Page 116 of Princes of Carnage

Nico and Atlas are still standing there, looking between the two of us while they try to piece together what’s happening.

“You brought Quinn a bag of hands,” Nico finally says, speaking slowly. “That’s why these are here.”

Killian nods once.

“Okay. Why?”

“And whose hands are they?” Atlas wants to know.

“They came from members of the Bullets gang. Five of them, if we’re being precise,” Killian replies.

Disbelief flashes in Nico’s eyes as he rounds on Killian. “You went after another gang? Without running it by me first? What the hell were you thinking? We’ve already got enough problems without pissing off more gangs.”

Killian shrugs one shoulder, his expression never changing. “No one saw me. And they had it coming. Ever since they crossed Quinn, they’ve been living on borrowed time.”

Both Atlas and Nico look to me and then back to Killian, but he doesn’t elaborate any more.

I’m grateful that he doesn’t tell them the whole thing. It’s bad enough that I fell apart in front of Killian, shaking and gasping as the PTSD rose up like a monster inside me, but I really don’t want to discuss what happened that night at the breakfast table in front of the other two.

All the same, it’s clear that they have enough information to start putting some of the pieces together.

After all, taking someone’s hand is a popular punishment for having the audacity to touch something that doesn’t belong to them.

Nico sighs and rubs his forehead, but nods. “Alright,” he says. “That’s justified.”

“Could we at least take the bag off the table?” Atlas puts in. “I’d like to eat breakfast, and I can’t do that with the bag just… sitting right there.”

I roll my eyes but pick up the bag of disembodied hands, tying it closed again and putting it on the floor.

“Speaking of not accumulating more enemies,” Nico begins after a moment, finally changing the subject. “We need to go meet with the Young Killers today. Atlas filled me in on everything else Vincent told the two of you last night. We don’t need our alliance against this Silas fucker to bring more enemies out of the woodwork if people think we’ve teamed up to take out smaller gangs.”

I nod because he’s right, even if my head is still a million miles away right now. “What do you suggest?”

“We have a meeting set up for later today. We’ll all go.”

As Atlas pours himself a bowl of cereal, he and Nico fill Killian in on what we learned last night, updating him on everything from the fact that we finally have a name for our faceless enemy to the warning Vincent gave us about the Young Killers being suspicious about our alliance.

Nico makes himself some breakfast too, and even Killian eats something as they discuss these new developments. I finish my cereal, but don’t really taste it. It feels like I’m moving on autopilot as I gather up my dishes and put them in the sink, then take the bag with me upstairs before Atlas can complain about it still being in the kitchen.

All I can really think about is what Killian did.

I know it doesn’t take much for him to kill someone, and he’s been used as a sort of executioner for the Princes of Carnage before. But this is different.

The Bullets didn’t cross Nico or the Princes. The Bullets fucked with me. And now they’re all dead.

The fact that Killian did this on my behalf floors me.

Ever since my dad died, I’ve felt like I’m completely on my own. Even though I’ve got an entire gang ready to follow my commands and back me up, that’s different. I have people I trust in Enigma, people I consider friends. But they’re all looking to me to lead them, to be strong for them.

I haven’t felt like anyone has completely had my back since my dad was killed.

And now, with Killian and the other two… I feel less alone.

I still have no idea what to do with that. I don’t know whether I can trust this feeling or not. But when I think about the hands Killian gave me, I can’t help but smile.

It’s a dark, violent gift. Something anyone who doesn’t live the kind of life we do would never understand. But for me? It was the perfect gift. The perfect peace offering.

I shake myself out of my thoughts after a while, focusing up as I shower and change. Then I make my way back downstairs to wait for the guys.

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