Badlands: Next Generation Collection Read online

  “Zane Belial,” a feminine voice interjected irritably from the other end of the hall. “His name is Zane Belial, and that’s his brother, Maliki Erebus. You know, the beasts from your worst nightmares?”

  She had to be spewing bullshit. Lucifuge wouldn’t have any reason whatsoever to have associated with these men on a friendly level.

  But he had.

  The truth always resonated loudest in silence. That’s all he gave me, that and a look so unapologetic and empty that I could see our father standing in his place.

  It really hit me then. I’d always known to a certain extent, but this proved just how alike the two of them were. While I adored our father, I had never agreed with the secrets he kept from Mom and the way she learned to accept it. I would never be on board with that bullshit.

  Staring at my brother, I had so many questions and none I could bring myself to ask but one. “Are you going to tell me what you did?” It was the only one that mattered, because the answer related to a dozen other questions I wouldn’t need to ask.

  “You know he isn’t going to tell you. None of them are,” Nyx said flatly.

  A muffled laugh came from the end of the hall and I realized our discrepancy was being watched by the very people who were at the center of the conflict.

  My face flushed with humiliation, and anger prickled my skin. Thankfully, the hall was mostly dark. I couldn’t bring myself to look that way, unable to begin processing the implications of what this meant.

  Without another word on the subject, I shoved my way past my brother and the twins, starting back down the stairs.

  “Where are you going?” Luce called after me.

  “To do what we said we were going to do,” I replied without stopping. And I meant it. I was going to find our sister, Sam, and Lilith, and bring them home, with or without him.

  “Where do you think we should check next?” Nyx asked, jumping right on board with me despite what she herself had to be feeling about this.

  I chewed my inner cheek, trying to determine what to do next. If these Stags really did have them, we’d need to figure out where they were.

  “Can you track?”

  “I can try. Charon is out there somewhere,” she replied, gesturing to the outside.

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s get back to the truck and get all we can from Makayla first.”

  When neither she nor Annie disagreed with that, I figured I was on the right track. I could use the walk to get my head together.

  Upon exiting the school, the air was undeniably stiffer. A fog had risen, covering everything and making visibility of more than a few feet in front of us near impossible. It didn’t help that we no longer had a flashlight between us.

  “Stay close,” I said, glancing back at them before starting down the first small set of stairs.

  “There should have been a body here.” I pointed down at the concrete where only a large bloodstain remained. There was no way that Stag was still alive. I heard Annie's gun go off, and she never missed. It fell through a damn window.

  “How many of these people did you encounter?” I asked Nyx. I’d felt the stickiness of blood on her jacket, so clearly she’d had a run in with at least one.

  “Two. I handled one; Butcher the other. Luce and Cam took out another three,” she replied, examining the stain.

  “Come on.” I started forward again, more cognizant of our immediate surroundings. We weren’t alone out here.

  It was much harder to navigate the uneven terrain when I couldn’t see it. After a few minutes, a tiny amount of perspiration beaded on my skin. I wasn’t hot, so I didn’t understand why.

  A bell chimed from what I thought was my right. Turning my head in its direction was instinctive, even if my sight was impaired.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked quietly, looking over my shoulder when neither of them responded. I was greeted with nothing but empty space.

  “Nyx? Annie?”

  Where the hell did they go?

  The bell sounded again, this time closer.

  “Great,” I mumbled, starting back in the opposite direction.

  I think.

  I couldn’t see shit.

  My chest was beginning to tingle and I knew something wasn’t right.

  Holding careful hands out right in front of me, I blinked repeatedly, trying to see better.

  “Addy,” was whispered behind me.

  I turned to see if it was Annie or Nyx but, yet again, there was no one there.

  Scalp prickling with the unease of being watched, I sped up. I was nearly jogging when my left foot caught in a groove, sending me to the ground.

  My palms hit a chunk of uneven pavement with an echoing smack, skin stinging from the impact. “Shit,” I breathed.

  Before I could stand back up, a pair of hands grabbed me from behind, hauling me backward.

  My boots skidded as I tried to drag my feet to slow them down. They remained undeterred.

  “Get—”

  A hand slammed over my mouth, silencing me. A hand I quickly realized was covered in dried blood. Knowing who had me only made my need to break free that much stronger.

  He dragged me all the way between two rundown buildings the moon was struggling to illuminate. With my back to his front, he splayed a hand across my stomach and pulled me tighter against him, keeping the other over my mouth.

  “Shhh,” he breathed into my ear, warm breath causing an outbreak of goose-bumps on my neck. “She’s close.”

  “Who?” I tried to ask, going still in his arms.

  He adjusted me so that I fit better against him. His body was a brick wall. I could feel abs pressing into my back. My ass was fixed firmly over his cock, which seemed to be unnervingly large even softly tucked away in his jeans.

  “Nuh, uhn,” I muffled beneath his palm.

  I twisted my torso, forcibly trying to turn myself in his arms. He allowed it until I was facing him.

  Moving as fast he had before, he gripped the back of my neck with the hand that had been over my mouth and pressed me into him with the other on the small of my back.

  This position was worse than the other. Now not only was I looking up at his masked face for the third time in one night, but my apex was snugly against where my ass had been, and my chest was smashed against his.

  With his grip on my neck, I had no choice but to stare into the dark holes hiding his eyes. I felt his gaze staring right back.

  Men usually wanted what was between my legs for bragging purposes or some diluted belief it would help them get closer to my father. I could occasionally be a tease, but I never let them so much as touch me.

  The lustful looks on their faces from afar were plenty satisfying, so it was safe to say I had never been in anyone’s arms like this before.

  Zane had touched me more times than any of those men could fantasize about in less than twenty-four hours.

  “You most definitely are not what I expected,” he remarked with zero emotion.

  “What is that supposed—”

  “Wait here,” he said suddenly, turning my body away from him and the warmth he emanated. He stepped out into the fog, vanishing as it swallowed him up.

  I remained where I was, trying to figure out what he was doing. Something hard hit the ground a second later.

  It slid into the alleyway and stopped at the toes of my boots.

  Kneeling, I studied the cracked deer skull and heard what sounded like flesh being torn.

  There was a gasp, a thud, and then Zane was back.

  He was covered in more blood than before, his dark shirt nearly saturated, hands stained even more crimson.

  This man killed violently. Brutally. It was the same way Braxton did, earning him his nickname, Butcher. Only, I got the sense Zane was driven by something darker, while Butcher did it for entertainment. And I was pretty sure Butcher didn’t have vision half as good as this guy did.

  I rose back to my feet, watching him. He made no attempt to come closer, but he didn’t make an effort to leave, either.

  “Were you following me?” I asked, wondering if the alley went all the way through.

  “I wasn’t until she was,” he replied, motioning to the deer skull in front of me. “If you’re trying to get back to your car, you started going the wrong way about five minutes ago.”

  Five minutes…they’d been behind me that long? Dad would seriously disown me if he ever found out I was that unaware of my surroundings.

  “Your friends are fine,” he continued, answering my next thought before I even had it.

  “Where are they?”

  “Malik led them back to your truck.”

  I swallowed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I didn’t understand what he was doing. I knew he was here to find someone, but why save me?

  Why follow me at all when he should want me dead?

  “Why do you keep protecting me?”

  “So you’re acknowledging that I saved your ass twice, but still not thanking me?” Sarcasm littered his tone.

  “I’m not—”

  “I’ll tell you later,” he rudely cut me off.

  Unsure what to do with that response, I stared at his masked face, debating what to do next.

  There was something about him that I found undeniably intriguing. Whatever it was had my demons waking up and hungering to tear him apart just to see what was inside. I couldn’t make sense of it. I’d never felt either sensation before, not like this.

  He began coming towards me before I could decide on my next course of action. Watching him warily, I shifted on my feet, body tensing.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking you out of here. The air shouldn’t be breathed for long periods of time,” he explained.

  That’s good to know, I thought as he wrapped a bloody hand around my wrist and then attempted to continue on his way.

  “Whoa, hold on a minute. I’m not going anywhere with you!”

  Abruptly, he turned and yanked me forward until my face was nearly pressing against his mask again.

  “You can either walk with me like a good girl, or I will drag your ass. I prefer the second option, actually.”

  Well, that sure escalated quickly. I knew how to choose my battles, though. While I didn’t want this man anywhere near me, I was also lost and had no way of finding my way back without him.

  “When you say you’re taking me out of here…?” I questioned suspiciously.

  “I mean to your car. If I wanted to kidnap you, I’d have done it already, but you strike me as someone who would make me work for it.”

  I furrowed my brows, picking up on the double meanings behind his words. I couldn’t go down that road of thinking; I wouldn’t.

  Swallowing, I cleared my throat and replied, “Right,” feigning indifference. It wasn’t worth a debate; the sooner I got to the car, the sooner I could get away from him and the quicker I could find Bella.

  Chapter Eight

  Octo

  “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” She asked the question she should have asked ten minutes ago if she felt we were truly lost. Her voice was so soft, so gentle—completely at odds with the person it belonged to.

  “If I didn’t, I guess you’d just be stuck here with me, wouldn’t you?”

  Her silence was answer enough.

  I hadn’t come to this cesspool with the intention of saving her, but I’d be damned if someone hurt what wasn’t theirs to touch. I didn’t appreciate that kind of disrespect.

  These people had already brought enough consequences by taking Demon.

  “Being stuck with me wouldn’t be the end of the world,” I tacked on casually, fucking with her.

  She made a sound of disagreement in the back of her throat. I grinned beneath my mask, leading her onward like an obedient dog.

  Lamb to slaughter.

  Rabbit to fox.

  Mouse to snake.

  That’s how it always went in my head. I had her skinny wrist in the palm of my bloodied hand, her pulse steady and relaxed. It would be nothing to turn around and end this now.

  It was a beautiful night, and the only thing that made it better was taking a few lives.

  I could force myself between her legs right here in the middle of the street. I could slowly cut her open with my dick buried inside the cunt I’d ensured no one ever touched, and keep going until rigor mortis set in.

  She’d tell me to stop, of course.

  Then again, I think she might like that too much. I bet if I gave her the proposition right now, she’d be dripping wet and ready to play. She’d beg me to make her bleed as she took my dick like a champ.

  Yeah, this sounded more her forte.

  She would act like I offended her or some shit, but we both knew she and I had no morals to offend.

  She would fight me. I could tell.

  Couldn’t lie, that I found fucking exciting, and the black mass of energy between was intriguing. So though I could turn around and end it, I wasn’t going to. Death was too easy an atonement for all that had been lost. Plus, I hadn’t gotten to know her yet.

  When it was time for my gorgeous girl to go, she would be the one asking me to slide the blade across her throat.

  Until then, I had another plan for her. A game of sorts, one I wouldn’t make easy for either of us to win.

  I wanted to push her.

  I wanted her to push back.

  Something told me that when the princess got down and dirty, if pushed just far enough, she’d own up to every bit of her namesake.

  I was looking forward to finding out just what that entailed.

  Chapter Nine

  novem

  I had sort of been expecting him to try and murder me in the middle of the street, but alas, he kept to his word.

  For that, I didn’t mind his massive, bloodied hand holding onto my wrist the entirety of the walk. He didn’t talk much, either, which was a plus and a minus.

  Had he spoken, I would have been able to distract my curious thoughts. Like, how was he able to see so well in these conditions? Some people claimed that the Venomous prince would be dead before he reached maturity.

  Whoever dropped that grape of gossip along the vine had majorly missed the mark.

  Not only was he healthy and alive, but it seemed to me that he was thriving.

  I tried not to dwell on any of that; it really was no of importance to me.

  After this, I never wanted to be in his proximity again, so I obediently followed even though I wanted to take control of the situation and find my own way back.

  It became apparent that he knew just where he was going, because the closer we got to the threshold of town, the more the fog lessened, and the clearer multiple sets of voices became.

  Voices that sounded upset.

  I had to tug twice before he let my wrist go. The first time his grip tightened instead of loosened. The second, he simply let my hand fall away.

  “Thank you,” I bit out under my breath as I moved past him.

  I heard his laughter in response.

  Whatever. I didn’t have to say anything. I was just aware how unfortunate things would have been for me had he not shown up. Twice.

  “Addy!” Nyx called, relief evident in her tone. “I swear I’m about to chain us together,” she said, meeting me halfway back to the XL.

  “What happened? You were right behind me.”

  “I don’t know. One second we could see you clearly, and the next we couldn’t. And then Annie and I ran into that guy.” She nodded over her shoulder.

  I peered in the general direction. The man named Maliki had removed his mask and was watching her with a thoughtful expression.

  He met my eyes and a slow smile spread across his face. Suddenly, I was grateful that Nyx had Butcher.

  This dude was gorgeous. I hated to even admit that, but he was—with honey colored skin and jet black hair.

  “Where is…Annie?” I asked, losing my train of thought for a second when Zane walked past us.

  Nyx being Nyx, and sometimes knowing me better than I knew myself, picked up on the slight pause and the reason for it.

  “We have an issue,” she said, looping her arm through mine.

  “What kind of issue?” I could see Annie behind the XL, so it wasn’t that she’d been hurt.

  Then, I took in the rest of the scene. The Venom were staring at their vehicle, which had clearly been vandalized. Luce was beside his Jeep with nearly the same look on his face.

  Both had cracked windshields. The Venom truck had all four tires sliced, and the hood was partially lifted so I assumed there was damage there, too.

  Luce’s truck was much harder to harm due to its modifications. His windshield was cracked but not as bad, and their attempt at slashing his tires seemed to have only been successful with the front driver’s side one.

  I wasn’t as concerned with their cars as I was the shattered glass glinting in the moonlight.

  Beneath that was a smear of blood on the ground, a sign someone had been dragged—Makayla had been dragged, because she was obviously missing.

  “That was a fucking set-up,” Cameron exclaimed, pointing back towards the town.

  “Why, though?” Butcher asked as we walked up. “And why is the XL fine?”

  The Venom were talking quietly amongst themselves now. I ignored all of them and the Savages.

  I stayed silent, piecing together the timeline of events until things made perfect sense.

  “It wasn’t a set-up. It was a warning. A statement,” Luce replied to Cam, giving me a quick once-over.

  I nodded in agreement with him.

  “He’s right. If they wanted to kill us all, they would have known they’d have needed more Stags. And their marker was fresh,” I pointed out.

  “And they let Makayla go, knowing she would report back where Lilith, Sam, and Bella were,” Nyx added.

  Whom they still had, I thought to myself. I wanted to plan for the worst and foolishly hope for the best, something I never did, but this was our family: my baby sister, my little cousin, and their best friend.

  They had to be okay. I still didn’t understand why they would take them in the first place. It wasn’t just toying with the idea of a war between the two factions; it was flat out declaring one.