The silence pressed down on Eli, crushing him beneath its weight. Buildings whizzed by as the SUV sped through the night, taking turns seemingly at random until Eli was completely lost. He stared out the darkened windows, determined not to be the first one to break the silence. Everything was deliberate with Benjamin, calculated to unsettle and give him the upper hand. There was a reason he had risen to the top of the criminal world in such a large and important city as Seaset. He might seem calm and unconcerned about tonight's events, but Benjamin was known to smile and laugh even while plotting how best to torture someone to get important information.
Despite himself Eli glanced over across the seat to Benjamin, lounging with a slight smile on his face, seemingly not a care in the world. He certainly didn’t look like the ruthless leader of criminals who had climbed his way to power over mountains of bodies. He looked like an accountant. Short, slightly receding dark hair, and thick out of style glasses. It wasn’t until one looked into the eyes behind the glasses that you saw the real monster hidden behind the bland exterior. Benjamin Water’s eyes were cold, calculating, and able to carve out your thoughts and secrets like a scalpel.
“You have had quite the exciting night, haven’t you Eli?”
Benjamin’s voice snapped Eli out of his thoughts, and as he met the eyes of his boss, he couldn’t stop a shiver from running up his spine. This night really had gone to shit in a truly spectacular way.
“I tried to talk to Jacob and Alex. I told them I would take on Delilah’s debt, that there was no reason to hurt her. They ignored me. We fought. I won.”
Eli turned to fully face Benjamin as he spoke, careful to keep his voice firm but respectful. He was so damned tired it was hard to focus, every thought felt like it had to push its way through mud to get to the surface. He had used too much of his power tonight. If there was a less ideal time to confront Benjamin, he could not think of one. Eli’s only hope was to tell the truth and hope Benjamin Waters decided to show mercy. A desperate plan with almost no chance of success. At least if he died the pain from his entire body being bruised and cut up would go away.
“Every time I think I have gotten a handle on you, you go and do something so spectacularly stupid that I am forced to reevaluate my own skill at reading people. I know you have become squeamish over the last few months, lost that bloodthirsty edge that made you so endearing, but I never thought you would put your own life in danger to rescue a sorcerer.”
Eli ran a scraped and bloody hand over his face, struggling to find the right words to explain. “I… I just wanted tonight to end without any violence.”
“Well, you failed at that didn’t you?” Benjamin laughed humorlessly. “And at the end of it all, Delilah tried to turn you to ash to further her own wants. Typical sorcerer, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I wasn’t expecting her to try and kill me.”
“Were you expecting praise and thanks? Perhaps a parade thrown in honor of the noble hero who had just saved the damsel in distress?”
“She doesn’t deserve to die.”
Eli wanted to say more. He wanted to rage against Benjamin, shout about the injustice of it all, how things didn’t have to go this way. His plan would have worked, Benjamin could have gotten his money. Eli wanted to say more but he couldn’t. Numbness spread throughout his body, settling comfortably in his brain. There was only one conclusion to his actions tonight; his death, and he was too tired to fight it. He had tried and he had failed. Slumping back in the leather seats he closed his eyes and waited.
“She isn’t going to die Eli, stop being so dramatic. Right now, she is having the fingers in her left hand broken. My people will make sure to keep the breaks clean, that way she will still be able to enchant once they heal. They will be sure to get the point across though that this is her last chance. I imagine after the night she had, agreeing to pay me back will be an easy choice.”
The detached way Benjamin described breaking someone's bones would have shocked Eli, if he hadn’t already heard it more times than he could count in the last five years.
“The matter that still needs to be discussed however,” Benjamin continued in his bland voice, “is what to do with you.”
Relief swept through Eli, he knew how terrifying and effective Benjamin’s personal security force could be. For a brief instance he almost felt a shred of pity for Delilah; almost. She had tried to set him on fire after all.
“You could let me go with a stern warning not to do anything like that again? I can even look scared and properly chastised as I leave the car, that way people know you didn’t go easy on me.”
“An interesting ideal, but I think you misunderstood my question. I am not trying to figure out how to punish you for tonight, I am trying to figure out what your place in this organization is now.”
Eli sat up straight. “My place? Are you threatening to kick me out?”
“We are just discussing possibilities. Since I picked you up off the streets five years ago and gave you a home and a job, you have been one of my best enforcers. Tough, ruthless, and able to terrify anyone who got too bold back into line. That power of yours is dangerous, both to others and yourself. I have shielded you, protected you because we had an arrangement. These last few months however you have not been holding up your end of our deal.”
The silence stretched between them, heavy with implied threat. There was too much truth in Benjamin’s words for Eli to argue. He had given him a home and a job after his asshole of a father had kicked him out, had given Eli a purpose. They had reached an uneasy agreement all those years ago, Eli would become an enforcer for Benjamin, using the Void to deal with the more threatening and unstable entities his regular people could not handle. In return Benjamin would pay him well, but more importantly he would help keep Eli’s secret, protect him from the other powers in Seaset that would love to get their hands on him.
It had been a means for survival, a way to keep going one day to the next, but Eli quickly found a desire for the work. It offered an unexpected release to the rage that was always a bit too close to the surface. The power, the fear, the violence. He had charged headlong down that dark path. Followed it eagerly, until he became scared of what he was turning into.
“I can still be useful; I just don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”
Benjamin arched an eyebrow. “How useful do you think an enforcer who refuses to hurt anyone will be to me?”
“I can be more than just an enforcer.” Eli hated the desperation in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. He was grasping at straws, but it was all he could do. “Very few people understand magic better than I do. I know the political landscape between the various factions. I can be useful; I can be more than just violence.”
“I believe tonight showed that you have a great deal of talent in violence. Few would be able to beat Jacob, Alex, and a sorcerer all within just a few minutes. No. You have always been the most useful to me as an enforcer. I understand why you lost your drive for it, but that does not change the fact that I am running a business. Your personal issues are not more important than that.”
“Then stop with the show and just fucking kill me already.” Eli snapped, his anger rushing to the surface before he could get control of it. He was too fucking tired to keep playing whatever game this was.
He expected Benjamin to match his anger, no one talked to him that way. Instead, Benjamin let out a loud laugh, the cheery sound bouncing around the enclosed space. It caught Eli off guard. This whole night seemed to have him permanently on his back foot.
“You know, I have always found the way you wear your emotions on your sleeve refreshing. Too many people tell me what they think I want to hear or are attempting to maneuver the conversation to best achieve their own ends. But you just blurt out the first thing that pops into your head. It’s refreshing. It has also gotten you into a lot of trouble though,hasn’t it?”
“Sometimes.” Eli said cautiously. He had no idea where this conversation was going, it kept pinballing around in random directions. If Benjamin wasn’t going to kill him though, and that was looking less likely, then he wanted something from him. If Benjamin Waters wanted something from him badly enough that he was dancing around the issue instead of directly ordering, then it could not be anything good.
“No need to be modest. The vampires of House Alard, the various weir circles around the city, the number of sorcerers you have accosted, even the other members of my business who you work with. All hate you. Not to mention anyone who finds out the truth of your powers, or your roommate. All across the city are powerful individuals you have pissed off royally. Only my protection keeps them at bay.” Benjamin smiled over at Eli, his gentle tone and smile a stark contrast to his words.
“So, we’re back to you threatening me. Look, I’ve had a long night, just tell me what you want or throw me out of the car and let me fend for myself,” Eli said.
It was a gamble. If Benjamin didn’t have an ulterior motive, if he was just fucking with him for the joy of it, then Eli was dead.
“You’re right, enough messing around. I do need something from you, a job that no one else can do. It requires your considerable knowledge of magic, along with your unique ability. There is someone that needs protecting and you are going to ensure that no harm comes to them.”
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“Just protecting someone? It can’t be as simple as that. You wouldn’t have gone through all this, made sure to drive home how close I am to dying without you, unless you wanted to make sure I had no other choice but to take it. What’s the catch?”
“The person you will be guarding is a student at Westmore Academy. She is in her first year there,” Benjamin said calmly.
Eli was shaking his head before Benjamin had even finished speaking, a familiar panic crawling through his stomach. “No. No, I cannot go to Westmore Academy, to any academy. You know that. You’re just going to have to find someone else.”
Benjamin leaned forward in his seat, locking eyes with Eli. His placid expression fell away, cold fury taking its place. “I am not giving you a choice on this. You will do this for me, or not only will I turn you out on the streets without my protection, I will send out word that you are to be hunted down and slaughtered no matter where you run. You won’t last more than two weeks. Do not test me on this Eli.”
“This makes no damn sense,” Eli yelled, leaning forward as well. “I am the single worst person you could send. All it would take is one person, one Sentinel, to recognize me and I am dead. The risk is too great. Not only that but no one at an Academy should need any protection. Those places are heavily warded. They have to be, no one wants future sorcerers to be harmed.”
“Westmore is, to put it simply, a terrible school. It’s a third rate academy, full of barely passable teachers, that turns out barely passable sorcerers. It’s nothing like the academy you went to. The chances of you running across anyone who knows you is practically zero.”
The moment Benjamin mentioned an academy fear rose up in Eli. One that he had lived with so constantly in the past few years it had become an almost comforting presence. That fear had kept him alive, told him when he was pushing things too far, reminded him that a life in the shadows was the only way. It was no exaggeration that if the wrong sorcerer recognized him it would lead to serious trouble. At best he would have to flee Seaset, start a new life somewhere with one eye constantly on the lookout. At worst it would mean his brief imprisonment and hopefully quick death. It was far too big a risk to go anywhere near such a place.
Only a few really knew what had happened all those years ago, why he had suddenly vanished, but he still couldn’t risk it.
“That’s beside the point. Even a lesser academy will still have better protection than almost anywhere else in the city. I’m not risking mine, or Amon’s, life just for whatever twisted punishment this is.”
“Eight students have disappeared from the grounds of Westmore over the last three months.”
Eli stared at Benjamin, then shook his head. “That's not possible. I know how well warded academies are, not to mention that I haven’t heard a single thing about this. If eight future sorcerers just went missing it would be all over the news. The Sages would send a whole group of Sentinels to investigate and get to the bottom of this.”
Benjamin smiled wryly. “Would they? Would they really care about some future mediocre sorcerers going missing? Kids from unimportant families. Would the Sages risk the public embarrassment of being unable to protect their own?”
That gave Eli pause. If this Academy was as low as Benjamin said, the truth was that the higher up sorcerers probably didn’t give a shit. At least not enough of one to make it a publicly big deal. Sorcerers were rare, only a small percentage of humans had that innate spark of magic in them, but that didn’t mean the potential loss of a few mediocre ones was anything to worry about. Power was everything. In magic, in status, and in wealth. They would keep an eye on the situation at Westmore, make sure that not too many students were lost, but they would not send in Sentinels. Not unless they had to.
“If what you’re saying is true,” Eli said slowly, “and that is still a big if to me, it doesn’t explain why you care, or why you have to send me to do this.”
“Neither of those are your concern. All that matters is that I need you to do this and that you will.” Benjamin’s tone was steel, warning Eli that this line of questioning was continued at his own risk.
None of this made sense to him. Not how kids could be disappearing from an academy, not why Benjamin had such an interest in this, and certainly not why he had to be the one to do this. He was used to not having things explained though, Benjamin played things so close to the vest they were practically part of his skin. He would figure out the whys of this, but that would come later. Eli had been offered an out after believing his death was only minutes away. This could be the opportunity he’d been looking for.
He was going to take this job. The fear was still there, screaming at him that getting anywhere near other sorcerers was tantamount to tying the noose around his own neck, but he ignored it as best he could. This would be dangerous, but it did sound like there wouldn’t be any Sentinel presence or anyone to recognize him. He would lay low, guarding whoever this person was for a few weeks until Benjamin decided that there wasn’t any real threat going on.
“If I do this job then I want out. No more ties or debts to you or anyone in your organization, and I want you to put the word out that we separated on friendly terms. If people still think that we have a slight connection, then they will hesitate to come after me. That’s my demand for doing this.”
Benjamin remained silent for several moments, his expression giving no indication to what thoughts were going through his devious mind. Eli tried to keep his face just as blank, but knew he wasn’t nearly as successful.
“Most would think that not killing you for interfering tonight and almost beating two of my best enforcers to death would be reward enough,” Benjamin said.
“You just said a few minutes ago that I haven’t been useful to you for months. Why keep up the trouble of trying to force me to do things I no longer have any taste for. People thinking that we went our own ways on good terms, that we are still close is good for you too. I can still enact that fear without causing you so many headaches.”
“You almost beat Jacob to death. If Delilah hadn’t interfered, you most likely would have. That does not speak to me of someone who no longer has any taste for violence.”
The sight of Jacob’s bloodied and broken face flashed through Eli’s mind. He pushed it out, the image threatening to make his stomach lose all the food he had eaten that day.
“I lost control. That doesn’t make me want to do your kind of jobs more, it makes me want to do them less. I gave those two every opportunity to settle things peacefully. They were the ones to push the issue.” Eli’s justifications sounded fake even to himself.
“This job may require you to use violence; to hurt those who would try to harm the girl you will be protecting. Is that going to be a problem?”
“I can protect whoever this person is, don’t worry about that. Does that mean you agree to my terms?”
Benjamin nodded. “I agree. You will do this final job, guarding the girl while she is on Westmore campus from any threats until I deem the danger to have passed. No harm is to come to her. You will not mention this job to anyone. After that you are free to leave my organization with no ill will, and I will put out the word that the separation was blessed by me.”
The last of the tension Eli had been holding melted out of him. Tonight had been a rollercoaster, but in the end he had gotten what he wanted. A way out of Benjamin’s organization and a way out of beating up people daily. This would be an easy job too. He didn’t know why Benjamin wanted this so badly, but he knew the sorcerer world backwards and forwards and there was no way students were actually disappearing from academy grounds; no matter how poor. Most likely they couldn’t handle the pressure and had run away; it wasn’t unheard of.
“Tell me more about Westmore, this student I'm guarding, and the supposedly missing other students.” Eli said, determined to get all the facts he could.
“I will send you an email with all the pertinent information on it later, but I will briefly fill you in now. Westmore is in the southern part of the city, it’s small for an academy, barely taking up a block.. Eight students have vanished while they were on campus. Their families have not seen them, no one has heard from them, and no one saw them leave.” Benjamin hesitated, carefully considering his next words. “The missing students have gotten progressively younger. The first few were almost graduated, the next a few years younger, and the last one to be taken was only in his third year there. The parents are starting to panic.”
That gave Eli pause. The first few had almost graduated? That didn’t make any sense for them to run away then. Even being second rate sorcerers, they still would have found good jobs, better than most humans. They were also getting younger? That was…strange. He would have to look into this later though, right now he was so tired he was barely able to keep his thoughts straight.
“Alright, and what about the person I'm protecting?”
“Maddie Wright. An eleven-year-old first year, she just discovered her powers a few months ago. Officially you will be an assistant for her class. Oh, calm down. You won’t need to perform any actual magic, just help with theory.” Benjamin said, seeing Eli open his mouth to argue. “Maddie, her mother, and the Dean will know why you’re there, but no one else will.”
Eli frowned. “I’m not exactly the best when it comes to kids. I don’t think I’m going to make a good assistant teacher.”
“Luckily for you you're not there to be a good teacher.”
Benjamin’s tone made Eli pause. There was an intensity to it that he had never heard before. And was that fear as well?
“Why am I doing this Benjamin? Why does it have to be me, why the secrecy, and why this girl?”
As soon as the words left Eli’s mouth, he knew he had made a mistake. Benjamin’s gaze hardened to icy chips as he leaned carefully forward. His eyes flashed black, the darkness fully enveloping the sclera. It was only for a second, so brief he would have missed it if he’d blinked. The sight terrified Eli more than anything else tonight.
If Benjamin’s inner animal was so close to the surface that he was showing signs of changing, he was far more rattled than he let on. Benjamin was a man known for his control. It was common knowledge that you could never trust whatever expression he had on his face; he could stab someone through the eye without his smile even twitching. If Benjamin was unsettled enough to let something that big slip then Eli had to tread carefully. One wrong word would have him dead; deal or not.
Benjamin might just be a weir-rat, but he had risen to the top of one of the largest criminal organizations on the west coast for a reason. He was brilliant. Not the watered-down kind of brilliant parents say when bragging about their shit kids, but truly brilliant. He had talked, manipulated, and made deals that had slowly but surely gained him power, out maneuvering everyone who stood in his way. He ruled his people absolutely. They did not love him, but they respected him to a point of almost worship. Under his leadership they had more power, money, prestige, and protection than they had ever thought possible. Each individual, from his most trusted advisors, to the lowest mugger would gladly gut Eli without hesitation if commanded.
“That is none of your concern. Do not push me Eli. You are my first choice for this, but I can still have you killed and choose someone else. Until this is completed, I own you; do not forget that.” Despite the momentary loss of control, Benjamin’s voice was placid as a frozen lake. Eli found himself nodding.
“Got it. When do I start?”
“Tomorrow, so you should get some rest. Have a good night Eli.”
The car came to a stop, looking out Eli saw they were in front of his house. He had been so focused on the conversation he hadn’t been paying any attention to where they were driving. At least this would save him from having to take a car service or have Amon come pick him up.
Eli got out of the car, barely closing the door before it took off, leaving him standing alone in the cold night. He ran his hands through his hair, letting out a long slow breath.
“Fuck.”