And Sisi doesn't stand a chance.
One eye perpetually fixed on Sisi, I take a step forward towards my own opponents. Both are holding battle axes, and as they look at me a smirk appears on their lips.
Ah, the taste of war.
It's something I'm intimately familiar with, as I'd had a hard time adjusting to the real world after I'd returned home. Every interaction I'd had with someone would start with the thought of killing them, this thirst for blood so deep within me it had taken me years to learn how to subdue.
And I know exactly how they feel. There's excitement in war, in fight, in the taste of the kill. There's an intoxicating high that comes only when you have power over death, and for more than half my life I'd been a slave to it. To this beast inside of me that's never satisfied for anything less than destruction—total annihilation.
They move forward, their smiles widening, and in their arrogant minds they can already taste victory.
Unluckily for them, they were sent after the wrong person. Now the question is rather simple. Weapons or no weapons. But as they charge forward, I don't get to make that decision. They make it for me.
My lip curling upwards, I just duck and dodge, avoiding every strike of their axes, one eye still on Sisi.
One kunai in each hand, she's holding tightly on to the hilt as she parries the strikes of the other girl's chain.
The air whooshes past my face as the blade of the axe glides one inch away from my skin.
Realizing I'd let them have their easy fun, I decide to end the game. My hands shoot out, both wrapping around the shaft of their axes just as they swing them towards me.
Oh, they're strong.
But not as strong as I am.
One foot forward, I push against them, letting my hand become slack for one moment as bait before holding tightly and wrenching the axes from their hands.
The force of my push sends them backwards, and for a moment they look disoriented as they realize their weapon is missing from their hands.
There's something odd about their reactions.
Besides the dead eyes, since been there, done that, there's something else, their focus a little off.
And as they continue to charge me, using their fists now, I immediately note what's wrong.
Robotic.
It's like their entire purpose is to end me, but without the conscious action behind it.
Fuck!
It seems Miles may have changed his plans. Certainly for them to reach this age in the experiment, they would have had to be almost as strong as me. For them to still live...
I duck again, spreading my arms out and gathering momentum before letting them come at me full force, bending my knees and falling to the ground just as I strike, each axe blade heading for their guts.
Their grunts of pain are the only thing I hear as the axe cuts into them, opening them up for a river of blood and organs as I continue to dig the blade inside, making sure the damage is debilitating and permanent.
When there's a gaping hole inside, I just give them another shove, the blade hitting the back of the spine in what I can only call a lovely melody.
Ah, the symphony of death.
They fall to the ground, their moans of pain quickly forgotten as I turn my full attention to Sisi.
She's breathing hard, but she's still holding her own against the girl. One wrong move, though, and she lands on her back, the chain ready to strike at her.
I move faster than I've moved in my entire life, crouching in front of her and bearing the entire brunt of the chain as it makes contact with my back in a deafening sound. It's the only thing that makes me aware I've been hit, since there's absolutely no pain.
Sisi's eyes widen as they look at me, but I'm not done.
I turn ever so slightly, my ears perking up as I listen to the girl wielding the weapon. The air swirls around me as she takes the chain back, pulling it towards her before sending it flying towards me once more.
This time, attuned to the situation, I raise my hand, moving to the left and catching the chain just as it's about to hit me. I grip the end of the metal tightly, yanking it and the girl towards me.
She's off balance as she falls forward, and not quick enough as I rip the chain from her hands, throwing it aside. My hand on her throat, I only get one glimpse of clouded eyes as I apply a little pressure, her neck snapping, her head bending to the side.
Throwing her body to the side, I turn to Sisi, helping her to her feet.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing you in action," she breathes out, her chest rising and falling, her breasts emphasized by the tightness of her suit.
Her palms come resting on my chest as she feels me up, her touch igniting my already adrenaline fueled body.
"What are your muscles made of? Pure iron?" she asks, her pupils engulfing her irises, and I realize I might not be the only one who thinks the two f's go together. Not when she raises herself on her tiptoes, her tongue out as she licks my cheek.
"Hmm," she purrs softly, her warm breath touching my skin in a sweet caress, "even your sweat turns me on," she continues, her fingers trailing up until she's tracing the outline of my neck tattoo.
Then, before I can even react, she's off me, her gaze behind me.
"Careful," she warns, and I swiftly turn around, ready to deal with whatever failed experiment Miles' decided to send my way.
But I only get to take one step towards the newcomer before a bullet lodges itself in his forehead and he simply drops dead to the ground.
"You couldn't wait for us, could you?' I hear Bianca's voice, and I look back to see her strut into the room, her husband on her trail joined by Marcello who has a grim expression on his face.
"Really, Vlad? You could have gotten Sisi killed," he all but yells at me, his features drawn up in anger.
"Really, 'cello, that little trust you have in me?" I drawl, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him.
"I'm fine, Marcello." Sisi turns to him, and she's rolling her eyes at him.
Fuck, how I love this woman.
I don't give in and grab her for a high five, knowing that if grumpy Marcello's made an appearance it's not long before growly Marcello will follow suit. And I know that then I won't hear the end of it.
"I told you I've been training with him. I'm not helpless." She pushes her chin up, standing up to him defiantly.
"These people are trained killers, Sisi. It doesn't matter how much training you have. And you're a girl too," he continues, and I almost groan, knowing he just dug himself a grave.
"What?" Sisi blinks as the words set in. "I'm a girl," she speaks slowly. "So that means I can't fight? That I can't defend myself?" She places her arms over her chest and I know we're in serious territory.
For someone like Sisi, who enjoys having control over her own life above all, being reminded that her gender might hold her back is akin to the worst insult.
Thing is, she might be a girl, but she's a damn kick ass girl and anyone should feel fucking lucky to have her by their side.
Knowing how heated she must be, I join her, draping an arm over her shoulder.
"Aren't you the same person who told us that our gender shouldn't hold us back?" she narrows her eyes at Marcello.
"Yes, but it's not the same," he replies. "You can choose whatever profession you want, but that doesn't mean you should dive head first in front of danger. And this," he waves at the bodies on the ground, "is even worse than normal danger."
"'cello, calm down. As long as Sisi's with me there's nothing to worry about. Besides," I say as I look down into her gorgeous face, "she can kick ass," I praise her and I'm rewarded with a radiant smile.
"You?" He all but yells. Again. "You're the most unstable man I've ever encountered, Vlad. Yeah sure, you're guarding her from danger because you're the worst danger," he mutters, annoyed.
"Are we doing this again?" I raise an eyebrow. "I told you Sisi is in good hands. I'd never willingly let anything happen to
her."
"What about unwillingly? Everyone here knows about your episodes. It's not a secret that you're not normal. Who's to say that instead of protecting her, next time you'll kill her yourself?"
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.
But I can't control my own body's reaction as I leave Sisi's side, and in two seconds I have Marcello by the throat, backing him into the wall.
"What are you insinuating, bro-in-law?" I can barely contain the raw anger radiating from me. It's in every pore as it seeks to be let out.
"This!" he looks at me in the eye, not even blinking as I lift his entire body's mass off the floor, my fingers tightening around his pulse. "This is exactly what I mean. You're unpredictable."
I grit my teeth and instead of proving him that I am indeed that dangerous, I let him go, fighting against myself and trying to regulate my breaths.
As if through a haze, I feel Sisi's small hand reach for mine, cradling it to her chest as she looks worriedly at me.
"He's doing better, Marcello," she says loudly, her eyes only on me. "He's been working on himself and he's doing much better. He hasn't had an episode since New Orleans, and I'm proud of him."
Fuck, but is there any way I could love this woman more? In her eyes, I see everything I've been craving my entire life.
Love. Tenderness. Acceptance.
She knows my deepest secrets, and she's never once turned away from me. Not only that, but she's publicly stood up for me, time and time again, even against her family.
I don't think there's any universe in which I wouldn't adore her.
"Sisi..." Marcello starts, but one sharp look from Sisi is all it takes to promptly shut him up.
"You don't understand, do you?" she asks, her voice grave. "There's nothing you could tell me about him that would make me love him any less. I know who he is and what he's done. I know everything. And I'm still here." She takes a deep breath, and I can tell she's trying very hard to keep her temper in check.
"All my life I've been told how to be, and how not to be. Yet no one's ever asked me what I want. No one but him," she points her finger at me. "If I told him I wanted to fight, he taught me how to fight. If I told him I wanted a tattoo, he gave me a tattoo. If I told him I wanted to kill someone, he gave me the opportunity to do so. He never once doubted me, never once told me I shouldn't do something because I am a girl."
She's breathing hard, her fists clenched by her side as she looks up at Marcello, unflinching at his harsh gaze.
"You may disagree about our relationship, but to me, he's the only one who's given me wings to soar instead of dragging me down and chaining me to the ground. And this, my brother, is the last time we're going to have this discussion." She narrows her eyes at Marcello, before doing something that completely floors me. Taking a step forward, she lifts her fist, banging it against her chest. "He. Is. Mine," she says, emphasizing every word. "The end."
She twirls around, not even waiting for Marcello's reply, and raises an eyebrow at Bianca and Adrian, who've been silently watching the whole thing.
"Don't look at me," B shrugs, "I like you. And I think you're good for him," she motions towards me. "Besides," she continues, "it takes a whole different type of person to deal with his surly ass, so for that alone you have my respect."
"I'm neutral," Adrian is quick to point out and I give him an appreciative nod. At least he knows when to shut up.
"Good," I open my arms, a wide smile on my face since I'm now fully in control of myself. "Now we can leave the family drama behind and go kill some bad guys?"
Sisi twines her arm through mine as we go first, ignoring the groans behind us.
Leaving the dead bodies behind, we continue down another small corridor that finally gives way to a wide tunnel.
"So this is where the action is." I add drily as I note cages on each side of the tunnel.
Hell, the underground compound seems to take up the entire surface of the island.
The first few cages are empty, but as we advance, we start seeing young children as well as teenagers on both sides.
"Fuck," Marcello curses out when he sees the extent of Miles' depravity.
Bianca too, for all her emotionless demeanor, seems shaken up when she sees the condition they are all held in.
Dirty clothes, dirty, festering wounds, the smell of rotting flesh is ripe in the air.
"What the fuck," Adrian's voice rings out when we stop by one cage where a little boy is sitting on the floor, face down, flies gathered over the entire surface of his body. The smell coming from him confirms that he's been dead a while, and his cell mate, another boy his age, has had to withstand this all along.
Even worse, as I look closer at the boy huddled at the other end of the cell, I realize he's not far behind.
There's a gaping hole in his stomach leaking yellow and green puss, his mouth bruised, his entire body almost purple.
He sees us stop next to his cage, but he doesn't react—he can't react. Only his eyes move around and indicate that he's still alive.
"Lord," Sisi whispers, her hand tightening on my arm, "this is even worse than upstairs."
I grunt, my lips pursed. Somehow, I doubt this is going to be the worst we'll see in here.
In true fashion, the images only get grimmer as we move on, and considering the size of the enclosure, we'll have plenty to see.
Raising a finger to my comm, I give Enzo a quick rundown of what to expect here, and to make sure he keeps some of the doctors from the hospital to take care of whoever will survive from here. After letting me know he'll do his best to bring people down here to take the children, I close the connection.
"These are the failures," I say, cringing at my own words.
But the more I look at their dilapidated cages, the rotting flesh and the infected wounds, the more my mind seems to be pushing something at me. Like a memory of sorts, it's there, yet I can't fully grasp it.
"Are you ok?" Sisi asks, her tone worried as she looks up at me. My hand on my temple, I squeeze my eyes shut and give her a firm nod.
"Must be bringing back memories." I mutter, even though nothing I'd remembered so far had been this dire.
Sure, Vanya and I had been living in a tiny mold infested room, but it hadn't been this bad.
She nods slowly, even though her eyes tell me she doesn't fully believe me.
"This must be the place they are sent to die," I change the subject, pointing to another cage housing yet another dead person.
But the more we advance, the more putrid the stench becomes.
Everyone brings their sleeves to their nose, unable to withstand the fumes.
We're about halfway through the tunnel, and at this point all the cells are filled with dead people.
"Fucking hell," Bianca curses, using her hand to swat some flies aside.
But it's not just flies.
Rats, maggots and other insects are all strewn around the area, the ground teeming with them as they chase their next meal.
Even I'm becoming disgusted by what I'm seeing—and I don't remember the last time I got disgusted. Especially as the little bugs are crawling on the floor, scattering away any time we make a step forward.
Unable to help myself, I grab Sisi and I make her get on my back. I don't want her anywhere near that.
"You shouldn't have come, Bianca," I hear Marcello tell her as she's heaving by the side. "It can't be good for your pregnancy," he continues as Adrian pats her back, trying to help her.
"I'm fine," she whizzes, "I don't think Diana likes dead people smell," she jokes as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I don't think anyone does." I add drily as Adrian takes her in his arms too, cradling her to his chest.
"This is an infestation. I can't believe this," Marcello shakes his head as he steps on a few bugs, the sound of their carcasses snapping reverberating in the air.
"But why would they keep them here? Some of them are long dead," Adrian adds, point
ing to one cell where a body's half eaten by the various insects and scavengers.
"Because it's a punishment," I answer.
"A punishment? For whom? They're already dead!" he exclaims.
"For the ones who are still alive." I point to a few cells that are cleaner, where there are no traces of corpses. "It must be another brainwashing trick. Imagine spending even an hour in this place, surrounded by death and things that consume death."
"Damn," Bianca's features draw up in disgust. "This is another level of fucked up."
"It is," I agree. "And it's not even the worst." I say and I feel Sisi's arms tightening around my neck.
"I'm sorry," she whispers in my ear, her voice only for me to hear. "This can't be easy for you."
"Don't worry about me, hell girl. We're one step closer to Miles, and that's all that matters."
The tunnel finally ends, and it's like we can finally take a deep breath of not so rotten air.
"What the fuck," Bianca curses as she breathes out, her chest rising and falling rapidly, "I've never been a fan of putrefied flesh," she adds drily, her lips curled in disgust. "That is simply too much."
"It's smart, though," Sisi says as I put her down to her feet. "Another type of behavioral therapy. Especially for a child, that would be sure to traumatize them."
"Exactly," I agree. "It's a form of control. Deep down, on a psychological level, because you're just scared into submission, but also because it simply desensitizes you. You saw those people's blank gazes."
"And I thought I'd seen the worst there is to see of humanity," Marcello mutters, rubbing his eyes. "This might just trump it all."
"How big is this underground compound? We've already been walking for what feels like forever." Bianca complains, one hand on her stomach as she coos some shit to her baby.
Gotta say, I never thought I'd see Bianca as a mother. And now she's pregnant? I'm surprised Adrian let her come, but then again, it's Bianca we're talking about. She would have gotten her way whether he wanted or not.
Still, I note the way his eyes never stray from her, always ready to intervene if necessary. Not unlike my situation with Sisi, he lets Bianca do what she wants while being ready to protect her at any moment.
Morally Ambiguous: A Dark Mafia Romance (Morally Questionable Book 4) Page 71
