3. MASON
MASON
“Ooo,are we about to have a party?” Hunter asks, smirking at me and rubbing his hands together like an evil genius as we make our way down in the elevator. Like his deranged ass doesn’t already know, what with the bloodthirsty expression that’s already on his face but I answer his dumbass anyway.
“Of course, and it’s going to be the best one I’ve ever thrown, especially with those two assholes as the stars of it. I need to do something with my hands right now before I drive myself crazy with worry. Besides, beating the shit out of that dickhead will make me feel a whole lot better,” I murmur to him.
“I feel you on that. I, myself, am trying not to drive myself crazy with worry too.”
“And just so you know, this is my show. You’re not allowed to touch them,” I tell him.
“What the hell? Where’s the bloody fucking fun in that?” he grumbles with a pout on his face. I can’t believe he looks this put out because he won’t get the chance to fuck with someone. Talk about being bloodthirsty!
“My pony, my show!” I grumble right back.
“ThenI should have left your ass to retrieve them yourself.”
“Seriously? Are we really fighting over who gets to kill these assholes?”
“Yes. They fucked with my sister so I feel like I should repay the favor.”
“And she’s my woman!” I snap.
“That’s debatable at this point,” he snickers.
“Shut the fuck up dickhead. It’s not. She’s mine and she’s going to stay that way.”
“Fine! Geez, don’t get your panties in a twist! I guess I can sit this one out and catch the front-row view of my ‘not sure yet’ future brother-in-law’s psycho show,” he says, laughing like it’s the funniest shit in the world. I roll my eyes at him. His brother is a literal assassin, he’s the president of an MC club and, somehow, I’m the psycho? I just want this shit to make some sense.
Whenwe finally get down to the lobby, we step outside and wait a few minutes for the valet to bring the car out front and Hunter hops in the driver’s seat. I don’t even mind since I’d probably crash or some shit with the way my mind has been preoccupied with all kinds of horrible shit from the moment, I realized that Winter left earlier. Plus, he’s the one that knows the way to the warehouse, so I figure it’s best to let his dumbass drive.
And yes, I’m still a little salty about his threats of hiding my girl from me so I’m just going to continue calling him a dumbass in my head.
Halfan hour later we pull up to an area just outside the heart of London. This place looks a bit run down and abandoned but if it’s anything at all like the one in Ravenwood, then I know it’s just a disguise and meant to look that way. He parks the car at the back of the property before we get out and head for the door.
Huntertaps in some kind of pattern and a moment later someone opens the door for us and we step inside. I look around and see that it’s kind of similar to the one in Ravenwood but thankfully this one is quiet right now. Eerily so, come to think of it.
It’sa large room with a bar to one side and there are chairs and couches around the space. There are corridors leading off to various places on each side of the room and Hunter makes his way to one of them with me following behind him.
There’sa door at the end of the one we just came through and I’m disappointed to see that it’s just another room here. I don’t know what I thought I’d find here but I was hoping for something cool.
It’sjust an office. At least that’s what I thought it was until he walks over to the bookshelf that is on one side of the room taking up the entire wall. He pulls out a book from the shelf and the wall starts to move. When it opens all the way I see that it’s a secret passageway.
Okay, now that is cool! I wonder what other surprises there are in this place since his brother and his friends are assassins, I’m thinking there’s a lot more to uncover in this place. Guess it’s true that you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Hunter motions for me to step through the doorway and into the passageway and I pin him with a raised brow. He just rolls his eyes at me.
“My brothers—and yes I consider them all my brothers because they’re all a family and they come with each other—use this place whenever they need to talk to someone,” he says smirking. I can only imagine the kind of talking they do down there. Wherever there is.
Ihave no idea what to expect but I guess we’ll see. I walk on through and he follows behind me, the door closing after him. We’re surrounded by darkness for a second before the light along the passageway come on and Hunter takes the lead.
Theanticipation of pounding some of this anger and fear away is at an all-time high as we keep walking. I’m like a giddy child on Christmas morning, well back when that meant some shit and I thought I had a normal family.
Whenwe make it to the end of the passageway, there’s a set of stairs that we have to go down. ThoughI can hold my own, I definitely don’t want to ever get on his actual bad side because this place is giving me the creeps the further down we go.
“It’s creepy as fuck here. How often do you use this place?” I question, out of curiosity.
“Thanks.” Hunter says with a grin on his face. “Often enough. This is the only location I use when I’m in London to torture certain people whenever the need arises. It’s soundproofed and built in a way that even if the cops raided the place, they’d never be able to find this room. Only a select few know this exists and it’s used for ‘certain people’ meant for personal matters. There are other properties we use for the regular assholes but this one is special because we take our time with the idiots that end up here. And since these two messed with my sister, it’s fucking personal,” he says all of that in a calm conversational tone like we’re discussing the weather and not torturing people. AndI’m the crazy one? Yes. I’m still stuck on that shit!ButI just grin at him because he’s definitely just as fucking batshit crazy as I am.
Whenwe finally get to the bottom, I stand at the base and look up. Yep, it was definitely a few flights down here. It’s a huge circular space with the base of the stairs in the middle of the room and there are doors all around us, six in total which I’m taking to mean six rooms.
Hunterwalks over to one of the closed doors and opens it before stepping inside. I follow behind him once again and as soon as I step inside the room, I see them. The guy and the girl from the cemetery. They’re both tied to chairs on the opposite ends of the room, far apart but still facing each other.
Justseeing them has my anger returning full force. I take a moment to look around the room before I acknowledge them since I don’t want to fly off the handle from the get-go. WhatI see around the room causes a shiver to run across my skin.
Theback of the room is tiled, like you’d see in a bathroom while the rest of it is concrete. There’s a drain at the back where the bathroom part is and I shudder to think what they must get up to in here to need a drain when someone pisses these guys off. Especially since Hunt just said that this place was for personal reasons.
Onthe other side of the room there’s a metal table, and behind the table on the wall is a range of what is definitely torture tools, just hanging there. I’d be scared as fuck if I was sitting in one of those chairs. I can only imagine what the other rooms must look like.
Suddenlythe thought that someone could be doing this to Winter—if my father was the one behind this—has me breaking out in cold sweats. I take in a deep breath and put my cold and unforgiving mask on. I need it if I’m going to get through this fucking ordeal. AllI want to do right now is fuck shit up.
WhenI finally turn around to properly look at them, I see the cloth that’s covering their nose and mouth is wet. That’s when I see the water that’s slowly dripping down onto their heads. I don’t imagine that’s comfortable for them and a huge smile crosses my face at their discomfort.
“Looks like you’re ready for some fun,” Hunter says with a predatory smile on his face as he goes to the metal table and hops up, and I have to say that I very much am. It is time to have some fucking fun.
“Of course, I’m fucking ready,” I say, grinning back at him. “It’ll go a long way into making me feel a little better for now. They have to pay for fucking with what’s mine.”
“Well, have at it, bro. The room is all yours,” he tells me and I nod.
Iwalk over to the girl first and shut the water off before removing the cloth from her face and then doing the same to the guy. I drag her chair so that she’s in the middle of the room, so that they’re closer but still away from each other.
“Do either of you even know why you’re here?” I ask, letting the anger out again at seeing their faces. I thought that keeping my cool might be for the best but now I realize that I need to let the anger out instead.
“No. We don’t,” the girl answers through sobs.
“No! This has got to be a mistake. Please get us out of here man!” the guy cries out to me but I don’t give a shit about either of their tears. Not after what they did, what my father did. Not after the amount of times my girl cried and for the irreversible damage their lies have caused.
“Pity you don’t remember what you assholes did. MaybeI should refresh your memory then,” I say as I give him a swift punch to his face. His head snaps back and I hear the sickening crunch of his nose breaking and I give him a smug smile as he cries out in pain.
“Ooo, that was a good punch bro!” I hear Hunter cheering from the sideline. This jackass really is crazy.
“I know right! It felt so good to hit this clown,” I say.
“What the fuck man?!” the guy tied to the chair screams.
“What did you two do with the two million pounds you got from my father?” I ask conversationally. His head whips up and he stares at me for a second before I see the recognition in his eyes. “Ah, I see you know exactly who I am.”
“I-we-um—” he starts but I cut him off with another punch to the face.
“No. Just shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear any of the stupid shit that you have to say. I’ve already heard all the bullshit you were spewing at my girl and that was enough to listen to.”
“ButI didn’t mean?—”
“I just said to shut the fuck up!” I snap. “Your time for speaking is over.”
Iwalk over to where Hunter is sitting and pass behind him to get to the wall of torture shit. I grab a knife and walk back over to what’s his face. I don’t want to get too carried away here and take too long because we still have to find my girl.
Bothof his arms are cuffed to the handle of the chair. I use my knife and stab it into his joint where his elbow is. It goes into his bone and the howl of pain that echoes through the room is like music to my fucking ears. I twist the knife while it’s still in his arm, making him scream even louder.
“Fuck man! I’m sorry!” he cries. “Please stop!” I don’t pay him any mind and just pull the knife out, which brings on more screams.
“I changed my mind, Hunt. I need some help here,” I say, turning to look at Hunter. He hops off the table all too happily and strolls over to where I’m standing.
“What do you need?”
“Help to get his pants off,” I say, and he gives me one of his raised eyebrows looks. “Just do it dickhead, we”re wasting time here.”
Hecomplies and helps me get this asshole’s pants off. As soon as they’re off, I’m immediately overwhelmed with the scent of urine.
“Really?” I question. “That’s disgusting man!”
“I’m sorry! Please don’t do this!” he begs.
Idon’t say anything, instead I grab a hold of his dick and slice it right off with my knife. He screams so loud I feel like it deafens me for a second there. “You shouldn’t have fucked with my girl. Did you think there wouldn’t be any sort of repercussions? Or did you think you’d go merrily on your way?”
Iquickly stand up and plunge the knife into his neck before pulling it out. I know it got to his carotid artery if the amount of blood spraying me is anything to go by. I’m now covered in it but I don’t seem to care. Then again, I hope this asshole isn’t infested with any kind of disease. At least none of it got on my face.
Idon’t even register the girl screaming until I turn my attention back to her. I give her a smirk and instantly see the fear in her eyes. I must look a sight with blood covering my arms and shirt.
She’scrying and begging as I walk over to her and grab the cloth again, wrapping it over her face before dragging her chair to the tiled part of the room and setting her under the pipe before turning the water on full force.
Iwalk over and stand next to Hunter as we both watch her start to scream and struggle but the water is coming down too heavily on her head and there’s nowhere for her to go.
“Damn you’re sick and twisted bro,” Hunter says with a laugh.
“As if you wouldn’t have done the same,” I mutter. “Pretty sure you have.”
“Oh, I would have done a lot fucking worse,” he smirks.
“Well welcome to the murderer’s club. How does it feel to be a member?” he jokes but I answer him seriously.
“I’d do it again and again if I had to. I’d do anything for her even if it meant damning my soul to hell. As long as it heals hers then I’ll do whatever it takes. Even if it means killing more assholes for her,” I say truthfully, while Hunter just has a stupid grin on his face.
Ipush off the table and grab my knife again before walking over to the girl. I turn the pipe off and pull the cloth off her face. She’s panting and sucking in lungsful of air as soon as it’s off. I’m over this shit and there’s no sense in torturing her more when time is of the essence. She’s not leaving here alive. I grab her by the hair and tilt her head back, so she’s staring up at me with tears in her eyes.
“You got off easy,” I growl at her before using my knife to slit her throat. They both got off easy in my opinion. Either way they probably would have been dead sooner or later from an overdose, since they both looked strung out as hell. So, I did them a favor if you ask me.
“My men will take care of their bodies. Go shower and then we’ll head over to my brother’s,” Hunter says a moment later and I nod my head.
Hewalks out of the room and I follow. He points to a door and I make my way over, opening the door to find that it’s the bathroom. I walk inside and shed my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor since someone will need to get rid of them, before stepping into the shower.
Onceunder the hot spray, I stand there and watch as the tinges of red begin to flow down the drain. I thought ending their existence would make me feel better but it didn’t because she’s still missing and I’m nowhere close to finding her, yet.
Amoment later I turn the shower off and step out before drying my skin and then putting on the sweatpants and hoodie along with some new shoes Hunter left for me, before heading out of the bathroom to find that he’s already waiting for me.
“How’d you get new shoes that fast?”
“There’s new everything here in all different sizes. I mean you never know when you’ll need new shoes and clothes because you got blood on the one you were wearing,” he smirks.
Westart to make our way up the stairs, back toward the office and then leave the warehouse altogether. He’s driving again, taking us to his brother’s place.
“Before we leave London, I’ll need to go back to the hotel. I need those papers that Winter showed me before she pulled a runner,” I tell him. Thankfully, I managed to lock them back up before we left, so they’re safe.
“Anything for you, bro. I mean, after our bonding sesh just now. Well, let’s just say you’ll definitely fit into the family,” Hunter says with a chuckle.
“A family of murdering fucks? Yeah, I’m glad I fit in because I have a feeling by the end of this, there’ll be more added to my body count,” I tell him. My thoughts going straight to my father because I have no doubt that might just be how it ends. I know for a fact he won’t stop hunting Winter just to get her company and whatever else he’s after and I’m never going to let that happen.
“And don’t worry, my brother’s men will take care of the bodies and nothing will ever come back on you.”
“Thanks man. I appreciate it,” I tell him.
“No need to thank me. They messed with my sister, and my brothers always look out for me even though I don’t need it. I guess it’s nice to have seven deadly assassins as brothers that you can call for help anytime you need it. Winter is important to me and I know Carter and the guys consider her family too since she’s mine,” he tells me.
“That’s good. I’m glad, she needs family since she doesn’t have much of one now,” I tell him.
“So, just make sure you always remember I know seven deadly assassins… if you fuck with my sister or hurt her in any way again, I won’t fucking hesitate to unleash them on you,” he tells me with all seriousness.
“Duly noted,” I mutter.
“Good. Glad we got that settled because we’re here,” he says with a big smile as he pulls up to a huge iron gate. And this asshole called me a psycho?
Amoment later the gate opens up and Hunter drives all the way down the long as fuck driveway, pulling up to a huge mansion. He gets out of the car and I follow. The door to the mansion opens before we’ve even reached the top of the stairs so we head right in.
We’rebarely through the door when a blur of something slams into Hunter. It only takes a second to realize that the blur is none other than Adelaide.
“Hunter! I’ve missed you! I’m so glad you’re here,” she squeals as she hugs him. BeforeI even know what’s happening, she spins around and punches me in the arm.
“What the hell dickhead?! What did you do to my favorite girl?” she questions.
“I swear it wasn’t me this time,” I say with a roll of my eyes. “Well, technically, it kind of was, but in my defense that stupid made up video was never meant to see the light of day.”
Shesurprises me when she steps over to me and pulls me in for a hug. “You’re an idiot and I don’t know if you’re ever going to grow out of that but I missed your dumbass too. We’re going to get her back, don’t worry.”
“You can bet on it. I won’t stop until I find her,” I murmur, holding onto her a little while longer because I just need a hug and I’m not hugging Hunter’s dumbass.
“Hands off our woman, dude,” I hear a moment later in a joking voice and look up to see who must be Carter walking toward us. Adelaide lifts her head and rolls her eyes as if to say this fucking guy.
“Oh come on, Daddy! You can’t be jealous of a hug. Besides, I’m not a boyfriend-stealing bitch and you know Winter is my girl. Plus, I think seven dicks is quite enough for me,” she tells him with a pout. Now it’s his turn to roll his eyes at her while a snort escapes me.
“I’m not falling for that damn pout this time, woman! And, yes, you don’t need any more than the seven that you’ve got,” he growls, while Hunter and I chuckle. “Sorry, guys. This one’s a handful.”
“I’m not,” she grumbles, a cute pout on her face.
“I’mCarter, Hunter’s brother,” he says, turning to me to introduce himself. “The others are waiting in the living room for us.”
Hestarts to walk off as Hunter and I, along with Adelaide, follow after him. We get to the living room and see six other guys sitting there. Carter introduces them to me one by one. There’sBlaze, Silas, Maxcen, Daemon and the twins Declan and Cage.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I just wish it was under better circumstances,” I say and they all nod and just like that everyone turns serious and we get down to business.
“We’ve put out some feelers and we’re hoping to hear some news soon,” Maxcen says and I nod my head in response.
“Thanks for helping,” I tell them with sincerity in my voice.
“She’s family now since she’s important to our girl here and to our brother as well,” Carter says and I nod. Hunter looks at me with an expression that says see I wasn’t making that shit up.
“I think my father has something to do with her kidnapping. I didn’t realize he hated her so much that he’d try to harm her but I’ve recently found some things out that have shown me his true colors,” I tell them.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it, don”t worry,” Silas tells me. “Now that we know he’s possibly involved it’s another thing to look into which could help.”
Wetalk some more about what they’ve been doing since they got the call from Hunter and then we all sit down to eat dinner. Half an hour later we’re all just chilling a bit since there’s nothing else to do, when Carter gets a call from one of his contacts, the entire room goes silent while he’s on the phone.
“One of my contacts got wind of a girl being smuggled to the US. The flight plan was set for NewYork so I’m fairly sure that’s where they’re taking her,” he says.
“We need to go,” I tell Hunter and he agrees. I call in the flight plan with my pilot and we sit and hang out with the guys a bit more until it’s time to go, though I’m anxious the whole time. The guys look like they were ready to come with us too but I stop them.
“Can you guys stay back for now? I don’t want anyone getting wind of the fact that we know you guys. I’d rather keep you as our secret weapon for now in case someone finds out and harms her because of your reputation of being killing machines,” I tell Carter and they all chuckle.
“I see someone’s been doing their research,” Blaze says with a chuckle.
“Trust me it was hard to even get the little that I did find,” I tell him.
“Oh, we know.”
“No problem. Your call bro. We’ll just stay and work from here. But call us if you need us to come and we’ll be there,” Carter tells us.
“We will,” I tell him.
Anhour and a half later we’re hugging the guys and Adelaide before leaving to head back to the hotel and then the airport. I keep hoping that this tip will pan out and that we’ll find her as soon as possible before I lose my damn sanity.