Page 58 of Knot Shattered
“You alright?” I asked, my voice low.
She smirked. “Better now. He tried to touch me.”
I looked down at the body. Then back at her. “He’s lucky that’s all you did.”
“She also kicked him in the balls,” Violet chimed in, stretching lazily.
Fallon glanced around, then back to the boys. “So... are we grounded?”
Fox crossed his arms. “You’re lucky we don’t lock you three up ourselves.”
Voss and Haze strolled up behind us then, as casual as if the hall wasn’t covered in gore. Haze was still whistling, a suspicious backpack slung over one shoulder.
“What did we miss?” Haze asked innocently.
The girls lost it again, laughing hard enough that tears started streaming down their faces.
Salem
October 28th
4:14 A.M
Malik stumbled backward, his shoulder blades hitting the concrete wall with an echoing thud. His eyes darted between the three of us, wide and frantic, slick with desperation. The bitter tang of fear radiated off him, thickening the air around us. He looked exactly like what he was—a coward who’d run out of room to hide.
Kingston advanced first, moving with chilling deliberation. His expression was carefully blank, the kind of calm you only saw before something very bloody happened. Beside him, Dare flexed his knuckles slowly, deliberately, thesound sharp and threatening in the quiet room. Malik flinched at each pop, eyes flickering desperately between Dare and the cold, unforgiving stare of Kingston Rosetti.
I stood centered between them, arms crossed, my face devoid of any warmth or sympathy. Malik’s gaze landed on me briefly, pleading, but I let him see nothing but quiet judgment. He wasn’t worth the mercy he so desperately craved.
“Start talking,” Kingston said, his voice low and deadly. Each word was precise, cold steel beneath velvet. “Who else is left, Malik?”
“I-I don’t—” Malik began, stammering weakly, “I swear, I have no idea what you—”
His words cut off with a strangled choke as Dare lunged forward, seizing him by the collar and slamming him back hard against the wall. Dust rattled loose from above, drifting lazily through the air as Dare leaned in, one thick forearm pressed hard against Malik’s throat. Malik clawed uselessly at the muscled arm, crushing his windpipe, his feet barely brushing the ground.
“Wrong answer,” I said softly, stepping closer, keeping my voice steady and controlled. “Try again.”
Malik’s eyes bugged out slightly, red-rimmed, panicked. He struggled to draw breath, frantically tapping Dare’s arm as he sputtered, “Please—please! Okay, okay, I’ll tell you whatever you want, just don’t—don’t kill me!”
Dare eased the pressure just enough to let Malik breathe, though his grip remained unyielding. Malik gasped, chest heaving, desperation pouring from him in ragged breaths.
“There’s—there’s a list!” Malik croaked hoarsely. “All the buyers, the regular customers—the investors! I kept it, okay? It’sencrypted, but it’s real, I swear! Just let me down, I’ll give it to you. Please!”
Kingston stared impassively, unflinching and unimpressed. “You’re stalling. Stop wasting our fucking time.”
Malik’s breathing quickened even more. He twisted wildly in Dare’s grip, trembling hands raised defensively. “That’s it, I swear! You already took out everyone else! You wiped Mercury Holdings off the map. All the fight rings, the suppliers—they’re gone. I’m all that’s left, I promise!”
Silence pressed heavy between us for a second, louder than Malik’s ragged breathing, heavier than his panicked whimpers. I stepped forward, narrowing my eyes skeptically. “You really expect us to believe we dismantled an entire fucking network in one week?”
Malik shook his head wildly, eyes bulging. “No! No, it wasn’t you completely. It was your omegas. They…” he shuddered visibly, fear flickering behind his eyes, “they tore through half the facility before you even arrived. Buyers, guards, patrons. No one was left untouched. Fucking monsters—your omegas are insane! They left nothing but bodies behind.”
Dare chuckled darkly, leaning in closer. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Kingston didn’t smile, but a faint, cold satisfaction flashed through his eyes. “Give us the list. Now.”
Malik scrambled immediately, hands shaking violently as he fumbled inside his jacket. He nearly dropped the small USB drive onto the grimy floor before Dare snatched it from his grasp and handed it to me. I turned it slowly between my fingers, studying Malik’s face. He was pale, trembling, and utterly defeated.
Well, damn. The bastard was actually telling the truth.
