Page 1 of Eternally Bound

Prologue

Daniel - Twelve Years Ago

Iwatched them burn, my stomach twisting with revulsion. The stench was overwhelming; the screams pierced my ears, but worst of all was the gleam in my cousin’s eyes. He stared at the men with a maniacal grin on his face and fascination in his eyes.

More than anything, I wanted to walk away, never look back, but I couldn’t. Not right now, but I had a plan. For now, my eyes remained glued to the gruesome scene.

I stared with a cold mask on my face. To show emotion would be a weakness, a destruction to everyone I held dear. My cousin loved to exploit people’s weaknesses or the ones they loved. Because that motherfucker had no concept of love nor compassion. Their screams echoed in the breeze as the flames grew, licking along the wood piled beneath them.

The enemy, my uncle had said. Hector Carrington has been the head of our family’s crime business for the past thirty years. Before him, it was my grandfather who started it all from nothing. A poor Welshman that for the first half of his life went hungry more often than not. At one point, he had enough and turned to crime. It filled his belly and his bank account; he never looked back. My father was Uncle’s right hand man, until his untimely death. Those happened quite often in our world.

The two men burning had refused to pay my uncle and wanted no part of theprotectionhis London mafia offered. I’d say give the fucking men a medal, not kill them. It meant they were smart. Who in their right mind wanted to be part of this shit?

Yet, here they were being burned to death.

Even at twenty-two, I didn’t fucking understand. I never would. It was pointless, cruel, and sick. I didn’t claim I was completely right in the head, but this was beyond sick even for me. Growing up in the mafia, killings and cruelty became part of the normal for me. You fucked with me, you paid the price. But there was a line that I refused to cross. Till now, when I watched these innocent men burn to death.

Up to this point, I haven’t been responsible, at least not directly, for a single innocent death. Now, my hands were tainted with the blood of these two men. The stench deep in my nostrils, I knew this stain would never wash away. The suit couldn’t hide the sins I had committed.

I should have set a plan in motion months ago to get away from my uncle and cousin. My cousin, Hugo, has been becoming more violent each day. The conversation with Maxim from last week played in my mind.

“Jesus, Daniel,” Maxim scolded with worry in his eyes. “You look like shit!”

He would look like shit too if he had seen what I had seen. My cousin decided that day he’d cut up a gang member piece by fucking piece. Each finger, his ears, nose… it was gruesome. Hugo was psychotic. Before meeting with my best friend, I took a shower, changed out of my signature black clothing I wore when doing work for the mafia, and I still felt tainted.

“Hard day,” I muttered.

Maxim knew more than most of what I went through. But that barely even scratched the surface. The truth was that my family was sick as fuck, and I feared becoming twisted and dark just as they had.

“I’m joining the military.” His announcement caught me off guard. My eyes snapped to him, the earlier horror shoved into a deep, dark corner of my mind. One day I’d deal with it. Not today though!

“Why?” I questioned him.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I want to make a difference. Want to get away from Alexander. Show all of fucking London that my bloody last name doesn’t define me.”

The Caldwells were rich as fuck, but there was a stain on their last name. Thanks to their father. Just as my family stained my last name, and my fucking soul.

“Then I’m joining too,” I declared. “You need someone to watch your ass.”

He scoffed.

“If I remember right, it was me that saved your ass.” His reminder of our last year of high school when a bunch of prissy pricks decided to gang up and fight ten on one. Guess who was the one?

“Once,” I reminded him. “I saved your ass multiple times.”

As I thought back to my best friend pensively, the need to get away from it all, as if my life depended on it, grew stronger. I would never be the normal guy or the guy next door. But maybe even with a fucked up family like mine, I could make a difference. A variety of emotions simmered through my veins, and the strongest was the anger alongwith the bitter taste of ash on my tongue the mafia left.It wasn’t good. Unless I changed something, I’d drown in anger, bitterness, and hate. I didn’t want to become like my family.

The flames grew higher and stronger, feeding off the oxygen and flesh. The heat from the flames licked at my skin, but I didn’t move. I craved the end of this life. Even with the glimmer of light I had found in this darkness, my red-haired beauty, I knew it couldn't last.

My mind desperately looked for an escape in memories of the young woman that I wanted. That I fell for. That could never be mine. A high-pitched scream pulled me from my thoughts and I’d had it.

The relief was short lived because this scene was impossible to escape, the flames flaring and screams piercing my ears. I pulled the gun out of my holster and shot both men, relieving them of their misery. The least I owed them was a quick death.

My uncle and cousin grumbled their dissatisfaction, but I ignored them. Tomorrow they wouldn’t matter. I’d be on another continent. Except they didn’t know that. I’d send a postcard on my way out. I sure as fuck wouldn’t miss them.

The only human I would miss would beher.

My young, innocent singing bird. What would she say if she saw me now? What would she think? Ainslee was the only good thing in my life.Today, I would set her free, but I’d hold on to the memory of her for the rest of my life.

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