Page 33 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

And I can’t wait to watch them all burn.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dex

Taking a deep breath, I roll my shoulders and release the pent-up oxygen through my mouth. It about killed me to leave Regina all by herself in a room full of human traffickers, but I needed to cover all my bases, which includes a certain nemesis who has no idea what’s coming to him.

When I see Sei round the corner from the front door with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, I raise my arm and motion him to come closer. I assume he’s just finished greeting Kingston and Ace, which means it’s time.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asks, lifting his chin while remaining completely oblivious to the fact that his world is about to get rocked. It’s always amazed me that he can be so conniving, yet so blind at the same time. He knows that I’m likely still pissed about him touching Regina, but he also thinks he’s protected. Hell, he thinks he’s a god. That he’s untouchable. He’s in for a rude awakening.

“There’s been a change of plans,” I explain, keeping my voice even.

“And what’s that?”

Taking another casual step closer while confirming that we’re very much alone in the empty hallway, I keep my hand at my side and flick off the lid on the syringe that’s filled with a homemade concoction meant to bring down a gorilla.

Sei notices the minor movement, and his brows pull together in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

Clearing my throat, I explain, “I grew a conscience.”

Sei’s eyes widen in shock as I lift my arm to strike, but he dodges my move at the last instant, and the syringe only finds air. Turning around, I’m sucker-punched in the kidney, followed by a swift kick to my arm that makes me lose my grip on the needle. The syringe flies through the air before skidding across the ground.

I snap my attention back to Sei, making sure to keep my front to him as we slowly start to circle each other. The familiarity reminds me of all our times in the ring during our hours off before Regina came into my care and consumed me completely.

My mouth quirks up on one side. “Scared, Sei?”

Growling, he lunges forward. I counter the move by stepping to the side, landing a swift uppercut he never sees coming. When my fist connects with his jaw, his head swings to the side followed by a spray of crimson saliva, and shit, it feels good. Sei shakes off my punch then ducks low, ramming his shoulder into my stomach.

With a huff, I stumble a few steps before wrapping my arm around his neck and shoving my knee into his ribcage. Floundering, Sei lets me out of his hold, bends down, and reaches for the knife he keeps strapped to his ankle. But I know him too well. Reading his intentions, I kick him in the face, and he drops to the ground like a bag of bricks.

“You can’t fight this, Sei. Burlone’s time is up. He needs to be dethroned from his screwed-up empire, and you need to be put down too.”

Spitting a mouth full of blood, Sei slowly gets to his knees. “Go to hell, Dex. What makes you think you can take down Burlone?”

I shrug off his question and reach for his knife that had skidded across the marble flooring before squatting low and getting in Sei’s face. “There’s a new king in town. One that has morals I can align with.”

Scoffing, Sei mutters, “Of course, you did. You’ve always been a little bitch with family issues, Dex. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you crumbled under Burlone’s reign and decided to run to brother dearest for help. But what’s that saying? Once a traitor, always a traitor?”

I clench my jaw. “Shut the hell up, Sei.”

“Make me,” he growls, completely disregarding the knife that hovers a few inches from his face.

With a shake of my head and a flick of my wrist, I slice a three-inch gash from his diamond tattoo below his eye down to his jaw.

As he grabs his cheek in agony, I tsk, “Don’t test me, Sei. I might have a soft spot for innocent women, but I’m not afraid to remove every inch of skin from your body.”

Slowly, Sei drops his hand from his cheek and peers up at me with so much hate, I’m surprised I’m still standing. “You gonna kill me, Dex? We might not be blood, but we were raised together. You’d throw that away?”

“In a heartbeat,” I laugh. “Now get up, and get in the closet, and don’t try anything, or I’ll make that pretty little gash on your face look like a paper cut.”

For once in his life, Sei listens and pushes himself up from the ground with his hands raised in the air. Apparently, he does have a sense of self-preservation. I watch as the blood drips down his cheek and off his chin in rivulets. Tilting my head to a small coat closet, Sei turns on his heel and gives me his back before plopping into the chair I’d placed there earlier. I take a moment to pick up the unused syringe then follow him inside.

“You gonna cuff me or kill me?” he asks, though he looks indifferent either way.

With a shrug, I offer, “Maybe both,” before lunging forward and driving the needle into his neck, plunging the concoction into his veins. I watch in fascination as his eyes roll back, and his head lolls forward.

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