AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Undo that knot, I’ll pull him out.” He pointed upward where a knotted rope was all that was holding up the chain wrapped around his legs.
Okay, easy enough.
I used my scythe again, stretching up to cut through the rope, careful not to rub against the pot. I could feel heat emanating from within.
After a few see-saw motions it split in two. Maliki was fast and had hold of Ace’s body before he could go any further into the heated water.
“See, you’re not all bad,” I told him.
He made an amused sound in the back of his throat and then proceeded to drop Ace’s body onto the ground like it was a sack of potatoes.
“I only got him down because he was one of ours. Dumb fuck got killed before he could get the ink.”
I knew he cared a tad more than he was letting on. We could be the most savage, fucked up people in the world but what we couldn’t do is pretend not to give a damn about the people who mattered.
When someone was truly loyal, there was no time limit, death may have been final but it didn’t take that away.
Looking at Ace, I knew he didn’t deserve this either. Another thing about death, she could be swift and painless or cruel and agonizing. Seeing tufts of curls missing, his eyes gouged out, ears removed, and his lips sewn shut, I could only assume Ace’s had been the latter.
“This was more than simply cooking him Malik.”
“Yeah, I can see that now,” he replied passively.
Just like that, the anger and pain came rushing back like a thick cloud of steam. It burned in my gut and grew bigger the longer I stared. It tasted bitter and had my nails digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood.
Two people who fucked us over were responsible for this. The Stags never would have gotten him if they didn’t set us up. I was left again with same question. Why? Why did they do this?
“Oh, shit,” Greer mumbled, walking closer to where we were standing.
“Hey.” Maliki’s hand came up and pinched my chin, forcing me to look away from Ace. His earthy eyes peered into mine, and I wished I could climb inside them.
They had become my safe place, somewhere where the chaos couldn’t reach me.
“They’ll pay for everything they’ve done, I promise,” he said, as if he had just read my mind. As in tune as this man was with me I wouldn’t be surprised if he could.
I swallowed and nodded, stepping away when the sound of an engine became more prominent.
“We got some company,” Greer sang, jogging over to the gate.
He poked his head out and stated what he saw. “Big brown pick-up, see at least six ankle-biters.”
I quickly did the math on that. Six people wouldn’t be hard to take out but I only had two bullets left and a case-full in my bag back at the SUV. Who knew when I would be able to restock, wasting them on some cannibal fucks wasn’t appealing at the moment.
The sheet lifted, Addy, Zane, and Darrian coming through. The redhead was slightly hobbling. I knew right then that she would slow us down.
“He needs to carry her,” I said to Addy directly because this was her man. “We’ve got to go, more just got home.”
“The butcher boys,” Darrian gasped.
Addie’s eyes went from me to, Zane and Darrian. Without objection, “You heard her.”
The look he gave her could kill but there wasn’t time to deal with their bullshit.
Thankfully, he hoisted Darrian up like she weighed nothing and didn’t choose now to engage in an argument.
We slipped out of the yard, moving back the way we had come. Being it was dark now both a positive and a negative. It made it so that we could move stealthier. It also allowed the pick-up’s headlights to illuminate our rapidly moving forms.
Three different shouts followed us, but no one was stupid enough to slow.
