38. Hunter
Chapter thirty-eight
Hunter
Snow gasps beside me, and I turn her way.
“What is it?” I ask.
Her face pales, and I follow her gaze to the balcony on our left to spy a sneering face.
I don’t like that look one bit.
“Prince,” I whisper.
My brother glances at me distractedly, as he can’t seem to take his gaze off Casper. There’s no missing the pride in his eyes.
Casper was amazing, per usual, and now Prince has seen his talent for himself.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Balcony. Three o'clock.”
Prince peers to the balcony to our right, and I roll my eyes. “I said three o'clock, Prince.”
My brother eyes me viciously, and I know the moment he spies the suspicious fucker.
There’s no question that he’s one of Regina’s lackeys, and if Snow’s pale face is any indication, he only means trouble.
Thank God the prick hasn’t spotted her yet.
No, his gaze is on Casper alone.
Prince’s green eye glows. “I think you mean nine o'clock, little brother. taught you better than that.”
I growl. “Yeah, that.”
I can tell the time. I learned when I was six.
Prince was the one who taught me. Hell, he taught me how to read and write, too.
“The hell you two squabbling about?” Moth mutters on Prince’s right.
Prince keeps his eyes on the guy as he tells our brother. I know the moment Moth spies him, too, as he goes completely stiff.
“Don’t take your eyes off him,” Prince says. “Saint, Angel…”
The twins on Snow’s left have their sights set on him.
Only Knight is oblivious as he keeps clapping for our brother, even as the curtain begins to close.
The guy’s eyes flare, and then he reaches inside his pocket, withdrawing a gun.
Fuck, Casper…
But Prince is too quick.
He manages to shoot the guy’s hand, and screams erupt in the theater.
The gun flies out of the shooter’s hand, and his eyes find us as he clutches his bleeding fingers.
His eyes flashin recognition when they spot Snow, and something comes over me.
Especially with the way she stiffens beside me.
This bastard hurt her.
And now he is trying to hurt my cousin. My best friend.
My fucking brother.
I don’t think so…
The guy bolts, and I go after him.
“Hunter!” Snow shouts behind me, but I only have eyes for the runner.
He's dead.
Pandemonium ensues. People scramble all around us as I push them aside with ease, finding my way to the steps that lead to the balcony.
I’ll get him.
I find his seat on the balcony, and the trickle of blood, then growl.
He’s gone.
It’s only when I bump into Moth and Angel on my way out that I realize…
I lost him.
Knight and Saint must be searching another section of the theater.
That means Prince has Snow.
Shit.
I can’t afford to think about that now, as I have to find that prick.
He tried to kill Casper. He’s a dead man.
Everyone loves Casper.
I know for a fact my own brothers prefer him over me, and the feeling is mutual as we all search.
We follow the trail of blood. Then we hear a series of rasping breaths rushing up another set of stairs, and this was almost too easy.
We won’t kill him just yet.
He may just be what we need to beat Regina for good.
Snow paled when she saw this fucker, so he must be bad news.
We follow the guy all the way to the roof of the theatre. There’s no escaping us.
He was dead the moment he decided to point a gun at my cousin.
He was dead when he decided to come here tonight.
The three of us burst onto the roof, gravel crunching underfoot as we corner the guy. He chuckles, gripping his bleeding hand. “Looks like you got me…”
Angel’s eye flashes as he advances on the guy, but I put my hand out, stopping him. There’s no missing the glint of a knife in his hand.
Moth has no weapons. He tends to prefer to use his fists at most, but he has guns in his holsters.
We have to be careful.
This cunt could have another gun on him.
I grip one of my own in hand.
“You made a mistake coming here tonight,” I whisper, and I feel him then, my inner beast coming to the surface.
We all have one.Even Knight.
His is a grinning, happy idiot. Mine’s reckless. Angel’s is silent, and Moth’s is calculating.
And Casper’s, God love him…
His is the most twisted of us all.
Hence why he plays the King of Darkness so well, a brooding villain. It helps him compartmentalize.
“Let’s just kill the bastard already,” Moth gripes, attaching his brass knuckles to his fist.
Angel flips his blade, gripping it by the tip as he prepares to launch. “But we need him alive for questioning, cousin.”
Moth shrugs. “Oh, well. So long as I get to knock him out with my knuckles, I don’t give a shit.”
The man growls. “Fuck you, goth cunt!”
Ooh, Moth won’t like that one iota.
Angel’s eye brightens, and his lip stretches into a smirk. “He called you goth, Moth.”
Moth’s dark eyes burn. “Oh, I’m more than a fucking goth. I’m a freaking artist.”
Riiigght.
“And I’m a lover, so let’s just get this over with,” I sigh. “Who sent you?”
The man’s still seething as he clutches his hand. “Like I’d tell you!”
“Oh, you will. It’s obvious Regina sent you. I think you may know my female companion tonight. Snow…”
His face contorts when I mention the name. “That bitch should be dead—”
Angel flips his blade, and a second later it’s embedded in the guy’s shoulder. He cries out.
A helicopter rumbles in the distance. The authorities are on their way.
Prince pretty much owns them, but the fewer delays there are, the better.
Time to get out of here.
Angel and Moth stalk toward our new friend , yanking him to his feet. My cousin gets out some of his rope that he always conveniently has at hand, and he gags him.
It's a shame he never found a girl before Snow.
Some girls have a weird kink for that shit. But now he has Snow, and I’m happy for him.
Finally, Moth gets to use his brass knuckles, and he knocks the guy out as he collapses in Angel’s arms.
Then Angel throws him over his shoulder as we leave that rooftop just as the helicopter arrives with the SWAT team.
Time to bail.
I have no idea where the fuck Prince is as we travel back to the compound.
I don’t see him or Snow, and I can only hope he is taking care of her.
Hell knows she must be terrified by now, and the poor thing. I should have been there for her, but the moment I saw that gun, I just had to act.
No one points a gun at my brother and gets away with it.
Who am I kidding… Casper is my brother.
And so are Knight, Saint, and Angel.
I love them all just as much as Prince and Moth.
Angel fastens the guy to Saint’s special chair as we all gather in the torture room. I always hated it down here.
This was where Prince most likely hurt Snow, and I swallow the thought aside as we circle our new victim.
Now, this is a person who deserves Prince’s wrath.
Who deserves all our wrath.
He's the real enemy. The way he kept tight-lipped about the woman he works for is only proof of that.
But I saw the way he looked at Snow. The way she looked at him …
This guy is trouble.
Too bad we’re much worse…
He picked on the wrong brothers.
Saint pours a bag of ice into a bucket, as it’s time we woke this fucker up. His cheek is split and busted up from Moth’s brass knuckles. My brother did good.
The guy’s completely out of it.
Saint waits for the ice to melt slightly, then when it’s ready, he lifts the bucket and steps toward the guy, dropping it over his head.
The guy wakes with a gasp as the cold water goes straight to his head, and I can’t stop the laugh that escapes my throat.
Never fails to do the trick.
It's a real shame Prince isn’t here, but that’s okay.
We have the twins to do the honors instead.
Saint yanks the guy’s wet hair, pulling his head back, as Angel places a knife at his hand, ready to chop off a finger.
“Who sent you?” Saint whispers.
Maybe we should wait for him to get over his brain freeze first, as he’s still shaking.
When he finally comes to his senses, he struggles in the chair, but he’s fastened in place by the manacles.
I move toward him, searching his pockets for some form of identification, of which I find none.
“Who are you?” I ask this time.
The guy laughs, spitting at my feet, and I knock his teeth out.
Then I step back and watch as Knight, Moth, and Casper as the twins do their thing.
Casper still wears his villain costume, and it looks like he’s still in character.
Good.
We’re going to need all the manpower we can get.
Angel cuts off one of his fingers when he remains tight-lipped, and his screams echo through the halls.
It's going to be a long, long night.