Page 23 of Unveil
Bart cracks his knuckles. “Three against one doesn’t seem fair, but ifyouinsist?—”
Two sets of heavy footfalls sound behind me. I canfeelHatch’s maniacal grin and Dash’s cold gaze as they come to back me up. Their blue and gold masks clatter to the ground.
“If you think I came alone,” I shake my head, “you Wildes are dumber than I thought.”
“Nah, we figured you’d be too much of a coward to face us yourself. The King Fury kin ain’t got no spine. Y’all should justrun off to the coast like the rest of you,” Bart muses, tapping his scruffy chin. “Speaking of, how’s your cousins? Heard the boy’s gonna be going to that school of y’all’s. And the girl…” He grins. “Well, I heard she’s growing up nice and pretty.”
“Shut up, you sick fuck,” I snap.
He shrugs. “Think she’ll take after her older sister? You know the one, Zy.”
“Barty,” he warns, hands clenched. “I swear to God?—”
“Just like Wilde trash to have infighting. Not surprising, though. You’ve already got inbree—” Hatch cackles. “Well, you know.”
“Speak for yourselves,” Rufus spits. “Don’t act like that guy who got offed for raping and murdering one of ours had all his teeth. It’s a wonder y’all ain’t killed yourselves off yet.”
It’s a wonder we haven’tallkilled ourselves off.
Enemies are closing in from all sides, especially with tensions flaring again. A spark from up North reignited it all, leaving a Wilde mother murdered, her Fury attacker dead, and her son sentenced to life. I don’t blame the kid, but now every family is pointing fingers, and the fallout keeps yanking us into the fray too.
Bart’s smile widens. “You know what, Rufus? I don’t think they know how much we got in common. Sounds like they have no idea what’s going on up in their family tree.”
In my periphery, I check my brothers’ expressions to see if they know what he’s talking about, but they’re as unreadable as I am.
Rufus snickers. “Too bad your momma fucked up sacrificing herself for you three. Or at least, that’s how Daddy tells it. He says he sleeps like a baby dreaming about her screams and the crackling of that fire.”
“The fuck did you say?” Hatch bursts forward, only caught by Dash with an arm across his chest.
“You heard him.” Bart juts his chin at me. “He said your crossbow did fuck all that day. You even let two Wildes get away.”
“And took one out,” I snarl.
“Enough,” Dash snaps. “With our histories, we’ll run our mouths to death.” He and Hatch flank me, mirroring the Wilde cousins beside Ozias. “This is between Orion and Ozias. If we’re doing this, we go by Devil’s Mountain rules. One-on-one fights only.”
The words grate out of him like he regrets having to say them. He wants blood too. None of us are safe until the Wildes are put in their place, and he and Hatch have as much riding on this as I do.
Rufus pops his neck and all three draw blades that gleam in the alley’s dim streetlamp.
Bart smirks. “Only problem there is we didn’t go to that fancy-ass school.”
“Yeah?” Hatch chuckles, nodding at me. “Neither did we.”
A crack echoes against the brick as Hatch sucker punches Rufus, snapping his head back.
The storm breaks.
Dash and I collide with Bart and Ozias, fists and knives swinging. My blade slices a shallow line down Ozias’s chest. He nicks my arm, but I barely feel it past the rush.
It’s a brutal dance, Hatch and Dash in tandem against the Wilde cousins, me with Ozias. We’re evenly matched, but Bart still somehow manages to run his mouth.
“Once we’re done here, we’re taking her with us. She won’t even put up a fight.”
“The fuck’s that supposed to mean?” I growl over my shoulder.
“Let’s just say I know how to loosen her up.”
Ozias and I both hesitate before he turns on his cousin. “And what the hell doesthatmean?”
