Thousands

by Pepper Winters

  Oh, I knew.

  I’d seen their disappointment first-hand.

  I’d smelled their disappointment from my father and brother burning.

  Even though the Chinmoku ran illegal operations, trafficked women, manufactured drugs, and corrupted everything they could get their hands on, their faction wasn’t huge.

  They didn’t trust easily and only welcomed the tried and proven to join their ranks.

  When I’d been invited into their family, there’d been seventy-nine fully fledged members. That number might’ve grown over the past decade, but I had no doubt if Kunio only brought seven men with him, then they were seven of his best.

  Seven men who liked to inflict agony on others in unique and imaginative ways.

  Kunio dragged a finger down Pim’s arm.

  She hissed but remained steadfast and silently seething.

  “I approve of your taste in women. Perhaps, instead of killing her, we’ll make her one of us.”

  The thought of Pim belonging to the Chinmoku enraged me to the point of blacking out and killing everyone in my path.

  She would never again belong to anyone. Especially them.

  Hatred lodged in my throat. “Let her go.”

  “As I said before—you’re not in a position to give instruction.” Kunio looked at his men.

  They were all identical replicas with the Chinmoku uniform of black trousers and t-shirt, black bandana, and red fingerless gloves.

  Long ago, the leader had told me they wore red gloves to symbolise the blood they were about to shed. Already bathing their flesh in the life force of their enemy.

  I’d once worn a pair of those gloves.

  Now, I wanted to cut off their hands.

  Scanning the men, I took note of the many different weapons strapped to their bodies—some favoured simple guns while others had knives buckled to their legs and back. They might wear the same wardrobe, but when it came to their chosen method of killing? Anything was permitted.

  Where the fuck was Selix?

  My staff?

  How had the Chinmoku taken custody of my ship without my goddamn knowledge?

  Folding his hands in front of him, Kunio cocked his head. The atmosphere changed from poised to prepared.

  I’d once been on the other side and understood what that subtle shift meant.

  This was never meant to be a conversation of my betrayal and punishment. This wasn’t a drawn-out negotiation for Pim’s life or mine.

  This was an extermination.

  My limbs loosened, my knees ready to unlock and fight at a second’s notice.

  Kunio smiled. “You know as well as I do how this night will end. Your woman is now ours to do with as we please. Your life is now ours for your disobedience. Your very existence belongs to us. Tonight, we collect.”

  My heart rate slowed. My eyes sharpened. My breathing shallowed.

  Kunio looked at the black-shrouded man beside him. There was no nod, no command, no signal.

  But it didn’t matter.

  My room went from silent threat to all-out homicidal war.

  Four men pounced on me at once.

  Their blows struck my head, my chest, my back, my kidneys.

  Their swiftness put me on the back foot even though I’d seen it coming.

  I was drained from three bouts of sex.

  I was tired from shame and worry.

  I was livid at Pim’s imprisonment.

  I was too many things and not focused.

  Emotion should never be part of a fight.

  First rule of combat: the mind must be pure of all thoughts. The body vacant apart from the dance of violence.

  An uppercut shot stars into my vision, my jaw howling under vicious knuckles.

  And that was the last invitation I needed to lose myself.

  I bellowed in fury, hunkering down to become more than me, more than human, more dragon than animal, more monster than man.

  It’d been too long since I’d fought to maim. I’d grown too used to holding back, of locking down my true nature.

  The four Chinmoku didn’t care.

  They hit and kicked and struck.

  Each punishment I deserved as I was too slow to drop my pretences and meet them beast to beast. But as agony flared and panic swelled and Pim screamed my name, I sank the final distance and found the mindlessness of precision.

  I welcomed the cutthroat bloodthirstiness I always carried.

  I nursed the mania of winning.

  I threw myself head first into the crystal clarity of how to inflict the most damage.

  I turned off my conscience and worries...

  And went rogue.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ______________________________

  Pimlico

  I’D ALWAYS KNOWN Elder could fight.

  I’d sensed his power that first time in the white mansion. I’d witnessed it when he killed Darryl with one twist of his neck.

  But this...this wasn’t Elder.

  This was a demon dressed in a tux. There was no humanity left in his eyes as he delivered blow for blow. He kicked and pummelled. He broke bones and knocked out men without a second thought.

  But no matter how many times he bested the bastards determined to kill him, they never stopped striking.

  When one fell, a fresh one joined.

  When one screamed, another one rushed to deliver like for like to Elder.

  Elder was a machine. Inhuman. No matter how many swings he took, no matter how much blood gushed from his nose, he never made a sound.

  He was the ghost his family called him.

  He was the dragon inked on his chest.

  I fought the man holding me. I ignored the enemies all around.

  All I saw was Elder and the impeccable deadly dance he invoked.

  I was desperate to go to his aid, to help...somehow. But tight hands never let me go, the sharp muzzle of a gun against my ribs never waning.

  I daren’t cry out in case I distracted Elder. I enlisted my silence and forbade tears from tracking.

  The battle continued terribly uneven with Elder vanishing amongst a cloud of opponents only to reappear with a perfectly aimed upper-cut.

  Everyone focused on the fight in front of us. The crash of falling furniture and rip of bedding as they brought destruction to every inch of the suite.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the man I loved—the man I wanted to keep forever being hammered closer and closer toward death.

  There were so many of them and only one of him. No matter how magical Elder looked fighting for his life—eventually, he would tire. Eventually, he would lose. Eventually, he would be dead and then...oh, God.

  I couldn’t think about what would happen.

  My heart was already broken.

  My mind already fractured.

  I didn’t breathe as Elder threw a man across his quarters, ducking as another fighter leapt onto his back. A sob plaited with a curse as Elder stumbled beneath his weight, twisting and clawing, tearing the Chinmoku away then round-house kicking him in the chest.

  As the man soared to the floor, something caught my eye.

  It took everything in me to tear my attention from Elder, but my heart restarted in sick, disgusting hope as the doors to the deck slowly slid open, cracking apart silently, hardly noticeable thanks to the opaque blackness of the glass matching the darkness of night beyond.

  Oh, my God.

  Selix.

  Please, let it be Selix.

  At least two would be better than one—no matter the never-ceasing tidal wave of agony Elder endured. At least he might have a weapon to combat the glint of knives flying around the room.

  Only, Selix didn’t appear...two other men slipped into the room.

  Two men I’d never seen before.

  Both dark-haired and wearing black suits, they moved like shadows themselves. For a second, a scream percolated in my throat.

  Were they more Chinmoku? Yet more assholes who wa
nted to murder the man I loved?

  Elder had to know.

  He must be prepared to somehow become immortal because he couldn’t die—not like this. I couldn’t watch him be murdered.

  I can’t!

  My mouth parted; my breathing manic as the two men stuck to the perimeter of the room, cloaked in obscurity. My teeth clacked together as they pulled out matching guns and pointed them at the Chinmoku. Not pistols or anything small, their weapons were big and automatic and carnage inducing.

  They pointed them at the enemy and not my lover.

  The minuscule faith that they were here to help rather than hinder kept me quiet.

  I glanced at Elder.

  He stood in the throng, hitting wildly, his face cold and concentrating even as blood rivered over his temple and cheek. Bruises decorated his skin. His hair wild and torn.

  Even if these men were friends, he still needed to be warned.

  They pointed their guns at the Chinmoku, but Elder was in the centre of their target.

  He was in their line of fire—

  They’ll kill him, too.

  I opened my mouth to scream. “El—”

  Too late.

  A spray of bullets cut through the fight, ending it as suddenly as it had begun.

  My scream turned into a cower as the man holding me automatically ducked for cover. The man named Kunio skittered out of the path of death as his warriors all tumbled like plucked weeds.

  “Fucking vermin,” a French accent spat as another ricochet of bullets broke apart the group, sending men sprawling with multiple wounds.

  “No!” I wriggled and fought, my eyes strained on the blood bath in front of me.

  I can’t see him.

  I can’t see him!

  For a second, no one moved. The scent of gunpowder hung heavily in the room.

  Then, slowly, the pile of body parts moved. I sobbed in relief as Elder shoved off dead Chinmoku to stand on wobbly feet.

  Being in the centre of the throng had saved his life.

  I didn’t know if he was unscathed, but he was alive.

  He was alive, and they were not.

  My heart turned nasty with hate.

  How dare they try to hurt him?

  How dare they try to kill him?

  I wanted to grab a gun and finish what these two strangers had started.

  Elder breathed hard, one hand fisted and another with a finger bent the wrong way. He stood as straight as he could but one leg didn’t bear his weight, and his face was an artwork of violence.

  He glowered at the new interlopers, his black gaze menacing and assessing.

  He didn’t recognise them.

  He wasn’t glad to see them.

  Not that the two men with their guns cared. Ignoring him as if he were nothing more than a beetle about to be squashed, they trained their guns instead on the man holding me and the remaining Chinmoku beside us.

  The slender man of the two who’d reaped carnage licked his lips as if desperate for more bloodshed but willing to play human...for now. “Let her go.”

  My heart coiled and hissed. I fought harder to be released. My eyes shot past the men demanding my freedom and latched onto Elder.

  He gave me a pained look, a thousand apologies in one glance.

  The man holding me tightened his grip, shaking me to behave. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “None of your business,” the bulkier man of the two snarled. “You heard him; let her go.”

  Reluctantly, the Chinmoku looked at his boss and loosened his hold. I immediately darted out of reach.

  “You’ll pay for this,” Kunio snapped. “You don’t know—”

  Two more shots rang out, the bullets flying so close, the slipstream rippled over my skin.

  Two more thuds echoed through the floor as the last two Chinmoku toppled into silence. They fell like fallen trees, soundless and dead as old wood.

  It was over.

  Whoever these sinister angels were, they’d saved Elder’s life and returned me to him.

  I couldn’t stand to be apart any longer.

  Uncaring that the two men still held smoking guns, uncaring I didn’t have answers to who they were, I bolted to Elder, my gown fluttering in red and blue as I cringed and climbed corpses to reach him.

  “Pim...” Elder tripped toward me. “Fuck, Pim.”

  My toes slipped on warm blood. My stomach curdled at the stench of death, but as I stepped into Elder’s arms and pressed my forehead to his heart, I didn’t care about anything.

  He was alive.

  This was my fault. I’d distracted him. I’d turned his mind from survival to seduction.

  “Elder...I’m so sor—”

  His lips landed on my hair. “Don’t. Please, don’t. This is my fa—”

  Hands latched around my arms and waist, pulling me away, yanking me into the embrace of a lemon-sandalwood scent.

  “Wait!” My tears fell harder, hating to be torn from the one man I needed.

  The slender, dangerous killer who’d just committed countless murders in a fight that wasn’t his held me as if I weighed nothing. He growled at Elder. “Don’t fucking touch her.” Backing away, he trained his gun’s muzzle on him.

  “Don’t!” I scratched at my captor’s arm. “Don’t shoot.”

  “Stop.” Elder clambered over bodies, baring his teeth as he stalked us. He raised his hands in surrender even as one arm looked suspiciously broken. “Don’t hurt her. She’s mine.”

  My new captor chuckled with a blackness I’d only heard in my nightmares. “Not anymore.”

  “Wait!” I squirmed in his hold, unable to fully face him with the grip he had on my body. This damn dress gave way too much fabric to be used as a leash. “He’s my friend. He’s—”

  Friend was woefully unjust.

  Lover was woefully unfair.

  He’s my reason for living...purpose of existing...

  The man didn’t give me time to sort out my scattered thoughts. Moving backward, he kept his gun high and me tucked tight. “As entertaining as this has been, we’re leaving now.” French accent thickened English vowels, making my ears twitch. Wasn’t French supposed to be the language of love? What the hell were these men doing here and what did they want?

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” I fought again only for the man to drag me close and breathe in my ear. “We’re taking you somewhere safe. Don’t fear us.”

  His concern shocked me stupid, long enough for him to drag me toward the exit and further from Elder.

  “No, wait! I am safe. I’m with him.” I pointed at Elder. “El...please. Tell them.”

  Elder stepped forward, his body bleeding and his limp unable to be disguised. “Take your hands off her. I won’t tell you again. We’re together. She’s mine, goddammit.”

  “Wrong.” The man holding me raised his gun.

  “No!” I threw myself into him, knocking him off balance, sending the splatter of bullets into the cupboard holding Elder’s cello. The bulkier man with his dark suit and even darker soul pointed his gun at Elder. “Don’t fucking move.”

  With strength that squeezed the life out of me, the French man plucked me into his arms, swung his gun strap over his elbow, and carted me from Elder’s suite.

  I looked over his shoulder as he jogged onto the deck.

  I kicked. I screamed. I punched. I didn’t care anymore. “No. Stop. I don’t want to go! You’ve got it all wrong!”

  Who the hell were these men? Why had they helped stop the Chinmoku and then kidnapped me?

  I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to understand. I wanted all this to end and for Elder and me to do exactly what we’d planned—curl up in bed side by side and find peace in dreams together.

  I wanted to be safe.

  I wanted this to be a mistake.

  “Wait!” Elder gave chase. Tripping with injury, holding his side as he ambled into a run, he skidded to a halt as he approached the man holding me.

>   The guy’s arm tightened, bruising my ribcage as he backed toward the railing where part of the banister where Elder had swum and a ladder existed to the water below was raised.

  Out the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a speedboat bobbing beside the Phantom. White sleek lines with wooden embellishments with a beautiful sparrow painted in full flight on the bonnet.

  Elder gasped, his face manic, his fingers slippery with blood as he held the brass balustrade. Blood darkened his tux to glisten a sick maroon. “Stop. I love her. You’re making a huge fucking mistake.”

  The French man chuckled harshly. “I’m not the one who’s making a mistake. You did that the moment you thought you could buy women for pleasure.” He muttered something in French followed by a growled, “Too fucking bad you don’t know the meaning of love.” He raised his gun, wedging me between the banister and his hard body. “You’re all the same. Filth.”

  Tears spilled down my cheeks as Elder glanced at me with horror in his eyes. “I don’t know who you are, but you’ve got it wrong. She loves me back. We’re—”

  “I’ve had enough of this bullshit.” With a squeeze of his trigger, the man holding me shot the man holding my heart.

  “No!” My scream, my wail, my screech tore apart the night sky, punctured the moon, and sent seagulls flying into the stars.

  The loud boom of a bullet soared from gun to Elder, shoving him backward, slugging him hard, spinning him up and over the railing and down, down, down.

  He fell overboard.

  I screamed as a wet splash gobbled him up, the sea claiming a victim like the kraken with its next meal.

  One second, Elder was alive...here.

  The next, he was gone....fallen.

  It took a heartbeat to understand what had happened.

  It took another for the sheer pulverising agony to crack me wide.

  It took another to gather up enough air to scream.

  And scream.

  And scream.

  “No!”

  No, no, no.

  “No!”

  I fought.

  My God, how I fought.

  I hated them.

  I loathed them.

  I would kill them.

  Kill, kill, kill them.

  He had to be alive.