Resurrecting the Enemy: (Standalone)
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Resurrecting the Enemy
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Copyright 2020 Monica Clayton
Published by M.E. Clayton
All Rights Reserved
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. The entire content is a product of the author’s imagination and all names, places, businesses, and incidences are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), places or occurrences, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner, whatsoever, without the express written consent from the author, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Formatting: Smashwords
Cover: Adobe Stock
Warning: This book contains sexual situations and other adult themes. Recommended for 18 years of age and over.
Table of Contents
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Author's Note
Contact Me
Dedication
Playlist
Prologue
1. Ramsey
2. Lake
3. Ramsey
4. Lake
5. Ramsey
6. Lake
7. Ramsey
8. Lake
9. Ramsey
10.Lake
11. Ramsey
12. Lake
13. Ramsey
14. Lake
15. Ramsey
16. Lake
17. Ramsey
18. Lake
19. Ramsey
20. Lake
21. Ramsey
22. Lake
23. Ramsey
24. Lake
25. Ramsey
26. Lake
27. Ramsey
28. Lake
29. Ramsey
30. Lake
31. Ramsey
32. Lake
33. Ramsey
34. Lake
35. Ramsey
36. Lake
37. Ramsey
38. Lake
39. Ramsey
40. Lake
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Books
Newsletter Sign-Up!
Author’s Note
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Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.
That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked into commitments in regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. However, if you’re a stickler for grammar, my books are probably not for you.
Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby. However, the only downside to my reading obsession is when I fall in love with a series, but I have to wait for the additional books to come out. And because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, when I started publishing my works, I vowed to publish all books in my series all at once. No waiting here…LOL. Now, the exception to that will be if enough readers request additional stories based off the standalone, such as in Facing the Enemy. At that point, if I decide to move forward with a requested series, I will make sure all additional books are available all at once. As much as this is a hobby for me, I am writing these books for all of you, as well as myself.
Thank you, for everything!
NOTE:
Reading this book, you’ll find some recycled names. Since I had never planned on writing this book, I used names in the Epilogues that I felt free to use in other books:
Dash – You Again
Gideon – The Problem with Dating
Crew – Typhon
Chance – Our Broken Pieces
I’m terribly sorry if that takes away from the experience of the stories, but I didn’t want to go back and re-write the other books to true them up against new names.
Also, this is a standalone book, I have no plans on writing stories for the supporting characters.
Thank you for understanding. Enjoy!
Contact Me
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I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a full-time job, and a family I love spending time with, at this time, I’m afraid it would be very hard for me to maintain a multitude of social media sites. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:
Visit my Website at:
meclayton2016.wixsite
Like my Facebook Author Page at:
meclayton books
Follow my Instagram Author Page at:
author.meclayton
Email me at:
meclayton2016@yahoo.com
Dedication
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For My Son –
In these past ten months, you’ve lost your brother-in-law, your best friend, your grandmother, and your godmother, and you are still grateful for the blessings in your life. Your strength is amazing, and I’m so proud of you.
Playlist
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Underdog – Banks
Hard For Me – Michele Morrone
Seven Wonders – Fleetwood Mac
Body Say – Demi Lovato
Watch Me Burn – Michele Morrone
Talking Body – Tove Lo
Treasure – Bruno Mars
One Last Breath – Creed
Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
Don’t Let Go – En Vogue
Broken – Seether
Let Me Go – Three Doors Down
Hemorrhage (In My Hands) – Fuel
Lately – Samantha Mumba
Back For Good – Take That
Prologue
“Is he dead?”
I wanted him to be, but you could still see his chest moving up and down in painful, torturous breaths. He was still with us, unfortunately, but. I. Wanted. Him. Dead.
And I wasn’t the only one.
Maddox, Chance, and Dash stood with me, surrounding the asshole on the ground, and I knew they wanted him dead, too. However, as the oldest and the most sadistic, it had fallen on me to take care of this piece of garbage. Maddox, Chance, and Dash had only come along for the ride. They were here because they needed to see and feel the satisfaction of this motherfucker getting what he deserved.
“Unfortunately, no,” I replied, barely winded from the fury I had rained down on Ashton Childress.
“Are you going to kill him?” Maddox asked, not satisfied with my answer.
I glanced over at my brother and smirked at how blood thirsty he was. “Not sure,” I answered honestly. “I want to.”
“Do it,” Dash glowered from where he was standing. “We’d be doing the world a favor.”
Correction: I glanced at all three guys and smirked at how blood thirsty they were; we all were.
I dropped on
my haunches, and while I was pretty sure Ashton could barely hear me, I went for flare, anyway. “You hear that, Childress? I got two in favor of killing you.” Without looking up, I asked, “And what about you, Chance? What do you say we do with him?”
I knew Chance’s answer before I even asked the question. “Fucking kill him.”
“See? Now that’s three in favor of killing you, and you already know how I feel about you,” I taunted sadistically.
His only response was a faint grunt that had to hurt with the effort.
I stared at the bloody mess on the ground and knew I was probably going to kill him. Was I worried that I’d get caught? Not at all. We might be a blood thirsty bunch, but we weren’t stupid. Our parents had made sure of that. See, our parents weren’t like the other parents of Sands Cove. Our parents had made sure we’d have everything we’d ever need for anything we’d ever do.
And that included killing someone.
Addressing the limp body on the ground, I said, “Now, I know you didn’t know who she was. I know you thought she was just some random girl at a party. But I also know she’s not the only girl who you’ve ignored when she’s told you no.” My bloody fist came down on his face again because I just couldn’t fucking help myself. “I also want you to understand that the only reason we’re not destroying your entire family, or getting the parentals involved, is because we taught D.J. well.” I chuckled darkly. “D.J. would be Delaney,” I clarified for him. “Delaney Junior, actually. The girl you tried to rape.”
Another faint grunt, but there was nothing this guy could do to save himself.
Delaney had come across this asshole at a party she had attended last night, and he hadn’t appreciated her rejection. And even though Delaney had no blood brothers, she had me, Maddox, Chance, Neo, Gideon, Dash, Crew, and Zane. It didn’t matter that she was sixteen and Neo, Zane, and Gideon were younger than she was; they’d kill for her, too.
Staring at him, I knew I was probably going to beat him to death. I needed a way to exorcise the rage I still felt at what he’d tried with D.J. and all the girls before her. Luckily, with so many honorary brothers in her life, she knew how to defend herself and that’s what had saved her last night.
The rustling of leaves caught my attention, and I stood up, my head whipping around, along with the others. My ears open and my eyes focused, I scanned the trees surrounding the small clearing we’d brought Ashton to. It was past eleven, and we had flashlights, though I had worked Ashton over by the glare of the moonlight shining through the trees.
No one should have been out here this late. Not on a Sunday night.
And then I saw it.
About a hundred feet away, the reflection of two minuscule orbs brought to life a shadowy figure hidden behind a cluster of trees.
I looked back at the guys. “Don’t kill him,” I instructed because, if Ashton was going to die, it was going to be by my hand. “But take care of him.” I took off running, knowing they’d do what I instructed.
The rustling of leaves and brush told me my prey had taken off running, too, but I wasn’t worried.
Nothing would stop me from catching whoever it was.
And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure their silence.
Chapter 1
Ramsey~
I raced through the cluster of trees and let my ears lead the way. The poor sucker unfortunate enough to get caught in my crosshairs wasn’t doing anything to minimize the sounds of their escape, and that told me they were running for a reason. And that reason was seeing something they shouldn’t have.
Now, was I worried? No. I had no doubt I’d catch them, whoever they were, and I had no doubt I’d be able to erase whatever they thought they saw from their memory.
That was one of the things about being raised inside a powerful family; there wasn’t much I feared. I had a father who was a psychopath, and he had dirt on the entire city of Sands Cove and most every person who has ever crossed his path in the past twenty years. I also had a mother who supported his psychopathy one hundred percent.
So, did I fear the consequences of killing Ashton Childress? No. First, there’s no way I’d get caught, as cocky as that sounded. You’d think with DNA, cameras, and motive I’d have some worries, but I didn’t. Because, even if I did fuck up somehow, my father would move Heaven and Hell to clear my name. While my father was a ruthless individual, one thing that man didn’t tolerate? My mother being unhappy over anything. And her eldest son in prison for life would definitely make her unhappy, even if she did still have Maddox.
The sounds were getting louder and that just meant I was getting closer. And just as I cut through a couple of Cottonwoods, I saw a figure in all black running as fast as they could. Even from the distance and through the exertion, I could see that the person was a lot smaller than I was. Maddox and I both took after our father in build and that put me at six-foot-two and Mad at six-foot-one.
Kicking up my speed a notch, I quickly caught up to my second victim of the night. And just as they were about to hit a clearing, I reached out, grabbed the hood of their sweatshirt, and pulled them back. I could hear the swoosh of breath as their body collided with mine, but the impact was minimal on my part. I’d barely felt a thing.
And like a true cornered animal, they had started a full-on attack to escape. But being much taller and bigger, I had them slammed up against the nearest tree in seconds. The impact left them breathless, and it left me easy access to pin them against the tree.
By their throat.
I pulled the hood down as their head snapped up, and, suddenly, they weren’t the only one who was breathless.
Almost an entire foot shorter than me, bright blue eyes stared up at me in horror and shock. As dark as it was, I could still make out dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. And there were no bangs to distract from those startling fucking blue eyes of hers.
Her brows were arched like they came with attitude, and she had a petite nose, soft cheekbones, and a pair of pink lips that should be outlawed. Especially now, with the way they were opened, pants of mint-scented breaths coming out in a rapid tattoo.
She was fucking beautiful.
Beautiful, and not in that Windsor Academy kind of way. The way where, if you weren’t born with it naturally, you bought it at the most expensive price. The way where, if you weren’t contoured to perfection, you didn’t stand a chance of being part of the popular crowd. The way where, if you didn’t have the right pedigree, you didn’t belong.
She was dressed as if she were going to commit a diamond heist, with her black hoodie, black jeans, and black shoes, but the one thing that stood out more than her get-up was the fucking camera that was hanging from her neck.
I tightened the hand around her neck, the one that held her captive against the tree, while the other one latched onto her hip, digging in.
She whimpered, and my fucking dick got hard.
“Are you lost?” I growled down at her. Her eyes widened further, and she started shaking her head back and forth. “What did you see? And don’t fucking lie to me.”
“I…I didn’t see anything,” she said, lying to my face, her voice going straight to my dick.
I looked down at her chest, and though the hoodie she was wearing was baggy as fuck, the heaving of her chest, and the rise of the camera with each of those breaths, told me she had to have an impressive rack hidden underneath her clothes. And as enticing as my dick thought that was, I was more interested in the camera at the moment.
I let go of her neck, traces of Childress’ blood now on her skin, but still kept her pinned by her hip as I reached for the camera to remove it from her neck. Even if I hadn’t killed Childress, I didn’t need pictures of me beating him stupid to exist anywhere.
When I went to pull it up and over her head, the little hellcat went to fighting again. “What are you doing? That’s mine!”
I let go of the camera and grabbed her by the neck again. Only, this time, I pr
essed my hips against hers, holding her captive with my entire body. Her eyes flared, but she still looked mutinous.
I was going to get the camera, there was no doubt, but I decided to give her a fighting chance. “What’s your name?” She remained stubbornly quiet, so I decided to hit her with some truth. “Look, if you have any hope of making it out of here unscathed, you better start answering my questions, Thomas Blood.” She immediately looked confused, and it was obvious she had no clue who Thomas Blood was. I guess the curriculum at Windsor was better than public school.
“I already answered your question,” she fired back. “I didn’t see anything.”
“Let’s forget that you’re lying for a second, and tell me your fucking name,” I demanded, glowering down at her. When she didn’t answer fast enough, I said, “Better yet, how about I tell you who I am.”
She surprised me by saying, “I already know who you are.”
I leaned down further into her personal space. “Then you know I’m not one to fuck around.”
“I didn’t see anything!” she yelled in my face.
“Then let me see that damn camera!” I roared back in hers.
We stared at each other, a mental game of chicken, when she finally let out a deep breath, and said, “Fine.” The word came out like she’d been chewing on shards of glass, and I knew it was killing her to give in.
I let go of her neck and took a step back. While the camera looked expensive, it wasn’t very big. However, I knew I had to give her some room to remove it from around her neck.
Big fucking mistake.
As soon as I had given her some breathing room, she took off like a rabbit. My stupid ass barely got to her in time as we hit the clearing where a car, presumably hers, was parked on a dirt trail. She must have driven up after we’d all arrived because we had scanned the entire woodlands before we had brought Childress out here.
I had her slammed up against the driver’s side door, and, boy, was I fucking pissed. At my own stupidity? Yeah. But I was still pissed.