It’s so quiet here.
I can’t tell you the last time I actually listened to the sound of birds outside, or general nature of any kind. We’re far enough back in the cut that there’s no sound of traffic, and if I lay here basking in this ambiance…I can just make out the water crashing and boat bells clanging in the distance. This is what a vacation is really about. A break from what we, as humans that like to believe we’re machines, consider everyday life. It makes you realize that if you’re disconnected from the bullshit long enough…the world isn’t as frantic and fucking ugly. It’s got its own peace and tranquility about itself, we’re all just in too much of a hurry doing absolutelynothing,to notice it.
I ran my palms down my face, stretching and taking in a deep breath, smiling to myself. It smells like a night full of fucking in here. Vacation indeed. My head rolled to where she’d been laying…to that pillow she screamed in when I didn’t ask permission before shoving my prick into her tight arse. And God, was it perfect. Viper took me in every hole last night like a fucking professional and matched every bit of my insanity. She asked for it. Shebecameit. I think she’s my goddamn soulmate. Which means…I’ll have to answer all the questions I passed on last night, eventually. And it needs to be sooner, rather than later. She deserves that much from me.
I slid out of bed, searching the floor for my clothes—she’s wearing my shirt…
…She’s wearing my shirt…
Somewhere deep inside this dead fucking heart…I feel life. Or something like it. Should I be reading too much into this? Wearing a lad’s clothes, especially one that just tested the sturdiness of your back door? That’s a statement. And the big circle of question marks around whatever it is we have, feels like a solid reason to smile about what she’s choosing to leave unsaid. She’s throwing me a bone and giving me hope, which is more than I fucking deserve. I pulled my sweats on and raked my hair back, heading downstairs.
Bridget’s up. Her pillows and shit are balled up on one side of the couch. She spilled a bag of chips and left them laying on the floor, and must have slept like a lunatic or was more pissed than I expected, having to hear what she likely did last night. It looks like everything on the coffee table got kicked. I grinned, bending down to pick up Scrabble tiles and peeked over to where the bathroom door was shut.
“I guess I should be glad it’s not my melon ya took it out on, yeah?” I snickered and started putting all the game pieces back in the box, stacking it with the rest of the board games beneath the coffee table. “Silent treatment it is.” My eyes caught the cracked front door, and I stood, walking over and opening it. The Nova and Seven’s car are still in the yard. “Sev?” There’s nothing. Nothing but the sound of birds and boats. “Viper!”
What the fuck?
I left the door open, stepping out onto the porch and glancing around the yard, seeing absolutely no movement…and something in the pit of my stomach felt heavy. A nearby starling started throwing a fit in a nook just a little ways down the porch and I realized I was too close to its nest. I stepped back just as it charged for me, and ducked.“Shite!”When I straightened, that heaviness in my gut turned to fucking lead.It flew into the house. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…the Irish are a superstitious lot. And for good reason.
Something is fuckingwrong.
My steps were heavy, going back into the house and the fucking bird was ballistic, feathers and fury flying everywhere while it tried to find its way back out. I left the door open for it. “Bridget! Somebody fuckin’ answer me!” I stormed into the kitchen and nearly lost my fucking mind. There’s a pan on the stove, an open container of raw bacon, one egg in a glass bowl, and one…cracked on the kitchen floor. A note was left on the counter by the sink. I felt my psycho start to boil under my skin…
CHECKMATE LITTLE
HALF-BREED PRINCE
“Maróidh mé gach duine agaibh, a mháthair-chreachadóirí…”
I’ll kill every one of you motherfuckers…
I crumpled that scrap of paper in my fist and my adrenaline went rogue. I dunno how they found us, but I’m already blaming myself. Ma used to tell me I had a‘red-headed temper’anytime I used to lose my unholy shit and start breaking anything I could get my pubescent hands on. I learned to hone that rage when I got older and used it to flay the skin from whatever bones were on Pop’s list of deserving hits. The last time I saw this shade of red—was the day that Shavonn was dragged down the aisle next to fucking Braughton. Second only to the day that I had to see her without a heartbeat. I’m past the point of being respectful of Seven’s family getaway house. I’ll fucking buy them a new one.
My hand flew to the handle of that frying pan and I didn’t actuallyseeanything…I barely heard the crashing of glass, the flipping of furniture and the crumble of sheetrock while I swung my arms, hitting and crashing out on whatever stood in my way. When the haze lifted…it looked like somebody set a bomb off inthis house. My body is shaking. My head is spinning. They’ve got my baby sister—and the second woman that I…I’m…
“FUCK!”
I swung the pan again, busting a big, boxy television and that rutting bird finally found its way out of the house. I looked down to see my knuckles busted open on my free hand, and blood running down my heaving chest where I’d opened the cut Seven branded me with last night. I dropped the pan to the floor. I can’t think straight. I dunno what the fuck to do with myself.
Go fucking get them. Burn the world down and take the bastards with you to hell.
A vacation.Hellwill be a vacation compared to what I’m about to do to these fucking pricks. I took a deep breath and turned slowly on my heel, padding up the staircase. I searched Seven’s parents’ room, finding my burner and I called the only person that could give me any real answers.
“Mal…somethin’s up, mate…I—”
“They’ve got Bridge. They’ve got ‘emboth, Dec.” I heard fingers flying over keys, and restless breathing…it could be mine, but I’m not wholly sure.
“Your lass is in Rockport. I’m pingin’ her at—”
“Her phone ishere, fuckshit!” I rammed my fist into the pillow I slept on, grabbing it and throwing it across the room, breaking more vintage knickknacks. “Find Jonas. Tell me where he is!”
“Already on it. That might explain why the boss is out…with Finn.”
“If either of them had anything to do with this…if there’s a single hair on theirheadstouched, I’ll make sure Sev bags them up with the O’Dell’s cocks in their mouths. Tell me where the fuck they are, Declan.”
“…Malek. Both tracks are puttin’ ‘em five miles from House O’Dell.”My knuckles cracked around the phone.“You can’t go alone, brother.”
“You help me, and they’ll kill you too.”
