Miscreants: Next Generation Read online

  There was a plethora of responses that circulated through my head, and I couldn’t voice any of them.

  “Is that all you came to say?” Takara questioned, her dark eyes throwing daggers at him.

  “He wants to see you. Thirty minutes by the pits.”

  “Why didn’t he tell her this himself?” Poet asked.

  “Like I said, he’s busy. Enjoy your meal, princess.” He stood up and shifted his gaze to Kara, a smirk tinging his lips.

  “It’s a shame about Tigger. If you want to come for once, my dick’s always available for a complimentary ride.”

  “That’s exactly why I won’t ever be going near it. Such open availability screams STD.”

  “The only thing that would be screaming is you.”

  She rolled her eyes at that, naturally.

  “Absolutely not.”

  He grinned and began to turn away. “When you change your mind, you know where my cabin is.”

  She flipped off his retreating back, shaking her head. “Why are the best-looking men such cocky shit heads?”

  “Because they know how damn fine they are,” Poet mused, staring after Amo. “I bet he’s more girth than length.”

  My mouth turned down at the corners. That was a visual to bleach from my brain.

  “Gross. Major cringe, Poe.”

  He waved me off. “You don’t get to have a valid opinion on this. You’re biased. You’d kill him if you could.”

  I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t think…

  He’d never done anything to me personally, aside from fuel and spread bullshit rumors about how I was being treated. My dislike for him was on par with his disregard for me.

  The majority of the female proselytes loved Amo almost as much as they did Samael. Some of the men, too. I wish I could say I didn’t get the allure, but that would be a lie. Well-built with soft grey eyes and a head of tapered dark brown hair, he was far from ugly, and his self-confidence was on another level. His ego was about as big as this lodging site.

  However, my judgement was biased, just like Poet had pointed out.

  His personality was one matter. The other was my lack of attraction due to him being so close to Samael. That right there made Amo automatically off limits. The two of them had become like brothers, and I wasn’t a fan of double dipping. Or homie-hopping.

  “Are you going to be okay?” Kara asked quietly, looking at me with concern.

  I didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. That’d be pointless. These were two of the rare few that understood the unorthodox relationship Samael and I had.

  “No, but the hurt is necessary.”

  “It doesn’t have to be,” Poet replied.

  I gave him a small smile. “It’s been hurting this long already. Why make it stop just to deepen the wound when I reopen it?”

  Neither of them had anything to say to that. They knew I was right. Of course, I didn’t want to be.

  There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t miss the boy who’d been my best friend. I couldn’t wrap my head around this new version of us, because I was still mourning the old one.

  I loathed what we’d become.

  The worst part about all of this, though? How good we’d gotten at breaking each other’s hearts when we’d promised to always protect them.

  We had become a ruinous concoction of animosity, secrets, and lies. A concoction that continued to ferment more and more as time went on. The cycle had to end.

  I wouldn’t ever be ready to let him go, but I knew I had to.

  Even if it meant destroying part of myself.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It took time to not only plan but also execute an elaborate escape from a certifiably bat-shit crazy man.

  Time we didn’t have.

  This was so risky it could be argued we’d never pull it off. But unless we wanted to wait even longer, there wasn’t any other option. Worst case scenario?

  We’d fail and be killed.

  I’d tried to talk Poe and Kara out of coming with me for this very reason, but all my objections fell on deaf ears.

  I should have expected as much. These two deviant souls kept me grounded on some of my worst days. We’d been close since first meeting one another. That was exactly what Samael had wanted: stand-ins for the only other friend I’d had and ultimately lost.

  He brought Kara back along with some other girls after a big run a few years ago. She had been in rough shape and pitifully reserved, but over time she got better.

  I couldn’t remember the exact time Poet showed up, but he’d become our teddy bear of sorts. He was also one of the few men Samael didn’t lose his shit over me being close with.

  They could never replace my Belladonna. One person’s shadow couldn’t fill the shape of someone else’s. I loved them, though. Their friendship was invaluable.

  “You’re sure he’s going on a run?” Poet asked for the sixth time.

  “She’s answered that more than twice now,” Takara replied before I could.

  “Focus, buddy. We’ve got an even smaller window than we thought we’d end up with.”

  “Right, sorry. Where do we go after we leave the woods?”

  “I remember there being a town outside of here. We’ll have to get through it.”

  “All right, I’ve got two supply bags stashed and ready to go. That won’t last us long. Whatever you want to take, make it light and preferably useful. I’ll do my best to gather more supplies, but on such short notice, don’t expect any miracles.”

  “He’s right. And we need to figure out how to get hold of the Savages A-S-A-P,” Kara said.

  I shook my head at her suggestion. “You don’t just ‘get hold’ of the Savages. We can’t go around inquiring about their location. That’s a quick way to die.”

  “Then what do you suggest we do?”

  “I can help with that,” an unknown voice cut in.

  We ignored it, as we did with most of the people locked inside the pens. They were all in there for some reason or another. They’d be traded like currency in exchange for something, or eventually killed. The reasons for that varying.

  Either way, they were irrelevant. Proselytes tended to stay away from here until it was time to remove one. That’s what made this area of the lodge site the best possible place to meet up and talk our plan through.

  I chewed my lower lip, trying to remember the layout of the Badlands. Approaching random factions wasn’t an option, and we couldn’t wander around with no destination in mind. That would be just as suicidal.

  It was bad enough none of us knew how extensive the Stag-Lazarus faction’s reach had become since being sequestered away.

  “Give me a bit more time to think, okay? I need to go meet Samael before he sends his firing squad to find me.”

  “Okay, but not much. We’ve already put this off twice. If this pans out, tomorrow is our chance to really make a break for it,” Kara pointed out.

  “You’re Blue’s daughter, right?”

  My reply to Takara died on my lips. We shared a look between the three of us and then turned our heads towards the pen closest to us. Now this person had my attention. I hadn’t heard Mom’s nickname in Satanas knows how long.

  A middle-aged guy with messy brown hair stood away from all the other people that had been shoved inside, watching us closely.

  He couldn’t have been here too long, because he was relatively clean and seemed to be sane.

  “How do you know that?” Poet shifted in front of me, protectively.

  I peered around his massive form, curious about what the guy was going to say.

  He held up both his hands defensively and offered a smile. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out. Cameron was very descriptive.”

  “You know Cam?” My heart clenched at the mention of my big brother.

  “I know a few things that I think would be a big help to you.”

  By his tone, he wasn’t going to simply give this informat
ion freely, which was to be expected. If I were in his position and had something to bargain with, I would’ve done the same. There wasn’t much I could give this guy in exchange, though.

  “Go meet Samael,” Poet ordered, his protective side rearing its head. “I’ll deal with this.”

  I was reluctant to leave him alone. Not because he couldn’t handle himself or that I thought this man could bust out of the pen, but I wanted to hear what he had to say. Alas, I couldn’t risk Samael or one of his puppets catching me speaking to him. That wouldn’t go over well.

  “Come on, boo,” Takara urged softly, taking hold of my hand to lead me away.

  I went without further delay. I trusted Poet to get any answers he could.

  “You think he was being honest?” Takara asked once we’d put some distance between us.

  I lifted both shoulders in a shrug. “He knew my brother’s name, but that doesn’t mean anything. Everyone knows who he is…”

  My mind drifted to the last time I saw my big brother in the flesh. I was sitting on bleachers inside an old gym. Cam had no idea I was there. I’d been in full-on Stag gear to keep myself hidden.

  If he’d known how close we were, the meet would’ve turned into a bloodbath. Belladonna and her brother had been there too, along with Amo’s sister.

  I couldn’t speak. I wasn’t to give any indication that I was in the room. It was the term Samael made me agree to when he allowed me to go with them that day. That had been so long ago, right before we relocated to the lodging site.

  Just as I was careful with my words, the proselytes were the same. They only allowed trivial pieces of information to slip. I had no real way of knowing how my family was until I made it back to them. All I knew for certain was that I’d already lost one brother, Cam’s twin.

  I wanted to blame so many people for his destruction, but I had to face the music. Braxton’s choices were his own, leaving me with only him to blame for what I knew of what went down.

  He’d coveted everything Samael and Amo had accumulated. He resented Cam for reasons I had yet to figure out. His poor decisions led to him betraying both factions and eventually his inevitable downfall. With what we were about to attempt to pull off, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d soon be joining him in the afterlife.

  As Takara and I drew closer to the pits, the sound of screaming had my mind snapping back to reality. I slowed but didn’t stop walking. The screams had a rawness to them. Whoever was suffering to an extent that they released such a sound was clearly being consumed by pain.

  This wasn’t anything unusual to hear around here, but I didn’t like that they were coming from the direction we were heading.

  Couldn’t be a coincidence.

  The stench of burnt flesh was evident as well. I assumed this had come from Jim’s body being disposed of. There was no way he made it through last night alive.

  “I can only imagine what we’re about to see,” Takara said.

  “With Mal, one can never be sure.”

  We took the same path I had the night before. The area was known as the ‘pits’ because of the shallow ditches dug beneath every bonfire set up.

  “Looks like the whole crew is here,” Takara noted as we came around the final bend.

  “I guess it’s our lucky day.” My eyes skimmed over Aurora, Dawn, and Samael.

  Three other proselytes were all a respectable distance away from the scene currently playing out.

  “Isn’t that the new guy?”

  I didn’t answer her. I charged across the clearing and got right in Amo’s face before he could swing the sledgehammer held tightly within his hands. I shoved his chest hard enough that he was forced to take a step away from Mack.

  I’d been so focused on us piecing together an efficient exit strategy, I’d nearly forgotten all about this guy. He wasn’t at the top of my list of things to worry about. Still, I should’ve known something like this would happen. Seeing him on the ground, helpless, his hands held up to ward Amo off, was infuriating.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  Amo grinned, showing two rows of teeth I was seconds away from knocking down his throat.

  His gaze moved to the person now standing behind me.

  I didn’t need to turn and look.

  I knew the feel of him anywhere.

  “I told you she’d be ungrateful, no?” Amo spoke over me.

  “Am I supposed to thank you for being a raging psychopath?”

  “No, but you could thank us for giving a shit about you.”

  Us? Who was this us he spoke of?

  He winked like the arrogant ass he was. Just as I was about to lunge at him, a strong arm slipped around my middle and hauled me backward, right over Mack’s body.

  He cried out as my boot collided with something bloody and white. I took a good look at him. His left leg was bent at an awkward angle. The right had a sharp piece of bone sticking clean out of it.

  That had to be what my foot had just connected with. Blood dripped from the open wound to the dirt.

  He lowered his head to the ground and shut his eyes. His complexion was ashen, and heavy pants came from his chest. I gave Amo a look that let him know exactly what I thought of him.

  “Why would you do this? He didn’t do anything wrong!”

  “He looked at you as if you were the elixir to life,” Samael replied flippantly, his cool breath fanning the back of my neck.

  “So, you break his legs? Is that going to help clear his vision?”

  “I didn’t do anything. Yet.”

  Unable to see his face, I tried to remove myself from the hold he had me in. His response was much like it had been the night before. He secured me to him, pulling my back against his front.

  “Everyone here knows the rules, Lil.” Aurora spoke in a soothing tone, as if I were a child throwing a tantrum. I rarely acknowledged her. She was the half-sister I had no idea existed until we were brought face to face. I was eighty percent sure my parents didn’t know about her, either.

  At least, they hadn’t four years ago. They probably did now, since she’d gone and introduced herself to Cam. Samael had known about her, though. She was one of the many secrets he conveniently forgot to share with me.

  She was the spitting image of our father and brothers. Same red hair and expressive silver eyes. I know that wasn’t her fault, but it hurt to look at her. When Samael made it clear I was more prisoner than partner, she legitimately tried to step into the big sister role, like we would bond over my captivity.

  As freaking if.

  “The rules are bullshit,” I snapped.

  “They keep you safe,” Amo reasoned.

  “They keep Samael’s ego intact, you mean?” Takara leapt in defensively. “God forbid a man think she’s beautiful, right?”

  “No one thinks that,” Samael rebutted. “Everyone knows she’s beautiful. A blind man can see that. But beauty doesn’t stop her from making bad choices.”

  Was that a backhanded compliment? Wasn’t he basically saying I was all looks and no brains?

  “That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard you say,” Takara huffed, planting her hands on her hips. “He didn’t deserve to have his legs broken over something so simple.”

  “You know what, Toria? You’re absolutely right. To kill him over something that trivial would be very tyrannical of me.”

  “It’s Takara,” she bit out.

  “I don’t give a fuck what your name is. You’re whatever and whoever I want you to be.”

  Being blessed with common sense, Kara knew when to push and when not to. She clamped her lips together and glared at him.

  Unlike her, I would gladly piss Samael off. I opened my mouth to snap at him for talking to her like that, slamming it shut when his lips pressed against my cheek. His arms fell away, and he stepped up so that we were side by side, partially angling his face so that he could look down at me.

  It was unfair for someone to look this good. Samael w
as gorgeous when surrounded by darkness, but in the light, he was devastating. I hadn’t forgotten our words to one another the night before, or the fact that he’d left me flowers again. So, while I wanted to cleanly slick off his balls, I also wanted to throw my arms around him and apologize.

  My brows furrowed in suspicion when I caught the mischievous glint dancing within his eyes. A smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.

  I knew this look.

  “What are you—?”

  He moved forward before I could finish asking what he was about to do.

  He lifted his steel-toed boot and brought it down on the jagged bone sticking out of Mack’s leg. The bellow of pain Mack released had my mouth going dry.

  “Apologize,” Samael demanded, applying enough pressure that something audibly popped beneath the tissue, causing more blood to seep out.

  I contemplated trying to shove him away until Amo gave me a stern look, slightly shaking his head. I didn’t care for the guy, but that didn’t mean I’d stupidly go against what I knew was right just to be spiteful.

  Intervening on Mack’s behalf would only make things worse. He clawed at the ground, screaming in agony, frantically trying to crawl away.

  “Apologize, or I’ll break it in half and then have Amo finish the other leg.” Samael’s voice was deceptively calm, just loud enough to be heard over Mack’s pleas.

  I was a bit confused, to be honest. I knew he wouldn’t like him approaching me, but why was he making him apologize? He hadn’t done anything except walk me to and from my cabin.

  “What…what’s he supposed to be apologizing for?” I finally asked.

  “To put it simply, he confided in Tigger and Brody about you,” Aurora answered.

  I sighed. Of all the people to run his mouth to, Mack chose two of the most loyal people here. What an idiot.

  My advice this morning had changed nothing. He’d all but brought the guillotine down on himself.

  His boot still on the bone, Samael began to bend it back in the opposite direction. It popped, causing my stomach to churn. I clasped my hands behind my neck and sighed. If Mack were semi-intelligent, he’d spit out an apology and sound like he meant it even if he didn’t. Otherwise, this could go on for hours.