Page 44 of Dust to Dust

His blue eyes shifted to a lighter tone as they searched mine. "I love you too, Titan King."

And I did. I might be lost at times, but one thing was for sure. The connection that boy and girl formed in that treehouse stood the test of time. Our love was never dying. It was tested. But we'd always find a way to love each other again.

They better watch out if anything threatened the peace Titan and I had.

As Titan guided my ship back to safe waters, I looked at my new horizon with certainty. I knew exactly what needed to be done.

Hello, there.

We haven't met before.

I'm Nova, Nova King. If you thought Nova Baladan was scary, you haven't seen anything yet. Nova King is all your childhood nightmares merged into one sexy body, with glossy red lips and a closet filled with combat boots. Nova King is ready to lurk in the night. I'll hide under your bed, and just when you think you are safe to sleep, I'll come out to play.

Who is my first target to play with? Well, that's easy—the man that took from me, the man that has threaten my new family.

Franco Fontaine.

You better watch out, baby, because I'm coming, and I've got two other girls in my head who have more than enough crazy and pent-up vengeance that needs to be unleashed.

Chapter 33

"Is she ok?" Damian asked with genuine concern. After returning, we filled him in and scheduled an emergency meeting with the brotherhood. A discussion Nova was not going to attend. There was only so much she could handle, and I knew she was cracking when she smeared around Anton's blood.

"She's totally fucked in the head." Dash tried to make light of the situation. His eyes met mine, "But it's nothing Titan can't handle. We're here for you, brother."

"I know," I wearily admitted.

Nova was anything but alright. I couldn't blame her break, either. She had one mission in life, and she failed. All the broken girl wanted was answers, but she continued to be denied even the simplest of needs. As my wife, I wanted to give her the world and mark my words; I would. I'd do whatever I needed to give her closure. If that meant playing the game, The Rites of Passage wanted me to play, I’d played for her.

I tucked Nova into our bed. As I closed the door, worried eroded my stomach when Nova didn't object. Dash, Damian, and I went back down to the basement, which had been clean of Anton's blood. We sat and talked with our brothers who, like Anton promised, also had been met with a messenger from The Rites of Passage.

Some of these messengers were lucky. Like Anton, they were allowed to continue to breathe. Others, like the man sent to Anders and Leo, weren't so fortunate.

"So that's it." Cillian stated, "They have contacted every one of us. They gave us a task and expected us to comply with it. Aye, I say fuck them all." Cillian said more to himself than the rest of us. The fighter in him was ready to go to battle.

Leo eyed Dante before he answered, "They knew all our plans. They reached us all without us knowing they were coming. I don't know anyone who could accomplish that. If we don't comply, they will start to attack. They will start with our weaknesses. I'm not going to sacrifice my sister. I suggest we play along until we get to the bottom of this."

"Where is your sister now?" Anders questioned. A vein in his neck pulsed. I had long suspected that Anders and Leo's sister had some past.

Leo eyed Anders with a dark hooded glare. It was a silent challenge to question him further. Those two were constantly at odds. A constant dick-measuring contest we never had the time for, "My sister is none of your concern." Leo grinned, knowing he had control over something Anders showed interest in. Leo's sister had been MIA for the past three years. Only Leo knew where her location was.

Anders laughed, but he didn't think Leo's response was funny. I knew as soon as we left our meeting, Anders would use his resources to get his answer.

Each of us had been given a task to complete to ascend to our ruling throne. Tempting if we wanted power. But they offered something we already had. My father was dead, and now my cousins and I had complete control over King Corporations. Did we need The Rites of Passage?

"I'm with Cillian," Anders said as he raised his small ax. No longer shiny and clean, it was covered in dried blood.

I ran my fingers through my hair and right on cue, "Bloody hell, you can't even clean the thing." Cillian hissed. Cillian was a big man, even compared to me. He spent all his free time in the boxing ring at a gym he owned. You'd never know he was a billionaire by the looks of him. But the burly giant was a clean freak. You walked into that gym and could not escape the smell of bleach. His penthouse was the same. So clean you could perform surgery on any surface. In Initiation 101, Cillian took the role of a maid. Anders and Leo loved to dig under his skin. In a fight, they'd aim their shots so the spray of blood would rain down on Cillian. I laughed at the memory if it.

Dante showed a rare smile and shook his head. "Anders," he said. Dante and Anders were like blood brothers. Dante was the sounding voice that could corral the madness that consumed Anders. Anders beamed, then he kissed the blade, pressing the dried blood to his lips. Cillian cursed and stood as he started to pace in and out of the screen. We all laughed as he rubbed his hands on his jeans. Itching to take a shower after seeing how unafraid of germs Anders was.

It was times like this that I cherished my brothers. Even in the middle of the shit storm, we could find a way to laugh.

"What if we play their game instead?" Dante suggested.

"If we play the game, that means they control us. Wasn't the purpose of the brotherhood so that we all stood together so no one could control us?" Cillian rebutted.

I knew what Dante was suggesting; like my brothers and me, we'd never roll over and die, nor would we shake in our boots because some stranger confessed a story that we were born into positions of power, "We play along to find out more." I stated as I looked up to the screen Dante was on.

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