Page 135 of King of the Cage

“Wee one, it’s me,” Bran’s reassuring voice said in my ear.

I threw myself into his arms and hugged him. He grunted.

“Are you hurt?” I exclaimed.

He hugged me harder. “Not enough to not touch you. Christ, I’ve missed you.”

“What’s going on?” I looked around.

The main overhead lights had gone out, but a candle here and there were still lit. It gave the room enough light to see the way people were scurrying about.

“It’s the end of the world as they know it,” Bran murmured. “And the very reason I didn’t want you here.”

“You’re taking them down, tonight?” I squeaked.

Bran nodded. “Elio, too. He’s here somewhere. He’s got a guy to go through the computer and systems and find out where they make the drugs.”

“I can do that. We need to go upstairs to Regina and Archibald’s apartment. My brother can handle these people down here. You and me — we need to go for the head of the snake.”

Bran glanced over his shoulder. “Archibald was just here.”

“No, not him… it’s not him. It’s Regina. She’s the brains behind all of it. I’m pretty sure she has her husband on a strong, sophisticated version of Z Juice most of the time to make him her puppet.”

Bran swore. “I knew there was something off with that guy.”

A scream sounded from the end of the room where the doorway was. Men stood outlined in the light from the hall. They carried baseball bats and tire irons. A few had guns. They wore sharp black suits and hadPurge-style masks on. The leader cocked his head in my direction, and the movement was so familiar, I recognized him immediately from his cold confidence.

Only my brother could look so professionally terrifying.

“Don’t tell me you want to put these members through a test of their own?” I asked. “And you managed to convince my brother of this instead of coming in here and mowing people down with firearms? Elio loves his efficiency.”

The group of Elio’s mercenaries started into the crowd, hacking and smashing. Members screamed, running for their lives in their velvet robes.

Bran grinned. “The Hunters become the hunted. It’s poetic. Your brother was up for it, I barely had to twist his arm.”

“I see you’re already having a bad influence on him.” I grinned up at him. “Elio doesn’t have fun with things… ever, and then you come along.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment; since they are so few and far between, I have to take what I can get.”

“I’m glad you’re here. I’ve missed you so much. I need you,” I said in a breathless rush. “How’s that?”

Bran put a hand to his chest, smiling like it pained him. “Go easy on me, this wasted heart can only take so much.”

I stared at the ceiling, imagining Regina in her dark, creepy apartment, surrounded by her terrifying paintings, getting frustrated at watching her little puppets come off their strings.

“So, let’s go and destroy all of this, together… just like we set out to do.” I gave him a bloodthirsty grin.

He nodded, conviction gleaming in his gaze. “Let’s.”

The elevatoronly went up as high as the lobby. It was completely deserted when we stepped out, like two extras from a horror movie. I still had the cloak on and the mask slung around my neck on a cord, and Bran was shirtless and covered in blood.

With his muscles, tattoos, and intense expression, he really was a pillaging warrior, come to take vengeance.

We glanced around the lobby for people. There wasn’t any sign of life. The reception was as dead as ever, but the lights were on, unlike downstairs.

“I guess the basement is on a separate system than the rest of this place,” I muttered.

Bran nodded toward a security camera in the corner. It hung by a single wire. It looked like it had been shot down.

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