Page 59 of Santiago's Conquest (Four Dark Horsemen 1)

“Enough, Santiago, enough!” Florian screams in my ears, wrapping his arm around me and keeping me away from Remi while Octavius does the same to him, both of us standing opposite each other and breathing heavily. Blood drips from his forehead to his lips, bruises already forming under his eye and nose.

I imagine I don’t look much better, yet it still doesn’t feed the monster in me who wants more flesh to feast on, to rip him apart for bringing up the concept of eternal love.

Life deprived me of it the minute those fuckers….

“Let me go.” I order, but Florian doesn’t listen to me.

“Not until both of you calm down.”

Remi twists in Octavius’s arms, but then exhales heavily, resignation crossing his face before he quietly asks, “Please, let me go. I’m fine. I’m not going to do anything.” Octavius waits for a second as if contemplating his words and nods, stepping back, and Remi adjusts his shirt, wiping away the blood, and points a finger at me. “You’ve got issues.”

Florian finally lets go, and I step closer to Remi, smirking. “Yeah, so do you.” We watch one another for a second before we hug, slapping each other on the back, and he whispers, “It’s important to me.”

“Yeah, I know.”

If soul mates of friendship exist in this world, then mine is Remi. Although we’re a tight group of four, he’s my best friend, the second half of my soul. He’s the calm to my storm, a hopeless romantic when I’m a cynical asshole and a barbarian to my sophisticated charms. We couldn’t have been more different if we tried, yet in this whole world, I don’t trust anyone more.

“Write the law,” I say as we lean back, and he hangs his arm over my shoulder, instructing Octavius who is back on his chair, the feather in hand dripping ink onto the parchment.

“If one of the Four Dark Horsemen claims a woman as his bride, she becomes one of us.” The feather scratches against the paper while Remi continues. “She has our loyalty and protection.”

Florian pours himself whiskey, dropping ice cubes in the glass and rattling it loudly to bring our attention to him. “Hold it. What if she ends up being a two-timing bitch undeserving of the trust?”

Ah, Florian, my favorite pessimist.

“Considering who stands on the other side…” Octavius trails off and stops writing. “We end her.”

“Not without a vote,” Remi warns, already in protective mood.

With our nods, we wait till Octavius finishes and slice our palms one by one, sealing our oaths with blood.

Remi asks me again, “So who is she, Santiago? A bride we accept and protect… or bait?”

The black car pulling up by the church interrupts us, the headlights trying to fucking blind us, and when it stops, Jimena hops out, her heels clicking on the concrete as she runs toward me, hugging me and raising on her tiptoes to give me a soft kiss on the cheek. “Hola, hermano.”

“Hola.”

She hooks her arm into mine and grins at me, once again reminding me how much she looks like our mother. The girl owned my dark soul the minute I met her, her blue eyes gazing at me with wonder and curiosity, and right then, I know one thing.

I might never be able to truly love her, for she came into my life after my hell, but I’d protect her till my last breath, surrounding her with luxuries and whatever she wishes.

Her innocence and trust in the world… I want no one and nothing to ever shake that, because Jimena is my saving grace.

My little hermana became a ray of sunshine for my parents when they needed it the most. The glue holding up our family that could have been destroyed by grief that shook it unexpectedly.

If anyone so much as hurts her… I’ll end them.

“Dónde esta mi novia?” Although informing Jimena about my upcoming marriage wasn’t exactly part of the plan, I needed our love story to be believable for my parents, and only Dad’s fucking ring would do the trick.

I don’t doubt Briseis spilled the whole truth to her.

Jimena points at the car door opening from the other side. I hear soft heels on the ground and the ruffling of the dress before Briseis walks around, and the light showcases the gorgeousness that’s her in full view.

For the first time in my fucked-up life, I’m speechless, drinking in the beautiful vision in white, a seductive siren who has the power to lure all the men nearby. They’d follow her blindly, not even understanding they were going to their death.

No, not because my Briseis would do something to them or suddenly turn into a beast who seeks the flesh of her victims.

My bride is incapable of such emotions.

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