Page 25 of King of the Cage

“Steady there,” Dec muttered, topping up my glass.

Outside the stained-glass windows, dawn crept across the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.

“You, too.” I raised an eyebrow at the sight of him downing an extra shot.

He shrugged. “If you don’t drink when you hear about shit like tonight, when do you?”

I knocked my shot glass against his. “Too fucking right.Sláinte.”

“Isn’t it too early in the morning to be getting wrecked, you degenerates?” a deep, hoarse voice called.

Colm O’Connor, patriarch of the family, was wheeled into the pub, flanked by his usual circle of yes-men. Where my da had always been strong as an ox and filled with a deadly cunning, these days, he was a shadow of himself. Now, there was the oxygen tank beside him, and the heavy plaid blanket over his knees, and the damn illness that was eating away at his strength. He still showed his face, of course, to prove to the men that he still held total control of the family. I knew it cost him to appear so weak and frail, but he did it anyway. My da had been born a hard man, and he’d die one.

“It’s been a long night,” I told him, standing and following him to his favorite booth.

Dec lounged against the wall beside us, while Da’s men made themselves comfortable at the bar. If it was odd to be having a family meeting at five a.m., no one showed it.

“So, what happened with your sister?” Da jumped right into it.

“She was drugged at a party. Ion got her out in time before anything happened to her.”

Da’s eyes narrowed at me. “And you were…?”

“Busy,” I stated flatly, guilt licking at me.Busy eating premium-grade cunt belonging to our rivals and neglecting my fucking responsibilities.Nothing I was about to admit to. Despite my best intentions and a lifetime full of living up to my da’s low expectations of me, his disappointment could still cut deep. Luckily, having daddy issues was always in style.

Da narrowed his rheumy eyes at me and sighed. I knew that sigh. It held my sum worth as a person.

“You know who did it?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Not yet. I have enough to go on, though. Some new guys, Ion had never seen them before. Not your usual, apparently. The drugs were in liquid form, and they had them in little branded bottles, handing them out to like-minded guys like sponsored merch at a trade show.” Out of my pocket, I fished the small vial Ion had managed to swipe as he’d taken Quinn out of there. I placed it on the bar top.

The little bottle was clear plastic and even had a logo stamped on the front. I hadn’t been kidding about the professional look of the stuff.

“I don’t know this mark,” Da said, fingering the bottle, sliding his thumb over the logo.

“Me neither, but I will. I’ll find out who makes it, who distributes it, and who gave it to Quinn.”

Da nodded. “Is she hurt?”

“Only her pride.”

Da smirked. “What’s it do?” He put the bottle down.

A vague sick feeling of disgust coated my mouth as I told him what Ion had told me. “Apparently it’s not like anything we’ve seen before… it takes away free will.” I had to force the words past my lips.

Da’s eyes jumped to mine. “Come again?”

“Ion said that when he found Quinn, she was sitting, staring at a wall. A whole row of women were doing the same. They were highly… biddable,” I spat.

Da’s fist curved into a ball. “They made your sister do something she didn’t want to?”

“I don’t think so. Ion caught up pretty quickly. Quinn doesn’t remember. This fucking shit causes some kind of memory loss. The last thing she knows for sure was over three weeks ago.”

Da’s forehead furrowed, and he shook his head. “Just when you think the world can’t get any more lost… something new comes along and proves you wrong.”

I was quiet, letting him process what had nearly happened.

“We need to stop this shit,” I spoke when he sighed.

---