“Calm down, Viddy, Megan is fine. Well, now she is anyway, but that’s a story for another day. All you need to know is she’s protected and not in danger.”
I trust him, so I know he wouldn’t lie about something like this, but it doesn’t answer the other stuff.
“Why are you here, Wyatt, and how the fuck did you end up on this ship?”
“Well, from what I was able to pick up when the assholes taking us thought we were all out cold from the spiked water they gave us, we are supposed to be some kind of sacrificial offering for Saturday. I don’t have much more than that.” He shrugs.
I turn to look at Will and see Ben walk up behind him with Cash in tow.
“Viddy, looks like you started the party without me.”
“Sorry, Cash, guys, this is Wyatt, one of my best friends in the whole world.”
“Viddy, he looks like he eats small children for breakfast.”
“Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Wyatt rumbles from behind me.
“Zodiac is up to something. He had Wyatt snatched with another bunch of people for a sacrifice,” I say, scrunching up my face until a light bulb goes off.
“The planetarium. With Cancer dead, Zodiac will want a replacement, and this must be the new recruits challenge.” I shove my way past them and move back into the room, scanning the people who look terrified out of their minds. It doesn’t improve any when the guys step in behind me.
“Joan?” Cash’s voice chokes out, shocked, from next to me. I see an older woman with red hair threaded with silver look up sharply at the sound of her name being called.
“Cash?” she says, confused.
“Who is she, Cash?” I ask him, watching her climb to her feet and wrap an arm protectively around her waist.
“She was Caroline’s mom. I haven’t seen her though, since the funeral.”
“But I thought you said they didn’t get on, that they kicked her out when she was pregnant.”
“She did, so if they brought Joan here as a weapon to be used against me, they chose badly.”
“He didn’t bring me here because I matter to you, he brought me here because of my connection to Lily and to him,” she says with a sniff.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Cash steps forward, but I hold him back.
“My sister can’t have kids, but I didn’t know that at the time. I was fourteen and never really paid much attention to my older sister’s life. That was until her husband raped me and got me pregnant.”
“With Caroline,” Cash’s shoulders slump. “No wonder you hated her.”
“I didn’t hate her, Cash, I just didn’t know how to love her. Every time I looked at her, I saw the man who held me down as my sister cooed softly in my ear that everything would be okay. The fucked up thing is, they didn’t want to raise the baby they forced on me, but they refused to let me get rid of her or give her up for adoption. I felt like I was being tortured day in and day out in a nightmare I couldn’t escape from. When Caroline died, I felt relieved,” she admits with tears streaming down her face.
I feel bile rushing up the back of my throat. “Joan, what’s your sister’s name?”
“Her name is Estelle, and her husband is Gianni.”
I look up at Cash and see him figure it out the same time I do.
“Lily is Zodiac’s granddaughter.”
“Wait.” A young girl of maybe twelve steps forward, her big green eyes brimming with tears. “My brother works for Zodiac,” she admits as all the pieces start to drop into place.
“Who’s, your brother, sweetheart?” Will asks her softly.
“J…Joey, but most people call him Taurus.”
I look out over the people here and do a headcount, there is enough for a single sacrifice per division head, bar one. Kai.
“Zodiac is going to make his initiates sacrifice everyone here to prove their loyalty and to remind the division heads who is in charge. I can’t send these people to their deaths, but Zodiac will be on to us when they don’t arrive.”
“We were supposed to be held here until Saturday and then taken straight to the drop off, wearing some kind of ceremonial robes and hoods, so I doubt he’ll know we’re missing until then,” Wyatt adds, but on the back of it an idea forms.
“Will, Cash, I need you to round up some people for me. I’ll text you the names. Ben, I need you to