Prologue
Alec
10 years ago.
Christmas Day…..
Cin City buzzes with Christmas cheer, filled with bright lights, crowded shops, and the bitter kind of cold that cracks your skin open. The chill of the wind bites painfully into my skin, and I rub my hands together to get the blood back into them. My eyes skim over the snow-dusted storefronts, looking for something that calls to me. Anything that Tokyo would like. I should’ve probably gotten her Christmas gift sooner, but the Order of Divine Masculine took up all my time. You would think a club with such a mediocre name wouldn’t demand so much, but it’s far from just a club; it’s a control freak’s paradise, consuming your life under the guise of camaraderie. This secret society Dad forced me to join has me by the balls, trapped with odd jobs and event planning. Hiding behind prestige while glorifying decadence, pushing even the unwilling to feed their depravity.
The unwilling being me.
Thanks to my brother, Vik, I came up with an idea. A rave that brings people together for the elite to hunt and kill. No rules. No phones. No fucking mercy. And while that part of my life is situated, now I have to focus on a gift. Pacing down the strip, breath fogging the air, I hunt for a last-minute gift.
It’s for her. Tokyo. The girl who runs from everything, except me.
She hasn’t said yes yet, hasn’t called me her boyfriend, but we’ve been dancing around the edge of something real for months. We aren’t official, but tonight, I plan to make that change. Tokyo called me crying again. Another screaming match with her mom, whose latest scumbag boyfriend had just left, breaking more than just furniture this time. Tokyo’s past is a tapestry of heartbreak, each thread a story about being let down, about running from place to place without finding home. Before I came along, she would often find herself sleeping out in the cold or doing whatever it took to find a warm bed. But I’m here now. She has someone who will love her and protect her. I should have been on my way to Cedarvale, a couple of towns over, to meet up with Vik and Steve tonight. Something about my baby brother wanting us to meet his new girl, but I couldn’t turn my back on Tokyo. Not when she always expects it.
Not when Christmas is today.
Still, I couldn’t ignore that sinking feeling in my stomach, reminding me that I’m letting Steve down. I promised I’d be there, but I won’t make it. Not today, at least. My head throbs, my pulse thundering at my temples. The cold has my fingers numb, so I bring them to my lips and use my hot breath to warm them, as I continue my search for something small, something hers. When I spot it.
A silver Hello Kitty pendant sitting on a red velvet stand.Perfect.
Without a moment to spare, I walk into the shop, buy it without even checking the price, and walk out into falling snow with a stupid grin plastered on my face. My heart swells as I picture Tokyo’s beautiful face when she opens it. I picture her biting her lip, pretending to be shy, trying to act tougher than she is. When in reality all she needs is something stable, something that keeps her from always running — something only I can offer.
My phone buzzes inside my coat pocket, and no matter how much I try to ignore it as I walk down the snowy streets, the incessant buzzing makes it hard to do so. Finally, I suck in a breath as I reach into my pocket, my lungs burn as my heart lurches. My hand raises instinctively to my chest before it drops all the way into my stomach.
Finally, I answer.
And nothing prepares me for what comes next.
Vik’s voice is hoarse. Cracked. Broken in a way I’ve never heard before. “Steve’s dead,” he sobs into the phone.
“Wh-” I begin to ask, but the words die in my throat as a loud ringing sound rips through my ears. Everything slows. The lights blur. My throat closes, like I’m breathing through glass shards.
“What?” I finally manage to ask.Steve’s dead?No. My little brother couldn’t be dead. On the other end of the phone, there’s nothing but stifled sobs and heavy breathing. There’s a thick, heavy silence between us before Vik finally speaks again. “He was murdered.”
The words take a moment to register. At first, it’s just a bunch of syllables, nothing comprehensible. Then it all hits me like a sledgehammer to the head, as his sobs cut through the static in my head.
That’s all it took.
Whoever I was up till this very moment—gone. And in his place, something different is born. Something twisted, full ofdespair and grief. My eyes blur, the sting of the tears causes me to blink as I stare into the snow, my world fracturing by each breath. Steve was a year younger than I was. He was the better one. The golden boy.
Now he’s just gone…
My fingers grip the phone so tight as I struggle to bring air into my lungs, my lips quiver, and hot tears stream down my cold cheeks while I hear Vik scream for revenge through the phone. But it’s just noise now.
All I feel is cold.
All I see is blood.
Present Day
Christmas Day….
My fingers trace around the outline of the necklace inside my pocket as I stand outside the house of the man who killed my brothers. The very same who will die at my hands.
Roman fucking Delgado.
