Page 33 of The Rise

“Her family. I want those motherfuckers dead,” I tell them.

“Then we find them,” Hoax adds with a shrug.

“You already said you’re taking her to the chapel, so this makes sense,” Rylan says. Silas snaps his eyes over to meet mine.

“You’re taking her to the chapel?” he asks, his eyes wide.

“Yeah. So what?”

“Have you talked to her about it?” he pushes, and I shake my head. “Are you going to?”

“No. She’ll figure it out when we get there,” I reply.

“Damn, Hunter. You just met the girl,” he adds.

“And? So fucking what? I’m keeping her. You kept Angel!”

“I’ve known Angel since we were kids,” he reminds me.

“That doesn’t mean shit, and we all know it. If I say I’m keeping the girl, then that’s what I’m doing.” The guys chuckle as Silas smirks at me.

“So when are you doing this?” Rylan asks this time.

“As soon as I can. You have the Kings ceremony coming up, so it’ll be after that,” I tell them. They all nod their heads, knowing I’m not going to change my mind on this.

“Let’s see what we can come up with as a team. I know you said you could handle this, Hunter, but we’re in,” Rylan tells me. I don’t ask the Kings for anything and never have, but on this, I get it. He wants to help, and who the hell am I to say no? So I give in and nod.

“Fine. We do this as a team, but when shit gets real, you step back. I don’t want Tamsyn and Angel on my ass for their men getting hurt,” I tell them. They both laugh and nod their heads, agreeing with me.

“Now that’s settled,” Hoax chimes in. “I’m still planning on kidnapping a princess.”

“You haven’t gotten over that idea yet?” Ry asks.

“Nope. I know who it’s going to be, too.”

“Care to share that information?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back in my chair.

“No. You’ll know when she goes missing,” he answers before standing and leaving the room. The three of us share a look before I shake my head.

“What are the fucking odds he would want to kidnap a princess?” I ask.

“That’s not really how this works, but I suppose rules are meant to be broken,” Rylan adds.

“No shit. Princesses are supposed to be off limits to Gods.”

“I guess not in this case. We all know if Hoax wants her, he’s going to take her,” Silas declares.

“That’s true, too.” I run my hand through my hair before blowing out a breath.

“Yeah, there’s no stopping Hoax,” I tell them.

“We’ll see how that shit goes,” Rylan says as he stands from his seat and holds out his fist. “I have to get shit ready for the ceremony.”

“Okay. I’ll see you guys there,” I tell them as they both stand and leave. I grab the laptop and power it on before I start my search for these fuckers. I can access sites that not many can, and when it comes to the dark web, I know what the fuck I’m doing and where to look.

I find the site I want and put out a few feelers. Placing an ad to find a child makes my fucking skin crawl, but I know that it’ll pull these assholes right in. The problem is, you have to describe what it is you want, and that makes my stomach churn, so I go generic. I basically put what Lana looks like and post it. Now, I just have to sit back and wait for a hit.

Slamming the laptop closed, I stand from my chair and toss it on the table. The thought of them picking up a kid that looks like her pisses me off, so I head down to the gym to work that out.

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