In the Beginning

by Marks, Teir

  Reaching down, he pulled his pants back up before grabbing the panties she had been wearing. He was going to give them back to her but remembered he’d ripped them. So, instead, he dropped them back to the floor. He leaned in and kissed her before opening his door.

  “We aren’t finished.” He informed her.

  Getting out of the car, he walked around and opened her door. He figured that Paul, his driver, was already inside with everyone else.

  Grae went through the security steps and led Maleiha in. His first stop was to the bathroom, to allow her to freshen up a bit.

  Once she was done, he led them to one of the back rooms where he knew his siblings would be with Zander.

  “About time,” Kylen spoke as they walked in. “We’ve been waiting for almost half an hour.”

  Grae shrugged at him. “So.” He then turned his attention to Zander, who was secured to a chair, his eyes still closed. “You can stop pretending.” He told the other man, and a slow smile broke out across his face as he opened his eyes.

  “Well, if you insist.”

  “Don’t act cute with me. I already want to kill you for touching my woman.” Grae told him as he looked over to Maleiha, who, for a reason unknown to him, didn’t want him to do that quite yet. So, he would listen to Zander at least before killing him.

  “But, you won’t,” Zander responded. “Besides, if it makes you feel any better, I’m more inclined to suck your dick than I am to eat her pussy.”

  “Knew it.” Grae heard Emery say while Kylen snorted.

  “You’re assuming I won’t kill you. You better get to talking, and even then, there’s no guarantee that I won’t.” Grae told him.

  “We shall see.” Zander retorted. “Now, where should I start?” He paused for a moment. “I know. Why don’t I start with why Pruitt wants to take everything you have and why he’s so obsessed with doing so.”

  15

  Psychotic has always been a word that Kylen associated with himself. After all, it wasn’t as if he didn’t know that he had more than a few screws loose. It was also a word he associated with his siblings, as well. While he liked to think that he held the gold medal for the most psychotic among his siblings, he knew, however, that he only held the silver. Though this was something he would not admit out loud.

  Crazy was a word he associated with a few of their men, Treece and Marco. While most of the people who worked for them, associated with them, did so out of respect, fear, or the money they could make. There were a few who did so because they were honestly crazy, though the latter of those he named did a damn good job hiding it.

  Kylen had almost wanted to list Pruitt in the same category as their men, Treece and Marco, but he knew that he couldn’t because Pruitt was not crazy. He was stupid. Plain and simple. That was the only explanation for it.

  While he knew that he should have been listening to whatever Zander was saying, he also knew it didn’t matter much. His siblings were listening diligently, and he knew they would recap everything later as they came up with a plan. But, of the little that he heard, he surmised and deduced that the entire reason Pruitt was fucking with them was that, to him, it seemed like fun. Stupid. Very fucking stupid.

  Yes, him being the person that he is, if he were going to mess with someone, then it would come down to him either being bored or because it seemed like fun to him. However, he fell into that first category — the psychopath.

  As he leaned against the wall, Sutton sitting in a chair beside him, he honestly didn’t want to be there. His siblings were capable enough to get the information that was needed. He simply wanted to take his Doll and take a page out of Grae’s book and have a little after crash party sex. Kylen knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t want to go. Not when they were getting information on the person who was principally responsible for getting her shot.

  So, he resigned himself to leaning against the wall and pretending to listen. Though he had lost interest in anything the other man said. Not to mention the man himself, when he learned that he was not going to get to watch his sister torture him.

  It was a shame really because watching Ry torture someone was almost his favorite thing to do. It ran a very close second to killing someone himself, which fell only second to him fucking Sutton.

  He really just wanted to go home. They had opted on not bringing Zander to their actual place of residence to torture him as they had several others. He could only assume that it was because they had nowhere to place him. Henry, though barely hanging on to life, was still in the basement. Kylen wouldn’t be surprised if he died in the next day or so. Brian was in the training room. Well, a closet housed inside the training room, but nonetheless there.

  Kylen had to give it to Henry. He was definitely a lot more resilient than he had initially thought the man would be. Standing up to the psychological torture that his brother was dishing out. However, he could tell that it was almost quite literally driving the man insane. It was fun to watch.

  Brian, on the other hand, for all his talk and bolstering the first couple of times he was tortured, was the reason they knew of the party being held that night. It was also the reason they knew that Doss would have information on the ring leader of this little game they had found themselves playing.

  They knew ahead of time that Doss had spoken to Pruitt though they didn’t know his name until the formerly mentioned man gave it to them. They’d simply gone in and acted as if they didn’t know. It was much of a silent dare. Daring Doss to lie to their faces. However, he had been smart enough to tell them the truth.

  Brian, while he was quick to sing like a canary, was too afraid to give them a name. At first, he couldn’t tell if it was because Pruitt had actually been that intimidating, or if Brian was simply a coward. It turned out to be the latter of the two.

  As he rubbed his chin, pretending to listen to whatever had just been said, Kylen made a mental note to do a little extracurricular work with Brian. He was sure he’d have him singing like Whitney Houston by the time he was done, and they would fill whatever holes Zander may have been leaving, with information.

  “Tell us again, why we should believe anything you say?” Kylen tuned in on Nyela asking.

  “As I told that pretty little thing over there,” Zander started, gesturing with his head to Maleiha. “I have an end goal.”

  “And why should we care anything about that?” Emery questioned.

  “Because maybe, in return, our blue-eyed snack here will let me…indulge in his gorgeous woman.”

  Kylen knew it was coming even before his brother’s fist connected with Zander’s face, and all he could do was smirk. He had to know that there was no way in hell that Grae would ever allow that, and yet, he’d said it anyway.

  “I thought sucking dick was your preferred hobby.” Kylen decided to throw out.

  Zander, whose lip was bleeding, spit onto the floor, before bringing his eyes to his and smirking.

  “I said I was more inclined too. I never said I despised pussy all together. For the right woman, I could make the exception. And well…” He trailed off, sliding his eyes to Leiha only to be punched again.

  This time, he began to laugh, and Kylen figured he might fall into the crazy category, and he may actually like the man if he were ever inclined to like a person, but he wasn’t. So, he wouldn’t.

  “Oh, come on,” Zander stated. “You could watch.” This time he was met with Grae’s fist to the stomach. “Okay, okay. You can join in as well. The more the…”

  His words were cut off by the cracking of cartilage, and Kylen found himself laughing. He enjoyed entertaining shows.

  “Continue.” He stated through his laughter. “I could watch this all night.”

  “Me too.” His sister threw in.

  Kylen prepared himself to get a bit more comfortable as he continued to spectate, but at that moment, the entire house went dark.

  Emery instinctively moved closer to Larkin as the entire house went black. Lark
in pressed herself into Emery’s side as she wrapped her arm around her waist. The whole room was quiet, and she knew she and her siblings were doing the same thing. Listening.

  There was no way that the power had gone out without it being helped along. Miles was good; he had programmed all of their security systems. So, there was no way this should have been happening unless someone had hacked into them, considering the same server controlled the lights. She made a mental note to talk to her brothers about Sutton helping him enhance these features.

  “It looks like chat time has come to an end.”

  No sooner than she heard Zander’s words was there a loud crash, and the house seemed to shake. Emery felt Larkin grip her shirt, and she began to rub her side to keep her calm.

  “Ry, take the women to the safe room and…”

  “No.” She heard Maleiha and Nyela state simultaneous cutting Ashton off.

  Her brother sighed. “Fine. Take the other three to the safe room, and don’t let anyone in.” Her brother was smart enough not to argue with the other two women.

  “Obviously, I’m not letting anyone past me.” She told him slightly offended that he felt the need to tell her that.

  She pulled out her phone, turning on the flashlight as the other two women made their way to her.

  “Grab on to Larkin, and don’t let go. We can’t risk using any light once we leave this room.” They did as she suggested, and she turned the light back off, leading them out of the room.

  She knew all of their properties like the back of her hand and could navigate through them with her eyes closed. It was something her father had made them do growing up, as well as being a training aid that Synn still made them all employ.

  Emery had never been a fan of it before really but was grateful for it now. The last thing she needed was to have to fumble around with a flashlight and possibly draw extra attention to them. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she could handle whatever came at her. It was merely that she would be worried about the other women’s safety. They could be used to force her hand if one of them were grabbed.

  They made it to the door of the safe room without incident, and Emery’s eyes had adjusted to the dark. It also helped that the moon was shining through the back window, pouring in a bit of light.

  Opening the door, she heard a soft scream from behind her, immediately followed by Larkin’s voice.

  “Sutton!” She exclaimed.

  In the time it took her to turn around, she saw her girlfriend, lean in and bite the arm of the man who had just grabbed Sutton. He hissed out and released her before backhanding Larkin.

  Emery saw red. She was on him faster than he could potentially blink. Usually, she would have savored beating his ass, but she knew Sutton’s scream could have possibly drawn the attention of others. So, she opted on kneeing him in the dick, causing him to double over; and without any hesitation, she snapped his neck.

  She made her way to Larkin and grabbed her face gently. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, he hit like a bitch.” She responded.

  Emery smirked, shaking her head before leaning in and kissing her. “Go inside and lock the door.”

  “I’m not leaving you out here alone.” Her girlfriend responded stubbornly.

  “I’ll be fine. Besides, I need you to look after Sutton. So, go and don’t argue with me.”

  “Fine.” She watched as Larkin grabbed both Sutton and Korrae’s hand. “It’ll be okay, Sutton. I’m sure Kylen’s crazy ass will come for you in no time. Ashton too.”

  Emery watched as they closed the door. A few seconds later, she heard the lock click into place. Leaning down, she pulled up her pant leg and grabbed the switchblade she had strapped to her ankle.

  As suspected, two more men rounded the corner as she flipped the knife out. Emery rolled her shoulders. It had been a little while since she actually got to play with someone that would be able to contribute to the party. She was buzzing with energy just thinking about it.

  It was a pity for them, though. She mused condescendingly to herself as she looked them over. They hadn’t even brought a gun to the knife fight, because even though there were two of them, they were severely outnumbered.

  They charged at her at the same time, and she decided to take her time with them. She blocked the first hit, opting to let the second one land as she cut the first man’s elbow. She flicked her wrist and stabbed the other in the side before, kicking him backward.

  She then turned her attention back to the first man. He threw a punch her way. Catching her on the left side of her face. She ducked under the next blow she saw coming and sliced him across the stomach. He screamed out in agony, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes as the second came at her again. It wasn’t like she had cut him deep enough for him to bleed out. Where would be the fun in losing one of her playmates so quickly?

  He swung at her, and she blocked it, ducking under the next blow that was coming her way. Emery sidestepped and sliced through one of his biceps. She spared a side glance towards her first playmate, but he seemed too occupied with the small, in her opinion, amount of blood that was seeping through his shirt.

  The small moment she split her attention caused her to get hit in the stomach. A stream of air left her as she grunted. It was the sound of the door behind her rattling, that had her shaking it off so fast. She turned and found the other man, trying to open the door to the room she had sent the other women into.

  Emery took a step towards him, intending to finish him off. However, that was the only step she was able to take before the second man grabbed her by the collar of her button-down and threw her to the ground — the knife she had been holding went sliding.

  He came at her, and she used her feet to kick him backward. Emery sprang up, catching him with a right before jabbing him with a left. He stumbled back, and she kicked him in the kneecap hard enough to crush it. He screamed out, and his companion turned towards her.

  She charged towards him, not worrying about the man. She knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with a crushed kneecap.

  He tried to swing at her, but she knew that he was probably weak from blood loss. As she looked at him, she realized that she had, in fact, cut him deeper than she had intended to.

  Emery pressed her fingers together, holding them straight as she attacked his abdomen exactly where she cut him — jamming her fingers in to the last knuckle. The man screamed out in pain as she smirked. She pulled her fingers from his abdomen just as fast as she had stuck them in.

  He was in so much pain that he didn’t even try to stop her when she reached up and snapped his neck. He had just hit the floor when she heard the other man groaning.

  Turning, she found him pulling himself across the floor. She followed where he was going with her eyes and saw that he was trying to make it to the knife that had slid out of her hand.

  Emery grabbed his leg and pulled him backward. When he turned over to kick at her, she used that opportunity to shatter his other knee. As he screamed out in pain, she made her way up to his head, placing her foot on his neck. She got up on that foot and put all her weight on it. The man gurgled, and then he fell silent. When he did, she heard more footsteps coming.

  Quickly making her way to the knife, she picked it up and instinctively turned and threw it. She watched as her brother leaned to the side to avoid it. Pulling it out of the wall, he turned back to her with a raised brow.

  “I see you were busy as well.” He stated, looking at the three men lying on the floor.

  “Where’s Zander?”

  “He got away,” Ashton responded.

  Emery shook her head. This whole thing was a setup. They had all thought as much, but she honestly hadn’t expected such an elaborate rescue, which meant that Zander was important to Pruitt and did indeed have information that the other man didn’t want them knowing.

  She watched as Ashton went over to the door and knocked on it. It was an odd rhythm, and she simply shook her head because he was
known for things like that. It was silent for a moment, and then the knob started to twist.

  “Don’t open that fucking door.” She heard Larkin state.

  She couldn’t help but smirk. Her princess was in survival mode.

  “It’s Ashton.” She then heard Korrae respond, right before the door opened. She watched as her brother pulled the taller woman to him.

  Larkin walked out a second later, holding Sutton’s hands. She leaned into Emery’s side, turning her attention to Korrae.

  “If it wasn’t him and we were taken, I was going to hurt you.” She told her.

  Korrae simply rolled her eyes.

  A second later, Kylen rounded the corner, and Sutton immediately went to him. Emery watched as she placed a tentative hand on his face, which was covered in blood.

  “It isn’t mine.” He told her, pulling her hand down and kissing it.

  “We need to go,” Ashton stated. “The others are waiting at the front.”

  “What are you going to do about the house?” Larkin inquired as they walked.

  “Whose name is this one in?” Emery questioned.

  “The dead man buried twelve feet under out back,” Kylen responded.

  Their older brother stopped to look at him. “You buried him in the backyard? What were you thinking?”

  “That it would be the last place someone looked, considering he’s under the pool we installed.”

  Emery shook her head. Not even she would have buried him in the back. Though putting him under the pool was smart. “We could burn it down.”

  “I’m assuming you’re talking about the house. That would draw too much attention.” Grae told her.

  “And the SUV sized hole in the side of it isn’t going to draw that much attention,” Nyela stated sarcastically.

  “Why couldn’t they have hit you?” Her younger brother questioned.

  “We’ll have it fixed. Let’s go.” Synn stated, stopping any argument before it started, and they all headed out of the hole in the side of the house. Only two of the cars were still intact, and they slid into those, heading back to their house.