I watch her voluptuous ass dressed in that scantily-clad pair of white pants and black crop top that sticks to her sweaty body as she rushes out the door, heels click-clacking across the floor. When even the last shadow disappears, a darkness rouses within me, stirring my cock.
“What are you doing? Why’d you just let her walk off?” Nathan barks after he rushes at me through the crowd.
I smirk as he attempts to grab my collar but then quickly regains his senses. He knows better than to taunt me.
“She’s gonna get away and—”
“Do what?” I say. “Tell people?”
He knows it’d be foolish of her to expose even an inkling of detail to anyone because it would expose her own violent truth too. The one thing she’s been dying to keep hidden.
Anger flashes across Nathan’s face, and he marches over to Milo near the entrance. “You let her run right past you.”
“Kai told me not to intervene,” Milo responds.
I approach both of them with a smug smile on my face.
Nathan slowly turns his head toward me. “You wanted her to run?”
I can’t help the wickedness from contorting my face because of the depravity to come, and Nathan returns it with an equally filthy shit-eating grin when he finally realizes what I plan to do. “You dirty bastard. You want to hunt her down …”
“Let’s give her a head start,” I say, my veins filling with a mixture of adrenaline and lust from the coming chase. “Let her think she’s got an advantage. That it’s going to be easy to evade us.”
“How long?” Milo asks.
“Three … Two … One … ”
A wicked grin spreads across my cheeks, unleashing the predator inside me.
I bolt off through the exit, chasing after the girl I almost want to eat alive. I don’t know where she’s gone, but it won’t take us long to find her. There’s only one street and only two ways she could’ve gone. The clouds have cracked open with water, casting darkness over the city, but this rain is like droplets on a hot stone to me. Nothing will cool the blaze burning inside me, an unquenchable need to find my little kitty and break her resolve.
I run to the left while Milo and Nathan each go to the right, one of them checking each alley. With this kind of downpour, the streets are deserted, save from the few people carrying umbrellas and the sparse cars driving past.
But my little kitty doesn’t have an umbrella, nor the guts to take her time to hide from the rain when she knows full well it’ll only delay the inevitable.
We will find her.
And when we do, she’ll beg on her knees for mercy.
I hear footsteps ahead in an alley, and my heart picks up. Someone is hiding behind the dumpster, and it makes me tilt my head in excitement.
Because the black hair that curls around the person’s shoulder definitely looks like Lana’s. I kick a can in her direction, and her eyes flick to meet my gaze, a hint of fear residing behind those beautiful brown orbs.
Fuck.
Suddenly, she bolts off again, shoving a few boxes filled with trash in my way, along with the red mask from Club Rivera.
“Run, little kitty, run,” I growl, and she skitters off on those heels, each click of them against the pavement causing a wave of ecstasy. “I’ll fucking catch you and make you mine.”
God, it’s been such a fucking long time since I last felt this alive. Not even during my killings do my senses awaken, but this … this sets my fucking soul on fire.
And I chase after her through the dark into the abyss of my own making.
I pull my phone from my pocket and call Nathan. “Found her. St. Mary’s Street headed for St. John’s Street.”
“Coming,” Nathan replies, and I turn off the conversation and focus on the chase.
She rushes across the streets, crisscrossing from alley to alley, but every time her eyes catch mine, I can tell the rage in her body grows impatient, ready for a fight. And when she is, I’ll be right there to force her into submission.
Lana
I run as fast as I can, my heart racing in my throat as I make my way from street to street. But every time I glance over my shoulder, there he is, in his slick black suit, catching up with me fast.
Fuck.
I never imagined I’d be sprinting in these heels in the middle of the night while getting soaking wet from the rain, but here we are. I wish I’d put on something easier, clothes that didn’t stick to my body and heels that didn’t make it tough to run.
I cut a corner and speed across the pavement.
CRACK!
One of the heels breaks underneath me, and I struggle to stay standing. But when I look back and see it lying on the sidewalk, Kai appears from beneath a shop, his dark figure looming over the heel as he picks it up.
Fuck. I can’t run like this, but I have to, so I kick the heels off and carry them in my hands while I rush into the nearest alley. It’s a narrow road with high buildings on each side, and there’s a turn on the back end. I wonder if it leads to another road.
I know this city, but I don’t know each nook and every cranny. I haven’t studied the maps enough to know every inch. But what if he does?
My heart races in my throat as I come to an abrupt halt in the middle of the alley.
Because in front of me is a giant wall connecting the two buildings, preventing me from running any farther.
Shit. Shit. Shit!
I turn.
Too late.
Through the pouring rain, a figure appears, casually tossing a knife up and catching it. My eyes follow the blade glinting in the only streetlight that illuminates the street at the edge of the corner.
I swallow, bundled nerves coaxing out a fear I’ve never felt.
Is this what my victims feel when I hunt them down to make them bleed?
Will I be the next corpse to litter the streets?
“No more hiding, little kitty … I’ve found you now,” he murmurs under his breath, a wicked, almost sinful smile appearing underneath that red mask he’s still wearing.
The knife in his hand travels along the wall, the screeching sound it creates making all the hairs on my arms and legs stand up.
“What the fuck do you want from me?” I yell.
“You’ve asked that question so many times before, and the answer will always be the same, Lana.”
He says my name like it’s never been spoken out loud before.
As though he’s the one who fucking gave it to me.
And that alone makes my bones quiver.
“You,” he finally answers, the knife creating sparks against the wall.
I walk backward with each step he takes.
“Why? You don’t even know me,” I retort.
“I’ve seen enough to know that I want you,” he replies, his voice dark and ruffled with messed-up desire. “The way you kill, the way you fight, the way you bleed …” A tormented groan leaves his lips, and the sound reverberates in my soul. “I want to own all of it.”
When he lifts the blade from the wall, I suck in a breath. “I’ll fucking fight you.”
“Good.”
God, the confidence in this dude is making me want to sucker punch him and, at the same time, drop to my knees. How is this normal?
I have to stop this. Fuck, I should’ve brought my knives, but I thought I’d be safe at a Rivera club.
“I’ll kill you,” I blurt out, hoping it’ll keep him at bay.
Suddenly, in the back, two more figures appear wearing red masks, one with short red-dyed hair, the other half-long blond hair, and my boisterous courage wanes quickly.
Milo and Nathan.
Three against one is a tough win, but I can try.
Then Kai says, “Give us your worst.”
When the two boys approach from the side, I step back farther until my back hits the wall, and I have nowhere left to go but right at them. Fuck. Guess it was always unavoidable that we’d clash again.
I stare at those haunting eyes, one white, one green, sparkling with so much thirst they make my heart throb, and I fucking hate it so much I feel the need to lash out. “Do you see so little through that eye of yours you have to bring your buddies to a fight to make it even?”
“Oh boy, not the eye …” Milo mumbles at Nathan. “He’s not going to take that lightly.”
Kai’s face darkens, the smirk dissipating, making place for disgust. “You think insulting me will get you out of this mess?” His fist tightens. “I’ll make your mouth pay for that comment.”
I snort. “I’d love to see you try.”
The confident smirk returns on his face. “Watch me.”
Nathan groans. “Fuck, this is getting exciting.”
“God, I can’t fucking wait for a taste of that pussy,” Milo says, getting closer than the others.
“In your fucking nightmares, this pussy has fangs!” I scream.
I charge right at him with my heels held like a knife to hit him in the face, but he avoids my jabs. This time, I’m prepared, and I kick up, kneeing him in the face. An oompf sound leaves his mouth after he’s tasted my knee, and I shove him back, thrusting my heels right up in his face.
Until Nathan jumps me and holds me down.
“You think you can beat us at our own game?” he murmurs into my ear.
He knocks the heels from my hands and chucks them away.
“I’ll beat your fucking ass and spit on your fucking face when I’m done,” I growl back, kicking back, hitting him between the legs right where it hurts the most.
He groans, excitement bolstering him as he wraps his arms around my throat and chokes me.
I claw at his fingers, desperate for air.
“You’ll pay for that, Lana,” he says, squeezing tightly. “You begged us to kiss you, but now that you face the consequences, you regret it.”
He’s right, I do regret kissing him. Not because of the consequences, but because I can still taste his foul possession of my mouth, and I hate every second of that memory.
Kai’s slowly approaching from the back, his looming presence pushing me to knock my elbows back along with all the air from Nathan’s lungs.
But the second I try to make a run for it, Milo’s on my back, wrapping his whole body around me like a monkey latching on, refusing to let go.
“Get off me!” I shriek, but I’m brought to my knees with his weight bearing down on me.
“I get off on you, yeah.” Milo laughs. “Especially that time you got all wet on his knee.”
“Oh yeah, that was damn sexy. I gotta admit,” Nathan groans.
He eyes Kai, who merely smirks, and I feel so fucking cold. Not from the rain but from the icy reality that both Milo and Nathan know what happened in my room, which means Kai told him … or they were both watching us.
“Were you two there too?” I grit.
“Physically? No. Mentally, oh yes,” Milo groans.
My nostrils flare. “Fucking creep.”
I throw him off me and get up to kick him in the stomach and knock off his mask, but it only makes him moan.
“Oh, do it again, baby,” he begs, catching me off guard.
Long enough for Nathan to grab my arms and swiftly pin them behind my back.
“I’ve got you now, little slut,” he whispers into my ear.
“Let go of me!” I yell, trying to fight him off.
Suddenly, Kai’s blade enters the scene, swooping in like a flick of the wrist, right underneath my chin. My eyes flutter to the side to meet his perpetual gaze, one bright white eye confusing my soul as the green one sucks it out of my body along with my breath.
“Face it … you lost, little kitty. But you put up a good fight.”
Milo gets up from the ground and wipes the rain through his hair before he approaches and looks me up and down. “Got yourself stuck in a dangerous game, baby.”
“You think I won’t scream?” I grit.
“Oh, by all means, scream,” Nathan says, clutching my wrists so tightly my bones might snap. “Scream as loud as you want because the last thing any fucker who tries to intervene will see is my bullet.”
He’s carrying a gun too? Shit.
“Fuck you, I’ll fucking bite off your dicks if you try anything on me,” I growl. I know it’s a lie, but I can’t help the fighter in me.
“The only one eating anything here will be me,” Kai says, tilting his head as he slightly shifts the blade enough to make me lift my head.
“Is that a threat?” I ask.
“I don’t need to threaten anyone,” he says, a devilish smile forming on his lips as he removes his mask and chucks it into the rain. His marred, square face almost looks beautiful, with the rivulets of water cascading down his dark hair that sticks to his skin. But I know better than to think of a Phantom as anything but a monster in the making.
“When this night is over, you will be crawling on your knees to us. Begging.”
I snort. “Are you high?”
Nathan chucks his mask aside too and leans in to sniff at my wet hair, his lips dangerously close to my ear. “The only thing we’re high on is your smell.”
“I’m not doing shit for you,” I rasp. “So you can shove—”
“Your secret in your brother’s face?” Kai interrupts, tilting his head.
I frown. “Again, where’s your proof?”
The knife pushes farther into my skin as a dangerous smile tugs at Kai’s lip before he pulls something out of his pocket. A soaked piece of paper of my username on a particular site I frequent to find my next target … a site I have never told anyone about.
My eyes widen.
How does he know?
“Sicklittlebitch13? I’m disappointed, Lana. I expected something a little more creative,” Kai mumbles, staring at the paper like he can’t believe he actually found me.
“How did you find that?” I ask.
“You underestimate his obsession with finding out every intimate detail about your life,” Nathan murmurs into my ear.
“You went onto my laptop?” I grit.
“I have my ways,” Kai responds.
Nathan’s hand casually dives into my pocket, and he takes out my phone.
“Hey! Give that back!” I grit.
“Finders keepers,” he muses, tucking it into his pocket.
“But why the 13?” Milo asks me. “I’m curious.”
If I can’t prevent them from knowing everything about my twisted side job, at least I’ll keep this secret to myself.
“None of your goddamn business,” I growl.
“Maybe she wanted her victims to think she was that age …” Kai muses.
I swallow away the lump in my throat.
“Smart,” Nathan says behind me. “But not smart enough not to get caught.”
I twist around in his grip, but it’s no use. He’s far stronger than I ever will be.
Kai chucks the paper at me. “Smart enough to know not to tell her family … But we will.”
My nostrils twitch. Of course this was always his plan.
Once wasn’t enough after he had a taste.
“You sick f—”
The blade suddenly moves to my lips, silencing me. “Ah, ah, think very carefully of your next words, little kitty.”
Milo casually folds his arms, watching the spectacle with a smile on his face like he’s enjoying this.
“This is your only chance, so make it count,” Nathan says.
“We show this to your family, you’re done for,” Milo says, pointing at the paper lying crumpled on the wet pavement beneath me.
“Is that what you want?” Kai asks.
Of course not. But he already knows that. He just wants me to say it.
My lip curls up into a snarl. “No.”
His knife slowly lowers down my neck, and he watches my veins twitch in response. “Now you know how far I’m willing to go … your turn.”
“Fine. Tell me what the fuck you want,” I growl.
His green eye glints in the darkness with a kind of evil I’ve never seen, a promise of what’s to come. “Your body. Ours to do with as we please in exchange for our silence.”
Fuck.
I knew it was coming, but it doesn’t hit any less hard.
An impossible offer, completely deranged, yet …
The blade reaches the point where my exhales become visible to the naked eye, and it settles there like he means to bury either the blade between my breasts … or his dick.
His tongue darts out to wet his lips. “So what’s it going to be, little kitty?”
“You tell my brother, my father, hell anyone, and I’ll cut off your balls and feed them to you,” I retort.
Milo lets out a soft moan, and it makes me narrow my eyes at him.
However, the blade puncturing my skin right below my sternum forces me to watch Kai’s every move.
“Answer him,” Nathan says, twisting my arm until I hiss.
Fine. If I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna look him dead in the eyes and make him witness the unraveling of my soul. Because if I’m going to go down this path to hell … I’m taking those fuckers with me.
“Yes.”
Milo’s face immediately erupts into a shit-eating grin and he squeals with delight.
I know what I just said. I know the gravity of that one word. How it ties my twisted soul and binds it to theirs for however long they please. Fucking devils in handsome suits come to steal every last inch of my body in exchange for the last shred of dignity I’ll have left.
“Good choice, little kitty …” Nathan murmurs into my ear. Milo throws him the tie he was holding earlier, and Nathan ties it around my wrists with ease. “And now the fun begins.”
SLICE!
