Clipped (The Clipped Saga Book 1)

by Devon McCormack

  As his hot breath hit Kid’s earlobe, Kid exploded, shooting like a geyser in an arc that landed in the outlines of his abs.

  “Oh, fuck. Fuck, yeah!”

  Treycore hopped up, grabbed the bathroom towel, and wiped himself off. He threw it to Kid, who did the same. After returning the towel to the bathroom, he hopped back in bed, turning away from Kid without another word.

  What just happened?

  Chapter Six

  Kinzer kissed his way down Dedrus’s stomach.

  After their first delicious, frenzied encounter, they’d fucked their way into Dedrus’s room. They savored each other for a third time. It was just what Kinzer needed: a good revenge fuck.

  Kinzer knew that look in Dedrus’s eyes. Dedrus wanted him, and Kinzer took advantage of it. He wanted Dedrus to know what he was missing—to remember the days when they’d fucked like this so often. Even with revenge on his brain, Kinzer hadn’t been able to distance himself from the pleasure—those erotic sensations that Dedrus stirred within him. Those sensations had awakened his past with Dedrus, reminding him of the pain of rejection when he’d lost Dedrus forever.

  When Dedrus had been sent to work with another troop in Feint, Dedrus had fallen for another higherling, Ryson. Ryson, like Dedrus, had been part of an elite class of the Almighty’s higherlings, and so it made sense that they’d wound up together. After all, Kinzer was, and always would be, a laborer. Kinzer wasn’t sure how he’d ever convinced himself that Dedrus could love him. Perhaps he’d just wanted to believe that.

  Painful as it was for Kinzer, Dedrus’s affair with Ryson convinced Kinzer that Dedrus could never love him…not as much as he loved Dedrus.

  Kinzer descended onto Dedrus’s swelling cock, his tongue swirling, his lips dripping with saliva.

  “Oh!” Dedrus cried.

  That’s right. This is all you can ever have.

  As much as he still cared for Dedrus, a part of Kinzer wanted him to experience the same pain he’d felt the day he’d found out about Ryson. But Kinzer doubted he could ever cause Dedrus that much pain, because Dedrus could never care for him as much as he’d cared for Dedrus.

  BANG!

  Kinzer’s mouth withdrew. He sat up, alert. “What the—”

  Dedrus hopped to his feet and scrambled to a closet. “The front door,” he whispered, digging through hanging button-up shirts.

  The sword Dedrus had given Kinzer was propped beside the bed. Snatching it by the hilt, Kinzer slid out of bed.

  “Go out the window.” Kinzer tiptoed to the door. “Get to Maggie's room. See if you can sneak her out.”

  “What about you?”

  “At the least, I'll be a good distraction.”

  Dedrus unfastened the window.

  CREAK!

  He slid it open. As he slipped out, he turned back to Kinzer.

  “Be careful.”

  Stepping beside the door, Kinzer nodded. He cracked it open, peering into the hall. Holding his sword in front of him, he stepped into the hall. He glanced over the rail, looking down into Dedrus’s living room. Light from a streetlamp out front outlined everything with a soft, orange glow.

  Nothing out of the ordinary, and no sign of an intruder.

  His cock swung like a pendulum as he made his way down the hall, his focus shifting about, ready for someone to pop out at him.

  He came to the door to Maggie's room and pushed it open.

  A deep, heavy breathing spilled into the hall. It was the most obnoxious snoring Kinzer thought he'd ever heard come from a mortal. It sounded like a dog growling.

  Maggie lay in bed, fast asleep. Dedrus ducked as he slipped through the open window beside her bed.

  Kinzer took a moment to appreciate the view of his ass. Dorky as he was, he really did have a nice little body.

  Dedrus gave him a thumbs-up.

  Kinzer turned the knob and pulled the door shut ever so quietly, starting back down the hall.

  As he came to Treycore's room, he noticed the door was already cracked open.

  Fuck.

  He pushed against it. A sword rushed through the crack. Kinzer threw his before him and…

  CRASH!

  He blocked the oncoming attack.

  The door flew open, revealing an equally naked Treycore. His vein-ridden flesh bobbed between his knees.

  “Fuck,” Kinzer said.

  “Did you hear that?” Treycore asked.

  “Yeah. Dedrus is taking care of Maggie. I'm about to head downstairs to check it out. Keep outta sight in case I need backup.”

  “All over it.”

  “And promise me, if anything happens, you'll protect Kid.”

  Treycore sighed.

  “Just fucking promise me, okay?”

  “Okay. I promise. Now get down there and see what's up.”

  Treycore shut the door, keeping it cracked open, just as it had been when Kinzer had noticed it. Kinzer started down the stairwell, his eyes scanning the shadow-filled living room.

  It was quiet.

  As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he scanned the bookshelves, the couch, and the table—trying to see if anything had moved or shifted. Everything appeared to be just as messy as it'd been before they'd gone to bed. He peered down the hall to the front door.

  A cool breeze rushed against him. The door swayed back and forth.

  Fuck.

  “What is this?” a voice came from behind him.

  He spun around, slashing his sword through the air to let the intruder know that he meant business.

  “Careful where you point that thing,” a dark shadow said as it stepped out from Dedrus’s study into the light from the streetlamp. Kinzer recognized the fallen, and he was less than thrilled to see him.

  “Hello, Mika.”

  “Kinzer,” Mika said through perfectly arched, m-shaped lips. As he stepped into the living room, his feathers fanned out behind him, moving slightly in the breeze from the front door.

  “I'm assuming you didn't come alone,” Kinzer said.

  A shadow, far more massive than Mika, stepped out from behind his wings.

  The seven-foot-tall fallen's flat face and narrow, snake-like eyes were a familiar and unpleasant sight. His name was Craetis, and his existence reminded Kinzer of how sloppy even the best of the Almighty's creations could be.

  “Last I saw you,” Craetis said, “you were begging us to spare your dearest Janka's life.”

  His words tossed Kinzer’s thoughts to a few days earlier.

  Blood trickled off Janka’s square jaw and streaked through the bushy eyebrows that hung above wide, blue eyes. His pupils roamed back and forth, seemingly without direction. His lips, long and full, trembled.

  Craetis smashed his fist into Janka’s face.

  They were in a warehouse. Overhanging halogen bulbs illuminated boxes and pylons.

  Cuffs fastened at Kinzer’s wrists, connected to chains that wrapped around support beams on either side of him. He was stark naked.

  “No!” he called out. As he struggled with the chains, the muscles in his back shifted and jiggled.

  It was clear that the chains weren’t going to give.

  Black feathers rushed from his back. His wings fanned out instinctively, ready to attack.

  Mika and Deter had grabbed either wing.

  Kinzer struggled to dam the flood of memories. He didn't have time to think on that. He had to be strong, ready for the fight that was certainly about to ensue.

  “Where's Veylo?” Kinzer asked.

  “He had other errands to run.” Craetis stomped up to his sword, seemingly without fear. He stopped just before the tip. “We came for Dedrus and Treycore, but looks like we'll have the added bonus of finishing you off, too.”

  Finishing them off? Kinzer wondered if they knew about Maggie or if they were just here for Treycore and Dedrus.

  Mika and Kinzer stared each other down. Mika slipped his hands to his sides and pulled two daggers from holsters strapped at the wai
st of the black suit pants he wore. The daggers sparkled in the orange glow from the streetlamp. Mika twirled them about. He charged Kinzer.

  Kinzer drew his sword back, preparing to strike.

  “Now, now, boys,” a voice came from behind Kinzer.

  Mika stopped and gripped his daggers by their hilts.

  Kinzer didn't turn around. He didn't need to. “Vera,” he said. “Glad you could make it.”

  “Me, too. Someone gonna turn on a light?” She must’ve flipped a light switch, because the lamps around the room illuminated. “Much better. Oh, this place looks like crap.”

  She stepped around him and joined Craetis and Mika.

  Next to the seven-foot Craetis, she was a midget. She had a scrawny frame with long, skinny arms that were concealed beneath a thin layer of black sheer that ran from the wrist-cuffs to the bust-level of the black dress she wore. A chrome belt glistened around her nothing of a waist, matching a diamond-studded collar around her neck. Kinzer knew that every part of her outfit had been meticulously planned, down to the nine-inch heels that, given the chance, she would no doubt use to gouge a higherling's eyes out with.

  She stroked her fingers through coal-black hair that fell to her chest, indicating where breasts should have been.

  “Are Treycore and Dedrus here?” While Craetis had snake-like eyes, Vera's were like those of a lizard. Her forehead was wide, and her jaw narrow, giving her eyes and features a sort of fun-house mirror effect. Her lizard eyes stared Kinzer down. “Yes. I see they are. You know, Kinzer, we've made quite a few rounds tonight, and we're very tired, so we'd appreciate it if you'd just direct us to their rooms, so we can slit all your throats and move on to our next targets.”

  Targets?

  He’d been right. Someone had revealed the whereabouts of all the Leader’s Allies.

  “Fucking bitch.”

  Vera smirked.

  Kinzer scoffed. “Don't even pretend like you're going to kill your precious Treycore.”

  Vera and Treycore had been lovers, as all the immortals knew. Kinzer didn’t know all the details, but from what he’d heard, it was with great strain that Treycore managed to pull himself from her twisted grip.

  Vera’s smile transformed into a twitching line. She turned away. “Go ahead and kill him. He's not going to tell us. We'll find them ourselves.”

  Craetis chuckled. “Can I play with him first?”

  “You've done good tonight. Have fun.”

  Craetis winked at Kinzer and licked the air before him.

  Kinzer pulled his sword back and stabbed forward, aiming for Craetis's chest.

  Craetis grabbed the blade. The edges slit into his flesh, drawing a rush of blood, before coming to a stop.

  Craetis chuckled. “Come on, Kinzer. You don't have your wings, your powers, or your immortal strength. You'd better just lay back and take it. It'll hurt less.”

  Mika's eyes lit up. Vera started up the stairs.

  “Mika!” she snapped.

  “I want to watch,” he pleaded.

  She tossed him a fierce glare.

  Sighing, he hopped over the rail and tailed behind her.

  Craetis tugged on Kinzer's sword, reeling him in. He wrapped his massive, muscle-bound biceps around Kinzer’s chest and pulled him close, pressing his lips against his cheek.

  “You know how long I've wanted to fuck you?” Craetis nuzzled his nose against Kinzer’s neck.

  Kinzer struggled against his grip, but he knew it wasn't going to do him much good. Craetis not only had his immortal strength, but a superior strength to most immortals, as his gift.

  With his free hand, Craetis unzipped his jeans, unleashing a veiny, deadly two-foot spear. Kinzer knew that one fuck from Craetis would easily kill, or severely damage, his clipped body. The very thought made his ass cheeks twitch.

  Craetis leaned into Kinzer, pressed his mouth next to his ear, and whispered, “Bet Janka never fucked you with one this big. This is gonna be like fucking a mortal, but better.”

  He pinched Kinzer's nipple.

  “Ah!” Kinzer cried.

  Craetis chomped at his other nipple, pulling and tugging with his teeth.

  Kinzer screamed even louder. It felt like Craetis was going to bite it off.

  Craetis's mouth released it. “Fuck yeah,” he said. “I like hearing you scream.”

  He grabbed Kinzer's balls and squeezed.

  “Goddammit!” Kinzer pushed Craetis’s arm in vain.

  “Fuck yeah. Say you like it.”

  “Go to Heaven!”

  Craetis grabbed Kinzer’s neck and tightened his grip. “Say you fucking like it!”

  “Never!”

  “Oh, you dumb bitch.” He whirled around and hurled Kinzer by his neck across the room.

  Kinzer's back slammed into a bookshelf. He dropped to the floor, a few books and tchotchkes capsizing on top of him. He crawled to a nearby chair at a table and climbed it.

  Craetis stomped across the room. He knelt down, grabbed Kinzer by his ankles, and flipped him over his head onto the couch, ass up. He straddled Kinzer. His hard cock rubbed between his cheeks.

  “Say it!” Craetis exclaimed.

  “No!”

  “Then get ready to be ripped apart!”

  “No,” a voice came from beside him. “You get ready!”

  The tip of a sword slashed across Craetis's neck. “Fuck!”

  ***

  Treycore stood beside Kinzer, blood rushing across the end of his sword. He’d changed back into his jeans and button-up—the ones he’d been wearing earlier.

  He glared at Craetis, whose sight disguted him.

  It reminded of him of his time with Vera—a time he wasn’t all that proud of.

  When he’d seen Vera and Veylo’s goons corner Kinzer, he’d slipped out the window and crept around to the front door. Kinzer, being clipped, wasn’t in any shape to take on a single immortal…let alone three.

  Craetis’s hand rushed to his neck. “You fucking bastard!”

  “Long time no see,” Treycore said. “Now, get the fuck off Kinzer before I cut that little dick off your nuts.”

  As much as he was annoyed with Kinzer for how much pain he’d put Dedrus through, he wasn’t going to let him get raped and murdered by the fucking Raze.

  Growling, Craetis jumped up. He stumbled to the other side of the couch. “You're dead, Treycore,” he said, his voice laced with rage.

  “Not quite yet. Kinzer, you okay?”

  Kinzer nodded. He turned over and massaged his nipple.

  “How many others are there?” Treycore asked.

  “Fuck off!”

  “Hello, my love,” Vera said.

  She leaned on her elbows against the rail upstairs. A sweet smile spread across her face as she gaped at him.

  Fucking bitch. Flashes of his time with her, the love, the hope, the betrayal, all raced through his mind. As he looked at the treacherous bitch that he'd been with for so long, he wondered what he’d ever seen in her.

  “Come here to kill us, did you?” he asked.

  “When else do I get to see you?”

  “How’d you find us, cunt?”

  “I knew something smelled!” Mika called from upstairs.

  Kid, in his striped shirt and jeans, tumbled out of Treycore's room into the upstairs hall. Mika stepped out behind him.

  “Who's got the mortal fetish?”

  Kinzer looked to Treycore, as if psychically projecting to him, “What did I tell you?!”

  I’m not his fucking babysitter.

  “I've got this,” Treycore assured.

  “Clearly,” Kinzer said.

  When I get you out of this, I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.

  “Vera,” Treycore said. “What do you say you and your goons get the fuck out of here before I lose my shit?”

  Vera smiled. “That's what I always loved about you, my Treycore. Gumption. You really think you can take on three members of the Raze?”

&nb
sp; It was ambitious, but Treycore was confident. He’d taken on more than that during the war, but few were as skilled and trained as the Raze.

  “Bring it.” He recognized the boldness of his statement. It was three immortals against an immortal, the foulest smelling mortal he’d ever encountered, and the fucking clipped. Not very promising.

  Mika headed down the stairs, twirling his daggers at his side. Craetis, still nursing his bleeding neck, stomped around the couch.

  Treycore held his sword out in front of him.

  “Treycore!” Kinzer called out. “Look out!”

  He knew what was up. Because he knew his Vera—a Teleporter who’d sneak up on an immortal like a snake in the grass.

  He didn’t have time to react. She was at his side in a flash. Clasping her hands together, she rammed them across his face.

  He tripped over a side table and fell back.

  Before he hit the floor, Vera drove her heel at his face. He maneuvered his sword so her heel ricocheted off it. The momentum threw her at a nearby chair. Grabbing its back, she flipped over it. Treycore bounded at her, sword-first.

  She landed on her heels and lifted the chair. Treycore’s sword drove through the seat, slicing it in two. One half collapsed to the floor. Vera tossed the other at his face.

  ***

  Kinzer had forgotten what impressive fighters Treycore and Vera were. He could only imagine how they used to fuck.

  Mika threw himself into their fight, juggling his daggers about. Treycore’s swordplay was fast…fast enough that it kept both of Mika’s daggers occupied.

  Craetis was on his way to join in.

  There was no way Treycore would be able to handle all three. Kinzer grabbed a lamp off a side table by the couch and smashed it into Craetis’s head. Maybe he couldn’t do any serious damage, but he could piss him off enough to distract him.

  Craetis shook it off, grabbed Kinzer’s wrist, and hurled him across the room.

  Kinzer slammed into the edge of a shelf.

  Fuck!

  It felt like his ribcage was about to burst open and spill his immortal intestines across the floor. Craetis continued on toward Treycore.

  Didn’t fucking work like I planned, Kinzer thought, paralyzed on the floor.