Vincent frowned at them for their less than enthusiastic response, and he continued. “When Unna found out what I was doing, I tried to hush her up. I even tried to threaten her into keeping quiet, but she was a feisty bitch and told Rathe anyway.” He glared at the floor, reliving those memories. “I knew Rathe, he was bonded to me in a way that would make it hard for him to order my death, even with all of you begging him to let you do it.” He smirked. “So, instead, I overheard him talking to Unna about banishing me to hell. I couldn’t have that, so I staged a way for Unna and the other ladies to die. I just didn’t count on my brother to still be there talking to her when the bomb went off.”
He glared at my dad and the other bosses. “My plan changed with him out of the picture. I thought I could take the Devil seat, tell you all I would help my nephew while I ran things with the plan to overthrow you all. Well, that went out the window when I heard you all planning to kill me, and you”—he pointed to my dad, and his body shook—“wanted to take my meal ticket for me and raise him as your own.” He took a breath and calmed down before continuing. “And I couldn’t have that, so I took him with me, and we were on the run until we met up with Kevin.”
His eyes shone with triumph as he laughed. “He was the one that made those dental records for our deaths to get you all off my back. Then we built a moving compound together. The only thing he required was needing to do research on humans or supes however he saw fit. I didn’t give a flying fuck, so I let him have at it.”
“Kevin’s dead,” Easton called out, stating the fact.
I could see Vincent’s mind turning. I think he was counting on him somehow, but then each boss said more.
“The truck with your drugs, gone. Rendered useless.” Vincent swirled around to stare at Manic.
“Oh, and those people that you brought in to fight us? To have a war? They are now a part of the Syndicate and are enjoying themselves at the Desmond compound.” Syris smiled with glee. Vincent’s hands clenched in fists as his breathing came out clipped.
“And your meal ticket.” My dad’s voice came out cold as ice. “He’s with us now. You have nothing.”
Vincent bellowed out to the sky, “I fucking hate you! I hate all of you so fucking much.” He stomped around like a child as he paced. “You all fucking ruined everything. Years and years of planning ruined in one night. I was going to be king! It was right in my grasp...”
He turned away from them, so mad he couldn’t look at them until he saw me, almost like he forgot I was even here, and his frown turned vicious and cruel. He stalked up to me as he called out, “You may have toppled me, but I know a way I can topple you.”
He caressed my cheeks before gripping my chin and squishing my face between his hands as he turned his face toward my dad. “I can take something very precious away from you. I can make you all watch as I torture this girl until she if half mad, then I will make you watch as I take her life away right in front of you.” His attention was on my dad as he said, “I bet that would make you feel useless, pathetic, a waste of a father. Only able to sit there and watch the only child with the love of your existence perish before you. Stealing away the last link you have to her.”
My father jumped up. I was surprised by how spry he was without vampire powers. He tried to make a run at Vincent, but he clicked a button on this remote, and my dad seized up and fell to the ground. He laughed at my dad. “Please don’t tell me you think I’m that stupid.”
He moved his head toward me with a jackal smile that said he would hurt me pretty badly. The boys screamed for me. Telling him all the things they would do to him if he hurt me. They thrashed against the floor, making a whole lot of racket as they threatened him. The bosses all stayed oddly silent, like they knew the situation wasn’t good. We were useless with these cuffs on, and there was not a damn thing we could do about it. No amount of threats or screaming would change that. I knew what I needed to do.
For a split second, I felt bad for my mates. I would be torn up inside if this were reversed, probably doing and saying the same things as them. I looked at each of them for a second. Ax’s anger flared, always fighting until the end. Falcon was furiously trying to fiddle with the cuffs, knowing he could do nothing before getting those off. Avery was spouting off insults like Ax, but instead of using anger, I could tell it was out of fear. Fear for my life. It was adorable. Then there was Cosmo, who kept looking at me, telling me with his eyes to play this smart. Don’t rock the boat, so I would be able to endure more, giving him time to figure something out, but it was too late for that. Then my gaze collided with Lex. There was anger, fear, longing, sadness, but above all, a blinding determination. It was like he knew what was on my mind and was telling me no. That outcome wasn’t acceptable to him, and that if it took going down into the depths of hell to reverse it, he would.
1I steeled my resolve, telling myself it would be worth it in the end, and that made me happy.
“Do it.” My voice didn’t waver, didn’t sound weak or soft, it was more like a dare, something I thought he wouldn’t be able to pull off.
I kept my attention on Vincent as he turned away from taunting them and faced me. “Do you know what you’re saying, bitch?”
I embraced all of my darkness, all of my crazy thoughts, everything that would make people run away from me, I absorbed it and channeled it. I still have the same core to myself, but little things like pain and my own life seemed silly to worry about, so I let it go. I let go of the worry and the plans, the past and the future. I let it all go in favor to show this beast that he couldn’t win against me.
I looked up at him through my lashes, smiling so wide you could see every single tooth in my mouth. “I said, ‘Do it,’ bitch.” I rolled my neck, getting out the kinks. “You keep saying a whole bunch of threatening things, but I see little-to-no follow through.” As I kept talking, I built up those inner walls faster than the biggest playboy. I made sure that once he did his worst, he still wouldn’t be able to crash my walls down.
I exaggerated as I rolled my eyes. “I mean, are you this disappointing in bed, too? That would make sense why you don’t have a woman or man at your side.” He smacked me again, but now I didn’t feel the pain. I cackled like a crazy person as I lifted my head, and his eyes widened comically.
“Are you fucking stupid? Have you lost your marbles? That weak?” My jaw clicked with how hard I was biting down, knowing he knew the right buttons to push, but so did I.
I tipped my head to the side as he put his hand on one of the short, serrated knives. “Ooohh, I know, that one is pretty, but it won’t do the damage that you want. I can help you pick it if you want? I am kind of an expert with knives.”
He swirled around, holding a large machete-like blade, and I heard a subtle clink, like a pin dropped on the ground, before Vincent pointed it in my throat. “Oh, so you want to die? I get it now.” He threw a smirk at my father. “I would want to stop living if I had to live with Ternin all my life.
“Oh, no. I love my dad. He might be cray cray, but he gives me ice cream as a punishment.” I laughed again, seeing his agitation clear as day.
“What’s. So. Funny?” He leaned in, his words stinking up the space around me as he wrapped his hand around my neck, cutting off my oxygen, but I still laughed, even if it was hoarse.
“You. Your life. What you’re all about. It’s all funny to me.” He let go of me like I burned him, got into my face, and yelled his words as he spit on me.
“How dare you? How. Fucking. Dare. A filthy bitch like you looking down on me!” He lifted a knife, about to plunge it into me.
My laughter cut off as I looked at him dead serious. “I’m not looking down at you, but I can already see your pathetic future from here.” I went back to laughing hysterically as I bugged my eyes and stared him down.
“First, if you kill me, you will have all the Syndicate bosses after you. That means unlimited funds for a very limited window of killing. Second, even if you did get rid of the bosses, my mates would just pick up where they left off. There would be no place for you to hide, no rock you could hide under for years.”
“Mates?” My dad’s mouth dropped open as the other bosses called to their sons to confirm what I was saying.
