The Lions Den

Chapter Thirty-Three: When the Lion Must Return to the Deathly Pride

Matteo

The drive to Savannah became longer the closer we came to the city. I sat on the passenger side while Clem sped down the road. Katerina was situated promptly in the backseat. 

As soon as I got the all-clear that Kashera was going to be fine, I grabbed Clem, dragged him to the car and we set out with Katerina determined to not take no for an answer to come with us. I was irritated beyond belief, but this wasn't be the first time that the youngest Leone got herself into the middle of the den with her brothers. Katerina was a lethal lithe of an assassin underneath the pretty exterior. She had a more than average amount of training in her life, and her levels of expertise in other field operation outside of fighting came in hand the rare times she dared to utilize them. I still didn't want her here in harms way, but I was leveled in knowing that she could more than handle herself seeing as once upon a time she was set to be my third in command.

Sitting in the car for the past few hours gave me nothing but ample time to think.

I knew days ago that Anfernee was plotting something, but I wasn't sure what it was and that worried me. I brushed it off though, counting on the fact that if he made the first move it wouldn't be anything entirely too rash considering he had no way to cover himself as he did before. It was eating at me how wrong I was about that. He was moving scarred, and that had proved itself to be dangerous in and of itself.

What I dared to not take into consideration was the fact that he was still indeed in alignment with one Lilly Rodellio. He wasn't dumb, and his strike at Kashera's house was not some spur of the moment decision. With Lilly in his ear, he had to have realized early on that by focusing his next attack on Kashera somewhere where she least expected it he could kill two birds with one stone: Cripple me and keep the evil broad on his arm more than happy.

With my father killing his one true shield of protection he was getting anxious. The paranoid movements of his family while under the tight watch of my own was exposing his frenzied panic. He knew coming for me directly wouldn't work to invoke a sense of urgency on my part which is exactly what he needed to even the playing field.  He wanted me to become panicked and throw off my timing for certain plans or endanger the wrong people at the wrong time. I had to have preparations for every possibility, but even I couldn't predict every outcome of every action. I most certainly wouldn't have predicted this mess we were in now: at least not this early on.