Ivan’s old man is a fucking snake. He’s heavy-handed with discipline and spends most of his time either snapping bones or trying to beat the sense into my friend.
Saint pulls himself up from the ground and brushes dirt off his pants before dropping down cross-legged beside me. “So,” he says, “what do you need from us?”
Ivan looks at me, something heavy in his gaze. “It’s more what I need from you, Kaden.”
The sounds around me still—the birds chirping, the grass rustling, and Saint’s heavy breathing all melt away.
“You said you want to kill,” Ivan offers. “I have a way for you to do that while remaining protected.”
It’s true. Since my fascination with bones, I’ve developed into a gore expert. Something about the way blood gushes and vessels pop has piqued my interest. It’s a sick fantasy that I often relive—slashing into someone’s throat and sawing away at their flesh until they gurgle and choke on their own blood.
I like the screams that teeter on the brink of horrid shrieks before settling into an unnatural calm. I like to pick apart animal carcasses and see what their entrails look like. And most of all, I love the feeling of a weapon beneath my fingertips. The cold handle of a loaded gun, the warm hilt of a knife, any of it really.
Melody doesn’t know that I have homicidal thoughts. While she’s still present in my ritual, I play it all off as morbid fascination and nothing more. She has no idea what I want to do to grown men—watch their eyes roll back as I see the life leave their bodies with a serrated blade slicing through flesh. To feel the warmth of deep red blood trickle over my palms…
“How?” I ask, sucking smoke into my lungs.
“You have what it takes to finish what I started,” Ivan says slowly. “I can offer you protection the moment I take over, but it will come with stipulations.”
“Like what?”
My friend tosses his cigarette down, then presses his boot to the lit end and twists his foot. “You’ll be forced to hide away until I can gain control.”
My eyes roll up to him. “For how long?”
He shrugs. “A few years. You’ll still get to kill, but you won’t have contact with anyone who can potentially be used as a bargaining chip.”
My first thought is of my sister. We’ve been inseparable since she first came into the picture. I would be the one to ruin that—to see the betrayal crack across her perfect, soft features when she realizes what I’ve done…
“This is the only way you can kill,” Ivan says lowly as he stares at the dirt. “Just think about it, Kaden.”
“And what if I say no?”
His eyes shift up to me. “Then you won’t know what it’s like to hold a human head in your hands without serving a prison sentence.”
“Why do I need to hide to begin with?” I shrug. “Shouldn’t your connections be able to keep me safe?”
Ivan shakes his head, seriousness in his voice. “Because you’ll be a target until I can make sure everyone loyal to my father is gone. Hiding is the only way I can guarantee you’ll stay alive.”
That makes more sense. Everyone would be gunning for the kid who killed the Pahkan.
“Asking questions means you’re considering it,” Saint points out, flicking his cigarette to the dirt. “I want in.”
“No,” Ivan shakes his head. “I need you for something else.Torture.”
Saint claps his hands together. “Now we’re talking.”
“What’s in it for us?” I ask.
Ivan smirks, his lips curling unsettlingly. “The power to do whatever the fuck you want, to whoever the fuck you want.”
We’re back on school grounds the moment the last bell rings, signaling it’s time for our final period. Students bustle through the halls, shouts and laughter filling the corridor as we head for our last class of the day.
A sight at the end of the long hall causes me to stop, and something nasty curls around the back of my neck. The blood rushes past my ears as I see Melody cornered by Jack Green, the football captain, and the same guy who’s been trying to ask her out since freshman year.
I thought he would have gotten the hint two years ago when I beat him so badly he couldn’t walk properly for months. I almost ended his football career with a few punches, and yet here he is, leaning into my sister as he whispers something in her ear. She giggles, lifting her hand to her mouth as he plants a palm beside her head and nearly presses their bodies together.
I snap.
