Welcome to the Alliance, Izz (Part 3)

Author’s Note: This happens about five months after Izz - Part 2. If you have not read through The Assassin’s Storm, I would hold off on reading this one just yet! 

- - -

Izz

Maureen's guttural screams pierced Izz's ears through the door, and she squeezed her eyes closed against the noise as if it would drown it out. The phone shook as she dialed Mason's number from Maureen's cell, the sound of ringing barely audible as it competed with Maureen. 

Izz took a few more steps away from the door, Mason's rough voice answering. "Go."

"Mason?" Izz's voice shook, her heart hammering. She'd never called him on the phone before, and he sounded different–harder. He didn't respond, and she gave a tentative, "Hello?"

"Izz?"

Her stomach somersaulted at her name. "Yeah."

"Where's Maureen?"

Maureen took that opportunity to release another scream and Izz flinched with the sound. "I messed up," she said, trying to keep her panic to a minimum. It wasn't easy, imagining the ways he promised to kill her if anything happened to Maureen, but Maureen dying would be worse–so much worse and she swallowed the panic deeper. "There was this blue liquid, and she said it was harmless, but..."

"Fuck." The word dragged out in a half groan. 

 "I'm so sorry," Izz said. "She had me set up a camera and gave me questions to ask. I didn't know what would happen, and then she ziptied herself to the fucking bed!" Another scream split the air and Izz let a soft sob escape her. 

"How long ago did you administer it?" Mason asked. 

"Three hours," Izz said, failing to keep the fear from her voice. "She was fine at two hours, just refusing to answer the questions, which made no sense because she's the one who wanted me to ask them." The words fell out of Izz now, trying to make sure Mason knew she didn't mean to hurt her. "But then, she told me to call you because I sucked at torture. And then she started talking to Krista? And yelling at Seamus? But there was no one in the room with us! Then the screaming started–I've never heard anything like it. I didn't know what to do. I tried to help her, but she said if I let her lose she'd kill me. I was going to call Eileen, but she nearly dislocated her arm trying to lunge at me when I said that, so I called you."

Izz's ears strained through the screams and Mason's silence, waiting for his direction. Each second that passed felt like an eternity. They were going to kill her. Mason was probably telling the guards outside to not let her leave. The panic rushed up her chest, and she held her breath as she waited.

He finally broke the silence. "I'll be there in seven hours."

"Seven hours!"

"I'm in New York, Izz. I can't get there any sooner. I've sent word to security: no one in and out. That means you're on your own until I get there."

Alone, with that murderous woman? "What do I do?"

Mason released a heavy sigh, and she imagined him running his hand over his hair. "You wait."

"For seven hours? What if she dies before then?"

"Do not tell her I'm on my way. She needs to think she's on her own. Every thirty minutes you're going to go in, ask her a question off the list. If she doesn't answer, ask where the pain is. She should answer that. If she doesn't--there's nothing anyone can do for her."

"Should I call Eileen?"

"Do not call Eileen." The command in his voice halted her panic. He was going to fix this. "Once we get Maureen leveled I'll let her know. Understand?"

"Leveled? What the hell did I give her?"

He didn't answer her question, though. "Did you see a yellow vial anywhere?"

Izz's mind flashed to the room. "Yes. She put it in the nightstand."

"At least she's not completely suicidal," Mason said, under his breath. "As long as the pain remains in her spine, she's fine. I know how that sounds--but she'll be fine. If the pain reaches her neck and I'm not there, I'm going to need to administer that yellow vial. Can you do that?"

Izz swallowed the vomit crawling up her throat. She had watched Maureen get enough injections, she understood the process, but she'd never done it before. "I–"

"She will die if you can't," Mason said, removing the option to say no.

"Then I don't really have an option, do I?" Izz snapped and then bit into her lip. To her surprise, Mason chuckled. 

"That's the spirit. I'll be there in 6 hours and 50 minutes. Good luck," he said as another scream echoed from the room. 

_____

Mason

Mason's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as he took the curves of the dirt road going nearly 60 mph, the tires skidding. 

"How long has she been under?" Charlie asked from the passenger seat.

Mason glanced over, her grey curly hair pulled into a messy bun, her pencil clenched between her teeth as she worked on a laptop. He'd gambled an extra hour on Maureen's Sin trip to pick up the only woman he knew would be able to save Maureen when this went south–because there was no way it wouldn’t. Maureen had been in a coma for two years and had massive blood loss. There was no possibility her body still had the conditioning required to regulate the Sin.

"Almost eight hours," he said. "Izz said an hour ago it was at the shoulders."

"She fucking insane," Charlie muttered, and Mason couldn't disagree. Of all the stunts Maureen had pulled over the years–this was the most reckless–the most selfish. 

The safe house came into view, the guard's rifle already raised as Mason slammed on the brakes and dropped the car into park. He launched out of the car, Charlie on his heels as he took the front steps three at a time, not even glancing at the guard. He held the door open for the older woman, Maureen's berating voice traveling down the stairs. They exchanged a glance and Charlie took the lead up. Outside the door, they paused as Izz's tired voice reached them.

"Who is Josie," Izz asked, her voice wary. 

"Was. Who was Josie. How hard is it to read it off that fucking piece of paper! Are you illiterate?"

"That's rich coming from the woman who poisoned herself. Let's try the next one, who is Katherine's father?"

Mason's stomach dropped at the question. What the fuck was she gambling at? And taking Sin with Izz–did she have a death wish for the girl? A scream broke the air and Mason grabbed the door handle, heart jumping, but Charlie put a hand on his and shook her head. "Does she know about me?"

Mason gave a quick shake of his head. Maureen had been down for two years. They lost a lot of people in that time, and Eileen and Andrew had agreed to keep her in the dark as long as possible about Charlie's fate, afraid she would do the exact thing she was doing–dive back into Sin before she was healed. 

“Let’s keep it that way. Her guilt over my death should shake something free.”

"Where's the pain?" Izz asked as the scream died down. "How high?"

"Not high enough to kill me," Maureen ground out.

"Well that's a fucking shame," Izz said, annoyance ringing in every syllable. Mason had to give it to her–eight hours of listening to Maureen would have cracked most people. "Who's Katherine's father?" Izz repeated.

"Fucking do it," Maureen spat, and Mason knew she wasn't talking to Izz by the venom in her voice. He would guess Charlotte–whoever that was. It was her most talkative ghost, and most dangerous. "You're not real anyway." 

Another scream, but it wasn't the scream of spinal pain, it was the sound of her dead finally turning on her. Charlie motioned for him to open it. Izz's relief met him and she backpedaled from the bed. Blood stained the sheets beneath Maureen's bound wrists, the zip ties tearing into the skin as she tried to wrench herself away from whatever her dead were doing. Bloodshot eyes stared at the empty spot beside the bed, but it wasn't empty for her. 

“I will let the Sin kill me before I give you the satisfaction,” Maureen gasped, but she leaned as far to the left side of the bed as her secured arm would allow. Another scream ripped through her, her body arching off the bed, and Mason held back the urge to rush to her side and give comfort. Instead, he motioned for Charlie to hang back and took slow deliberate steps stalking into her line of view.

“I’m sure you deserved that,” he drawled. Maureen’s eyes snapped to his, and even though she was tied up and in no fighting shape, fear coursed through him. He smiled past it. “Who's haunting you?” he asked, hands clasped behind his back, head tilting to the side. It was his best impression of Senior he could pull at the moment. 

Her lip curled in disgust. "Can't even torture me correctly," she said, eyes slipping to Izz. "What the fuck good is she?"

Whoever it was, Maureen was keeping it to her chest. He needed her to spill all the secrets, but that was the game. She fought until she couldn't fight anymore, and the information would slide out, carving a path in her mind she could navigate through next time. It was a messy and painful process, and no one did it better than Maureen. "Do you have a death wish or are you just stupid?" Mason asked, pulling her attention back to him. It took a moment for her eyes to find him again. "I asked you a question."

She must be closer to her limit than he thought, the words falling from her lips in relief at something she could release without consequence. Her muscles relaxed and she nearly melted into the bed. "Eileen found the scarring. She knows about Katherine."

The saliva disappeared from Mason's mouth. "Everything?"

She didn't even have enough energy to sneer at him. "I told her I didn't know who the father was. One night stand that year I was gone." Her eyes glistened as she looked beside Mason and shook her head. "It never was, and never will be that simple..."

"Who's Katherine's father?" Mason asked, heart slamming into his chest. 

"You already know," Maureen said with a frown. "That's why I needed her to ask." She nodded toward Izz, and Mason glanced over, forgetting for the moment about her being in the room. Mason could see the stress of her dead back off, which meant they were running out of time. Maureen was either about to have a near-death spike of serum, or she'd fought through long enough for the Sin to be less effective–until the final spike would hit and kill her.

Izz stepped toward them, eyes glancing between him and Maureen. Mason gave, what he hoped was an encouraging nod, and she pressed her lips together, hands stuffed into her pockets. "Who's Katherine's father?" she asked harshly.

"Who's the father," Maureen mocked. 

Izz let out an aggravated sigh. "This is pointless."

He turned his back to Maureen and Izz looked up with fear clear in eyes. She took a step back, and Mason held up his hands in a peace offering. “The question doesn't matter as much as the information you want,” Mason said under his breath. “Do you understand?” Izz nodded, and he continued. “Good. Now is not the time to worry about decorum. Whatever Eileen saw in you you better dig that shit out and let it shine because if she dies? You die.” 

He stepped back, turning to face Maureen again, a scowl settling into place as Maureen glared. They were getting too close to the end of their window. If Maureen had given him a heads up, he could have prepped Izz–teach her how to navigate Maureen's control. “Ask again," he ordered.

Izz ran her tongue across her teeth, the bags deep beneath her eyes as she thought, seconds ticking by. Mason wanted to rush her–tell her each second might as well be an hour at this point. But Maureen had chosen her, and he would have to let it ride. Finally, with a steadier voice than Mason thought possible, she asked, "Who knows who Katherine's father is?"

Maureen's lip curled in approval and she let the words fly out. "Mason."

Izz huffed a laugh, nodding her head. "Alright. How many people know who her father is?"

"Five."

"And who is her father?"

"Don't you want to know who else knows?" Maureen asked, but Mason saw the clench of her hands in the sheets.

"Don't be a bitch." Charlie stepped up beside Mason. What little color Maureen had left drained from her face. "Answer that woman's questions." Mason kept his eyes focused on Maureen, ignoring Charlie as if she didn't exist. Izz began to speak, and Mason silenced her with a look and a slight raise of his finger. 

"I was wondering when you would show up," Maureen whispered. "Here to give me the final blow? It would be poetic."

"Is that why you did this? Take all the sacrifices of the Alliance and throw it out the fucking window?" Charlie asked.

"If Eileen finds out, it will be over for the Alliance. Andrew would–"

"The woman asked you a question.” Charlie’s voice was low and controlled, but laced with something darker, and Mason fought to keep a straight face as if he couldn't hear a word of it. This was the woman who invented Sin. The genius who helped Maureen hone the compound into an asset instead of a threat. “You can answer her… or I’ll start peeling back the very thin membrane of your skin, layer by agonizing layer until you do. And then, when you’re begging for mercy, I’ll make sure you watch everything you tried to protect fall apart. Starting with Katherine. You’ll watch it all crumble–because you couldn’t trust the one person who promised to protect you at any cost. Just like you promised to protect me.” Her voice grew colder. “Seems like promises don’t mean much around you.”

"No." Maureen shook her head. "No. I tried to stop Elijah. I swear. It's why he tried to kill me. It's why Katherine was sent away–"

"I'm sure her father loved that," Izz spat, pulling their attention across the room. Mason smirked. Izz stood tall, her arms crossed and a look of disdain on her face. It was going to suck to have to kill her. 

"How could he? He's dead," Maureen countered.

"Kill him too?" Izz asked.

"No, I–"

"Liar," Izz spat. "Get rid of Katherine–get rid of–"

"I didn't get rid–"

But Izz gave her no pause. "You killed him!"

"I didn't–"

"Didn't what?" Izz demanded stepping closer.

"Kill him," Maureen ground out, her breath coming in shorter bursts, her brow creasing. Another shot was climbing up her back. They were almost out of time. 

"Kill who?" Izz pressed, bracing on the bed, inches from Maureen’s face.

"Seamus!" The room fell silent for a moment, the name hanging heavy between them. 

"Damn," Mason breathed, but before he could applaud her for a job well done Maureen yelled, lunging forward. Mason stepped in to pull Izz back, but she'd already leaned out of Maureen's reach and cracked a smile. 

"Okay,” Izz said. “That was kinda fun."

Mason ignored her and pushed past as Maureen's head dropped back, another scream piercing his ears. He cupped the back of Maureen's neck, Charlie at his side. "Breathe," Mason murmured, Maureen's eyes rolling to the back of her head and then she fell limp. Terror swam in his stomach. "Moe?" He gave a small shake but she didn't answer. "Charlie?"

The older woman was already at his side, pulling the serum from the nightstand. Mason's fingers found a faint pulse at her neck. "She's not dead yet."

"Take her out of here," Charlie ordered, nodding to Izz. "I've got this."

He didn't want to leave Maureen's side, but they needed to do damage control. Who knows what other secrets she spilled before they arrived. Fuck. But this was why he'd brought her–to save Maureen from herself. He licked his lips and nodded, signaling for Izz it was time to go. Fingers dug into his forearm before he could leave and he met Charlie's dark gaze.

"This makes us even, Reaper," Charlie said.

Mason's lip twitched, his gaze darkening. Nothing in this world would make them even–could bring back what he sacrificed to save her. "Not even close," he said, and left without a backward glance. 
- - -