slide away {lorenzo berkshire}

62. i told you things

TW - murder

"The world should have protected you; instead, you have been asked to protect it.
What an honor.
What an injustice."
- unknown

~~~~~~

Lorenzo Berkshire

I checked my wand, spinning it once in my fingers before sliding it back into my sleeve. No extra gear, nothing to slow me down. This wasn't the kind of job you packed for - it was the kind you just survived.

I wasn't sure what unsettled me more: the job itself or the company I had to keep.

Mattheo stood a few feet away, arms folded, gaze fixed on some distant point as if he had all the time in the world. Calm, collected... or maybe just good at faking it. I couldn't tell. And honestly, I didn't care to.

Mattheo Riddle. My brother.

The word still made me want to laugh. Or throw up. Maybe both.

Brother? That didn't erase what he'd done to Cassie. It didn't make him less of an arrogant prick who strutted around like he was Merlin's gift to the world. If anything, finding out he was my brother just made it worse - like fate had decided to kick me while I was already down.

I hated him. I hated what he had done. I hated that I had to work with him. I hated that his smug face was the last thing I'd see if this all went south.

And now here I was, wearing the same mark as him, walking the same path.

The choice had been made. No turning back. I'd chosen this world, and even though my reasons were different to his, I still needed to keep my head down and get on with it.

"You ready?". His voice was calm, almost bored.

"Let's just get it done," I replied bluntly.

He tilted his head, but didn't say anything back. Fine by me.

Cassie's face flashed in my head, the way she'd looked before I left. Worried. Tried to hide it, of course, like she always does, but I'd seen it in her eyes.

Mattheo was already striding ahead toward the gates, not even looking back to see if I was following. I didn't hurry to catch up. I didn't want him thinking we were suddenly on the same side just because we'd been given the same target.

We apparated just beyond the perimeter wards around Gringotts. A third figure apparated in a moment later - Selwyn, older than both of us put together and about as friendly as a Dementor. His eyes swept over me like I was some expendable idiot.

"Let's make this fast," Selwyn muttered. "We're not supposed to be seen."

Diagon Alley felt wrong. Too quiet for midday, too empty for a place that once hummed with life.

Gringotts rose ahead of us, pale and sharp against the grey sky. The guards at the door gave us the kind of look that made you feel they'd already weighed and measured your worth - and found nothing.

We didn't speak until the doors shut behind us, sealing us in with the cavernous marble hall.

Mattheo tilted his head toward the far counter. "This way."

I didn't move right away. I'd been in Gringotts before, of course, but never like this. Never with the weight of a Death Eater mission pressing down on my ribs.

The goblins eyed us as soon as we stepped inside, their expressions sharp and unreadable. One of them, older and wearing a chain of tiny golden keys across his chest, glared at us as we approached his desk.