Valiant {Book Two of the Incandescent Trilogy}

Chapter Seven: C'est La Mort

CHAPTER SEVEN: C'EST LA MORT

Rachel stared down at the photo in her trembling hands. The image of Hannah smiled up at her fondly, despite the fact that there was a tear across her head. She had just turned five when it had been taken, and her platinum curls had been tied on either side of her head. She had lost two teeth earlier that week after hitting her mouth on the table, and had cried for two straight hours, only the thought of her upcoming birthday, and what cake Hannah wanted managed to silence her. Neither Rachel nor David thought it would be the last birthday their daughter would ever have.

The following week, while driving Hannah to school, Rachel lost control of the car, and crashed it into the side of the road. David had survived with three broken fingers and a fractured skull, while Rachel made it through with nothing but a concussion. But the force of the impact had shattered Hannah ribs, and the fragments had caved inwards as Hannah struggled to get free. Her ribs had pierced her lungs, and Hannah died within the hour. The paramedics arrived on the scene ten minutes too late.

David left Rachel the following year. He said it was too stressful being with the woman who had killed their daughter, and Rachel hadn't tried to stop him. It was then that Rachel's life spiralled out of control. After losing her daughter and her husband, Rachel took refuge in the deadly sin that was heroin. Less than a month later, Sherrinford found her and took her in, hell-bent on getting Rachel clean. All she had to do in return was to work for him.

"Rachel," said Sherrinford, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Put that damn photograph away, I need you." He grabbed it from her hand and threw it into the street.

Rachel dove for it, not caring that it had landed in a puddle. She wiped it on her dress, freezing when she saw that a large blot of dirt had stained Hannah's face. She spun around, a snarl contorting her face, instantaneously changing from the placid-if not a bit haughty-girl to a black mamba in a gold sequin dress; volatile, aggressive, and unpredictable. Calming for a moment, Rachel wetted her finger and attempted to rub off the stain, sitting on the pavement with her heels discarded alongside her.

"Why didn't you stay?" Sebastian's icy voice said as he approached Rachel and Sherrinford. Sebastian was dressed in a crisp and fitted, navy Westwood suit which only made the scar reaching from the tip of his left ear, to the corner of his mouth more prominent. His crystalline blue eyes narrowed, "You are aware of your mission, yes?"

"Of course I am."

Sebastian ran a hand through his dusty blonde hair, brushing it away from his side cuts. "Then, pray tell, why you have not completed it? You were to stay close to John Watson and Mary Morstan, and now you're out here. Did you not understand my instructions, or are you just plain stupid?"

"Amelia Watson joined them." Sherrinford hissed. "She could have blown our cover. It was a matter of personal security. Would you rather delay our plan, or destroy it entirely?"

He laughed. "Then I would use my backup plan, or my backup plan of the plan, or the backup of that plan, or the backup of that plan-for every plan, I have a backup. You should have stayed with mission. Is that clear?"

"I am not one of your lackeys." Sherrinford's tone was laced with venom. He spat his words at Sebastian who seemed unaffected by Sherrinford's anger. "You are in no position to tell me what to do."

Sebastian had his Glock aimed at Sherrinford in an instant, the muzzle of the gun digging into Sherrinford's temple. While Sherrinford looked terrified, Sebastian almost looked bored; his eyes lacked their usual glint of interest, and his face had been set in stone. Rachel didn't seem to notice what was happening, cooing over her photograph in soft, hush tones. "I am in every position to tell you what to do. You work for me, not the other way around. You will do what I say, when I say it, and you will do so happily because I will flay you alive if you don't, is that clear?"