Unhinged by Onley James

“Why are we standing in an empty storage unit?” Atticus flicked his gaze to the center of the room, lip curling in disgust. “Well, almost empty.”

Adam rolled his eyes as he watched his brother remove a silk handkerchief from his pocket and wipe his hands, as if just standing in the damp, musty unit was enough to make him dirty.

“Yes, I’m just dying to know why that guy”—August pointed at Gary, currently tied to a folding chair—“is not currently dissolving in an acid bath?”

Gary began to thrash around in the chair, frantic noises coming from behind the gag in his mouth.

“Shut up,” Asa said, bored. When Gary didn’t take his advice, Asa picked up a booted foot and upended the chair. “This one’s going to be fun. He looks…juicy.”

Avi ignored the man currently flailing on his back to study Adam. “So, why are we all here?” he finally asked, exasperated. “And why isn’t Dad here?”

Adam shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Noah’s the one who called the meeting.”

Most people would have wilted under the gaze of five stone cold killers, but Noah just continued to lean against the wall, hands in his pockets. Maybe after having a gun pointed at his head for twenty minutes, he lacked the ability to look frightened.

Noah looked positively serene as he addressed Adam’s brothers. “Thomas isn’t here because he chose not to come. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say this is a test of some kind, but I don’t have time to worry about that now.”

August looked amused, Archer bored, Asa and Avi intrigued, and Atticus, as usual, looked like he’d smelled something bad. But Adam found it hard to tear his gaze away from Noah. He looked so sure of himself. It was sexy.

Noah flashed a quick smile in his direction. “Adam said the only way to kill these men is to do it all at once. That prospect seemed less difficult when we were looking at six or seven major players. Now, there could be as many as twenty major players. Politicians. Police. Priests. High value targets that are going to draw a lot of attention.”

“And that changes things how?” August asked.

Noah tilted his head, examining August with the same shrewd gaze he was receiving. “Well, the original plan was for each of you to take out a target on the same night, at the same time. You can’t do that with twenty people. As soon as word hits that one is dead, the others will start scattering like roaches.”

Asa cocked his head. “Go on.”

“Adam said Thomas would probably make you take out the targets one at a time, but that’s not very efficient.”

“Alright?” Atticus said, frowning like he was hoping Noah would get to the point.

“So, we kill two birds with one stone. We make Gary here call up the major players and get them to agree to meet them somewhere desolate, say Gary’s cabin. Then you lock them in, set it on fire, kill the stragglers as they run for their lives. That takes them out all at once and the fire will hide the evidence. It ain’t sexy, but it will work.”

As far as plans went, it was more than a little risky. It was madness if Adam was being honest. But it could be done. Quickly if need be. Adam knew just the place. Not Gary’s cabin, but somewhere equally as desolate.

“Damn,” Asa said with a laugh. “That’s fucking cold, bro. I like it.”

“No way. These guys all deserve to suffer,” Avi said, once more kicking Gary’s fallen chair.

August snickered. “You just like butchering people.”

Avi gave him the finger. “I’m not the one who has a kill playlist on Spotify.”

August bristled, giving an offended scoff. “You know all the screaming and begging gives me a migraine.”

Adam shook his head. He liked guns. They were clean. Efficient. Portable. And left very little mess if you knew what you were doing. Which he did. He didn’t kill for fun. He did it because he knew it needed to be done. Because his father said it was what they were born to do. But his brothers…they weren’t like him. They didn’t just like it, they fucking reveled in it. All but Aiden. Aiden was a lot like Adam. More a soldier than a monster.

But, in this particular case, Adam was willing to forgo guns and knives for fire and flames if that was what Noah wanted. There was some divine justice in watching them all burn. It wasn’t like they didn’t have it coming. He just had to convince his brothers to skip the gore and theatrics for a clean kill.

Adam sighed, looking at August warily. “You don’t always have to use blades. You could just put a bullet in the ones who try to run. I know for a fact you’re an excellent shot,” he reminded, trying and failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

August rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously bringing this up again? I shoot one of your targets, and you harp on it forever. I did you a favor. You froze up.”

“I was thirteen,” Adam shot back.

“You wouldn’t have made it to fourteen if I hadn’t stepped in. So, you’re welcome.”

“Enough!” Atticus shouted. “Can we save the witty banter for later? What Noah is proposing is most definitely the smarter plan.”

Avi shrugged, pouting. “I guess. Can we at least hurt this one?”

Noah frowned. “Are you guys really disappointed that you can’t stab somebody when the alternative is to just set them on fire?”

Asa nodded. “No offense. It’s just a little…hands off for our taste. We take pride in our work.”

“Look, I don’t care how you take them out, but we need to do it all at once and Gary is the key to doing that,” Noah said. “Can we all at least agree on that?”

Adam’s brothers all looked at each other before Atticus nodded. “It will work. We just have to get this one to make the call without signaling the others.”

Adam looked down at the man, still making distressed noises from behind his gag. “Oh, Gary here knows the alternative is a slow, painful death versus a nice quick bullet to the head.”

“He’s going to play ball,” Noah assured them. “Right, Gary?”

The man frantically bobbed his head. Atticus nodded towards the twins and they grabbed the back of the chair and set it upright. Gary’s eyes darted from person to person.

Adam was surprised when Noah approached the man, dropping down onto his thighs until they were nose to nose. “How does it feel to be scared?” he asked, tone chilling. “How does it feel to know you’re going to die?”

Gary didn’t respond, just stared wide-eyed at Noah. As did the others. This Noah had been born of so much pain and trauma and had come out stronger for it. His brothers seemed fascinated by Noah, but Adam… Adam had never been so horny in his whole fucking life. Noah looked fierce and so fucking sure of himself that it made Adam want to drag him out to the car and fuck him right then and there.

But there was no time for that. There was truthfully no time for any of it, including Noah perched in Gary’s lap, head tilted, as if he was truly trying to gauge the man’s fear.

“Noah likes to play with his food before he eats it,” August said. “Excellent.”

Noah stood but continued to stare down at the older man.

“I mean, it’s only fair he’s the one who gets to kill Gary,” Avi said. “Right? That kill belongs to Noah.”

Adam snapped his head around. “Noah’s not killing anybody. Just because he’s being inducted into the family doesn’t mean he needs to be initiated with blood.”

“Every one of us had to make our first kill,” Archer said, as always sounding inconvenienced.

“Noah said it himself,” Avi reminded. “He said this was a test. Dad is clearly using this as some sort of experiment. If Noah is part of this family, he’s going to have to get his hands a little dirty.”

“No—”

Noah cut him off. “I’ll do it.”

“You don’t have to,” Adam swore.

Noah looked at Gary, his gaze almost frigid. “I don’t have to. I want to. But not until it's over. I want him to watch the others die first.”

“Then it’s settled,” Archer said. “Get the man’s phone and let’s get this over with.”