Wicked Games by Jarica James
Kyrell
My blood boiled as I heard the man who was responsible for all of Sana’s past trauma, speak. Keir threw his glass against the wall, the shards of glass shattering in the silence that followed Eros’ smug greeting.
“Where the fuck is she?!” Killian screamed into the phone, his voice breaking at the amount of emotion in it.
“We won’t hesitate to rip you, limb from limb you sick fuck,” I bit out, my voice icy despite my internal pain. Having her at his mercy had my entire soul screaming for vengeance.
“Now, now. That is no way to talk to your future Mafia King,” Eros chastised, his voice one hundred percent genuine, like he was positive of that outcome. Oh, how I loved when they underestimated us, it made it that much more satisfying when we crushed them. I couldn’t even stop the laugh that came out. The statement was ridiculous, he has even more of an inflated ego than the fucking Lachs.
“Over my dead body,” Keir bit out and Eros laughed evenly, the sound hollow and cold. Fuck, I hated this man with every fiber of my being. Having a voice to put with the mental image Sana had painted for us, I could see where her PTSD had come from. The man was a self-absorbed sociopath, and that never led to anything good. Fuck, Keir was a psycho, sure, but he also had his own set of morals and rules he followed. If I hadn’t been looking forward to tearing apart this man’s empire before, I sure as fuck was now. No one took the love of my life away from me and lived to tell the tale, not even familial relations.
“Or Otsana’s,” he laughed, finally finding something funny. “She’s clearly changed loyalties, something I’d never thought I’d have to say. She had such potential. Each trial I gave her she passed, her emotions never ruled her, but it seems you three have ruined my teachings. I should have known better than to leave her first loves alive. That will need to be rectified.”
“If you so much as hurt a hair on her head, I’ll skin you alive and feed it to your Family,” I said in the same even tone he’d been using on us. If I let the full brunt of my emotions fly like my brothers, then I knew it would get us nowhere.
“Oh, my dear boy. We both know that’s an empty threat,” he laughed mirthlessly. “Your Family is a joke and by the time I’m done with you, it’ll be nonexistent. We have twice the reach, twice the allies, and twice the manpower, so don’t ever kid yourself into thinking I fear you.”
“Go ahead and try. My territory is loyal and we will crush you. You have no power here, old man,” Keir said, his voice falling to match mine. We couldn’t give him the satisfaction, he was a narcissistic, sadistic fuck and would thrive on that.
“I’m already coming, boys. See you soon.” The last part sounded almost cheerful.
The silence that followed was deafening and I wanted to do nothing other than scream at the top of my lungs and cut that man’s throat. We knew he was dangerous, hell anyone that could genuinely scare Sana was worth fearing, but he wouldn’t win.
No.
He needed to go slowly and painfully, drawing it out as long as possible to make him suffer. Use, at least, every instrument on our wall once before we let him die.
“Joe. Find me the Lachs’ address. I know we tried that, but dig deeper, see if we missed anything,” Keir demanded, Joe not even flinching at the deadly tone. He’d been around us long enough to know it wasn’t directed at him.
“On it,” he promised and I was a bit taken aback by how genuine his words were. It seems our girl had even charmed our Family. Which was exactly why we needed to find her. That and we’d burn down the world without her, she was our oasis, our sanity, and I’d be damned if Eros took her again.
“I need to drive,” I said, turning and not giving a single fuck if they came with me. I had a one track mind and Otsana was all I could focus on.
They followed behind me as I rushed out, ignoring everyone who was practically throwing themselves out of our warpath. It was that or get shot today, rationality was gone. When I jumped in the car, they knew better than to hesitate, I’d pull away with their leg halfway in the damn door.
Peeling away from the curb, I flew down the road to the highway. I knew Joe would have an answer within minutes and this was the likely direction he’d send us. It was the main road out of town and I had a feeling they’d made a new base nearby.
The open road didn't have the same appeal as it usually did, which only pissed me off more.
Speak of the devil.
The phone rang and I answered right away. He didn’t give a greeting, only the click of his keyboard coming through, then he started talking.
“Head south on Highway 67, take the Glades exit, and follow the main road until you reach the ranch. They own the property and have a barn that is far too large to house livestock,” he explained. “Backup is behind you.” He ended the call with the same abruptness as it began. Any call with Joe was short and sweet, just the way I preferred it.
He didn’t have to tell me twice, I pressed my foot into the accelerator, my mind calming now that I had a purpose. Glancing at the clock, I noticed it was early enough in the day that most of their members wouldn’t be home. Either way, we were about to drop by for an unexpected visit that I didn’t expect would end well. For them at least, I could use a little bloodshed in my life.
Several minutes later, we had several black cars behind ours… the Family had arrived. Knowing that, I pressed even harder on the gas, speeding precariously down the road, ignoring the fact it was turning from solid to gravel. To their credit, neither of my brothers reacted. Our men behind us matched our speed, experts at keeping up with me by now.
The Lachs were on high alert from the moment we hit the gravel road, a row of men and guns meeting us at the front gate. I pulled ahead of the line of cars a bit and swerved so I was parked sideways, all of us climbing out and standing behind just in case. My original car was still in the shop thanks to the last confrontation, and I didn’t mind if they fucked this one up too, I just wanted Sana back.
Us mafia types were the shoot first, ask questions later type. But for once, we needed our words, and not to kill. Someone was going to give us a lead or we’d torture it out of every last one of them. Though usually all it took was one man’s tongue getting cut out before words spilled free from the rest.
“Why are you on our property?” One of the Lachs called out, but from the tension in his voice, he knew that answer. I couldn’t tell you who he was or what his rank was, I had better things to do than learn their names. Outside of Beckett Lach, the current head, they were all lackeys to me.
“Where. Is. My. Queen?” Keir growled, anger dripping in his voice. Chuckles echoed out from several men in the crowd, murmurs that were likely dripping with sarcasm. That was the first indication this was about to go south… and fast. Keir wasn’t in the mood to play. Where he was cool and collected in meetings, in the field he was a fucking animal. I was the level headed one in the end, and that wasn’t going to be easy with Sana on the line.
Though knowing her, she had it under control. But that didn’t stop me from worrying about her.
“Maybe you should have kept better tabs on her and make sure she doesn’t go get her daily hot chocolate all alone,” another said, the hint at our dead bodyguards enough to give themselves away. If they knew her obsession with hot chocolate, they’d been biding their time, waiting for an opening like this. Who knew how long Eros had these cunts following her around, learning her schedule and reporting back. Then my mind flashed to Donovan, my old friend and driver they’d slaughtered, and the anger blinded me.
“You don’t get to come into our city and fuck around like that!” Killian yelled before turning to our men. He’d lost all sense of control and I almost felt bad for the Lachs we were about to kill. Almost. “Light ‘em up, boys.” He said the last bit quieter so only we could hear, the men in the back of our group throwing smoke grenades their way. The area between us immediately was layered in a thick fog, but the wind kept us in the clear.
“Phase two,” I added, and the first wave of assault rifles went off, my brothers joining that round. As soon as they stopped to reload, I was ready for the next, aiming my gun and calling out, “Last round.”
Gunshots fired our way, but the cover of cars caught the brunt of it. Guess someone will be making a trip out to our family mechanic and body shop tomorrow. I really needed to stop driving my car to these meetings. Otsana is worth it though.
As the smoke dispersed and the gunshots quieted, we crouched behind our cover and waited. Bodies were laid out in the dirt, it was a full out war now that they'd taken our queen and we didn’t show any mercy.
“Clear!” Keir yelled and we rounded the car, guns still at the ready because it would be careless not to be prepared for another wave. Pulling my pistol out with my free hand, I scanned the crowd, spotting two of the men still alive, though only just. Walking closer, I aimed my gun at the forehead of the closest, pulling the trigger and ending his pain while Keir did the same to the other. They were too far gone to be of any help and they’d chosen their loyalty. You live and die for your choices in this world, and they’d picked wrong.
“Split up. I’ll take the house, someone else take the barn!” Keir said, heading for the house.
“We’ve got the barn,” Killian said, heading off in that direction with a few men, while I followed Keir in with my team. Most likely he’d need the backup more.
“I have a feeling this is going to make me want to eradicate every Lach in existence,” I said with a sigh. We’d only raided one other family compound and let's just say, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. No one had survived that assault. We’d burned those assholes alive without a single thought of remorse.
“We’ll do it with pleasure,” Keir said darkly, glancing back with a dark grin that didn’t reach his eyes. He was hollow without her and we needed to find her soon. Not just for her sake, but our city’s as well.
With a nod, our men moved ahead and kicked in the door, the resounding crack and thud followed by silence. I waited for several beats to be sure before gesturing them forward.
The house was dark, the dusty rays of moonlight coming in were the only thing lighting our way until the men moved through the house, methodically turning on light after light while Keir and I guarded the door.
“All clear, boss. It’s a ghost town,” one of our guys said as he walked back into the living room. I couldn’t hide my frown even if I tried, it just didn’t make sense. We killed nearly twenty men, but the Lachs’ numbers were triple that.
“I don’t like this,” I said, stalking forward. “This can’t be the base Joe thought it was. Or at least, not anymore.”
My nose wrinkled as I took in the living room. Trash littered the floor and table, the couch old, torn, and stained with way too many unidentifiable substances to count. The television had a bullet hole through it and the beer bottles on top were shattered, the small holes in the drywall behind them making it clear they’d used it for target practice.
“Wow, clearly the mighty have fallen,” Keir added, picking up his foot and grimacing at the stickiness stuck to his two thousand dollar, Italian leather shoes.
“It’s like a mafia bachelor pad,” I noted, trying not to gag from the smell that was thick in the space. “Upstairs more of the same?” I called out to our closest guy.
“Worse,” he said, shuddering at the memory alone, solidifying that we wouldn’t be venturing up there. “Think this but with dirty mattresses and a bathroom out of a horror flick.
“Fuck, I hope they found something better in the barn,” Keir said with a sigh, turning and walking to the door, each step making a gross suctioning sound from his ruined shoes. Before his hand could even reach for the knob, a metal clinking sound echoed from under the floor. His eyes snapped to mine and we both turned around to see where it was coming from.
“Someone find the basement door,” I demanded, opening and closing every door on this floor. So far only finding more rooms and closets.
“Got somethin’!” the guys called from the back of the house, Keir and I approaching at the same time from different directions. They had the rug in the kitchen pulled back and a large wooden hatch door flung wide open. It was an old house… but seriously?
“Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel first?” I deadpanned. Keir raised one eyebrow at me. We both knew it wouldn’t be him, perks of being the boss, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to let our guards go in alone. “The things I do for you,” I said with a dramatic sigh.
After taking a fortifying breath, I started down the steep rickety staircase leading into darkness. A swinging string was floating in front of me as soon as I reached the bottom, barely visible in the light that spilled down from above. If I hadn’t caused horrors worse than this, I might actually be shaken up.
The basement was straight out of a horror film and I half expected something to grab my legs between the gaps in the stairs. The walls were rough stone and the floor dirt. But it was far from empty. The space was wide open, spanning to the size of the house with a tunnel leading off to the side of the property, which I assumed would lead to the barn. Who fucking builds tunnels anymore?
“Are they all empty?” Keir asked from behind me, brushing cobwebs from his suit jacket when he noticed the cages lining the walls.
“You lowered your standards enough to join us?” I asked with a smirk. He flipped me his middle finger and stepped past, gazing inside the little cells. They went from wall to wall, an interlocking system of jail cells, a bucket and blanket in each, but that was it. There was barely enough space for a man to crouch down.
“Mostly,” Keir said, answering himself. My head shot up, following his line of sight to a cell in the back, a form hunched in the back corner, the blanket wrapped around his feeble frame. He didn’t even look up as we both jogged forward, then taking a step back at the smell emanating from his cell.
“What’s your name?” Keir asked as he studied the poor guy. His voice was harsh, but the man showed not even an ounce of fear, which just pointed to the fact he was long forgotten or had lived through worse… or a mix of both.
“Grant,” he said, before a round of wet coughs wracked through his frail frame, his chest concaving with each one. It was painful to watch, I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling. No wonder he didn’t call out for help before this.
“Find me the keys,” I barked out, needing to get this guy out of these conditions. He wasn’t a danger to us in the least.
“Grant, why are you in there?” Keir asked bluntly, never one to beat around the bush. I was grateful for it now, it would help us decide what to do with the poor fucker once we got him out.
“Never question the boss,” he rasped, his coughs overtaking again and I couldn’t stand to watch it.
“No more questions. He needs a doctor and we need to find our girl,” I said with a sigh, studying the lock before glancing around. Was it too much to ask that the medieval loving fucks just hang it on a hook nearby?
“They’ll find it,” Keir said, clapping me on the shoulder. I stopped pacing and nodded, my chest aching from all of the anxiety and worry in me. Otsana wasn’t here, we only found a chunk of their men and one prisoner, and had no new answers. No new leads.
My hand gripped the knife in my pocket, the cool steel of the blade calming me a fraction as I started to pace back and forth again.
After what felt like hours, our men returned, moving around us and trying out each key on a keyring they’d found. From the blood on his hands I could only guess that he’d had to dig through the pile of bodies on the driveway.
When the lock finally opened, everyone froze. The frail man tried and failed to stand, the blanket falling off so we could see more than the ripped shirt on his torso. His clothes were so baggy they hung off of his frame and one of the younger guys rushed forward. After helping roll Grant’s pants, he threw a skeletal arm over his shoulder and helped the man out.
“He won’t make it up the stairs,” I pointed out, half considering giving the poor soul a piggy back ride myself.
“This way, brother,” Killian’s voice called out, no hints of his usual humor as he walked in from the tunnel. “The entrance is wide and no stairs involved.” We turned and followed without hesitation, the mood even more somber than before as Grant gasped and coughed next to us.
“Call the doctor, have him meet us at the estate. Call ahead and warn Angelina as well,” Keir ordered and I pulled out my phone. After sending a quick message to Doctor Flynn, I called the estate. When she didn’t answer, I called again, her exasperated voice finally answering.
“It’s Kyrell,” I said, my voice tired and I knew she’d pick up on it.
“Oh, my boy. What is it?” She likely was jumping to conclusions from the weary tone.
“No sign of her yet, but we found a prisoner in the Lachs’ cellar. Emaciated, feeble, he needs help. We’re bringing him by and Flynn is meeting us there. Can you have one of the cousins prepare a room while you prepare some soup and tea for this guy? He’s been through hell.”
“Rat bastards,” she bit out. I chuckled quietly, feeling the exact same way. “I’m on it, bring him on. We’ll get him fixed up and somewhere safe. Let Auntie Angelina take care of him.”
“You’re a goddess,” I said simply before hanging up. We’d just exited the tunnels into the empty barn, the blood on the ground not even surprising at this point. We moved past their barely concealed torture room and out to the waiting caravan, a small group of guys standing guard.
“She was,” the man whispered, his next round of coughing bringing him to his knees so another guard moved to his other side to help keep him steady.
“She was, what?” Keir pressed, before wincing and holding out a hand. “Someone get me water, now.” A moment later a water bottle was being pressed into his waiting hand and he uncapped it and brought it to the man’s lips. He drank like he’d never had water before, my heart clenching at the sight. Fucking monsters, all of them. Each Family had their own version of a code, but it seemed the Lachs didn’t. They had cages for prisoners and likely were trafficking women and children. Rat bastards was a fitting name for them, Angelina had it right.
“Slow down,” I coached, reaching out and tapping it so Keir would pull it away. We gave him a few moments to catch his breath before he tried to speak again, the rasp muted thanks to the water.
“She was here. Or a girl was. Pretty, brunette, pissed off like an angry wasp, fought back,” he said before he was gasping for air and had to pause again. We waited as patiently as we could, Killian putting a hand on both of our shoulders to stop us from demanding more from the man who was trying his hardest to help.
“They had her in a cell waiting for a car. I heard them mention transport and something about an arrow,” he got out before Keir waved the guards to take him back to safety. They packed him into the back seat and took off toward the estate and I turned to my brothers.
“Arrow?” Killian mused, but I knew what he meant as soon as he said it.
“Eros,” I corrected with a sigh. “But would he take her all the way home?”
“Joe would have found her on the highways or the airports, even private ones,” Keir said with a shake of his head. He let out a frustrated growl before walking over and slamming his foot down on the closest Lach. It didn’t matter that the guy was dead already.
“Wait,” I muttered, “help me gather phones.” Not wanting to do it, but knowing we might find an answer, I started going through pockets and pulling out phones until I had a stack.
“Got a few, too,” Kill announced, dropping them on the trunk of the car and grabbing one to start getting through. “Fuck, locked.” he tried more and kept coming up with the same issue, and mine was more of the same.
“Joe,” I ordered. Kill grabbed the phones and jumped into the back seat. Keir was already moving for his spot in the front.
“It does make me happy that she was giving them hell,” Killian said, breaking the silence as I flew down the road.
“I’m sure a guy or two were missing a dick by the time she was done,” Keir agreed with a happy sigh. Only we would get turned on by the thought of our girl murdering men and cutting off their cocks.
“I fucking hope so,” I agreed as I slammed to a stop outside of the bar, not even waiting for the others as I hurried inside.
Joe looked up with hopeful eyes as we walked in and dropped it when he took in our faces. “What’s this?” he asked, gesturing at the pile of cell phones in our arms.
“All locked and we need answers fast. She was there for a bit this morning. They can’t be too far,” Keir said and Joe nodded once before grabbing some kind of device and kicking it on, then going through the phones one on one.
“I need some fuckin whiskey,” I bit out, unable to pace any more as the minutes stretched on. Greg was waiting in the bar, not even hesitating to get out three glasses and pouring out tumblers of top shelf whiskey.
“Now we wait,” Keir said, all of us slumping onto barstools to let Joe work in peace. I’d never felt so fucking helpless in my life and there would be hell to pay for putting us in this position.
If Otsana even left anyone for us to kill.