5. Danse Macabre en Six
“ W hat the fuck did you say to my wife?”
My shout bounces off brick as I burst through Masque’s hidden passage door and bow up on the three guys hanging out in the alley.
Rage has been riding me since I saw Luna curl in on herself when they were talking to her.
The only reason I didn’t charge out from the shadows was because my girl gathered her anger like a shield and stood up for herself.
That, and starting a fight inside neutral ground would be a surefire way to get my ass killed before I could save her.
Even then, I almost couldn’t handle sitting idly by, but King’s text kept me in check.
King
Don’t fuck this up. The family needs you.
Now, with a crossbow on my back, these Wildes grinning at me, and fake-ass save-the-date flyers littering the dead-end back alley, all bets are off.
“ Your wife?” Ozias chuckles dryly as he stubs his cigarette on the brick wall. He pushes off it while his cousins uncross their arms, fight glinting in their eyes. “You mean my fiancée?”
“Oh, fuck off, Thrasher. Or should I say Wilde ? Considering who your real dad is and all.”
They scowl, and triumph pulses through me. Our intel was right.
But the win only proves what I’ve feared. Sol’s slipping.
Ozias’s mother had every reason to hide the truth, cheating on her husband, for one. I doubt even he knew. But the Wildes did and helped her cover it up, while Sol trusted his friends and believed he’d done his due diligence.
Which means the Wildes have gained enough influence to trick one of the most dangerous men in the country. It also means Sol’s territory has grown too fast for him to keep up.
He never would’ve missed this if he’d let us watch his back. Instead, I had to sit on the info, banking that the rumors about Ozias were true and Luna would be relatively safe until I could make my move. Exposing the truth too soon would’ve blown everything wide open before we were ready.
“Wondering how I know?” I ask. “Family trees are kinda our thing in this feud. No matter how deep you bury those roots, we’ll dig them up. Your mom giving you your stepdad’s last name doesn’t make you any less a Wilde.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he sneers.
“Oh? That shit proposal was only because your Wilde blood thought you could screw over the Troisgarde-Fury pact. Well, I’m here claiming what’s mine. Something I understand you haven’t done yet?”
I raise my brow, doubt drumming in my chest—until his twisted expression confirms my suspicions, setting me at ease.
Obviously, Luna would still be mine no matter who she chose to give herself to. But the thought of this lying son of a bitch taking her virginity under false pretenses makes me murderous. My brothers can’t afford me escalating the feud to that level. Not yet.
“Christ, Ozias. That was the easy part,” Rufus mutters.
Ozias’s glare cuts from me to Rufus and back. My hands lift in mock surrender.
“Hey, no judgment. If I were in love with someone I couldn’t have, I’d be stuck pining too.”
“Keep her out of this,” he growls.
“Happily.” My smile drops. “Call it off with Luna, Ozias.”
His fists tighten. “We’ll never allow Fury filth to secure a Troisgarde alliance.”
“Face it,” Bartholomew, the wisecracking motherfucker who pissed off my bride, chuckles. “We beat you this time. And if Ozias can’t get it done, in more ways than one, Rufus and I ain’t got no problem falling on that sword.”
Mother. Fuckers.
I’m vibrating with rage, but I nod and let this pent-up hatred flow through my limbs.
“Alright. Just remember, it didn’t have to get bloody.” I sigh dramatically. “ But if you insist…”
I set my crossbow against the building, tucking it behind a trash can, and slide my knife from the sheath strapped to my ribs.
Bart cracks his knuckles. “Three against one doesn’t seem fair, but if you insist?—”
Two sets of heavy footfalls sound behind me. I can feel Hatch’s maniacal grin and Dash’s cold gaze as they come to back me up. Their blue and gold masks clatter to the ground.
“If you think I came alone,” I shake my head, “you Wildes are dumber than I thought.”
“Nah, we figured you’d be too much of a coward to face us yourself.
The King Fury kin ain’t got no spine. Y’all should just run off to the coast like the rest of you,” Bart muses, tapping his scruffy chin.
“Speaking of, how’s your cousins? Heard the boy’s gonna be going to that school of y’all’s.
And the girl…” He grins. “Well, I heard she’s growing up nice and pretty. ”
“Shut up, you sick fuck,” I snap.
He shrugs. “Think she’ll take after her older sister? You know the one, Zy.”
“Barty,” he warns, hands clenched. “I swear to God?—”
“Just like Wilde trash to have infighting. Not surprising, though. You’ve already got inbree—” Hatch cackles. “Well, you know.”
“Speak for yourselves,” Rufus spits. “Don’t act like that guy who got offed for raping and murdering one of ours had all his teeth. It’s a wonder y’all ain’t killed yourselves off yet.”
It’s a wonder we haven’t all killed ourselves off.
Enemies are closing in from all sides, especially with tensions flaring again.
A spark from up North reignited it all, leaving a Wilde mother murdered, her Fury attacker dead, and her son sentenced to life.
I don’t blame the kid, but now every family is pointing fingers, and the fallout keeps yanking us into the fray too.
Bart’s smile widens. “You know what, Rufus? I don’t think they know how much we got in common. Sounds like they have no idea what’s going on up in their family tree.”
In my periphery, I check my brothers’ expressions to see if they know what he’s talking about, but they’re as unreadable as I am.
Rufus snickers. “Too bad your momma fucked up sacrificing herself for you three. Or at least, that’s how Daddy tells it. He says he sleeps like a baby dreaming about her screams and the crackling of that fire.”
“The fuck did you say?” Hatch bursts forward, only caught by Dash with an arm across his chest.
“You heard him.” Bart juts his chin at me. “He said your crossbow did fuck all that day. You even let two Wildes get away.”
“And took one out,” I snarl.
“Enough,” Dash snaps. “With our histories, we’ll run our mouths to death.” He and Hatch flank me, mirroring the Wilde cousins beside Ozias. “This is between Orion and Ozias. If we’re doing this, we go by Devil’s Mountain rules. One-on-one fights only.”
The words grate out of him like he regrets having to say them. He wants blood too. None of us are safe until the Wildes are put in their place, and he and Hatch have as much riding on this as I do.
Rufus pops his neck and all three draw blades that gleam in the alley’s dim streetlamp.
Bart smirks. “Only problem there is we didn’t go to that fancy-ass school.”
“Yeah?” Hatch chuckles, nodding at me. “Neither did we.”
A crack echoes against the brick as Hatch sucker punches Rufus, snapping his head back.
The storm breaks.
Dash and I collide with Bart and Ozias, fists and knives swinging. My blade slices a shallow line down Ozias’s chest. He nicks my arm, but I barely feel it past the rush.
It’s a brutal dance, Hatch and Dash in tandem against the Wilde cousins, me with Ozias. We’re evenly matched, but Bart still somehow manages to run his mouth.
“Once we’re done here, we’re taking her with us. She won’t even put up a fight.”
“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?” I growl over my shoulder.
“Let’s just say I know how to loosen her up.”
Ozias and I both hesitate before he turns on his cousin. “And what the hell does that mean?”
“Oh, don’t act like you didn’t know what was in that last drink—” He’s cut off by Dash, lost in the fight as he kicks the guy’s ribs, cracking bone.
“Stay away from the Troisgarde daughters,” Dash grunts, fending off a right hook and slashing Bart’s thigh.
Hatch seizes the opening and drives an elbow into Bart’s chin. Dash spins to cover our brother, facing Rufus. My brothers and I are a well-oiled machine, and it’s never clearer than when we fight.
Rage and urgency war inside of me. I need to get to Luna, stop her from drinking whatever’s in that cup?—
A fiery slash burns up my side, and a fist slams my jaw, clacking my teeth into my cheek.
Stars flash. Iron floods my mouth as I meet Ozias’s eyes. His grim expression and bloody teeth mirror mine.
“You’ll only get her killed, Orion,” he seethes. “That’s what happens to the women in your family. Your aunt, your cousin… You couldn’t even protect your own mother. Why do you think you can protect your wife?”
A roar tears out of me as I drive a kick into his chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
Then I’m on him, punching hard enough to whip his head sideways with every blow, making him groan, “You son of a?—”
An engagement flyer flutters through the chaos, and I snatch it midair. Before I can stop myself, I rip Zy’s own knife from his hand, slap the invitation against his cheek and drive the blade through both.
His face seizes, stunned by the pain, but his body still thrashes, reaching for the weapon, until I pin him under my knees.
I lean over him as he fights me. “It’s sad it had to come to this, Zy. You should’ve left my girl alone.”
Rage enters his eyes, and I smirk, twisting the knife.
“So, consider this my and my wife’s ‘regrets.’”
Warm blood seeps through the paper like ink, soaking my fist around the hilt. His limbs go slack under me. His eyes roll back. Then he’s out cold.
I leave his knife in and wipe my hand on his dress shirt before climbing to my feet. My arm wraps around my torso as I suck in sips of air, but I still pivot to help my brothers.
Rufus is shit-talking now, both Wildes’ backs turned on their cousin.
“We either get the Troisgarde daughters or remove them as Furys. I’m partial to that feisty one. What’s her name? Brylie?” He laughs. “God, have you seen that ass? All I want to do is fuck it raw until she cries?—”