Chapter 4
“Our vices should be forbidden.
For they urge us to indulge in the impossible, and in this…
Meet our downfall.”
Florian
Florian
Wrapping the towel around my hips, I run my fingers through my wet hair and step into the living room, smirking at Zeus, who munches on a bone in the right corner. Thunder shakes the sky, the loud boom echoing through the space. “Having fun?” I ask him, leaving wet imprints on the marble floor as I go to the bar and grab a glass, pouring myself a whiskey. “That looks sad.”
He growls at me and bites on the bone hard, his sharp teeth sinking into it while an untouched bowl of meat sits beside him.
I guess my wolf also has a vicious streak because despite tearing the man earlier, he still needs to destroy something. I can relate to that. Maybe thats why I took him in when I found him as a wounded cub who almost died from hunger. Due to his injured paw, hed never survive in the wild alone, so despite believing such creatures should never belong to someone…hes been mine for the past ten years, and we make a great team.
Murder numbs the voices in your head temporarily until the next time, the restlessness seeking another prey to inflict its sadistic cravings into and watch them bleed and beg while the monster inside me enjoys their agony and pain.
Ah, torture.
The greatest hobby a monster can have.
Dropping a few ice cubes in my drink, I take a sip and welcome the bitter taste on my tongue, grounding me to the present as my phone rings somewhere in the distance.
Ignoring it, I drop on the couch and kick my feet up on the table as I stare at my TV and order, “Pick up.” Since I have no patience to search for my various electronics through the house, I connect them all to my TV, which is on all the time and shows the latest news on mute.
Compared to most of my friends, I live for the evening news. I make sure to leave the remains of my atrocities behind, enjoying seeing their death and murder announcements while clueless law enforcement officials promise to find the killer.
It will never happen, and they should thank me for doing their job and getting rid of these fuckers wasting space on the planet.
One might even say I’m an altruist at heart, getting the work done without expecting anything in return.
Nothing but the high the lifeless flesh gives me.
A dark-haired man comes into view, smirking at me as he leans back on his chair and wraps his hand around the coffee mug. “Florian,” he greets me, lifting his mug at me before taking a small sip, and a growl rings in the air.
Zeus abandons his bone and pads to me, jumping on the couch. He zeros his stare on the stranger, putting his muzzle on my lap. I pat him lightly while the fucker on the other end of the line chuckles. “Ah, he’s so protective of you. That’s cute. A bit pathetic you need a wolf to fight your battles, but cute nevertheless.” He sighs dramatically, but I let him have his moment because we both know he needs it. Otherwise, this unpleasant video call would last for hours. “Sometimes I’m ashamed to call you my friend, Florian.”
“We’ve never been friends.” I drink my whiskey, and the glass almost cracks in my grip when he gasps in mock shock, placing his coffee mug on the desk and covering his mouth, shaking his head.
“And you’re telling me this now? After all these years? I thought our bond was stronger than that.” He wipes away a nonexistent tear. “So that’s how heartbreak feels.”
Fed up with his bullshit, and so is my wolf, apparently, who growls some more, his claws digging into the leather and almost ripping it, I spit, “What do you want, Eudard?”
“I think I should be the one asking you this question.” Amusement vanishes instantly from his gaze, replacing it with coldness and fury akin to the one permanently residing in me while his hollow green eyes promise me retribution if I dare to lie to him. “What the fuck were you doing in my town, Price?”
Running my fingers through Zeus’s fur and earning myself his growl since my wolf rarely appreciates any kind of touch, mine included, I take another sip and extend a long pause that must drive him insane.
Payback, fucker. God knows listening to him is a chore in itself.
“Last time I checked, your town is part of our country, which means I have a right to go wherever the fuck I want without having to explain myself to you.”
His mouth curves into a smile that serves more as a warning while he clicks his tongue. “Careful, Price. Be very careful how you speak to me. We have a truce, but it can end easily if you cross the line.” His voice stays even. However, it’s hard to miss the threat evident in each syllable while he lights up a cigarette, inhaling a greedy pull, and sends the smoke flying, momentarily blocking his image from me.
My lips twitch at this strategic show of not giving a fuck and establishing dominance or, rather, to remind me I’m not dealing with an average citizen here.
After all, he’s Eudard “Madman” Campbell.
An heir to the throne who rules his town and expects everyone to bow to his commands.
Dangerous. Lethal. Ruthless.
Just some of his character traits, and whoever dares to go against him, especially in his fucking town, doesn’t live long enough to talk about it.
One might say all this combined should make us the best of friends, but unfortunately…he’s part of the Dark Protégés.
A deadly brotherhood of the most skillful serial killers in the country who think the world revolves around them and their wishes, led by the king of New York himself, Lachlan Scott.
His reputation precedes him. Everyone knows not to fuck with him or his city because the consequences of it are severe. He finds them all on the brink of insanity and then channels their dark desires. Rarely anyone goes against him, and those who do usually end up dead.
Considering our net worth is about the same, though, I don’t give a fuck about his mood swings or what he does as long as it doesn’t interfere with my goals. I prefer to keep him as an ally rather than an enemy because life is all about connections and networking. You never know when you might need their support. Besides…most of his protégés barely hold on to their madness, and it would be such a chore to clean up their messes should they go after me.
Not to mention, I don’t need Lachlan showing up in Chicago and messing up my plans.
Still.
No one fucks with me, so I say, “How is your woman, by the way? Heard she’s back in town. Is this what has you in such a foul mood?” He stills, and his eyes flash in warning once again. This time, though, darkness crosses his face, which earns him another smirk from me. “According to my sources, she has a revenge plan.” I hiss through my teeth as I finish my drink. Zeus barks, jumping up and landing by my feet. “Watch out, Eudard. You might be on her list.”
Considering how their town and their founding members destroyed her, I’m hoping she causes them all grief and mayhem.
The tension grows so thick around him I can feel it through the screen. I expect him to blow up and lose his shit because no one has a right to mention Cassandra to him.
He’s made that very clear, which is hilarious, considering she wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for me and my friends.
Ah, people are so ungrateful.
Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to kill them.
He leans back in his chair, inhaling more smoke, and internally, I prepare for the attack that he dishes out almost instantly. “If I were you, I’d watch your back.” He presses the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray. “I wonder how Santiago would feel once he finds out what you did with his little sister.”
My hold on the glass tightens, the crashing sound reverberating through the space, and the broken pieces dig into my skin, drawing blood, not that I give a fuck as my whole attention zeros in on the man who just became my main target. “Do not speak about her.”
“So you can run your mouth about my woman, but I can’t do the same about yours?” The glass pierces my skin deeper when I squeeze my fist. “Ah, right. She’s not yours. Claiming her would put such a dent in your friendships and, as a result, unity. Wouldn’t it, Florian?”
I get up, throwing away the glass and not caring how it scatters on the floor while wiping away my blood on the towel as Zeus growls some more, prowling to the other side to avoid getting hurt.
My wolf knows the drill. He never stays in my company when rage consumes me, polluting my mind, and anger glides through my veins, awakening every monstrous cell within me because Eudard dared to speak about her.
An angel who doesn’t and will never belong in my darkness, and now my body buzzes with one need only.
To punish him for uttering her name, even indirectly, as our darkness should never taint her pure soul.
One of the reasons I hate her for ruining us and turning us into what we are now.
“You ever speak about her again, Eudard, and I’m going to burn your town to the ground.” My voice leaves no room to doubt my words.
They might all consider me saner than most of my friends, but I’m not, especially when it comes to her.
“You started it first when you brought up my woman. Don’t do that again, Florian, or you can come here, and we shall measure whose dick is bigger.”
Our mutual threats hang in the air for several beats as we stare at one another, silent communication between us that angers and settles the beast within us because if there is one thing we can always agree on?
Some things are off-limits, and I might have poked him earlier, but I would have never gone near her.
We act compassionate and human when the mood strikes us in order to blend in this society that praises goodness and judges the evilness, yet…when it comes to her, I have no desire to hide who I am.
Her existence alone unleashes an even more vicious and ruthless beast within me, ready to tear apart anyone who as much as breathes near her, and similar emotions must consume Eudard as well.
Although his emotions come from love, but mine?
From lust and self-hate that I’m barely able to contain.
My phone buzzes, and I grab it from the table, my fingers leaving bloody prints on the screen when I see a new email.
Clicking on it, I widen my eyes at the information presented there, and the ringing in my ears starts, so loud I barely hear Eudard’s voice coming somewhere from a distance. “I did a little research after your impromptu visit since some guy went missing in the nearby town.” He chuckles, although it lacks any humor. “I’m sure he failed to deliver the crucial information you’ve been looking for.”
As I scroll through the documents, coldness sinks into every bone in my body, and it’s a miracle I don’t crush the phone in my grip. “How did you find it?”
“I’m a mayor and a member of a founding family. I have my ways. You’re dealing with a professional, Florian. And the worst part? He has only one target in mind. Your family.”
So the fucker thinks, what? That he’s a hunter, and the Prices are his prey?
He’s in for a big surprise because my family might have put up with his bullshit all these years, but it ends with me.
He’ll pay for what he has done, and this information opens the key for me to find what I seek.
Schooling my features, I look at Eudard again, watching him light up another cigarette, and ask, “What do you want?”
“Consider it a gift. I’m a good person at heart.” He chuckles because even he knows there is no goodness when it comes to him.
He’s coated in darkness, and sanity left him long ago. I know there is no altruistic bone in his body. “And what’s the price for the said gift?”
“When the time comes, you need to be on my side.”
Ah, it comes back to his woman, after all.
I guess that’s what happens when one has a little disagreement with Lachlan that might result in full-on war.
“You know that’s not a decision I make on my own.”
“When the time comes, make sure to convince the rest of the Dark Horsemen to do what I want.”
“You’ve already given me the information. Why would I do anything for you?”
“Because your name is Florian Price, and you hate owing anyone anything. We both know there is no such thing as a gift.”
I scowl at him as I sense the hidden meaning that laces his tone, letting me know he is aware of my past.
A past even my best friends have no idea about because I shielded them from it, believing that my pain could not equal theirs.
Or rather…
I survived, and survivors don’t get to whine when someone else dies.
Before I can reply to his statement or instead tell him to go fuck himself so we can finally end this conversation that gives me nothing but a headache, a message pops up on my screen.
lt;Unknowngt; The princess seems to be back in the castle. She’s beautiful in white, but I think…you’d really love her in red.
The earlier fury comes swinging back at me, so strong I barely hold back the roar ready to erupt from my throat while a chill runs down my spine, as I need only one thing.
The blood of the man who thinks he has a chance to repeat the horrors of the past instead of getting my wrath for what he has done to me.
I allowed him to play to my advantage, but he upped his scales.
She’s back, and in this, she’s given him a weapon to use against me.
And for that…
I hate her so viciously I wish to break her and never put her back together.
Maybe then she’d experience just a fraction of the chaos that consumed me a long time ago.
Because my angel doesn’t set me free or save me.
She sends me to my downfall.
And how could any monster want anything else but to destroy her?