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“He has come to tell us something that has given us a reason to re-evaluate our own backyard. For a long time, he wanted to ruin Midnight Mayhem.”
“Hear, hear,” I sigh, massaging my temple with my non-alcoholic hand. “He can get the fuck in line.”
“No—” King shakes his finger. “Not like that. He is an Elite King.” He searches my eyes. “Well, was the brother of a King, a Vitiosis, to be exact.”
“What? What the hell does that mean?” I take the first sip of whiskey. It explains why Eli hated him. There’s obviously bad blood between the two sides. I hiss when fire touches the back of my throat and travels down to my stomach.
“He lost his daughter not long ago apparently. Some explosion at one of their houses. I don’t know, Eli spoke about it briefly, but—”
“Bailey?” Lilith whispers the name, mainly to herself.
Kyrin nods, rounding the couch and picking Lilith up from beneath her arms and sliding into where she sat, placing Lilith on his lap. “Yeah, Bailey.”
“That tipped him even farther over the edge that he was already on. He killed his wife and opened The Connoisseur of the Dark. The only part we can’t figure out is how Eli fits into this…” Kyrin’s voice drifts out, and his tongue sneaks out and catches the corner of his lip. The first time Kyrin ever did that I was ten years old. It was when I asked him if our dad cheated on our mom. He said no, right before his tongue caught the corner of his lip.
Right as he’s about to choke on his lie.
“You know how Eli fits into this, Kyrin. You’re just not telling me, and I need to fucking know.”
“We think he’s there for you.” Keaton rounds the couch now, and when he’s standing directly in front of me, he lowers himself onto the coffee table. “No, we know he is.”
“I know that! He told me!”
“No.” Keaton shakes his head, his knees spreading to cage mine in. His tattoo covered hands spread over my knees and I watch as the cherry on his fingers spreads with it. I remember when I asked about that tattoo. It’s the one tattoo that he has never shared the backstory for. Every other tattoo I want to know about, he shares with me openly.
All but that one.
“We think Dominic Stranger has something on you.”
“When I saw Eli a few months ago, he was with Bam Bam, so why—”
“And how the fuck do you know Bam Bam?” Keaton’s grip around my legs tightens.
I shove myself out of his hands, but he doesn’t budge. I glare at him. “Because I can’t tell you, that’s why!” I wasn’t lying. There’s no way I am in a position to share with Keaton how I know Bam Bam. Especially not right now.
Kyrin lets out a groan, tilting his head back to rest on the chair as Lilith chuckles into the side of his neck. “Fuck off, bro. I’m not watching you and my fucking sister have angsty I hate you foreplay!” His dark green eyes collide with mine. “I ain’t having this shit, Cartier, and I’m still gonna beat his ass.”
“Try, you can try—again…” Keaton teases, and Kyrin flips him off.
“Eli is alive,” Lilith whispers against Kyrin’s neck, tracing the tattoo he has over the side with her finger. “That’s all I care about right now.”
“And we’re going to get him back,” I add boldly, not moving my attention away from Keaton.
“Yes, we all are,” Kyrin adds pointedly at me.
Keaton finally releases me and I shoot to my feet, my skin crawling with an unfamiliar feeling that I’m not wanting to touch right now.
“Guess I’m drinking tonight.” I scoop up my glass of whiskey. “But tomorrow, I’m back on finding out what’s happening, and I know where I’m going for answers.”
Keaton ignores me, still smirking widely at Kyrin.
“To The Kings.”
His smirk drops instantly. “The fuck? No, you ain’t.”
I’m desperate to do anything to clear my mind from all the bullshit I feel bubbling up inside of me, so I leave without another word. They can fight among themselves. In all the three years that I’ve known this was what I would be doing, I’ve never felt so many emotions in such a short amount of time.
Delila was right. The training was going to be easy. The hardest part would come once I was immersed in the world, that was when I would find where my loyalties would fall, and where my true friends would lay.
