Deviants Read online

  I tried to piece together what the fuck he could be doing, but I couldn’t determine what his end goal was. It was becoming increasingly obvious Romero had never truly let me in.

  Because he doesn’t trust you, an inner voice chided. I couldn’t even be pissed about it because I didn’t exactly trust him, either.

  Breaking my hand free of Tito’s, I cautiously moved down the embankment so I could get a little closer.

  “Cali,” he hissed in warning, following me anyway.

  Romero stepped fully behind the man and gestured down to the bleeding leviathan cross he had just carved. From the infinity symbol that made up the bottom of the uneven bars that sat above it, he’d engraved the design perfectly.

  I stopped walking, shooting Tito an annoyed glare when he grabbed my hand again.

  As people began to cheer, I looked back to see the man and woman with the ropes around their necks being stripped of their clothing by a few robed volunteers.

  As soon as they were fully nude, Cobra and Grimm, both began lifting them into the air. Romero forced the man in front of him to look down, and started speaking again.

  “Disloyalty will not be tolerated.” He placed the edge of his blade on the back of the man’s neck, and then looked up when the bodies now fully lifted, beginning to sway.

  The pair struggled for air as the nooses compressed around their tracheas, squeezing their carotid arteries and blocking the oxygen from their brains. They fought hard, writhing and kicking out against the weight of their own bodies being entirely supported by the neck and jaw.

  Two robed men stepped forward on either side to help Grimm and Cobra keep them suspended; everyone else continued to chant.

  Romero watched with an inexpressive look on his face, keeping one hand on the back of the man’s neck still kneeling at his feet. I knew he was impressed by the hangings because I was impressed my damn self.

  Their deaths were anything but quick. They both suffered through a painfully slow process of strangulation.

  The pressure from the blocked oxygen continuously mounting with nowhere to go caused both of their capillaries to burst, making them break out with red and purple splotches as the skin bled from underneath.

  It took approximately ten minutes for their hearts, brains, or lungs to decide enough was enough and give up. They became nothing but limp scarecrows with fixed, bulging eyes.

  Romero’s voice ensnared my attention again, and this time I heard him crystal clear.

  “You’re either with me, or against me.” He shoved his knife clean through the back of the man’s neck with one fluid motion, severing his spine. His coal black eyes flashed to mine, and I swore he knew I’d been watching all along, making me wonder if his last words were solely meant for my ears because he’d said them to me before.

  His followers began to chant their earlier words louder now, Ava Satanas, over and over again, growing higher in volume with each repetitive cycle until it seemed to echo through the ruined city.

  Tito was seconds away from having a meltdown, and I was frozen in place.

  The power Romero had over me with just a single gaze was daunting. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and everything around him faded away.

  It was an overwhelming déjà vu to get lost in him like this again, a stark reminder of the magnetic, indefinable bond that was between us, like a flicker of a flame in the dark, one that had been lit so I could find my way back home—because home had become wherever he was.

  I knew it wasn’t one-sided. The asshole looked like he was smirking at me. I wanted to go to him; I would have gone to him, but he turned away again and the ashen little pieces of my brain-dead heart followed right behind him.

  He turned his back on me so he could talk to the brunette Arlen claimed was her sister.

  When she laid her hand on his shoulder, I promised then and there I would remove every single one of her fucking fingers.

  The atmosphere shifted after Grimm and Cobra let both bodies carelessly drop to the ground. As soon as they cracked against the asphalt, a large flag unraveled from the old stoplight and I found myself staring at a Sigil of Baphomet, the official symbol of Satan. The Hebrew characters running counterclockwise around the ring framing the goat head had been made to spell out Romero’s name.

  If I hadn’t already known the man I was enamored with was the king of the Savages—a satanic cult masquerading as a gang—I sure as fuck would have just been made aware.

  One prominent question still took precedence over all the others. What the hell was he planning? So lost was I in my tumultuous thoughts that I missed the two people in masks who had broken from the crowd and were charging right for us. Tito didn’t.

  “We need to go!” He jerked me backward so hard my arm almost popped out of its socket.

  “That hurt, you dick!” I stumbled, catching myself whilst trying to pull away from him.

  Seemingly not satisfied with my reaction, he picked me up despite all my protests, no doubt garnering the full attention of the crowd, and booked it back into the woods.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I wasn’t a huge fan of guns. They curdled creativity and ended people too quick. I liked taking my time when I killed, savoring the affliction of pain, but I wasn’t in the mood to play right then, so I pressed the barrel to her palm and pulled the trigger, burning a perfect hole right through it.

  Cobra’s good arm slightly jerked from the kick-back. She screamed, and I sincerely hoped it was loud enough for Cali to hear.

  She’d been right in front of me and I turned away.

  I never did dumbass shit but I suppose there was a first time for everything—and a last.

  I knelt down and pressed the warm, now crimson barrel right to Beth’s trembling mouth, telling her to shut the fuck up without needing to say a word.

  She had this idea in her head that she would be the next Tiffany, and it was about time she realized it was never going to happen.

  “That looks like it hurts.” I nodded to her bloody palm. She made a low keening noise and continued to sob. “The next time you touch me, I’ll take off the whole fucking hand. You should thank me for being in a semi-good mood today and not killing you here and now.”

  I stood up and tucked the gun away. No one stopped to stare at what I was doing. Everybody continued milling around, getting ready for what came next and keeping watch over me like junkyard guard dogs high on meth.

  “I can cauterize this. Go handle shit,” Cobra said, already pulling Beth towards the fire where two of the corpses were burning.

  I wasn’t going to object. I needed some peace but that wasn’t likely to happen. The rage I constantly felt simmering beneath my surface was close to erupting.

  All because of one damn girl.

  “We’ll find her again,” Grimm said, falling into step beside me.

  I had no doubt she would be found. The issue was her being out in the woods with Tito of all fucking people. He was no better than his sister. It didn’t help that he knew I was the one who had indirectly killed her. How it eluded me that he was the one who could have sent Cali was another major fuck up on my end.

  The past was the past, though, and shit could be done to change it. Focusing on my present would secure my future. I needed to get everything back on track—and fast.

  That included getting my girl back before Tito opened his mouth and spilled his guts.

  Cali only knew partial truths of sordid secrets about everything and everyone.

  I’d weaved my wicked web so thoroughly for a reason. I could only imagine the thoughts already spinning around her psychotic little head.

  “I know,” I finally responded to Grimm, pausing to look down at the naked woman still lying on the ground. Her clit was engorged and discharge was pooling between her legs.

  I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. I didn’t believe in mercy so no one would be given if they fucked with me. It was the way I’d always done things.

  Now I was no longer maki
ng my moves behind a curtain of obscurity, word could spread as a reminder that the Badlands was my domain. The time had come to restore some order and get rid of all the motherfuckers who mistakenly thought I liked to share.

  “Toss her in the flames, too,” I commanded the man closest to me before walking off again.

  Grimm remained diligently beside me, keeping silent. He knew my mind had wandered straight back to Cali.

  Time apart hadn’t lessened whatever the fuck was between us. It made it stronger. That was a good thing; it solidified that it was real and not fleeting.

  Something was different about her. She was so close to breaking free of her chrysalis. I felt it. I saw it in her eyes, and it was about fucking time. There was a demonic beast that lived inside every single one of us. It lurked in the darkest parts of the human mind, locked away in fear of judgment or ostracization.

  I had only ever known how to let that motherfucker rein free. Cali’s was dormant, slowly coming alive, clawing and tearing away at the part of her mind trying to restrain it to a dark iron cell.

  When it fully emerged, my beautiful girl would desire only chaos and anarchy.

  I ignored Beth’s screams as Cobra held her hand in the fire, and I didn’t look back to see my acolytes loyally trailing after me.

  I had to get Cali’s ass back where she belonged.

  A king wasn’t shit without his queen.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  He grabbed my ass without permission, so I bit him.

  That got him to let me go and remove his straying hands—two birds, one stone. I closed my mouth around his shoulder and clamped down on the flesh, throwing in a growl for added effect.

  I was airborne the second he managed to dislodge me. I hit the ground with an “oomph,” losing the air in my lungs just as a scream echoed through the trees, sending a wave of black crows with it.

  “What is wrong with you?!” Tito yelled at me, covering the spot where my teeth marks glistened.

  “You should be asking yourself that question,” I retorted, pushing myself up off the ground. “I told you to put me down, not throw me.”

  “I’m not just talking about this, Cali. I’m talking about back there.” He jerked his head in the general direction we’d just come from, huffing and puffing, still trying to catch his breath. “You were turned on. I saw the way you looked at him. Your hand started to sweat, and your cheeks flushed.”

  With a heavy sigh, I brushed the dirt and sticky leaves from my shorts–forcing the naseau I kept getting at the most impromptu times away. “What would you like me to say to that?” I waited for a snarky response and only got stared down.

  “What did he do to you?” He slowly shook his head with a look of disappointment.

  He knocked down my barricaded walls and made me his in every sense of the word. It wasn’t like I hadn’t practically dared him to. After all, I’d demanded he fuck me the second he put his perfect body against mine. I definitely wouldn’t be joining any women’s equality movements in the future.

  “What didn’t he do to me?” I snickered. “Don’t you think we should be worrying about what just happened back there?” I pointed over his shoulder.

  “They were hailing Satan as your lover had three people killed, all while you were sending out huge fuck me signals,” he gritted out through his teeth.

  “Oh, okay. Thanks for clarifying.” I turned away and his jaw unhinged.

  Staring through the breaks in the treetops, I looked up at the rapidly darkening sky as if it could solve all my problems. Of course, that would never happen, because life was too busy trying to power-bomb me in the ass.

  What was Romero up to?

  The Hail Satan and flag with his name on it were self-explanatory. It was him hanging people from different factions that I didn’t understand.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was preparing for a hostile takeover or something equally as deadly—or this was a normal occurrence, and I was just too damn sheltered to know that.

  Whatever it was, I needed to hit a pause button on my brain until after I slept. Exhausted, I dropped my butt to the ground and my head to my hands. With my back cushioned against a tree and Tito finally shutting the hell up, I had a minute of blissful silence.

  It was the quickest minute in history.

  “You can’t stop now. We have to get going; those people are still in these woods trying to find us,” Tito rushed out. “You can’t go back to him, Cali. I know you’re aware of who he is. I refuse to believe you’re as fucked up as him.”

  The only words that rang with clarity through my foggy brain were you can’t. He didn’t ask me; he was telling me.

  Everyone was always telling me what I was going to do, never asking what I wanted to do. I lifted my head and tilted it to the side, studying the man who was now talking down to me and trying to make me feel ashamed for being the way I was.

  I never thought he’d judge me like this—screwing his enemy aside. It helped bring a few things into perspective. In the early beginning, I said I would do whatever the fuck I wanted to do, but that wasn’t true, was it?

  I chose to keep Tito’s best interests in mind, and Romero’s, too. I struggled to find a balance between fully giving in to a man who made me relish in sin without damning the other.

  I could be a truly fucked up person. Okay, I’ll own it, I was a fucked up person, but I never wanted my loyalty questioned.

  Look where that had gotten me. Look where the hell I was. I think it was time for me to be selfish and take control of my life.

  I was well acquainted with the demon that lived inside my head, and if I stopped waging war against her, that sick bitch would ensure I got everything I wanted, and everything I deserved.

  Tito stopped pacing when he finally realized I wasn’t paying attention to a word he was saying.

  “You’re not even listening.”

  I stood from the ground so fast he was still looking at the spot my ass had been when I stepped up to him and placed two fingers on his lips.

  “What––”

  “Shhh,” I hushed him. “You’re done talking. It’s my turn now.” Keeping my digits pressed to his mouth, I continued. “I don’t think you understand just how unlike you I am.

  I want you to forget that girl you thought you knew. She doesn’t exist. She never did. I’m not a good person. I’m as unholy as they come, and your opinion of me is not going to make me change who I am.” Dropping my hand, I took a step back, holding his gaze.

  He stared back at me, and I could see the silent questions burning in his eyes. When did I get so cold? What happened to my soul? That was proof enough for me that he had no idea who he’d let live under the same roof as him.

  The gullible fool tried to use me as the key player in a game he never had a chance of winning. Unfortunately for him, I was done being anyone’s pawn the day he found me. I refused to be a goddamn stepping stone.

  After giving him one last unimpressed look, I turned around and walked away. His hoarse voice called after me; I ignored it. I was so over judgmental, hypocritical assholes.

  Our world had gone mad long ago.

  We lived in a perpetual hell that was only going to get worse as time went on. Survival meant you were a hunter, or you were prey.

  There was no reason for me to keep playing a role anymore. Fuck my morality, and fuck what anyone thought about me.

  I would find a way to get to David, and when I did, I would rip his heart out of his goddamn chest so I could feel its final beat in my hands.

  I would lay his faux holy delegates out in shallow graves after I cut their throats and watched them choke on their own blood.

  I would bring the devil to his knees and put that silver tongue of his to work between my thighs. If I was meant to be a queen, then it was time to wear the fucking crown.

  CHAPTER SIX

  My first course of action was to find somewhere to sleep and something edible to fill my neglected stomach.


  I’d originally tried finding my way back to where Romero had been, but thanks to Tito’s zigzag pattern, I wasn’t sure which way that was exactly. The smoke was no longer visible in the sky, so I just walked and hoped for the best.

  As the sun got lower and darkness took over, the woodland creatures began to shift about and the temperature dropped.

  I got lucky after I made my way up a small embankment, using the moon as my nightlight.

  I paused, taking in the square structure in front of me. It was such a random place to build a house, but despite the fact it was smack dab in the middle of a small clearing of trees, the old home had managed to withstand the elements.

  There was a light on inside, the grass around the house was low, and the windows weren’t boarded up like the majority of the homes near Narcoose Bridge. It obviously wasn’t abandoned, but there weren’t any cars, and there was no sound or movement.

  I took a few steps forward and abruptly stopped. “I know you’ve been following me, so you can come out now.”

  At my words, Tito pushed his way through a leafy shrub and stared at me with his big brown eyes, looking like a wounded puppy.

  “You’ve always been shitty at being stealthy,” I pointed out, cutting off whatever he had opened his mouth to say.

  My calf muscles protested with every step I took up the porch stairs. The front door was wide open, so I took that as invitation enough. I strolled right in like I lived there.

  “Anybody home?” A heavy silence answered.

  The place wasn’t overly large. The word cozy came to mind. Aside from the kitchen also serving as a dining room with atrocious striped wallpaper, the rest of the house had mahogany wood paneled walls and dull hardwood flooring.

  I could sense that something was off here. Doing a slow sweep through both rooms, I approached the table and took in four place settings. There were half-eaten sandwiches that still looked relatively fresh, an empty glass on its side, and a dead fly floating in a pink kitten cup full of water.