Carnage by Sarah Bailey

One

Prescott

There’s something empowering about seeing the kingdom you rule over spread out before you. The people going about their daily lives like ants foraging for their colony. That’s what humanity is.

Ants.

There are those who toil day in, day out and those who reap the rewards. Who sit in their ivory towers watching the world go by, hoarding their billions simply because they can.

Which category do I fall into? The answer would be neither.

I do not reap.

I do not toil.

I infect.

The face of our company had to be a pretty one. It’s how you win people over. Charm and charisma only come after one’s initial impression. It’s how you keep them interested. You hook them then you pounce, ensuring your claws are in so deep, they’ll never be able to extract them. Humans aren’t hard to work out. You appeal to their baser natures and soon, you’ll get what you want, leaving them none the wiser about the manipulation they’ve undergone. Blind to reality.

It’s really very simple when it comes down to it.

Women want to be with me.

Men want to be me.

I’ve got inside their heads. Made them see a perfectly constructed image of what it means to be rich, handsome, powerful and successful. Pity, it was all lies they’d been fed to keep them coming back for more. Like little lost souls dangling on a string, hoping one day they’ll be just like me.

I am an infection they’ll never be free of.

It was how I liked it. Keeping them under my thumb whilst I bleed them dry until they’re nothing but a husk. A shell of the person they used to be. Then I throw them to the wolves and watch whilst they’re eaten alive.

It’s the most rewarding part. Seeing your efforts finally end with their ultimate demise.

“You observing your playground again, Pres?”

I glanced back, finding Drake standing by my desk, his fingers brushing across the glass surface. The man could be called darkness personified. Midnight black hair with indigo eyes. Drake was never seen in anything but dark colours. It suited his temperament. Something he often kept hidden, but I knew the truth. His namesake was completely on point. A dragon disguised as a man. And not to be messed with under any circumstances.

I infected, but Drake? He dissected until there was nothing left.

“Perhaps.”

Drake’s lip twitched. I may be the face of our business, but Drake was the CEO. He made the hard decisions and took all the flack. He kept the fine balance between what we did above board and below from imploding on us.

Fortuity would not be where it is today without him.

“You ready for today?”

I inclined my head before turning back to the window. The city spread out in front of me as far as the eye could see. At the centre was us. The axis. Money made the capitalist society go around. And what did we deal in?

Money. Money. And more money.

It had never been about getting rich. It had always been about power. And we had it in spades. Money merely gave us the means to spread our influence. And spread it we did.

The four of us had built our company from the ground up. No one dared question our rule. No one stood up to us. Anyone who’d tried to do so learnt the hard way. We took no prisoners. We gave no second chances. Ruthless efficiency was exactly what we were renowned for.

“It’s time we set the world on fire,” I murmured, knowing he’d hear me.

He snorted.

“Isn’t it already burning?”

I shrugged, waving a hand at the window.

“This? This is nothing. They haven’t seen anything yet.”

“I hope you’re right.”

I grinned, turning away from the city and levelling him with my gaze. He wasn’t smiling. I could see the tension lining his brow. Drake never relaxed or chilled out. He took everything that went wrong as a personal affront. He wouldn’t stop until he’d fixed every last detail. The man left no stone unturned. It was why he ran our company, leaving me to be our public image. I had no patience for what he did.

“I’m always right.”

“More like always the arrogant narcissist.”

I spread my hands, giving him a wink.

“I have every reason to be.”

Drake rolled his eyes before he walked away towards the door. He was used to me. The way I never took life too seriously. However, I knew the market like the back of my damn hand. This was our only option to secure our future.

He paused in the frame, his back stiff and his hands twitching.

“We’re sacrificing everything. You can’t tell me it doesn’t concern you at all.”

I ran my tongue along my bottom lip. We had every reason to be afraid of future repercussions. However, we’d never done anything by halves. Always one step ahead of everyone else in this game we played. Luck had been on our side, but it would only last so long. One day it could run out. I planned to make sure it never happened.

“I leave the worrying to you.”

He shook his head. Drake would currently be wishing he could throw me off the roof of the building for my lack of fear in the face of adversity. He’d called me reckless on more than one occasion.

Where would we be without my insistence we take risks and throw caution to the wind?

No-fucking-where.

I made us who we are.

“I guess it’s time to bait the trap and watch the cards fall.”

He didn’t give me room to respond, walking out and leaving me alone with my thoughts. I shoved my hands in my pockets and glanced back at the windows one last time.

The world wasn’t ready for us.

They never had been.

Some called us monsters in suits.

They’d be right.

We weren’t kind or nice. We ruthlessly pursued our goals, not caring who we trampled on to get there. The casualties and collateral damage didn’t keep me awake at night. All part and parcel of who we were and what we did.

If you want power, you cannot afford to have the same morals the little people keep. You have to step outside the boundaries of right and wrong. Walk into the grey and never look back. It’s where you’ll find the darkest and most depraved among us. Those who will sooner rip your throat out than lend you a hand.

Drake, West, Francis, and I were no longer seen as men.

We were gods.

We’d stepped into the grey, proving we weren’t to be trifled with. And no one dared go up against us.

They called us the Four Horsemen.

A title I took and ran with it. The men who’d end the world had always fascinated me, but the whole idea of us being such men amused me to no end. We weren’t the harbingers of the apocalypse. Or were we?

It didn’t matter either way. Once you have a certain image, you have to keep up with it. And it was time we lived up to our name once and for all.