Page 77 of Fixation of the Mind

“Fine, Neil.” Rolling my eyes, I kept my tone sharp and precise, pretending to be cocky and sure. “You can have all the territories. I don’t care.” If that was what he needed to feel like a big man, fine. I was going to ask the guys for help with that anyway.

He chuckled and came closer, swiping at his suit like it had some invisible dirt on it. “Oh, no. The time for that deal has passed, and now that I’ve had time to think, I came up with an even better solution. Killing two birds with one stone if you will.”

What the fuck is he talking about? I tried to figure out some answers, breathing so hard it caused my chest to rise and fall rapidly. Something felt wrong. Why was he so happy? Killing two birds with one stone… That meant it had to have something to do with the triplets, but what?

As my worry turned into panic, I began to twist my wrists, trying to find some space to work with. My skin began to burn from the friction, but my bindings weren’t loosening. I thought about all those Foedus rules and remembered that I was on the council.

“What could you possibly do to me?” Sticking out my chin, I glared at him. “You can’t kill me. It's against Foedus rules!”

His lips curled up into a sinister smile, one that made my blood freeze. “That's only if you get caught, little girl, but you see…” He leaned over me, his shadow blocking out the light, causing his beautiful face to become a garish mix of light and dark planes. “This wouldn't be the first time I’ve killed the head of a family.”

He twirled my hair around his finger. “The trick is to never leave loose ends. Since the council doesn't care about us killing anyone but the head families and their direct descendants, it's quite easy to keep everything nice and quiet.”

With his other hand, he cupped my face. “Especially when they don’t have any family support to skulk around, to look into the deaths, to get revenge.” His hand lowered, circling around my neck, and his fingers began to dig in, slowly, maliciously closing up my airway. “That's why it was so easy to kill your parents.”

My eyes flew wide as I choked back my curses. He killed my parents?

He curled my hair around his finger then quickly closed his hand into a fist. With a sharp movement, he yanked my head back, my scalp screamed in pain as my roots were being yanked out. “I can see it on your stupid, pathetic face.” His voice went up an octave to mimic a female voice. “Why did you do it?” His hand gripped my chin, digging his nails into my face, mashing my cheeks together as he screamed, “Because your mother and father were weak, and I wanted their territory!”

He let go of me, kicking my chair back as he laughed. My head slammed into the floor, and my eyes rolled back into my head as pain radiated through my skull. My body ached all over, and my limbs started to tingle. It was just no use. Even with my limbs awoken by the slam to the floor, I couldn’t get out of here.

“Car accidents are the easiest to manipulate. When they take it in to be serviced, the tech loosens the brakes, then you just have to kill him. Next, make sure the intended victims are assigned a job that takes them up a dangerous road. Find a weak-minded local at a bar close by and spike their booze so you increase your chances of someone hitting them. Then kill the local and his family.” He recited this so proudly, so calmly, that instead of feeling scared, I was growing more and more angry.

“Sometimes it's more like Russian roulette as to when they’ll get hit, which means we need a back-up plan. So, the same tech that loosened the brakes must also add an explosive that will go off as soon as the car is hit, ensuring that all the evidence burns up, even if it’s a small fender bender.” He cocked back his foot, bringing it down toward my face. I lifted my chin just in time so his heel connected with my shoulder. My body slammed into the cold, hard concrete, pain exploded everywhere, being the only thing I could focus on.

“And that, my dear, is how to kill a high-ranking member of Foedus. Even if people suspect something like foul play, where is the evidence?” He giggled until he tilted his head, his expression growing severe. “But now I know the only crack in my master plan was not knowing about you.” He lifted his foot and kicked me in the stomach.

Crying out, my body's instinct to curl up into itself was prevented by my arms and legs being tied. Bile rose up, threatening to come out, but clenched my teeth, biting down hard as I kept it down. The burn of acid in my throat causing me to gag. My internal darkness rose, trying to dull the pain, but it was too much. The pain came from everywhere. My head pounded, a headache working its way around my skull, and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.

“You know, you're a cold bitch.” He glared down at me like I was a bug. “I was expecting you to be a blubbering mess over your parents’ death. I was looking forward to you being a wet snot-covered idiot by the time they got here.”

Cracking open an eye, I glared at him. I wasn't going to admit that what he’d said hurt, that an ache in my heart had burst forward for my dead parents. I’d always resented them, thinking they’d chosen to leave me alone in this world, but that wasn't true. It was all because this sick fuck wanted more territory. It was maddening, but I kept that shit locked up tight. I wasn't going to let him use me for the show he wanted to put on. I was stronger than that, I had to be to protect the guys.

This was just another way to get to the boys, to break them. My voice cracked when I asked, “Why do you hate them so much?”

He crouched down, all emotion wiped from his face. This was the real Neil Ambros. “Those putrid, disgusting dirty-blooded vermin are the only ones who have the ability to take everything from me. Just because they have a drop of my brother's blood, they get to covet the Ambros name and legacy.” His whole body shook, rage taking over his face. “No. I am the last true Ambros, the real head of this family, the real head of this organization, and I’m going to use and abuse them until I get everything back.” He scraped his nail down the side of my face. “They are my toys, puppets if you will, and you are going to help me keep them in line.”

A sound blared as an alarm went off, and Neil looked towards the monitors. When he turned back to me, his normal creepy smile crawled along his face. “And they're right on time.” He grabbed the chair, lifting me up and settling me to face the doorway. “I better pick you up, or they’ll be so mad they won't use those big brains of theirs.”

I wanted to yell at the door, to tell them to leave me, but my mouth was so dry that no sound came out. My throat burned from his earlier treatment. This was bad. From what I could tell, Neil was a loose cannon. How far was he willing to go to control the boys? The crazed look in those eyes that bore into mine had me realizing he was willing to take this much farther than I thought. If the worst happened, I hoped the boys would be strong enough to take him on.

The door twisted open just as Neil pulled out a gun and held it to my head. Rion was the first in the door, his eyes going from the gun to me. “Everything is going to be alright, Rin.” Roux and Ravi followed with equally determined faces, their eyes a cold shade of blue that reminded me of winter.

“Aw, you have a fucking nickname for her. Pathetic!” He spat the last word, but the guys didn't flinch. They stood together, making a solid line across from their uncle, glaring at him like I wasn't even there.

“Come, come now, boys. You knew this day was going to come sooner or later. You made the mistake of showing your hand, your affection.” He pointed to Ravi. “You should’ve let her eat that cookie. Her death would’ve been so much less painful.”

What? Cookie? I thought about that day in the mall. Ravi had dropped the bag and went to get new cookies.

Ravi didn't say anything. He stared at his uncle like he was bored, but when he put his hands behind his back, I saw his muscles tighten and knew he was hiding clenched fists.

“Either that, or you could’ve let that car hit her, but then she would’ve really been in pain.”

Realization hit me. Neil was the one who’d been after me this whole time… but why?

Neil flicked his hand at the boys. “You know that I had to keep you on your toes. Plus, it's always been fun to take away your toys. I haven't gotten a high like this since you guys were thirteen. All of you had been so very careful not to make that mistake again, but I knew it wouldn’t last forever. You boys are soft in the heart, after all. A trait you must've gotten from your mother.” He laughed and laughed, but the boys didn’t take the bait.

“What do you want, Uncle?”

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