In Fury Lies Mischief

by Amo Jones

  I still, my hand over Maya’s hair as she spills her guts out the back of the tent. “I’m not worried,” I murmur. “I would if it was Madison, because one, Madison isn’t pregnant and two, she’s crazy as fuck. Tillie isn’t exactly sane, but she runs in a different race.”

  Every time Dad and I were in New York, we’d meet up with Hector, Bishop’s old man. As I got older, I learned just how closely our worlds spin together.

  King snorts. “Whatever you tell yourself.”

  “Maya…” I squeeze her arm. I’ve been going back and forth with her since Delila’s death. To say that she hasn’t been handling it well is a complete fucking understatement. She’s handling it as bad as you could. I feel for her, and I care about her, but I’ve reached that point where I can’t do anything more to help her. “You can’t perform tonight.”

  She shoves me away and I clench my jaw. “I’m fine!” she snaps, swiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her pupils enlarged and dilated before she stumbles toward me, shoving me in my chest. “Why, Killian? Why her?”

  My eyes narrow. “Shut up about shit you don’t know anything about while you still have a fucking friend.” I’m not patient, but I feel like I have been very with her. I can tolerate anything said about me, but you go after Saskia and I’ll lose it.

  “Just why her?”

  “Why?” I ask as Kyrin’s hand comes to my arm in an attempt to stop the next words that he no doubt knew were about to come spewing out of my mouth. I breathe in and out. “Reasons that you couldn’t count.”

  Headlights beam up behind us, and I turn around to see my old man climbing out of a limo. He’s unbuttoning his suit when he comes closer to Maya.

  Her eyes fall on him and then come back to me in shock. She shakes her head. “No.”

  Everyone knows that my dad has connections in the medical field, being a surgeon himself in the real world. Obviously, Maya put two and two together. She was right.

  “Yes,” I answer, swiping at the makeup on my chin. “Sick of your shit, Maya. You need to get better, and when you come back, you better have a better attitude toward Saskia or this” —I gesture between her and I, just as my father’s guards are latching cuffs behind her back—“is over.”

  Her lip quivers. “I don’t want to go to rehab.”

  “Tough fucking shit.” I realize I’m being meaner than usual with her, and my heart twinges. I step closer and caress her cheek. “Get better. Not just for me and for Mayhem, but for Delila, Maya. She wouldn’t want this for you.”

  Her shoulders sag and her head drops between her shoulders. She knows I’m right.

  I watch as they lead her toward the limo with Val helping them open the door.

  Val’s somber expression meets mine as she nods her head with a sad smile. Thank you, she mouths, and I nod my head back.

  “Where the hell is Saskia!” Perse comes storming out of the curtains. “I have Lilith being a crazy bitch and Saskia nowhere to be seen.”

  My lips curl between my teeth. “How’s the new job?”

  Perse’s eyes snap to mine. “Let me just say I now have a new understanding of Delila. But seriously, Killian, Lilith is a little scary.”

  “You don’t say…” Kyrin grins from beneath his makeup.

  I raise an eyebrow. “How the fuck would you know?”

  Kyrin holds my stare. “Because all the crazy ones usually are.”

  I go back to Perse. “She disappeared with Tillie. I’ll call her.” Just as I’m pulling out my phone, Bishop and Nate come around the corner with Bran and Eli hot on their tail.

  “Let me just say, I think we’re fucked with our women…” Nate chuckles, pulling me in for a shoulder tap.

  I greet them all one by one. The situation between all of us is a difficult one no matter how you look at it, but let’s just say that the time Kyrin spent in the cabin had a lot to do with Brantley’s father. Apparently, Bishop’s girl off-ed him anyway, and I can’t say I’m surprised. The man was fucking evil. The type of shit he put Brantley through, though, was another level below Hell.

  I nod my head at Bishop. “You good?” Bishop is the leader of The Elite Kings, and he carries a lot of what they do on his shoulders, but I’ve never seen him the way he looks right now.

  He shrugs. “Am I ever?”

  I watch as he slowly releases my stare and pulls out his phone. Poor fuck. I don’t know what’s happening with him and Madison Montgomery, but it must be something serious. Their world is about as messed up as ours, which is exactly why we’re allies.

  “Where’d they go?” I ask, looking around at all of them.

  Eli shrugs. “Who knows, but can I just say that if it doesn’t work out with you and her, I’ll gladly have her.”

  “Fuck off, Eli.” I chuckle, shaking my head.

  “Fine, I’ll settle as her stepson. Wanna adopt me?”

  “Are you still fucking talking?” Tillie interrupts us, walking around the corner with a pale faced Saskia. Something was wrong, and it had every single killer instinct inside of me on high alert.

  “You look good, Tillz. Nice and pregnant.” I grin at her.

  She smirks at me, her eyes darkening. “Mmmhmm. Okay, Trickster. Settle down.”

  Nate pulls her under his arm.

  My eyes come back to Saskia.

  She clears her throat. “Can you guys give us a minute?”

  They all spill out, the Kings probably going into the tent to their seats.

  “You okay?” I ask, walking toward her closely. I feel like shit that I haven’t checked up on her more lately, especially after New Orleans, but I’d been trying to organize Maya into the best rehab clinic in NYC. There was a reason why we came here first and not somewhere else.

  She licks her lips and then brings her eyes up to mine. I can sense her fear and I growl, reaching for her hand and pulling her into my chest. “What is it?”

  The next words that leave her mouth put a stop to my breathing. “I took a pregnancy test.”

  I falter in my steps, my eyes closing. “And?”

  “Killian, you can stop squeezing me. I’m not pregnant.”

  I let out a deep breath, sagging forward. “Jesus fuck.”

  “But it got me thinking…” she whispers, breathing out between her lips and bringing her eyes to mine. She smiles softly. “It had me thinking that one day, that test is going to be positive, and there’s no one on this earth who I’d ever want to share that experience with but you.”

  My chest inflates and I can’t fight the full cheesy smile that comes on my face. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her in closer, kissing her on the lips. “Our kids would be pretty fucking cute.”

  She giggles against my lips. “Little villain babies with black hearts?”

  “Hell naw.” I smirk, biting down on her lip and sucking it into my mouth. “They have better parents.”

  “Oh so you believe in nurture not nature?” She smiles. “Hmmmm.”

  After her giggling dies out, she sighs, resting her head against my shoulder before bringing her eyes to mine. “I don’t want to come off as greedy with you because I know that Maya still needs you, but I love you, Killian, and I forgive you. I think I forgave you a long time ago. It was me who needed to forgive me for forgiving you so easily.”

  My hands wrap around the backs of her thighs and I carry her toward where the cage is, pressing her against it and pinning her there with my hips. “I love you.”

  She smiles and then runs her tongue up the side of my cheek. “I love you, too.”

  So I know that some may be asking… how? How could two people who wanted to destroy one another at one point in their lives come together and be content. Well, they don’t. That’s the short answer. Killian and I will never be placid. It’s not who we are and we’re okay with that. Love is a destination that not many have the opportunity to find. Everyone’s road is paved differently, and we all have dissimilar paths that lead off of it. Every choice you make will be t
he deciding factor on whether you reach your destination or not. So although mine and Killian’s path was rocky, had lots of hurdles, was slicked in the blood of people we knew and some we didn’t, throw in a lot of bad choices and events that were out of our control—ultimately, we both took that final turn together to our destination. I found out that I was the last Dragavei, and I don’t know what that will mean for our line if I end up marrying Killian. I guess we will have an Ashley Kournikova situation on our hands. I also found out what Delila was probably going to continue to expose right before someone shot her, and that was that if one family drops their family line, the Four Fathers would then need to choose someone from the outside to move in to take over that family name. They couldn’t be short a family as it would come off as a weakness. A weakness to who, I have no idea.

  Delila being a proud woman of Kiznitch couldn’t have that, which was why she went against The Four Fathers so much. Her death continues to hang around. Sometimes I swear I hear her yelling at us that we’re not training hard enough.

  I hear Killian’s bike rumble from the back of the tent as the rope swings around and around, as Niykee Heaton’s “Fire Starter” starts playing loudly in the background, my Dragavei necklace dangling from my neck.

  I smirk, looking up at his shadow beneath my lashes as the crowd roars with cheers…

  I sat in the darkest corner of the tent, like always, busting open a bag of popcorn. This show was different, and Delila was noticeably absent. I found that not so interesting, as her days on this earth were numbered. What I did find interesting was the new girl they had, standing in the center of the ring.

  I paused.

  I leaned forward, entranced by her sheer divergence. She’s not at all what I would have expected. Not that she doesn’t fit in with the rest of the beautiful faces in Midnight Mayhem, but more, because there’s something about her that is frightening. The way her eyes look into the crowd as if she’s not doing this to please anyone. She’s soulless.

  She’s a corpse.

  Her long blonde hair swings around as she dances out onto the stage, holding a mic to her mouth as she sings through the lyrics. The audience stops talking when they hear her sing, with good reason. Her voice is beautiful, but it doesn’t match her energy.

  She looks empty. Dark.

  She could be a problem…

  After the Demon and Angel show, the fire bender comes out with a dragon staff on fire and moves through her routine. She’s very pretty, I think. The kind of pretty that makes other girls instantly hateful. The kind of pretty that makes me hateful. She works the fire like a pro, and I toss some popcorn into my mouth, enjoying her selection of music and her dance moves. So talented.

  When I hear a bike start behind me, I watch as Killian and her share a stage. So intimate for people in Mayhem to share a stage with someone.

  Just like Dove and King.

  So… intimate.

  My time is limited. So very limited. I want so badly to run into the center of this stage and tear their whole world down, but for now…

  We wait…

  In Silence

  She Screams

  Midnight Mayhem: Book III coming soon.

  Kyrin, ?, and Lilith.

  I usually write out a strong, witty, (and slightly sassy), acknowledgment section, but I deleted it all and just want to keep this one simple.

  I’m thankful for everyone who has supported me over the years of my writing career.

  My family, my children, my friends. The ones who watch me in my everyday life and truly see the impact that pouring my heart and soul into my books does to me. And then call me crazy because like a junkie, after publishing the book, I’m diving right back into another one with fire burning in my eyes and the heat of my passion fueling my fingertips.

  The people I have met through the book world. I’ve met some genuine, incredible queens in this industry. Not only authors, but bloggers, readers, editors, designers. You all help construct an industry that truly makes it a blessing to be a part of. Chantal and Sarah, thank you for taking in my friendship and for giving me yours. Ellie and the team from My Brother’s Editor for being tolerable of my creative process. For putting up with my ‘no-deadlines’ way of writing and taking me on anyway. You get my craft and creativity—for that, I am always thankful.

  My readers. I will forever be grateful for ALL of you. Amongst many, many talented authors, you still pick up my books. I cannot begin to describe how much that means to me. Thank you! You are all my people.

  My Wolf Pack, thank you for being my tribe. I haven’t really revealed why I called my reader group Wolf Pack, but it’s because of the characteristics of wolves. Loyalty, fierceness, somewhat scary, but also fluffy and cute (HA!). Our pack is filled with some of the strongest and most resilient women that I know, and I’m so very proud to call you all my own.

  My bloggers, I can’t thank you all enough for taking time out of your busy schedule to read early copies and then review. I appreciate all that you do for not just my books, but for authors in general. You are appreciated. You are loved. You are important.

  To my Street Queens! The women who go above and beyond for me and the books I write. I appreciate all of your word, your kind words, and your support. I love you all very much and all of you mean so much to me. THANK YOU!

  My master blogger list! Thank you for being apart of my journey. For your support and loyalty. I love you all! SO very much. Thank you.

  My husband. It takes a special kind of man to be married to a writer. To be married to someone, who at times, locks herself in her office and doesn’t function until she finishes her book. A wife that might be moody, or dark, or maniacally happy depending on the current scene she’s writing because she’s so deep inside a world that she’s creating. A wife that stayed up all night writing an emotional scene, so she probably doesn’t have any emotions left to give him the next day. A wife who neglects a lot of the housework and duties at home to meet her deadline.

  My husband is amazing because he puts up with all of the above (and more), but still supports my career, comes home from work and cooks (despite this dedication), cleans, and makes sure the house is ready for the next day. He loves me even when I’m a blank canvas after being affected by something I’ve written. I’m an overly emotional person by nature, but when I write a book, I pour all of what I have into it. It’s intense. So, I need to thank my husband, because seriously…. Did you read all that?

  Thank you, husband. Love, your zombie wife.

  To myself. Because we should always acknowledge ourselves. Our strength. Our weakness. It’s all what makes us, us. So, I need to thank myself, because damn, I been through a lot, man, and I’m still here. Fighting.

  To you, the reader, who just read my rambling after saying I wasn’t going to ramble. May you find whatever you are searching for in life, but most of all, may you always feel peace. I can’t promise you’ll feel it through this book—in fact, you won’t. But deep down, may your strength be the anchor to your peace, so that when your troubles seem heavy, they won’t be as heavy as your peace.

  Midnight Mayhem

  In Peace Lies Havoc

  The Elite King’s Club

  The Silver Swan

  The Broken Puppet

  Tacet a Mortuis

  Malum: Part 1

  Malum: Part 2

  Razing Grace: Part 1

  Razing Grace: Part 2

  Perilous Love (Sinful Souls MC, #1)

  Intricate Love (Sinful Souls MC, Volume 2)

  Tainted Love (Sinful Souls MC, Volume 3)

  Crowned by Hate (Crowned, #1)

  One Hundred & Thirty-Six Scars (The Devil’s Own, #1)

  Hellraiser (The Devil’s Own, #2)

  The Devil’s Match (The Devil’s Own, #5)

  F*ucker

  Losing Traction (Westbeach, #1)

  Flip Trick

  Manik

  Lies Mischief