Page 39 of Underworld

Zane

About five years ago . . .

Fucking hell. This new gang is going to be a bitch to deal with. I had told Jace that this one was going to be a problem. They have been fighting us for the last few years. They are the only ones who we haven’t been able to get under our control. The only one to not fall into line.

Huffing out a sigh, I look around our new headquarters. We were finally able to “acquire” the cave right outside of town. I say acquire because we took it from one of the other gangs as payment for our protection. At least someone knew who was going to run this territory. We have our fingers in every city now, and the gangs in those cities help us run the Territory of New York. This is the last gang that we need to squash and get under control.

“Are you sure about this, Hades?” I ask as I walk over to Jace, who's still sitting on his Gaudi-looking throne. I didn’t really understand why he wanted the thing until I saw him sitting in it the other night with only the black lights on. He’d had on his black suit and looked every bit the part of Hades when he looked up at me. Our black light tattoos have finally healed enough that we could start having meetings with people who wanted our help. His black-out sclera lenses, on top of everything else, made him look like the dark ruler of the Underworld.

He sits there for a moment before sighing and saying, “I don’t want to do this, but they have left us no other choice. They will not bow, so at this point, we must break them into submission.”

I huff out a sigh. I agree, but that doesn’t mean I have to like the idea. “When are we moving out?” As the last word leaves my mouth, Alec and Howe enter the room.

Jace nods toward them. “I was waiting for Cerberus and Charon to get here.”

Looking behind me, I find Howe completely covered in black, with several weapons attached to his body. I wouldn’t expect anything less from our weapons specialist. I look over to see Alec is in a similar outfit but with his usual handguns rather than knives.

Jace stands from his seat and walks toward the exit. He’s also dressed in black, carrying several knives and his handgun.

I groan as I follow behind. I fucking hate having to fight to get this last gang under our control. I have a feeling it is going to be a bloody fight. When we exit the cave, we find the gang waiting for us. Great. That was sarcasm, in case you didn’t catch that.

The leader of their group doesn’t even give us a moment to take in their numbers before he goes for Jace. He fights the man off easily and takes on the next one who comes at him. I turn to focus on my own fight.

We are down to only a few men when I turn to find one guy sneaking up behind Jace. He doesn’t even realize the guy is behind him because he’s fighting off another guy. I stab the guy that I’m fighting and race over.

The angle the guy tries to slash Jace is an odd one, and unfortunately, I’m low enough to the ground to stab my knife into the guy's abdomen. Unfortunately, you ask? Well, my face is in the path of his knife, causing it to slash across my left eye. I can’t stop the pain-filled scream that I let out. Fuck that hurts! The searing pain from the wound radiates into my skull. The beat of my heart thumps loudly in my ears, making the pain in my head worse.

The man is on the ground, coughing up blood due to my blow, but he’s smiling up at me. I cover my left eye instantly, but it doesn’t stop the blood flow.

“Zane!” Jace yells from behind me. Seems he’s forgotten to use code names in his frantic state. Can’t really blame him, though. He grabs my shoulder and spins me to face him. When my right eye meets his, I see his look of utter devastation. Guess the amount of blood I've lost is worse than I thought. He looks around, and he screams, “Howe! Call the doctor!”

Good thing that the gang who used to own the cave had a small medical bay in the lower part. Jace drags me through the cave entrance as he growls out, “Why the fuck did you do that?”

I snort a laugh, then wince because fuck, that hurt. “Like I was going to let some fucker stab you from behind.”

He glares over his shoulder at me as he snaps, “So you used your face to protect me?!”

“Not intentionally. My face just happened to be in the path of his knife. I didn’t react fast enough to get my face out of the way. It’s not that big of a deal.” That is a lie. I know it is a big deal, but I don’t need him to blame himself more than he already is.

He shoves me onto the makeshift hospital bed and runs to grab gauze. He thrusts it at me, and I put it in place under my hand. He’s still glaring at me, but I can see the worry behind his eyes. “This may cause you to go blind in that eye,” he grunts out.

I shrug, trying to act like it doesn’t bother me. “Better to be blind than have a dead brother.”

He sighs heavily as he collapses onto the chair next to the bed. Bowing his head, he shoves his fingers angrily into his hair. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go,” he whispers.

Huffing, I place a reassuring hand on his head and ruffle his hair because I know it pisses him off. I smirk when he swats my hand. “You’d think you were brooding over a lover or something,” I tease.

He snorts out a laugh. “I love you, brother but not that much.”

Glad that I could lighten his mood, I can’t help but reply, “I’ve heard I’m a great fuck.”

Jace looks up at me and jokes, “Who said that?” He laughs. “You haven’t fucked anyone since that one girl a year or so back. What was her name again? It sounded like a stripper name.”

That makes me chuckle, although my head is throbbing. “True enough. Her name was Candy. Short for Candace.”

He grins. “That's right. Anyways, I wouldn't take her word for it even if I wanted to fuck you. Which I don’t.”

“Good. I don’t want to fuck you either.” I smile. We are silent for a moment before I say, “There are always casualties in war, brother.”

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