Page 18 of Princes of Carnage

“Nice day for a little get together,” he says, and I’m disappointed to see that the bruise I gave him during our last little ‘meeting’ has already mostly faded.

Next time I’ll have to give him a mark that lasts longer.

That vicious thought brings a smile to my face, and Nico’s gaze flicks downward to my lips for a half second. The smirk on his own face widens.

“Glad you’re so happy to see me,” he drawls. “Did you miss me?”

I have to grit my teeth to hold back a sharp-tongued response. That’s not what we’re here for, and I know my people will take their cues from me. Honestly, I almost wish I’d ambushed Nico and his two friends while they were alone for this meeting, the same way they did to me—just so that I could speak more openly. I’d love to tell him exactly what I’m imagining doing to him right now.

On either side of Nico, Killian and Atlas take off their own helmets. Killian’s face is impassive, impossible to read as always, and Atlas is scowling at me, already seeming pissed off about the situation.

“So,” Nico says, getting down to business and drawing my attention back to him. “What did you want to meet about?”

That pulls my focus back to the matter at hand, and I take a step closer to him. “I did some digging,” I tell him. “And I verified that you and yours are also being targeted by whoever’s been coming after my people.”

He narrows his mismatched eyes. “Seems like a lot of work to go to when you could’ve just taken my word on it.”

I snort, not even dignifying that bullshit with a response. “From what I can tell, it seems likely that whoever is targeting my people is the same one targeting yours. Our territories butt up against each other, so they’d have to come after both of us if they want to make a move on this whole area.”

Nico nods, running a hand through his dark hair. “I had the same thought. Neither of us would let some new fucker move in untested, so maybe they’re trying to test our strength. Poke at us, see where our weaknesses are.”

“Yeah.” I grit my teeth, hating the next part of this. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but it’s the next logical step. “Whoever the fuck is doing this is a threat to us both, so it might serve our interests best to… team up. To protect the whole area from whoever wants to brute force their way in.”

A slow smile spreads over Nico’s face as he takes in my words, and I hate him a bit more for it.

“So you’re saying you want to join forces?” He lifts his brows a little. “You want to be allies? You… need our help, even?”

I scowl at him. This fucking asshole has a way of getting under my skin that few people in the world can manage. “I didn’t say that.”

“Sure sounded like you did. That’s what teaming up means. We’d be working together.”

“We’d be defending our territory,” I snap. “Don’t make it more than it is.”

He waves a hand, that annoyingly sexy little half-smirk still on his face as he holds my gaze. “I’m just repeating what you said. We can’t be vague about this kind of shit. If we’re going to make a deal, I wanna know the particulars.”

“There aren’t any particulars.”

“There are always particulars, Quinn.”

“Fine,” I bite out, fed up with this shit already. “We’d be… allies.” The word sticks in my throat as I say it. “For as long as it takes to bring whoever’s been attacking us down. We’ll defend our area together.”

The smile drops from Nico’s face, but he doesn’t look away from me. Our gazes stay locked as a thoughtful, intense expression passes over his sharply handsome features.

“An alliance,” he says quietly. “It could work. We’re each small enough that we probably seem like easy pickings for someone trying to come up and make a name for themselves, or claim a lot of territory in a short time. But together, we’d present a more formidable opponent.”

“Exactly.” I nod. “It’ll work to both our benefits. I’d rather deal with you than with some unknown threat.”

His lips twitch at the corners, something flashing through his eyes and disappearing so fast that I’m not sure what it was. “I’m flattered.”

He studies my face for another second, then turns his head to share a look with both Killian and Atlas. Neither of them say anything or change their facial expressions, but there’s clearly some unspoken communication that passes between all three of them.

Just like the other day when they found me in that empty building, I feel a strange twinge of jealousy at the bond they all share. There’s no one in my own circle that I can speak to without words like that. Not even Emmett, although I do trust him, despite the slight awkwardness between us at the moment.

“Well?” I ask, my voice sharper than it probably needs to be.

“You’re right. It’s the best idea we have, and the best way to protect ourselves,” Nico finally agrees, turning back to me. “But like I said, we need to work out the particulars.”

“Fine. For starters, we each will keep control over our own territories.”

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