Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
REON
She runs.
How, I don’t even know.
Her lips were blue, and she was covered in dirt, her hair in loose strands all around her face, and a knife was clutched in her hand. Desperation was written all over her face.
And it’s my fault.
I look at Hank on the ground, his hand covering his throat as he bleeds out, and touch where she managed to stab me. Thankfully, it was only superficial, so nothing like Hank on the ground.
He will die, and I will do nothing to save him.
He planned to harm and then kill her, and that’s not acceptable. The only person who can play with my caterpillar is me. I didn’t give permission for anyone else to touch her.
“Reon.” He says my name through a gargled breath. He’s on the verge, and ever so slowly, he will die.
Good. Die, you bastard.
I bend down, my mask in one hand, the axe in the other.
“She got you good.” I smile, proud of her. She has done well. She is surviving and doing well in a forest full of men hunting her.
I’m oh so proud of my little caterpillar.
He reaches up with his free hand, the one that isn’t holding his throat, and tries to grab me to pull me down to him, but every time he moves, more blood spurts from his neck.
“It’s best you stay still, Hank.” I stand and slide my mask back into place.
Holding my axe with both hands, I lift it and raise it over my shoulder.
“They can’t know it was her. You see, that would make them demented.
Insane with anger. They need to think it was me.
” I smile behind the mask because he has no idea what I’m talking about.
“That means this is going to hurt, Hank.”
As I look down at him, he stares back at me and makes another sound.
Was it a plea? I don’t even know or care.
I lift the axe, then swing it down toward his neck.
It cuts straight through. I pull the axe free from the half-frozen ground, and then I take in his motionless form, his eyes open and lifeless, as his blood covers the dirt beneath him.
He probably wished he had stayed home tonight before he met a grisly end.
The sick bastard.
I don’t like everyone in the Forsaken, but we always try to keep it clean. We don’t go out and kill just for the fun of it. No, that’s what the Hunts are for.
They serve a good purpose, and normally, the scourge of Society is involved.
After wiping the axe on his lifeless body, I rest it on my shoulder and turn in the direction Lilith ran, listening for her. She couldn’t have gotten far—my little caterpillar is tired.
She’s been out here for a good few hours, and soon daylight will come, and all bets will be off.
She’ll be hunted and killed without a second thought.
The hope is to always kill the prey before daylight breaks, and most times, we do.
But I think my caterpillar has finally grown her wings and is ready to fly.
Now she’s a butterfly.
How is it possible that, even covered in mud and looking defeated in every way, she is still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen on this earth?
Walking in the direction where I saw her run off, a surge of fear hits me. She could die. Shaking that thought from my head, I glance down at the ground and try to make out her footprints. Even though the darkness makes them hard to see, the ground is wet, so they stand out more.
“Reon.”
I stop at the sound of Arlo’s voice. He walks up to me, cracking his neck with his mask back on, and I see that his arm is bandaged.
That mask means a lot to our Society; you see, the first ever Lord was disfigured.
It was his idea to cover his face, and being a Lord, everyone followed, much like we do today.
Then the Hunt came, which was perfect for the broken glass masks.
“Did you know this was his plan?” I growl, my hand tightening on the axe’s handle. One wrong word and I will swing and lop off his head, so he had better answer me right.
“No, he didn’t tell me.”
I focus on him, and his eyes are firmly on me. “You wouldn’t have told me anyway.”
“No, you’re right, I probably wouldn’t have. She is the chosen.”
“No, she’s not. She is Soren’s way of getting back at me for his sister. It’s as simple as that.”
“What did you do to Maya?”
“Nothing. I called it off with her and told him to go fuck himself. I don’t want his sister. I want my Caterpillar.” I smile as I turn to look out at the woods.
“She told me you call her that.”
I glance over my shoulder at him. “What else did she tell you?”
“I like her. It’s a pity she has to die tonight.”
“She won’t die if I can help it,” I state, starting walking away.
“I have a feeling it was all a setup for you anyway. We were told to let you take the kill. He wants you to kill her,” Arlo calls out to me.
“That will never happen. I’ll kill him before he can touch her.”
“I was afraid you would say that,” he states, and then he runs at me and tackles me around my middle, knocking me to the ground where she fucking stabbed me.
Fuck! Arlo has some power in him.
A scream rips through the air, and we both freeze. I take a second too long due to the pain that shoots through me, and he reaches for my axe.
Yeah, that’s not going to happen.
I pull the axe away and kick him in the gut. He goes flying back, and it gives me enough time to stand and lift the axe. “I’ll take off your head, Arlo,” I threaten.
He starts his crazy laugh, and I wonder how he ever became a therapist. He is fucking loopier in the head than the rest of us.
He bows and waves his hand at me. “At least I can say I tried.”
“Did you?” I ask as I hear her scream again. “Fuck you. If you get too close to me again, I’ll aim for your neck like I did to Hank.” I take off in a run in the direction I heard her scream, and I slow when I don’t see or hear anything.
Where is she?
What are they doing to her?
Am I too late?
“Reon.” Her voice is faint and desperate. I hear a loud slap and start moving. When I reach her, I see her on her hands and knees, Soren standing in front of her with his hands wrapped in her hair, holding her up. Her fingers dig into the dirt, and her knees are stuck in mud.
“Let her go,” I demand as I step closer, and he turns to face me.
“She is the chosen one, Reon. You should know better than to ask that of me. Do you want the honors? We know how much you like to claim your kills.” He laughs darkly.
“Reon,” she whimpers my name, and Soren yanks her hair to shut her up.
“You chose this trash over my sister?” he asks, and I can’t help the growl that leaves my chest.
“Yes. Now, remove your fucking hand before I remove it for you.”
Soren still wears his mask, but we all know it’s him. As the Lord, he has an L on his jacket, indicating it’s him. Plus, I would recognise his voice anywhere.
“You would give up everything for her? Is that ass really worth it?”
“Hank is dead,” Arlo says as he approaches, and two others come up behind Soren. I couldn’t care less who they are.
“Did you do this, or did she?” Soren growls. “You killed one of our own?”
“Don’t act like you’re innocent here. You’ve done it before, Soren,” I remind him. Just because not everyone is privy to certain information doesn’t mean I’m not.
“There are rules for a reason, Reon. Leadership and pecking orders for a reason.” He tsks. “You should know better.”
“Rules?” I laugh. “Since when do you follow the rules?” I yell. “Now, remove your hand.” I lift the axe, and his eyes track the movement.
“Even if you were able to strike me, the boys would be on you before you could get away. Do you think you can survive this? You’re outnumbered, five to two. And one of you is already exhausted?” He yanks her hair again, and she yelps.
“I’ll take my chances,” I tell him. “You’ll be my first, though.” I point the axe at him.
“We were brothers once, bonds so thick not even a piece of ass could come between us,” he says.
“But then you changed,” I tell him.
The taste of power made him hungry for more. He’s always been hungry—in life and in this Society.
“You are always right by my side, Reon, or have you forgotten?”
“How could I forget?” I growl. “You make it a point to remind me often enough.”
“Well, I think it’s time we return to the old ways. And we start by removing the trash, beginning with her.” He tugs at her hair again, and she hides her yelp this time.
“I think not.” I step back and look around. “Rules. We all obey them, correct?” I point my axe at everyone standing here. Not all the members are in attendance tonight, but the ones who can’t miss the Hunt—the darkest of them—are here.
Boston, who is in his mid-thirties and standing next to Arlo, nods.
He is a detective and a damn good one at that.
But he also has an obsession with killing those who get off free for their crimes.
Arlo, whom we all know and want to hate, is closest to me.
He nods his head as well, and the others follow suit.
“Reon,” one of them says. I think it was Rylas, who is usually quiet and keeps to himself but is a very powerful man. Or it could have been Benji. He keeps to himself, too, but he’s a sick fuck, just like the rest of us. “Kill her,” he says.
“The rules state wives and children are off-limits. That’s the rule.”
“Yes, we know that, so move along and fucking kill the bitch,” Boston says. I turn to see Arlo watching but not saying anything. I pull my mask off and look down at Lilith, who is still on her hands and knees with Soren’s hand twisted in her hair.
“Remove your hand from my wife’s fucking hair. Now.”