Chapter Nineteen

Kassian

Four days.

The deadline was fast approaching, but Kassian was no longer worried about it. If everything went according to plan, then they would be done well before the ten days were up. He hoped that things would be done by the end of the day. Unfortunately, he had no way of being positive. Rosie had taken off in the middle of the night, evading the gauntlet of the watchers. They hadn’t tried overly hard to pursue her it had seemed, indicating their true targets were the brothers themselves.

It had pained Kassian to let her go. To send her off with perhaps the most critical part of the mission resting upon her shoulders. It wasn’t fair to ask it of her, but when the issue had come up, she’d not hesitated, nor had he been able to sway her from it. But he didn’t like being separated from her. They were at the point where she was beginning to accept that things between them were not some temporary thing, but that they were laying the foundation for a long and happy life together. So having her leave him for two days right then was intensely deflating to his soul.

At least the drive is keeping me distracted.

Another dent appeared in the dash as Kassian’s arms shot out in front of him, bracing himself as Gregory swerved them around yet another car, before slamming on the brakes to avoid rear-ending the car in front, while simultaneously just barely avoiding the oncoming car in the other lane.

“You’re a maniac!” he howled. “You’re going to get us killed, you overgrown duck!”

Gregory resolutely ignored him, as he’d been doing since about the second, or maybe third, insult that Kassian had sent his way. He was just about done with the damn gryphon shifter. The speed indicator crept up again, and Gregory drifted into the left hand lane, overtaking yet another car.

Kassian closed his eyes and started praying, as the car jerked right, then left, then right again.

“What happens to my brother if your idiotic driving kills me before we get there?” he muttered.

“We’ll take your next brother instead, and hope he isn’t as weak.”

Kassian stared daggers at Gregory. He desperately wanted to punch him in the face. Repeatedly. But he couldn’t. That would have been an even stupider move than getting in the vehicle in the first place. After all, Gregory was the one behind the wheel. His driving left enough to be desired as it was. Kassian did not want him trying to drive while also under attack. That just screamed “bad idea.”

When they finally pulled into the same refueling stop, Kassian was mildly surprised that nobody came out to accost them. They’d left at least four dead bodies behind. Perhaps the Kronum resistance had cleaned it all up and taken care of explaining things to the police? Kassian knew that human police wanted nothing to do with shifter-on-shifter warfare, but how much longer could they get away with it before it was declared too much? The fight had to have been visible to the school. Someone must have seen it happen. But nobody came up to them.

A chilling thought occurred to Kassian. Perhaps it was the reach of the Institute that prevented it from being a bigger issue. If they were involved, they could have silenced anyone who might have said something about it, either with bribes, or outright threats. Yet another reason they needed to be stopped.

“Over there,” Gregory said, pointing at the schoolyard. “School gets out in thirty minutes.”

“I’m aware of all the details,” Kassian said, rolling his eyes. “But you don’t think two people of our size randomly wandering around schoolgrounds would attract unwanted attention? If you want me to do this, to set up Cadia, then shut your damn trap and let me do it.”

Gregory glared at him, but didn’t say anything more.

“Now, where are the news vans?”

“The what?” the gryphon shifter asked.

“The reporters. The people who are going to miraculously be here to catch the entire thing on tape. So that there will be video evidence of who did it?”

Gregory stared at him.

“Seriously? How the hell else are you planning on pinning it on me?”

It came to him before the other man could respond. “Oh. I get it. I’m going to be ‘critically wounded’ in the fight somehow, aren’t I? So I won’t make it far, then my body will be discovered. That’ll be all the proof you need.”

Gregory gave him a thin smile.

“Perfect. Just perfect. Okay, let’s see here.” Kassian surveyed his surroundings.

The two-lane road ran between them and the school. The car was parked up against the little office building that was attached to the refueling station. It was on one side of the lot, nearest the school, while behind them were the pumps. Beyond the building was just more undeveloped land. This one was highlighted by a huge mound of dirt.

“What’s your plan?” Gregory asked as Kassian walked around the lot, pretending to look at this, that, and the other thing.

“To kill the guy,” he said bluntly.

“But you’re to kill him over there,” Gregory indicated forcefully.

“I’m not going to murder him in front of all those kids,” Kassian said. “You’re going to kill me, you’ll have my body. What the hell does it matter to you? Those kids don’t deserve to be haunted like that. They don’t live in our society. This is already going to ruin the target’s son’s life. There’s no need for all the other children to suffer as well.”

A face as hard as stone stared back at him, but Kassian wasn’t about to relent. He was drawing a line. If they wanted him to do this, he was going to do it his way, or not at all. That was the end of the argument there.

“Very well. Walk me through your plan then.”

“It’s not complete yet. One part is missing,” Kassian admitted. “It’s what I’m trying to figure out now.”

“What part?”

“Getting him and his kid over here.”

Gregory nodded. “Kind of a big part.”

“No shit,” he snapped. “But once he’s here, it’s easy.”

“Easy?”

“Yep. I just get him to come over here, like this,” Kassian said, walking along beside the building, pacing backward, as if Gregory was his intended victim.

“Just like this?” the gryphon shifter asked, playing along, following him.

They cleared the back of the building, Gregory still focused on Kassian while he was trying to puzzle out the Koche brother’s plan. Kassian tried not to smile as he saw what he was looking for behind the other man. It was barely visible, just a single thing around the far corner of the building. If Gregory had been looking the other way, he would have seen it. But he wasn’t.

“Just like that. Then, he walks into my trap.”

“Trap? What trap?”

“Well, he’ll have to look that way for long enough,” Kassian said thoughtfully, pointing back across the street.

“Why is that?” Gregory asked, following his lead, turning his back to the side of the fueling station building.

“So that my friend can sneak up behind him and hit him over the head.”

“Your friend? I’m not helping you,” Gregory snarled.

Kassian was still facing away from the gryphon, looking over at the school. But he didn’t miss the thunk of metal hitting something solid.

“I know,” he replied with a smile as the gryphon’s body limply hit the ground. “Like I said. My friend.”

He turned around.