“I killed his brother,” Luther sighed, like he’d wished he’d stayed his hand so none of this had ever happened.
Maverick looked between us again, his features twisting, revealing something of the hurt inside him that I knew was there. And the old part of me that had once loved him ached. Because he may have been a monster standing before me now, but the person those terrible things had happened to had been a boy. A boy I’d grown up with, who I’d once have done anything for.
“Nope. I’m not buying it.” Maverick’s expression became steely as he spun his revolver on his finger. “Sorry, old man, I’m not a stupid kid anymore. You can’t manipulate me. And even if it was true, it doesn’t change shit.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Luther snarled.
“Nah, what’s ridiculous is that you came all the way up here expecting a heart to heart that ended in a hug circle.” Maverick smirked callously then jerked his chin at me. “You raised your boy in the image of yourself, Luther, but you raised me in the image of the Devil.” He opened his arms wide, the sun gleaming off his inked chest. “I’m your creation. And you just don’t like that I’m off my leash now, because I’m angry, Daddy, real fucking angry.”
“You’re not even listening to us,” Luther growled.
“I heard every word,” Maverick said icily. “But I’ve got a bullshitometer built into my head these days and it’s working on overdrive right now.”
“You’re just gonna ignore the truth because you don’t wanna hear it?” I said in frustration. “Don’t you understand? This changes things.”
“What things, Foxy boy?” he asked, his gaze full of hate. “You think even if what you said is true it’d change anything?” He pointed at Luther. “That man sent Rogue outa town into ten years of misery, he stole my chance to go after her and put me in a place where I faced hell on earth. I don’t really much care if he wasn’t responsible for the last part. It’s still his actions that put it all in motion.”
“You’re hardly innocent in this war. You’ve killed Harlequins. You killed my great uncle Tom,” I growled and Maverick shrugged, saying nothing.
“He kills the bad seeds,” Luther said darkly. “Don’t you, son? I know about all of them. I’ve even sent men to your door so that you can deal with them for me and you’ve done it, because you know what they are.”
“I ain’t done nothin’ for you, Luther,” Maverick snarled and I frowned between the two of them.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, hating being left in the dark.
“The Harlequins need cleansing from time to time. It’s a part of this world, you always get men who overstep, men who thwart the code. We all walk the line of bad and evil, Maverick deals with the evil. It’s what I raised him to do. It was one of his callings in his life. He’s made for dirty work, he thrives on it.”
“It has nothing to do with you!” Maverick snapped.
“You might not want it to, Rick, but you’ve been killing the monsters in my gang and keeping it clean for years. I let that information reach you, I allowed you to do what you’re best at.”
“What about great uncle Tom?” I pushed and my dad frowned.
“He was sick in the head,” Luther muttered. “One of my hackers turned up a load of child pornography on his laptop.”
“What?” I hissed.
“He did more than just look at it,” Maverick sneered, his eyes darkening to pitch. “He acted on those urges.”
“And how’d you find out about that, huh?” Luther pushed.
“One of your men sang like a canary when I dangled him off a cliff,” Maverick said with a shrug.
“And who do you think sent that man to you?” Luther said, raising his chin and Maverick bristled.
“So you’ve been using me?” Maverick spat.
“I’ve been feeding you what you went hunting for anyway,” my dad said firmly as I tried to get my head around this. “It wasn’t all me. You sniffed out the evil among my people like it was a damn sixth sense. You were born for it, kid.”
“Don’t you dare, old man,” he warned. “We’re not about to hug it out and have a heart-warming Hollywood moment.”
“Look, I made mistakes, but they were all with the right intentions,” Luther insisted, his muscles rippling with tension. “I know I fucked up, kid, but I never wanted this.”
“You reap what you sow,” Maverick said with a light shrug. “Isn’t that the whole Harlequin mantra? Seems like you knew exactly what you were doing, even if you weren’t sure how it would play out. You wanted to make puppets out of me and Foxy, and look at him now.” Maverick frowned at me like he cared, his brows drawing together as he gave me a pitying look. “I can see your strings, brother. Are you blind to them, or don’t you care you’re on his hook?”
I glanced at Luther who gave me an imploring look, but doubt washed through my gut. Was I just his little heir, forged in the fire to look just like him?
Maverick boomed a laugh then walked around to open the driver’s door to his Chevy. “Looks like you shouldn’t be so worried about reclaiming my allegiance, Luther, you should be more worried about those questions I see shining in your boy’s eyes. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t she? Gotta fucking love the way she works though.” He dropped into the car, starting it up and revving the engine, making the wheels spin and sending a cloud of dust spewing over us before he released the parking brake and shot away down the road.
“Asshole,” I coughed, pulling my shirt over my mouth and nose.
Luther stalked back to the truck and I trailed after him, sensing a murderous air about him that reminded me he was a coldblooded killer. Not that it was particularly hard to forget, only he’d been acting way too fucking nice to me lately and maybe what Maverick said held a ring of truth to it.
“Get in,” he growled as we reached his truck and I slid into the passenger seat, pulling my shirt down again as he took off in the opposite direction Maverick had taken. “That was a shit show.”
I said nothing, grinding my teeth as I played with my switch knife and we bumped along the cliff roads.
“You’re not my puppet, kid,” Luther said. “You know that, right?”
“I’m not a kid,” I said in a warning tone and he sighed.
“Alright, but answer my question,” he demanded, his hands tightening on the wheel.
“I know that I’ve done things I wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for you teaching me to do them,” I said darkly. “And I also know I’ve done things that I chose to do because I can be as callous as you, maybe more so. So no, I don’t think I’m your puppet. But if I find out I’m wrong, I’ll cut the strings, Luther. Because I’m no one’s plaything.”
He nodded slowly and as we drove back down to the lower quarter, he took a turning towards the beach.
“Where are you going?” I demanded, wanting to get home to check on the others.
My heart beat furiously as he drove his truck down a little unmade road that was darkened by the shadow of palm trees and old stone buildings.
“Luther,” I hissed, sitting upright in my seat as fear snuck under my skin.
He pulled up at the end of the alley and shoved the door open, jerking his chin at me to get out too.
I kept the knife in my hand as I followed, my gaze never shifting from him as he moved to stand in front of the truck where the track turned to sand.
“Put the knife down,” he commanded.
“No,” I said instantly and his eyebrows arched.
“Don’t be an idiot, put it down,” he said as he tugged his shirt off to reveal the myriad of ink and scars lining his body.
My fingers twitched around the knife as he kicked off his shoes too and moved barefoot across the sand as he waited for me to obey his order.
He tossed his gun down onto his shirt and figuring he was unarmed, I threw the knife down too, watching him closely as my pulse danced under my flesh.
“Come on, shirt and shoes off. Remember when I taught you
boys to fight?” he asked and I frowned.
“You want me to fight you?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smirk. “’Cause I’m tired of that look in your eyes. You’re angry with me, so come deal with it like a man.”
“You’re serious?” I balked.
“What? You think you can’t take on your old man?” He came at me, shoving my chest and raising his fists as he expected me to fight back.
“You’re crazy,” I muttered.
He swung a punch at my shoulder, making me stumble back a step with the power behind the blow.
“I’m not fighting you.” I folded my arms as I gave him a flat look.
“Because I’m gonna put you on your ass time and again like I did when you were a boy?” he asked, throwing another punch and I jerked aside to avoid it.
“I’d beat your ass these days,” I said offhandedly.
“So prove it.” He wrapped his leg around mine, trying to knock me to the floor, but I twisted out of the hold and slammed my knuckles into his kidney.
He barked a laugh like he enjoyed that and I figured fuck it and tore my shirt off, kicking my shoes off too. If he was giving me an opportunity to put him on the ground then fine. I’d enjoy every second of it.
“Come on, kid, show me why you’re gonna take over the Harlequins one day,” he encouraged, taunting me with that damn word again.
I lunged at him, swinging a hard punch and it crashed into his gut as I released my fury. I tried to get in another, but he blocked it, his fist smashing into my chest.
I stumbled back and he came at me fast, but I was ready, locking my leg around his and throwing my weight forward to unbalance him. He fell down, but hooked his arm around my neck as we went, dragging me with him and immediately rolling us, his hands winding around my throat. I broke the hold before he could get a good grip, punching him hard enough to wind him in the next moment and he lurched backwards, giving me room to throw him off of me.
He hit the sand and we both sprang to our feet, falling into a furious rhythm of punches and kicks that sent each of us sprawling to the ground more than once. We were soon sweaty, filthy and more determined than ever to win. He was right, it did feel fucking good taking out my anger on him and as I finally dropped him onto his back and pinned his body beneath mine, my forearm crushing his throat to keep him down, he tapped out and I fell down beside him, panting.
A laugh fell from my throat which he echoed and some of the anger that lived in me ebbed away like the receding tide.
“Fuck you,” he said breathlessly through a grin.
“Fuck you back,” I said, a smile turning up one corner of my lips.
He reached over to rub sand into my hair like he used to whenever we wrestled like this on Sunset Beach. I didn’t hate that. And maybe I didn’t really hate him in this moment. At least not nearly as much as I wanted to.
J J had gotten me crutches so I could move about my room and I paced around often to keep the strength up in my body, hating just lying down for hours on end, especially when I was used to daily workouts at the gym. Though with every day I moved a little further along in my recovery, I knew I was drawing closer to the inevitable. The moment this cast came off, I was out of here. And I didn’t know what kind of life awaited me beyond this house.
It wasn’t one I wanted, but when I heard the waves crashing against the shore and the gulls crying out in the sky, I knew there were things in this world I still wanted to experience again. Even if they didn’t include my family anymore. And there was a resounding purpose in me now to hunt down Shawn and bring him to Rogue. She’d have his death, I’d make certain of it. But I’d sure as fuck be getting in some torture of my own before he went outa this world too easy.
I did a couple of laps of the room, sweat rolling down my spine despite the aircon and the fact that I was only wearing a pair of shorts. Why was walking so fucking hard even with the damn crutches? I guess I knew the answer to that. It wasn’t my leg that was the real trouble, it was the prolonged lack of nourishment and wasting away down in that fucking basement. I had to rebuild my strength all over and I was pushing myself too hard every day so I didn’t feel so damn weak.
There was a sheet over the mirror on the wall to my right that I’d asked JJ to hang there. I didn’t wanna see my face. I knew I was being a vain asshole, but part of the reason I’d kept the beard and shaggy hair look was because I was hoping it meant everyone would see less of my mutilated eye. I didn’t need the dressings on anymore but I kept one on anyway, because unless I wanted to look like a fucking pirate and wear the eyepatch Rogue had bought me, this was my solution.
“I said no,” Rogue barked from downstairs and I leaned my shoulder against the wall as I took a break by the door, wondering what was going on.
I propped one of my crutches against the wall and held onto the other so I could try the door handle, checking it was unlocked like I did ten times a day. Being a prisoner for so many weeks had left dents of anxiety in my brain about things like that. Lights on, doors unlocked.
“You can’t keep him from me!” Rosie’s voice carried up the stairs. “I can’t believe no one even told me he was alive until now – he’s my boyfriend for god’s sake!”
“Sorry, pretty girl. Luther said she could stop by,” JJ said to Rogue and I cursed under my breath.
My breathing shallowed and I tried to move, wanting to pretend I was asleep, but I dropped my crutch and as I leaned down to try and get it, the door flew open and knocked me off balance. I hit the floor on my ass, hissing between my teeth as I jarred my leg and Rosie stepped into the room in a bright pink sundress, her eyes puffy from crying.
“Chasey!” she cried in anguish, diving on me and I growled, pushing her back as I fumbled for my crutch. “Oh no, let me see what that horrible man did to you.” She practically sat on me and my chest got too tight as I felt pinned down. I couldn’t get up and I hated that, it was making my heart riot.
“Rosie, get off,” I demanded, pushing her aside and dragging myself backwards to grab my crutch.
Her lower lip quivered and she suddenly reached for the dressing over my eye and pulled it clean off. I stilled, gazing at her in shock at what she’d done, watching as her expression morphed from stunned to horrified.
“He ruined you!” she shrieked, wailing like a baby and I just stared at her, frozen as those words rang in my head, tearing at my insecurities. “Why does everything bad happen to me?”
Rogue appeared in the doorway with JJ hot on her heels, taking one look at what Rosie had done then a sneer pulled back her lips. She snatched a fistful of Rosie’s hair as Mutt dove on her, biting her arm with a savage growl. Rosie screamed like she was being mauled by a tiger and Rogue dragged her backwards into the hall kicking and screaming.
“Get out of this house!” Rogue roared. “He’s not your fucking boyfriend.”
“You bitch!” Rosie cried, full on sobbing now. “You kept him from me, you let me think he was dead and all this time he was here after being cut up by Shawn Mackenzie. You had no right not to tell me. And you didn’t even warn me downstairs about how he looks so…” She cupped a hand around her mouth, lowering her voice to a stage whisper. “Awful.”
Despite how much I didn’t give a shit about this girl, her words still sliced into me.
JJ stalked into the room, offering me a hand to help me up. I ignored it, wanting to do it myself, but finding myself just watching as Rogue punched Rosie hard enough to shut her up.
Rosie fell to the floorboards, sobbing into them as her shoulders shuddered. Rogue grabbed her leg, starting to haul her away like a sack of shit and Rosie looked up at me through puffy eyes. “It’s okay, baby, you can get skin grafts. Plastic surgery, we’ll figure it out. We’ll make you you again.” Mutt ran forward and peed on her face with such accuracy that it got her right in the mouth as she started screaming. But I couldn’t even find it in me to laugh as I started sinking into a dark pit inside me, unable to get out.
Shawn was coming. I could hear his footfalls shaking the floor above me, unsettling the dust from the ceiling. I could hear him whistling, the twist of the lock and Miss Mabel begging him to leave me alone. When I’d been down there, all I’d wanted to do was die, but somehow out here, free, it all just suffocated me. I felt the claws of regret digging into my brain over everything I’d done again. I deserved his punishments, every strike, every stab, every burn.
“Ace,” JJ called anxiously, gripping the back of my head as he made me look at him.
I was shaking and I wanted to crawl into myself and vanish so he didn’t see me like this.
I lifted a hand to cover the destroyed side of my face and suddenly softer hands were on me and she was there, tugging my hand down and laying a kiss directly on the scarred flesh of my right eye. I felt the sting and warmth of that kiss at once and wondered if her stomach churned over touching me there like that.
“Shh,” she hushed, crawling into my lap and holding me. “Fuck her,” she growled. “She’s gone.”
I wrapped my arms around her, soaking in the warmth of her flesh and letting her presence banish the dark. JJ’s hand pressed to my shoulder and I reached for him too, winding my fingers into his shirt and yanking him closer until his forehead pressed to mine.
“We’re here,” JJ rasped. “We’re not going anywhere, Ace.”
“I love all of your scars,” Rogue whispered against my neck as she tucked herself closer to me. I felt the absence of my other brothers opening up an age old wound in me, but I had to take what I could get these days and the two of them this close to me was everything I could hope for.
“Keep lying to me,” I growled at Rogue. “I like your lies.”
“They’re not lies,” she lied again and I kissed her hair just as JJ did too. I felt a heated energy between us which burned me like hellfire and soothed me like heaven.
Carnival Hill (The Harlequin Crew Book 3) Page 35