Page 10 of The Clash of the Damned
Needing no further prompting, I grab a gun in each of my hands and shoot at the hordes of humans trying to attack me. I lose sight of Ameliaas she disappears under a pile of humans trying to get to her. Panic courses through my veins as I keep shooting and reloading clips, trying to get to her. “Amelia!”
While the piercing sound has stopped, the deep thuds of gunshots echoing throughout the warehouse have replaced it. I increase the frequency of my shooting, trying to find a way through the onslaught of people to get to her, but just as I’ve made good progress, the bodies on the pile of humans start jumping like they’re being electrocuted. As I realize what’s happening, relief courses through me as my dear sister finally remembers she is a fucking Rogue with guns as she shoots her way out of the human body pile. When she surfaces, her tied up hair is now tangled in mats, and she is covered in blood and some other questionable substances.
“I’m going to fucking murder someone!” Amelia points over my shoulder again and asks, “I swear you just shot them?” Turning, I see she is right as some of the humans I thought I killed get up again. Knowing every shot I make is a kill, this shouldn’t be possible. From what I can see, everyone here is human.
“Is it just me, or should humans that are dying and reanimating make a bit more noise than what we’re hearing?” She is right. During our entire attack, there has been complete silence from the humans. No shouts of pain, exertion, nothing. We start shooting again to try to stem the tide of the humans that keep coming and won’t fucking die, until Amelia clips me in the neck with one of her shots. I holster one gun, and my free hand flies to my neck, trying to stem the flow of blood until my healing kicks in.
“You fucking shot me!”
“My bad. You’ll heal.”
She keeps reloading and shooting like me, but the humans are a never ending wave. “There’s too many! I’m also out of ammo.”
“Well do you have a better idea, sis?”
“Are you healing yet?” She peers at my neck, trying to get a better view of my injury. The tingling healing magic of the Rogue’s works on my neck, and I feel the blood loss slow.
“Almost as good as new.”
“Get ready to run when I say.”
She grabs what looks like an explosive from her hip–I have no idea where she got that from–and stops shooting to throw it at the center of the warehouse. Then, she shoots at the explosive, causing it to ignite.
“Run!”
Needing no further urging, I sprint the fastest I’ve ever pushed in my life. When we’re clear of the warehouse, an explosion rocks through it–a Rogue couldn’t survive it, so freaky human things shouldn’t be able to either. Amelia and I keep sprinting, wanting to get away from this failed clean up as we race to the car. But in between breaths, Amelia can’t help getting the last word. “Well we helped Gabe alright. He just didn’t specify that anything should be left afterwards.”
Chapter 8 | The Prodigal Son
Sebastian
The drive home is silent as the events from the warehouse haunt us. When the gates to the Vance Estate automatically open, I’m rendered speechless at what’s waiting for us. “Tell me, brother, is it normal to come home after a night like ours, to find the driveway full of company that neither of us invited while we were out?” My mind races as I determine what we’re walking into. The Rogue’s aren’t exactly popular after the sit down, and like Amelia said, we’ve both been out. Except…can this be? My parents are dead, and the last time the house looked like this…was during one of theirparties.
The gravel crunches under the car wheels as the beams light our way as we near our home. The trees lining the long driveway sway gently in the wind, like some kind of ghostly welcoming parade. The closer we get to the estate, the more clear it becomes just how many cars have parked in front of our home. “Back in the day, my parents used to have sex parties. Not only did it make them very popular amongst the community, but it was great for gathering blackmail material for our empire.”
“Please don’t tell me she made you take part?”
Not an unreasonable thing to ask considering my late mother’s reputation. I think back to the night I had to break up with Jude and how close it came. “No, she kept me in line with the idea of it.”
Even in the darkness, I can see Amelia’s jaw clench with anger. “I’ve never been more glad that bitch is dead. I would kill her one hundred times if I could for what she did to you.”
When we get out of the car, we hear thumping music, which confirms my suspicions, and when we walk through the entrance of the Vance Estate, we’re greeted with the sight of several writhing and moaning, naked bodies. Amelia’s head tilts to the side as she tries to work out what they’re doing. “I’m impressed, really. That takes a lot of flexibility. More than I have anyway.” Footsteps echo through the entrance, and Logan appears in her pink nightgown, completely out of place, her blond hair in a bun and cheeks red. She has always hated the sex parties and stayed in her room for their duration. Seeing our appearance, she launches into her reprimand as we ignore the party goers around us.
“What the hell happened? It was supposed to be a run of the mill clean up!” I was about to ask her the same thing, but she ignores me and clucks over Amelia.
“I’m obviously fine. Thanks for asking.” Logan swats me away. We both know she cares about me too, but the truth neither of us want to admit is we don’t know when Amelia last had someone that cared about whether she lived or died. There was Luca, sure, but after the sit down…we’re all she has.
Logan stops her fussing to return her attention to me. “We can thank your brother for this evening’s festivities. He called it a welcome homeparty. He has questions, naturally.” While I was prepared for him to come back at some stage, this was the last night I needed him here. “He’s in your mother’s study.” She turns back to Amelia and lifts her chin, inspecting her. “For now, it’s best you stay out of sight while Sebastian deals with this. Clark is agitated, and I would prefer you don’t get caught in the middle of a brotherly disagreement.”
I withhold my snort. What Clark and I do is much more than disagree; the last fight we had demolished one of the estate rooms, but I get Logan’s point. Amelia needs us to protect her now more than ever. The rest of her family failed her, and we don’t need to do the same. I don’t miss the subtle threat of him being in Mom’s study. While Clark and I haven’t been close in a long time, there is a very real possibility that I may need to fight him for leadership of the Rogue empire tonight.
I peek my head through the main living room, where most of the festivities seem to be taking place. I’m assaulted by the sweet fragrance of what I’ve come to know as a combination of lube and body oil. A sex swing is set up using one of the bannisters, and one woman plows into another with her strap-on. I’m pretty sure I see the police commissioner wearing a ball gag and choker as the crack of a woman’s whip echoes throughout the moans. The newly elected DA finishes loudly inside of one woman before he moves to a man and starts sucking him off. Both excellent blackmail opportunities if we need them. There is no holding back. We’re all hiding a monster within, and here, our guests can let them out.
When I get to Mom’s study, I pause outside the door. In the past, I would have waited for her permission to enter, but now I walk in like I own the place, because well, I do. The dread I felt before no longer rears its head. The bitch is dead, and she can never hurt me or anyone I love, ever again.I enter to find Clark thumbing through some papers, brow furrowed in concentration. The shadow on his jaw and under his eyes tells me he has come straight from an extended flight. “The prodigal son returns,” I say, walking over to the mini bar to pour us both a drink.
Clark sets his papers down and glares at me. “You know how the empires work, brother, and how power is determined. Money. While we have a lot of it, we’re dangerously close to being the least powerful empire after that stunt you pulled at the sit down.”
I hand him his drink. “Who told you?”
