Page 4 of Like Grim Death: Part One
I grind my teeth as I scuff one gray, high-top sneaker over the thin strip of red velvet lining the bottom of the railings.
“Why?” I know the answer, more or less, so I’m not entirely surprised when he responds.
“Because you’re going to fix it.”Because you never prove your worth.
You’re not valuable here.
I’m embarrassedyouare my son.
You’re not ruthless like Lucifer. Angry like Maverick. Cain is a machine. Even Ezra, for all of his fuck-ups, has a magnetism you don’t possess.
Words echoing in my head, spoken to me many times before. Andthisis how I become something.Thisis how I prove I belong.
I close my eyes and take a breath. In my mind, I see two girls.
The first is Ella Christian. Red hair. Freckles. Green eyes. Curves.
Submissive.
My chest tightens because when I picture her in my head, I have the phantom taste of blood in my mouth.
I feel Maverick’s fist against my face. The edge of the merry-go-round digging into my spine. I’ve always had problems with circles, including this hole in the fucking floor.
Lover’s Death all those years ago was no exception.
I had a busted blood vessel in my eye for two weeks. Maverick broke my canine tooth. Even now, as I run my tongue over it, I feel the jagged layer left from the piece gone missing. Somewhere in Raven Park. Probably still there with darker secrets and bigger bones. Maybe in eight weeks’ time, I’ll find it again.
The second girl is Sid Malikova. Silver eyes. A stormy darkness around her small frame. I never knew such bitter violence could come in someone so tiny. And behind her, always looming, is Lucifer. He willneverlet someone get their hands on her again. It wouldn’t matter whatshewanted. He can’t breathe without her. I wish I could think him pathetic for it, but Natalie’s laughter echoes in my head, silencing any feelings of smugness I might have over Lucifer.
“How?” I don’t bother hiding my irritation when I question my father. I don’t open my eyes either. Instead, I finger the rosary in my left pocket, the cool metal between the beads grounding me here to this moment.
“Maverick is volatile.” Dad speaks with a fondness in those words. He was never a fan of Maddox Astor, and I think he appreciates his son loathed him in life too. Their version of brotherhood never had layers of love buried underneath like the Unsaints. “Lucifer can be used as leverage. Do whatever it takes. MakeMaverickdo it if you have to.”
My eyes snap open as I stare across the abyss at my dad. His hands are in the pockets of his tailored black pants, his eyes on me. “He won’t,” I inform him. He might hurt them in other ways. Maybe make them wish they were dead. But he would never end their lives.
He loves both of them far too fiercely. It’s obvious to everyone but the people who need to see it.
“At the very least…” My father’s jaw clenches as his turquoise eyes narrow. I’m taller than he is now by a few inches, yet I get the distinct feeling he’s always looking down on me. “Ensure he doesn’t mournherabsence. Sid can be dealt with in other ways. She is not your priority. But Ellais.”
Without another word, he turns his back to me. But before he steps down the narrow, dark hallway just beyond the abyss, he speaks again. “Clear your schedule for this evening. We’re leaving soon. There’s someone you haven’t met yet at Shadow Villa…” He laughs, a low, wicked sound. “But tonight, you will.”
Shadow Villa.
Located in Acid City, Virginia, on Snake Street.
A land of broken statues.
A barren circle in the woods.
A massive building on property I believe my father owns, but truthfully, I’m not sure. Someone else lives there occasionally, someone in the film industry. I know crews swarm it for footage every now and then, but I’ve never been told what for, nor have I asked.
My memories of that place are fractured nightmares.
But nothing too bad happened to me there. I might not remember it, but I know I got the scars on my skull inthishouse. I was blessed with blackness on those nights, recalling nothing of the terror I guess I felt.
But at Shadow Villa I saw what happened to Lucifer. And I think I’m the only one who did. I had snuck out that night because I never really fit in with my brothers. I ran into the woods for solace, a whispered memory of a safe place on an island, and instead I found horror.
I’m not even sure if Lucifer remembers it. He was the one to lead us. He was his father’s son. It’s why it happened tohim,and none of the rest of us.
