11. Threx Window Promises #2
“Threx, I did not do shit!” the SLC Punk poser-fuck shook his hands in front of me, backing into the others.
“Yes, you did,” I reminded, grabbing him by the bullring in his nose.
“Fuck,” he screamed, stretching his neck to compensate for the pain, but it wouldn’t work. “Threx. I was just pissed.”
“You threatened to kill my girl because yours was dying?” I yanked, watching the pretty little tears in his eyes gleam in the dusted light.
“I didn’t do shit.”
“You did not spit on her?”
“Come on, man! She was interfering.”
“To save MOLLY’s life, you dimwitted piece of shit.
” I pulled until the sound of metal tearing through cartilage came sputtering out of his throat.
“That is right, scream motherfucker. Because this is nothing compared to what I will do to you if you ever, and I mean EVER, so much as breathe on Daphne again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Get the doc down here,” Wolfe nudged a recruit nearby in a panicked shove.
“Holy shit, man,” Rinley bit back, attempting to catch the blood filling his palms. How cute. “You’ve lost your goddamn mind.”
A laugh fell onto the floor when I dragged him down by his windpipe and held him there with my boot. Oh, how fragile life is when you can stomp it out of existence. I thought about Daphne, her eyes, the slope of her shoulders, and the break in her throat when she leaned in to kiss me.
“You have no idea,” blood filled my eyes when my head fell back in a growl. “You really did pick the wrong day to come home.”
“Threx,” a bloodied version of a shiver swung at me. “Please don’t.”
And all I saw was Daph standing near Molly with her arms crossed.
“Please.”
“The only reason you are breathing right now,” I said to his asshole face, “is because that blonde thing on the couch needs you. So, take a good look, because the moment she doesn’t.
The second she realizes you are a fucking piece of trash, like the rest of us already know…
” I pressed hard on his windpipe until he choked. “You’re dead. And not the nice kind.”
I released his neck and hocked the slimiest, nastiest shit I could muster right on his lips.
“Feel good, fuckface?” I kicked him in the nuts, rolling him to his back. “Now get the hell up,” I ordered. “And stop bleeding all over our goddamn floors.”
“Yeah,” Wolfe said, pressing the phone to his ear. “Okay. Stay public. We’re coming.”
He glanced at Nathem and then at me.
“Karsten’s men are tailing Jessie and Blade. We need to move. As for you,” Wolfe bent low next to Rinley’s head, grimacing at the mess, “Clean this shit up.”
“Clean-up crew cleaning up their own sick. How poetic,” Nathem laughed. “Let’s go.” He nudged me towards the exit before adding. “I’m only going to ask once, and then I promise I will leave it the hell alone. Are you okay?”
I smirked, grabbing my gear and a dark hoodie off the rack.
“That asshole had it coming.”
“I don’t mean that.” Nathem tugged the ski mask over his face and opened the door.
“I know.” I buried my disappointment and turned to run after Wolfe, who jumped into the backseat of the Jeep parked in the makeshift driveway.
“Nathem drives!” Wolfe shouted through the rain at both of us.
I called shotgun, wishing I had one so I could cram it up Rinley’s ass.
“Get Jessie on the phone,” Wolfe ordered, fixing his vest and tossing us one to put on. “Hey,” he mumbled, arming himself and pushing the case forward.
I hit the speaker, then placed Nathem’s gun in the cupholder.
“Where are you?” I questioned when the other line picked up.
“Still driving!” Jessie growled. “They haven’t stopped tailing us.”
“Any fire?” I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to see if anyone was following in the dark.
“No. But I saw their jackets. It’s Karsten’s men. Threx, you are not going to like this,” he muttered low into the phone, and I froze when Blade’s voice sliced through the background.
“Don’t tell him this shit right now,” Blade whispered.
“What?” I stopped.
“Intel sent the newest hit lists over about ten minutes ago. Did you check your cell?”
“Why? Am I on it?” I laughed through my nose. Just what I needed, to become Karsten’s little fuckboy.
“Not you,” Jessie swallowed.
“Where are you?” Wolfe asked again.
“Just passed the arena.”
“Head into the industrial line, near the loading docks,” Wolfe directed. “This way, when we sideswipe these motherfuckers, no one will hear.”
“See you in ten.” Jessie paused, took a breath, then hung up.
“Threx, pull up the list,” Wolfe ordered. “Let’s see who Karsten chose to pay for all our sins.”
Nathem laughed, taking the back road to avoid the bar traffic clogging the walkways.
I scrolled, punching in a thousand passwords until I reached the Underworld kill list. At first, there was nothing. Faceless humans who would soon be dead for crimes they probably didn’t commit.
I kept thumbing down until I felt it in my stomach. Then, in my chest. When it finally came together in my head, the world slipped out of view.
“Who is it?” Wolfe asked, grabbing my shoulder to get a closer look. “Holy fuck. No. FUCK!”
He hit the back of the seat, but I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t move.
“What?” Nathem snapped, swatting behind him. “Goddammit, who is it?”
He wrenched the phone from my hand before it slipped past his fingers and landed at his feet.
“This is a shit pic, and no one has her name,” he said in a shouting panic, yanking at my shoulder, but I was already dead. “That means they don’t know who she is yet. We have time.”
“Nathem,” Wolfe’s voice cracked behind me. “It’s Daphne. Karsten’s men have her listed.”