Chapter 10
BONES
“W hy are you getting involved in Draven’s mess again?” Lettie has always been the best of our family. With Felix and I for brothers, it’s a miracle that she’s as pure and sweet as she is. But that also makes it very difficult for her to understand how I live my life.
Of course, she’d corner me when I’m lying flat on my back underneath a lifted car. “This coming from the girl who just watched her other brother join a cult. That’s really rich, Lettie. Were you this annoying with Felix too?”
All I can see are her ballet flats pacing around the car. “Oh, I gave him hell too. Don’t worry about that. But at least he’s doing it for love. You, on the other hand, are being destructive for no reason as usual.”
You have one weak moment, and now every time you have a bad day, everyone thinks you’re going to off yourself.
“I’m doing it for friendship. Which is stronger than love. Plus, it’s business. It’s nothing for you to worry about. ”
Suddenly, her face is in mine as she drops down to her knees. “ Van Bones Crane , you broke into that girl’s house wearing a ski mask like a criminal. That is not how Papa taught us to do business. Those friends of yours are going to get you into more trouble than we can get you out of this time.”
I hate when she calls me by my full name. It reminds me of my mother scolding me as a child. I’m a grown man, and those three words reduce me back to pre-pubescence. Especially coming from my baby sister.
I sigh and roll out from underneath the car. “When you put it like that, you make me sound like an asshole.”
She stiffens her upper lip and folds her arms over her chest, her brows scrunching together. “Well, quit acting like one.”
“I wasn’t going to hurt her, Lettie. Draven really needs that baneberry so they can push Aries’s father out for good. You know what that monster did to Libra.”
She drops her arms, her eyes softening. “It’s awful. But tormenting Mia doesn’t make you any better than Gemini Thorn. Just think about it, okay? For me. Please?”
I nod and wait for Lettie to leave the garage before I roll back to finish working.
I have thought about it. I’ve thought about her . Mia Harker is so sexy it hurts to look at her. I think about her every night now and wonder how far she’d let me go next time. And there will be a next time.
I want to see that look in her eyes again. The way she trembled with something much darker than fear. I want to see that wet spot on her white cotton panties again. Only next time, I’m not going to stop at the seam. Next time I’m going to slip inside her wet cunt and fingerbang the life out of her. I want to see her cum so hard her soul leaves her fucking body.
Fuck. Now I’m hard. Great.
I can’t even focus on my work today. I’m so riled up. Draven wants the baneberry, Aries wants to screw over his father, and I just want things to stay the same. I need routine. Along with a healthy dose of drinking, fighting, and fucking to keep me sane. But ever since this chick got to town, it’s thrown everyone into chaos.
Draven is obsessed with getting her land, but after seeing the way he reacted at my party the other night, I’m guessing he’s obsessed with her pussy too. Especially since he’s already gotten a taste of it.
This girl could be our ruin if we’re not careful.
My phone buzzes with an incoming text from Aries.
You ready for the fight tonight?
Am I fucking ready? I snicker. I love how he still checks in on me like it’s my first time stepping into the Circle .
Always. Now fuck off.
I grin as I hit send. He’s never missed a single one of my fights in all these years. But I love to give him shit for acting like an overprotective boyfriend. The truth is, he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to one. But our friendship comes first. Those are the relationships that last longer.
I finish up my repairs and hop in the shower, scrubbing hard to get the grease off my arms and hands. I actually like being dirty, but I’ve been working on presenting myself more respectably. It makes my sister and my parents happy. And it gets me into less trouble.
I throw on a white muscle tee and a pair of gray sweatpants, still sporting the blood stains I couldn’t get out from last time. I take a look in the mirror before I leave, admiring my own shredded physique. I’ve never been a vain man, but I am prideful. I work hard on my body, sculpting it like a fucking piece of art. Like a machine.
Where Draven and Aries are attractive in the universal sense, pretty boys who dress to kill, my appeal is edgier. I’m the bad boy parents warn their daughters about. From my back alley tattoos and knuckles that are constantly bruised and bloodied, veins that are always bulging from adrenaline, I’m the guy they want to fuck in the bathroom at Duff’s. Not Draven. If I had crossed paths with Mia first…
Fuck. We’ve shared women before, but this chick has got us acting feral. Possessive. The most fucked up part is the fact that neither of us has any business being inside her panties when we are literally trying to force her to sell her home to us. Every time I see her, the lines blur a little more. I know Draven and Aries feel the same. I can see it in their eyes. The energy has shifted. And I’m not sure if this will end well for any of us.
I dab a tiny bit of cologne on my wrists before grabbing my leather jacket and hopping on my bike. I need to ride for a bit so I don’t get into a fight before my actual planned fight tonight.
These woods used to terrify us as kids. We grew up hearing stories about the monsters that lurk in the trees. In the shadows. But Draven, Aries, and I weren’t like other kids. It wasn’t the threat of evil outside that scared us. It was what lurked inside. I used to wonder what our families would think if they found out that we were more monstrous than their urban legends.
We were terrified of the woods because we thought that the monsters would recognize us as their own, claim us, and turn us into a fucking tree or something. As I ride my bike through rocky paths in between the skeleton branches and dark spots where even the sun is afraid to shine, I dare a bitch to fuck with me.
Maybe that’s what I need. What I crave to quell the demons in my mind. A fucking worthy opponent for once.
I hit the throttle until I’m flying so fast that my heart is practically in my nuts. The bitter wind whips at me like venomous snakes, attempting to peel the skin from my bones. I fucking love it. The pain, the rush, the struggle to catch my breath at every turn. It’s my little slice of peace. The only thing that calms the anger in my veins and the self-deprecating voices in my head.
It’s even better when I crash. On the days when I feel like I have an extra death wish, I push it to about two hundred and fifty. I know these dirt roads like the back of my hand, but even then, sometimes I get lost in the hum of the engine when the scenery whips by so fast I can’t see anything around me. I just hold on and let my instincts take over.
The last time I wrecked, I was in a coma for weeks while they sewed me back together. But I always bounce back. I have poison running through my veins. There’s not much that can kill me.
But I promised my family that I wouldn’t scare them like that again. I still hear the sadness in my mother’s voice. You are strong but not invincible, mijo. Don’t break my heart like that again.
My brother, Felix, has made her cry enough tears over the years. There is something wrong with the Crane men. A wild abandon that shatters our need for safety and comfort. That fear that most people have, the healthy fear that keeps them from doing dangerous things… Yeah, we don’t have that.
I still throw some caution to the wind, but I don’t want to send my mother into an early grave. She’s already lost so much … So, I have to focus on staying in control. Felix became a professor, soaking up his pain with poetry and college pussy. And I work on my bikes. I ride, I fight, and I drink.
Then there’s Lettie, who is perfect. She’s a good student, dutiful daughter, and has never brought a piece of shit boyfriend home. She’s our angel, the only good that came from my mother’s womb.
Sweat drips down my back despite the cold. My energy is chaotic, erratic, as I think about tonight. A ride before a fight is the best kind. It gets me out of my head and in sync with my body. Week after week, it still surprises me that dudes are willing to go up against me. I keep the Ever Graves ER extremely busy. I even heard that they add extra staff on Friday nights just because of me .
This puts a shit eating grin on my face as I spin around and head back to the garage.
But as I pass the cemetery, a chill snakes up my back, hampering my mood like it always does. I purse my lips and hit the throttle, speeding up so I’m not tempted to look. It was a long time ago, but it still feels fresh. Luckily, it happened before Lettie was born, so she doesn’t have to bear the burden that Felix and I do.
Fuck.
I grip the handlebars so tightly that I pop open the cuts on my knuckles. My stomach knots in remembrance. It’s my fault .
When I’m finally out of the woods and back on the main road, my chest loosens again. I slow my bike and take a deep breath. I shake it off, leaving the pain back there in my baby brother’s grave. I have to. If I take it with me, then I’ll for sure find myself lying in the dirt next to him. No one wants to talk about it, but that’s why Felix left this town. The darkness was suffocating him. The guilt .
But I don’t have anywhere else to go. This is my home, my heart, even as it breaks all over again every day. For that moment when I first wake up, that split second, I forget that I only have one brother now instead of two—it’s almost euphoric. Then reality sinks in, and I remember it all over again. Like it just happened.
When I get to the garage, Aries is already inside, waiting to help me warm up. Dressed in a black tracksuit, he looks like a rich white guy who’s watched The Godfather too many times.
“You’re missing a couple of gold chains,” I taunt.
He snickers and slaps the focus mitts together. “I left them in your mom’s car, asshole.”
Oh, hell no. This fucker. I don’t even bother with gloves or wrist wraps. I take a swing for one of his mitted hands, knowing he’s not ready. His wrist snaps back, and the mitt hits his cheek. “Never talk about my mother like that, pendejo.”
Aries laughs as we square up. “Yeah, get fired up. Give me all that aggression. ”
I shake my head and throw a combination so fast that he almost trips over his own feet keeping up. “You’re getting soft on me, Ries. My abuela moves faster than you.”
He cocks his head to the side, his ego bruised. “All right, let’s make it interesting then.” He grabs a vial of nightshade from his pocket and drinks all three ounces of it. My adrenaline spikes as his blue-green eyes glow, a ring of gold light circling his pupils.
I bounce on the balls of my feet, shifting from left to right as I ready myself. He shoots toward me at full speed. His right arm swings at my head, and I duck, bending down then popping back up to land a hook into his waiting mitt. His left hand jerks toward my ribs, and I drop my right arm, hugging it to my side to block him. I dive toward him, getting into his space, and throw an uppercut into his other mitt.
Sweat drips down my back as we dance around the garage in a rhythm of punch, block, duck. I grunt through shallow breaths, fixated on Aries’s every move. It’s a rush, a high like no other. But nothing compares to the feeling of connecting with bone and teeth and soft flesh. To watch blood spurt out of your opponent’s mouth, their eyes glazing, knowing they’re about to tap out. Or get their ass knocked out.
We go until the poison wears off, and Aries throws in the towel.
“Thanks, bro. I needed that.” I peel off my shirt and use it to wipe my face.
The vein in his neck throbs as he struggles to steady his breath. “You know I got you.”
“I’m gonna jump in the shower. Stay as long as you want.” I snatch a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and offer it to him.
That devious smirk of his takes over his whole face. “Want some company?”
“You know I don’t like to cum before a fight. I gotta save up all that energy.” My cock tents my pants, contradicting my words.
He shrugs. “After then. A celebratory fuck. ”
I nod as I readjust myself. “See you tonight, Ries.”
We’ve been playing this game with each other since we were fifteen years old. But it’s always surface level. Nothing deeper than exploring our carnal desires. Our attraction for each other is chaotic. In between the girls and the booze, we always find our way to each other’s beds. If Draven knows, he doesn’t let on. It’s just something we don’t talk about when he’s around. I don’t think he’d give a fuck. It’s just something that we keep between us.
The only person I want to defile as much as Aries is Mia. And the thought of her positioned between us makes my dick so hard that I almost break my rule and jerk myself off in the shower.
Fuck. I need to get my shit together.
But I can’t help myself. Before I hit the shower again, I send off a text to Lettie.
Convince Mia to come to the fight tonight, and I promise I’ll talk to Draven about backing off from her.
I’ll beg for her forgiveness later.
The return typing bubbles come in hot. I chuckle as I can imagine the confusion on my sister’s face.
Deal. But don’t fuck it up.
And so it begins…
Lettie is going to fucking kill me.