Page 103 of In the Light of Sin

Husk groaned, tattooed hand rubbing down the side of his face. Hex turned back to our targeted building, ignoring him. I was just thinking how mad Prez would be if I threw him through the window. V’s eyes shot to Tyrant as he snorted. “What’s your deal? You nearly got them killed last time you interacted with these assholes.”

Dunno why he said it like it was a bad thing. V wore that shit like a trophy. He loved the carnage his actions caused. He threw his bat up over his shoulder. “I can make sure you die.” He wasn’t joking. That devil of a man didn’t know what an idle threat was. He took a cloth out of his back pocket, polishing the rusty nail he scotch taped onto his baseball bat. The pointed end sticking out, ready to strike anyone.

Tyrant rolled his eyes at V’s words. His pale blue eyes turned back in on our target before grumbling, but he kept glancing at our unhinged brother every so often, knowing that V could snap at any second. “What kind of brotherhood is this.”

Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? Everything going on recently made me think this brotherhood Prez built was built on a cracked foundation. He wasn’t being truthful about shit, and his priorities were fucked, but he’d brush it off as a bias of what I had going on with Joslyn. I knew he didn’t trust her, even if the only thing he had against her was a shitty sister and a shittier past.

“This brotherhood gave us all a second chance.” Husk was bitter, full of regret and guilt. He hasn’t been the same man since Marilyn was taken… the circumstances of her kidnapping weren’t brought to light. Only Husk and Prez knew what the fuck happened that night.

“Much like a pussycat, I have nine lives.” Tyrant’s smile peered in the moonlight, his ice-colored eyes dimmed with the cascading shadows.

“You got two more,” Husk reminded him, instantly sobering Tyrant. Tyrant had a strike, something Prez dished out when a brother was out of line and needed to be humbled. You get two chances to fix yourself, but your third offense? The chains in Hellbound’s basement were for more than just our enemies.

“Yeah,” he croaked, eyes locking on the front window of the two-story house. He shifted on his feet, hands in his pockets, eyes far away, almost glowing under the shadow of the tree. His lips stretched up, showing off a canine. “Do you think Prez will let me wear a collar?”

I shook my head. The things that come out of that fuckers mouth. Husk’s lips flattened, shivering at the imagery of Tyrant with a collar on his knees—okay, need to think of Joslyn on her knees instead. Her nipples hardened with the ice cube during our sensory play the other day as her green eyes glossed over with the need for my cock to stretch her until it drowned with her cum. Blood rushed to my cock, the imagery of my girl enough to make me embarrass myself. Yeah, that worked. Worked too fucking well.

We needed to get this the fuck over with. I shifted my front half slightly, adjusting my jeans the best I could to not show my brothers my hard-on. I doubt they could see it, with the only light surrounding us being the moonlight. The house was still dark, and we were waiting for a sign of life.

“How’re things going with Jos?”

A simple question that had me growling. “None of your fuckin’ business.”

Tyrant held his hands up in defense. “Jesus, don’t want to fuck her. Just wonderin’, ya know? Since Grim was the one supposed to fuck her—”

He was up against the tree, my forearm pinning his airway as his brawny hands clawed my arms. Husk shouted my name, running towards me. I shot him a glare, stopping right before he reached me. He knew better than to touch me. I’d snap his body in two on the tree trunk I was about to kill Tyrant on.

Even if he wasn’t wrong. Shocked as fuck when I saw it was Joslyn on the screen when she was shown at church. My heart ripped to shreds when I heard about all the bad shit she’d done. I didn’t believe it. She was too fucking sweet to ever hurt a damn fly. She wouldn’t even put fly traps in our cabin. I was relieved when it was discovered she had a bitch of a twin sister, but that relief was short-lived when I found out how Jordyn was treating her… and what the plan was that involved Grim with Joslyn.

He was supposed to go to Poppy Oaks and sleep with Joslyn for information but got enchanted by Nyla instead. Thank fuck for that, or I would’ve fucking killed Grim. I was the one watching her, and I wasn’t as charming as Grim was, but I’d be fucking damned if he was going to be the one to corrupt her.

“She’s mine,” I emphasized, blood lightly trickling down my arm where he broke the skin. “She’s not your fuckin’ concern.”

“Need to let go of him, brother.” Husk’s voice of reason came in, but I was focused on crushing Tyrant’s throat. “He’s friends with Joslyn. Another guy who will put his life on the line if shit goes south. You want to take away someone willin’ to do that for your girl?”

I lessened the pressure, turning my head to look at Husk’s hard face. The dark circles and bags under his eyes didn’t go unnoticed. He didn’t sleep, too busy searching for Marilyn any chance he got. When he did sleep, it was full of nightmares of what-ifs.

That was enough of me to back away from Tyrant, thinking of my girl in Marilyn’s place.

“Do you guys always have to go straight to violence?” He coughed, voice raspy from lack of air. “She was telling me about her upcomin’ surgery, ya dick! Was just wonderin’ how she was feelin’ about it.”

“She’s nervous.” I glanced over to Hex, who was staring at us with disinterest. “She’s perfect the way she fuckin’ is. But it’s what she wants, so I support her.”

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” Tyrant grumbled, hand rubbing the red around his throat as he walked past me. “Y’all need to fuckin’ chill. I know you’re gettin’ laid, but I thought that was supposed to put you in a better mood. I guess y’all are fuckin’ inhuman.”

What a fucking child. All I did was pin his neck against the tree. He’s been through worse.

All heads snapped when the window illuminated, the five of us crouching to better hide ourselves. My eyes widened as I watched Jordyn go to the living room closet, opening up the safe expectantly. Four men walked in after her. All of them were tall and lanky, looking at her ardently. She turned slowly, fear overtaking her face as panic set in when she realized there was nothing left in the safe. I only knew because Joslyn and I took whatever was in there.

One of the men gripped her by her blonde hair, dragging her up. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes slammed shut painfully as her hands instinctively went to where he was handling her roughly. He tossed her to the side, crouching in the closet and picking up the small safe. He shook it, a last-ditch effort before it sank in that whatever was in there was gone. He threw the safe against the window, cracking the glass. He turned back to Jordyn, all four of them walking up to her aggressively. She pathetically put her hands in front of her face as a way to defend herself, but it didn’t stop the four of them from lifting their legs and delivering swift kicks to her.

Hex rushed past us, gun up as he shot through the window, hitting one of the men in the temple and shattering the window completely. He fell to his side, blood spewing from where the bullet impaled him as the rest of the group looked out the window, their faces sneering as they reached up and pointed their guns at us. The shattering of glass followed closely as our group ran out of view, charging towards the front door. One swift kick from Tyrant and the wooden door fell to the floor with a boom that shook the house and let everyone inside know their end was coming.

There were three more men in the living room, which V immediately rushed to, his bat in the air, swinging at the man charging our group, the rusty nail going into his eyeball before pulling it out and taking the organ with him. Husk pointed his gun at another man’s knee, blowing it off completely. He ran over, kicking him in the head as his screams were agonizing at missing half of his leg. The third one charged at me, and I braced myself for a fight, but it never came. A loud pop sounded before his body fell lifeless to the floor, small trickles of his blood spraying on my eyes as I looked to my right. A very serious-looking Tyrant eyed the dead man as the smoke was still pouring from the barrel of his gun.

He cocked his head in Jordyn’s direction. “Go.”

I bolted, not hearing anything. I passed the doorframe, face crunching as I looked at the scene in front of me. Hex, hands bloody in the middle of four bodies that circled him like a pentagram. My nose crinkled at seeing the hole in one of the man’s backs. It was too big for a gun… Jesus Christ, did he rip that guy’s heart out?

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