucking time.”
Releasing the intercom, I felt myself tense up again. I flexed my finger. “Darcy, I’m leaving my dog in your care.”
“I’m not a fan of dogs,” he started to object, until I looked over my shoulder at him. He rolled his eyes and nodded. “Fine, I’ll happily dog sit while you’re off killing cops.”
“I’m not going to kill anyone.” I walked over to the elevator. “Didn’t you hear Sedric? We are flames. Therefore, they are killing themselves. Tell Nana I apologize for missing dinner tonight.”
Entering the elevator, I leaned back against the panels, and just as the doors closed, I heard Sedric say to Darcy “A hundred grand he burns them alive, too.”
God, I
