God I love my fucking job.
The man nearly fainted from the pain. “Hey!” Haze slapped his face a couple times, forcing him to stay awake. “Wake the fuck up!”
I adjusted my grip on the man’s shaft and widened the gap of the blades. “Who do you work for? And why are you so interested in my siblings?”
The man shivered and shook with terror. “Please!” he begged. Haze pressed the blade against his throat, cutting him faintly, and I guided the shears closer. “No! Please! I–I–it was the Harris family!”
My brother and I froze at his answer.
“What did you say?” Haze’s head tilted as he removed the knife and stepped around to my side.
The man nearly burst into tears as I dropped the shears and stood back. “The Harris family—they hired me to find Haze! They’re the ones who sought me out!”
I should’ve fucking known.
“Why?” I asked. “Why didn’t they just go to the police? Why you?”
The man was uncontrollably pathetic. “Because I’m from Northern Lights.” My stomach dropped.
Fuck.
I quickly backed away from the man. Haze stared at me, confused. “Felix? What is it? What’s wrong?”
I shook my head as the man answered for me. “I guess every family has its secrets.” He spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor as we both looked at him.
“Shut up,” I growled. “Shut up!”
The man smiled. “It’s too late now, Felix. You’ve already broken the treaty…and now…you’re fucked!” He ruptured into a half cough, half laugh.
I rushed the man and gripped his collar, raising him and the chair off the ground. “You knew! You knew who I was and what I’d do! You set me up!” The man cackled. “You fucking set me up!”
“Who the fuck is Northern Lights?” Haze shot between us.
My eyes remained on the man as I answered. “Northern Lights is like Charlotte’s Web. Except they lack any empathy or values. They’re a rival network, one the web settled into a treaty with years ago to prevent absolute hell from breaking loose. They don’t touch us, and in return, we don’t touch them.”
The man snickered. “Except your brother here just broke that treaty. Which means things are about to get pretty ugly.”
My muscles ached as I threw the man across the room. He slammed into a nearby wall and landed on his back, the metal chair still tied to his body. Absolute rage surged through my veins. I rolled my sleeves and sauntered towards him, pulling my concealed gun from its holster. His eyes widened as I cocked it and aimed the barrel down at his skull.
“Wait!” Haze charged me and grabbed my arm while he tried to restrain me. “Don’t kill him?—”
I ripped my mask from my face and glared at my brother. “You don’t fucking get how serious this is, Haze. I have to kill him!”
He crossed his arms. “You didn’t let me finish. Don’t kill him…yet.” I blinked. “You said it yourself, someone's been talking. Well, now that we knowwho, the next question is…who has he been talking to.” We both looked down at the man.
The man tried to plead with us. “I’ll tell you anything! P–please! Just don’t kill me!”
Haze tilted his head. “How did you know where to find Indi? Who was helping you?”
The man swallowed. “A woman…one with bright r–red hair! Her name is?—”
“Mary-Jane,” Haze hissed. “Fuck.”
The man’s eyes met mine. “Anything else we need to know?” I asked over my shoulder. Haze didn’t answer, which was all I needed.
My arm raised again as I aimed the gun. “Wait! No! You can’t kill me! If you do, he’ll come looking for you!”
I stared down at the trembling man. “Not if he can’t find you.” I pulled the trigger and shot the man straight between the eyes. He died almost instantly.
