Sniper (Devil's Shadow MC, Book 2)

by K. H. Kate

  "Not so quick." I don't tear my eyes from Dillon. What did he say that night? I try to remember when a harsh laugh meets my ears.

  "Isn't she a sweetheart? Letting us in without any screaming! Fuck! This is gold!"

  "Boss is missing out hugely this time."

  "I want to claim her in the ass, don't fucking care if I rip her in two."

  "Undress him." The command falls from my lips so easily. Still, bend over the chair, I look over my shoulder to Seth who's enjoying the torture just as much as I am. Maybe we were no less fucked up than the two men tied up in the chairs. Maybe we just didn't fucking care how far we went to get what we wanted.

  Maybe that's why the corner of his lips quirk up in amusement. Or maybe that's why I feel light-hearted when he rips the clothes off the man who did the same to me. Dillon cries out when my knife touches his spine. In a slow deliberate stroke, I've made the hair on his neck arise. And then when he least expects it, it pierces through his skin, coating the knife in blood.

  "Stop!"

  There's a war raging myself. Past or present. Who to choose? Stop! Stop! Stop! All the voices mingle together. Prey and predator have no difference today.

  "Fuck, stop! What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Antonio screams at me in horror. What's wrong with me? What hasn't?

  "Don't listen to them, Kitty," Seth whispers, nibbling my ear. Curling my fingers around the knife, I dig deeper making Dillon whimper. He can't even scream now. He's just a monster with blood all over his naked body.

  "Dillon? Shit! I...I can't take this. I...I can't-" Antonio murmurs rocking back and forth, that I want to laugh. They did this to me. And they can't even take the responsibility, they don't want to take my burden.

  Numb, I remember what Grace once told me. How she branded her devil in her own way. Maybe I need to brand my monster too. So, that's why I don't wince when the knife bends a little and starts to make a word. Then another. Then another. Until he's barely conscious and my heart is barely alive anymore.

  ASSHOLE

  It's not much but still, it reminds me of that time I cried when he went at it for hours when I tried to stop him. When I was the one crying and whimpering. When I was the one dying of humiliation.

  "Are you satisfied?" Seth asks from behind me. Am I? Am I satisfied? Maybe for now. So I don't kill him. Instead, I glance at the horrified eyes of Antonio. He's shaking and his legs are jumping up and down, unsure if it’s to get away or… oh, is that-pee?

  The laugh behind me is chilling as much as it is haunting. "The asshole actually peed in fear. Fuck!"

  Should I...Should I stop now?

  A gentle hand turns me around. His blue eyes are filled with understanding. I can't get through this alone. I need him. As I always have. My hands are unsteady when he takes the knife from me and replaces it with the gun. It's time.

  Time for destruction. Chaos.

  And I'm the first one to follow. This time I don't make it hurt. One little bullet whoosh passes me to the bloody man and he slums forward with only a groan. I haven’t hurt much of Antonio, so I’ll make his death a little slow. The first shot goes just below his stomach and he screams out from the intense pain.

  Pain.

  The beautiful pain. My old friend. My enemy.

  "You hurt her. You hurt this beautiful woman, the woman that I love." Seth grunts out a laugh. "And she doesn't have the heart to hurt you, fuckin’ asshole. But I'm not generous enough to let you leave this world without meetin’ my fists first."

  Fair enough. I don't stop him when he yanks Antonio's hair in a tight grip that the man lets out a roar. I don't resist watching the way his fist rises and then slams onto the man's face. Again and again. Until he's gasping for breath and crawling his nails down the chair to escape. Black and blue paints a glorious hue over his face.

  "Fuck you! Fuck you, fucker!" Seth screams curling his fists and slamming it down to the monster's stomach. "You should die, you sick fuck!"

  I don't see Seth. I see the younger version of him. The one who doesn't remember his demons. Who lived on alcohol and had been lied by the people closest to him. The one who was afraid to kill his brother. Maybe he's reliving his own dark world. Maybe, just maybe he can find peace in hurting my demons. Mad Dog might not be here. But parasites like him deserve just the same fate. Maybe Seth can give them. Maybe together we can do any-fucking-thing.

  Panting, Seth steps back to glance at me. I don't know what he finds there. But he shows me one of his grins, the dark one that I'm starting to love, and shoves the chair so violently that Antonio lurches forward to keep his balance but finds none to save his fall.

  How ironic.

  I half expect for Seth to take my gun and finish the man but he only pants giving me a careless shrug while motioning toward the limp figure on the floor. "I got carried away. Here, do whatever the fuck you want with him."

  I do. I pull the trigger three times. The sound echoing through the now rather silent room evoking a new kind of strangeness. Everything stops but my heart. It's beating way too fast. It's breaking away the numbness. It's making the drops spill on the floor.

  Tap. Tap. Tap.

  I'm crying. For what? A touch of freedom? Or for the old Gwen to be still somewhere in me?

  I'm ready to bolt when my eyes finally go to the open door and once again I'm stuck in somewhere I don't want to be. Either Seth doesn't notice or care enough to freak out but I do. The tears fall freely. It's harder to see through the blurriness yet I do see him standing near the door grinning at us. I grit back a sigh when my legs give out. Did I really think it was going to be that easy?

  "And here I thought, I was the only sadist here."

  Ceaser.

  CHAPTER 32

  SNIPER

  "And here I thought, I was the only sadist here."

  My back stiffens immediately. That voice. It couldn't be...

  "Ceaser." She sounds so damn tired. So...relieved.

  "Thought I'd find you here." The bastard says amused, while my vision paints red. Turning back, I'm not prepared to see his face already messed up with blood. What the fuck? Who can? Realization almost knocks me out of breath.

  "Where's Carter? What the fuck did you do?" It freaks the hell out of me to admit the obvious. I don't know or my guess is worse than me being a liar. Carter might not be in one piece, hell, he might be even dead…

  "Oh, he's not dead." How fucking glorious. He almost sounds like he's taunting me. Then whose blood is on his hands? He laughs seeing the question in my eyes. "But can't say he didn't make a mess while I tried to behead him. It’s disappointing, really. Did you really think he could hide Desmond in a ditch and I wouldn’t know? What's that saying again? Ah... Nadie tropieza dos veces con la misma piedra. He spied around my cartel even after my threat to stay the fuck away, had to teach the young man a lesson."

  "Where is he?" Kitty jerks her chin towards him. Her stare reminds me of that girl. Lost. Broken. Dead. Tired of playing games.

  "Ran like a coward. Though I did manage to slice his arms. Blood and gore excites me. As you can recall." He says the last part looking at my Kitty. Fucking shit!

  "Don't you dare take another step." I warn, even before he takes a step towards her. Kitty has her eyes on him while walking until she's close to me. She doesn't need me to hold her tighter, she already has her gun aimed at him. This only makes the bastard laugh harder.

  His eyes crinkle in amusement. His accent is heavy drawling the words out. "What? Afraid I will take her right in front of you?"

  I don't fucking think. I don't even have the heart to hear a shrill scream that leaves her lips. All I remember is slamming down the bastard and beating the shit out of him. There's a rage running through my veins like venom as I see him still chuckle with blood running down his nose. My knuckles are probably broken by the harsh blows that I landed over his face.

  Slam, grin, and slam.

  My fingers throb in pain but I can't stop myself. I don't want to. He snarls tr
ying to fight back but that only makes me blindly search for something to hit him with. The knife glints in the light as if mocking me to take it and fucking end him. End this scheme. Just as I touch the knife, I flinch back hearing a scream.

  "Seth, look up!"

  It all happens so fast that even before I can look up, I feel something strike my head harder for me to fly off Ceaser, along with the sound of two gunshots filling my buzzing ears. F-Fuck! I taste the copper in my mouth, the pain in my head explodes like never before. Everything be damned. I'm too dizzy to hear what's going on.

  "Seth? Oh, God! Leave him!"

  "Kitty, what?"

  One more shot and everything goes black.

  ***

  "You think this one will survive?"

  "Doubt so. I injected him with Oleander. Regardless of the small dose, it does work wonders."

  “And the cure?”

  “In my pocket. Don’t worry, I’ve thought of everything.”

  “Boss, you’re a genius!”

  "Haha. Told you I would get her back. The addition was this fucking idiot. Love really makes people blind, Desmond."

  "How the fuck I know about that? I ditch the chicks the next day and never look back."

  "You did for this one. You waited for two years. That's saying something."

  "Because I wanted to break her. I thought I did too. Can you imagine how she was thrown into a facility? The bitch couldn't even scream! But this son of a bitch was there to remind her that she was worth something. Had to bust his skull open. I don't even know how the fuck he's still breathing."

  I don't hear a word after that. Maybe they talked more but I just lost my ability to hear or maybe they finally left me alone. My head still feels dizzy and I'm so fucking cold as if someone threw me into a cold lake. My brain is asking me to open my eyes, to wake up and see where I am, but the only thing I can remember is the snippet of what happened before I lost all conscious. Kitty's scream, her looking down at me horrified, those dark eyes worried for me and then the sound of a gunshot.

  For a second, I think I hear a very familiar laugh. It tickles over as ice, the sound of someone choking filling my ears. It can't be...My thoughts drift altogether until everything fades away.

  The next time I regain consciousness, my sight is blurry. Everything swirls in front of me. The cheap lamp over the table, the ceiling, the expensive portraits against the wall, that damned picture of Ceaser smirking like he accomplished the fucking world.

  Fuck! Even breathing hurts.

  A snarl leaves from my lips as I realized what the fuck that bastard has done. He has stripped me bare as the day I was born and hung me from a hook with my hands over my head. I try to shake the chains just to humor myself, but even I know it's fucking difficult to get out of the heavy chains when they injected me with something and my head fucking throbs as if someone ran me over with a truck.

  What did he say he used again?

  Oleander?

  My muscles ache the more I try to unhook my hands. Fuck! I don't know where and how Kitty is. If they've stripped me bare, then did they do the same to her? The thought brings a new wave of pain and rage over me. My fist clenches thinking about Ceaser and his stupid smirk.

  "Arghhh!"

  "Angry? I thought you'd be more worried about your busted skull." I don't have to open my eyes to know who the fuck is talking. It takes every bit of restraint to not bust his skull open. Probably I'd do that without thinking if I wasn't hanging like this.

  "What? Cat got your tongue?"

  "Fuck you." A hiss leaves from my lips.

  "Ask your woman. I did fuck her after all. Oh, wait...that was Desmond." He flashes a mocking smile with all his teeth showing. Right that moment, I wanted to grind all his teeth and shove them into his throat. "Oh, and Dillon. Fuck! How can I forget? I can't miss our Antonio too. Look, all of us have fucked her, including you I guess."

  Kill him. Just plain kill him. I can't hear any fucking thing other than the sound of this bastard dying. I tell myself that repeatedly. I can't stop myself from finishing them off. I wouldn't be able to keep this one promise to Kitty. The moment my hands are free, he's dead.

  "But first I have to get rid of you, young man. See what you made me do?" He chuckles walking closer. My jaw clenches and if anything, his grin widens. Sick fucker.

  "You could have worked for me. I'd give you one mercy to let you live. Now you even lost that." He makes it sound so important as if I fucking care. "No?"

  I can feel my lips stretch. To make a grin or snarl? Either way, I'm fucking gone. "You will kill me, Ceaser? You little pimp has the strength to fight? You are a fuckin’ coward. If you want to kill me, give me a fair fight!"

  Pain strikes me hard. My sight going hazy for a second. The bastard punched me in the face. My lip stings but I can't stop laughing. I spit the blood in his face. Just as I said, coward. "Hidin’ behind this drug lord act as if anyone respects you. If you die today, there's goin’ to be thousands of your friends willing to take your head to get the position."

  His nostrils flare in anger but I know I can't stop now. "Do you think your precious Desmond is with you? Come on! He knows you've practically insured your death by touchin’ my woman. He's just waitin’ for you to kick the bucket. Better yet, remember Elijah?"

  "Elijah has nothing to do with us!" Oh look, it looks like I've hit the words fucking home. "You don't fucking take my son's name in our business and live the next day!"

  Something inside me catches Carter's words from before. And now it's making more sense. "Your son despises your guts, old man. That's why you were so worried about Lorenzo not gettin’ the shipments himself. There weren't just weapons in that ship, was it?" Fucking fool. "They were your future investments if your son kicked you off your throne in the future."

  He doesn't give me a second to breathe before I hear a whoosh and then there's Inferno. There's a fire over my back that I can't stop the scream. Fuck! That hurts like a motherfucker. Again and again, I hear his pleasure filled groans as he whips my back. Blood and gore excites the bastard after all. I see blue, red, black, white, yellow altogether. So, I blink until my vision clears. Until I can croak a word out. Fuck you, Fuck you, fucker! You'll never have Kitty! I will kill you! It stings, reminding me of the way Lethal used to explain the pain that he felt.

  It was ok, Seth. I wasn't even sure about feelin’ anything. It just looks bad, I'm fuckin’ fine. Just patch me up, brother.

  And the laughable thing is?

  He fucking lied.

  CHAPTER 33

  GWEN

  Mom loved to play chess as much as she loved dancing.

  I would see her play alone, planning her every move carefully and win every time. Grace was just as close as her. She would always save her King no matter what. The Queen didn't matter to Grace. But mom on the other hand, she would always save her Queen. I quite remember her saying the words very often.

  In a game of chess, the most dangerous isn't the King, it's the Queen.

  In our cruel game, I was that unfortunate Queen. Who had to protect the King. Who had to be the winner. Who had a game to end.

  "Processed everything yet?"

  I can feel the swollen eyes and the slightly droopy smile on my face. Processed? I've been dying to think of a way to get out since last night. Suddenly something slams into me, knocking me over on to my side. A slap?

  "You know why Mad Dog took so much interest in your whore of a mother after she turned her patch all those years ago? She was a cunning cunt I tell you. Not only did she leave the club in the name of playing a pity mama to an orphan boy, she also had an affair while being married. I mean, what the fuck? If you think that’s where it all ends…oh bitch, you have a lot to learn.”

  “I don’t want to-”

  “She also had the guts to steal from La Eme and then ask for protection from us." Did mom steal from them? I should scream at Desmond. Warn him to stop lying. But somewhere in my mind, I know mom was always
a walking mystery. So I listen.

  "Mad Dog was interested to know what she stole. What gem would be that precious enough to make a mafia leader hunt down a pregnant woman? Enough to even declare war between cartels. You know what the gem was, bitch?"

  No. I don't. But I wonder though. Money? Jewelry? Our lives?

  "Your sister." He stops to wait for my reaction. My sister? Grace? What the...

  "Ever met your father, bitch? Heard of his name?"

  Peter Knight.

  A man mom told us died when we were little. We never even asked as we didn't particularly remember having any moment with him. Was it a mistake on our part? Should we have to ask anyway?

  "W...what are you saying?"

  It stings when pain strikes me again. Another slap? "Keep up, bitch! I'm only going to tell you this once. Because of your mother’s silly little games, Ceaser almost lost his head. And you know who did it to him? Pedro...Knight. Your father, a well-known murderer.”

  Pedro Knight? Something makes me look at Desmond in shock. I’ve never heard that name in my entire life. Our dad was Peter Knight, a man who died to save his family in a fire…or did he really?

  “Hell, I'm surprised how your stupid worthless self didn't get to know that. Every cartel and mafia knows the chaos your mother created."

  Mom did this? Did she really?

  "You see, she was a married woman yet had an affair with the most well-known murderer of the century. She didn't even think of her son, she just ran from shame when she got pregnant. And you two still worship your mother like she was some fucking Goddess!" He spats narrowing his eyes. I doubt he sees my blank expression. He's in his own world to care about what's going on with me. "When Pedro got to know, he killed the poor man she was married to. Of course, it was handled as if he committed suicide in grief. Some say he was gutted so bad that his intestine was visible. You carry a murderer's blood. And you thought you can avoid your destiny?"

  I want to laugh at him. But this is true, isn't it? I couldn't be satisfied with being only Gwen. Grace couldn't save herself from the violence even after ending her revenge. We had Knight Blood in us after all.