Chapter Fourteen （Hunt Halls）

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (HUNT HALLS)

GONZO

The nurses shuffled on their nightly duty, their hands touching the doorknobs before falling away. The doors weren't locked for the first time ever. Something big was going down tonight. Something I'd personally orchestrated.

What could I say? I was a schemer. Here was one of my schemes.

Hazel was looking dangerous. The air around her was different. She was focused and ready for a fight. This was the same Hazel I saw stand up in the day room at breakfast last week and goad some of the worst monsters at Verfallen into a fight. This was the Red Viper assassin. For a moment, I thought I saw flames in her eyes.

"Ready?" I asked. A devious smile spread over her face.

"I can't wait." I didn't doubt her at all. I dropped to my knees and shoved a pin into the door. It was unlocked already but Hazel didn't know that. I didn't want her to know everything about tonight. Surprises were fun .

She was impatient, bouncing on her feet. Hazel was dying for some violence.

"When's the last time you killed someone?" I asked with humor.

"Two days ago. Too fucking long." Sometimes, Hazel scared the shit out of me. Scratch that, she always scared the shit out of me.

Whenever I pulled her into my arms I felt like one of those religious fanatics who played with deadly serpents. The terror was addicting. Any moment she could kill me for the simple reason that it was her nature. When instead, she let me hold her, pet her, grind between her legs and feel blood rush to my cock… it was almost a holy experience.

I shouldn't be fucking with her. Fuck, I knew I shouldn't but I was obsessed with the high it gave me. It was disappointing that she had to die.

I performed useless movements with the pin before I pushed the door open. When it creaked, a giggle echoed from deep in the hall.

"Ominous," I said with a smile, waving Hazel to the opening. I let out a breath before I stepped out after her. I always knew Verfallen wouldn't be easy but the asylum was my only route to freedom. The tightrope I was balancing on was getting thinner and thinner.

Tonight, if Hazel didn't die, I wasn't sure I'd make it out of here alive. One little slip and all the dominos would come crashing down.

I was the second name on Hazel Fury's hit list. The one she'd circled three times, added exclamation points to, and scribbled a few gory ideas for. Not even her brother got that treatment. She fucking hated me and if she ever found out whose arms she'd been whimpering in, she'd destroy me beyond comprehension.

Who knows what I'd been thinking when suddenly, I had the bright idea to kiss her. She was just so… dangerous and beautiful. It was like crack for a man who was always seeking the next thrill. Nothing compared to her. I could live off her trembling and soft moans. Gorgeous didn't cover it. Thrilling didn't cover it. Divine… yeah, that was the one.

Hazel Fury was divine and at this point, it was driving me mad with yearning.

Celibate— just my luck . Maybe if I'd just been able to fuck her that first day this yearning wouldn't have taken hold of me. Stein was right—it did look like I either wanted to die or at the least, get punished.

But, I wanted to live more than I wanted Hazel Fury. Such a shame, princess. If only you didn't want to rearrange my insides into soup, we could have had something.

Hazel and I moved into the hall. I looked into the cavernous stretch where the laugh came from. My neck itched where Bree's fangs had sunk into me the last time. All the other doors were still closed, waiting for the right time.

"I was hoping to taste you again." Bree's voice was close. Two eyes popped open in the darkness, watching me. "I've never tasted a shifter quite like you." Her body blended with the shadows. My eyes flicked to Hazel but she gave no reaction to Bree's words. Why would she? She didn't know I wasn't a normal shifter. That I was something with more magic in my bones.

That I was the fox she was looking for.

"I'm only here to offer an introduction—not dinner," I said, stepping aside. Hazel stood with her boots shoulder-width apart in a solid stance. I knew what a fighter looked like when prepared to go toe-to-toe and she was it. Body loose but stable, attention focused, and mind sharp as a blade. She was poised and ready to kill.

"You must be Bree," Hazel said. "My brother's keeper." Bree's breath became ragged with anger. She did not like Hazel.

"And you must be Hazel." Bree stepped forward, emerging from the darkness. The similarities between Hazel and Bree were uncanny—the long red hair, the pale skin—but standing side by side, the differences were obvious. Hazel stood almost half a foot taller than Bree and her eyes were vicious compared to the round faux innocence of Bree's.

Bree's hair was a solid blood red. Hazel's looked like fire, fading into orange and gold. Hazel carried herself tall and proud, shoulders wide and chin up. Bree was short and sweet—oversized round blue eyes that made her look like a possessed doll. She was thinner too. Hazel had muscle and strength.

Bree bit her bottom lip and smirked—looking up through her eyelashes. Hazel glared. One was a seductress. The other was a cold-blooded killer. Or at least, those were the roles they'd been cast—both were deadly vixens.

Bree's unhinged nature was so palpable you could almost smell it in the air—eau de psycho. Hazel's unhinged nature was dressed up in a suit of professionalism. She could almost convince you that it was perfectly normal she liked a little psychotic murder in her free time.

Bree and Hazel stared at one another silently. For a moment, I worried they'd become best friends. Why were they smiling at one another?

Hazel looked away, covering her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Bree asked. There was a gleam of barely contained insanity in Bree's eyes—an edge to her that felt wild and poised to pounce. She was too intense, too focused. There was nothing subtle about her insanity. It was a neon light permeating a dark room, flickering just to make sure you never fucking forgot.

"Doctor Stein told me your brain looked like Swiss cheese," Hazel said with fake pity that morphed into a laugh of entertainment. I nearly choked. Well, this was gearing up to be a good old-fashioned catfight.

"Now now, let's all—"

"Stay out of it!" They both snapped at me.

The doors all opened up and inmates began to spill into the halls. Both Hazel and Bree looked around in confusion. My, my what was going on? I smiled.

"What's this?" Bree asked, eyes sweeping the growing crowd of people in the hall. The leaders of Rabids and Infernals pushed their way to the front. Infernals was led by a punk rock demon named Josie, sporting safety pins as jewelry and steel-toed boots. The Alpha of Rabids was the pain in my ass, Mad Dog Mick.

He'd been a lone wolf before coming here—a truck driver who had loved chasing down and eating humans while driving cross country. He'd really thrived in the asylum, rising as top dog through a swift succession of battles that left the other contenders dead.

"Tonight we make a new agreement," Mad Dog growled at Bree. Out of nowhere, a purple-eyed therapist emerged. I rolled my eyes. Where was Baz? That's who I needed. Hazel wanted to see her brother and I'd planned this family reunion myself. I sent the anonymous letter letting her know exactly where he was. An invitation to Verfallen and effectively, to her death.

The way the Fury siblings kept avoiding one another was annoying. Which is why I had to make things happen myself.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" Orson stated. Bree looked at him like he raised the moon and stars. Orson's eyes swept the crowd and then landed on me. He smiled wider.

I didn't like that. The man was too astute.

"The Wards have come together to demand you stop night hunting. We've had enough," Mad Dog spat.

"Have you now?" Orson asked, looking directly at me before giving Mad Dog his attention. Bree slipped her hand into Orson's and he threaded their fingers together. She always went oddly silent when he arrived, as if she lacked the breath to speak. She loved all her men but she adored Orson in a childish sort of awe, staring up at him with big eyes as if she clung to every word he spoke.

"We have," Josie interjected while glaring at Mad Dog with her red eyes. Josie was a zombie but demons managed to handle that better than most. Actually, if she was more angry and enthusiastic before dying, the shift into being a zombie was an improvement.

"I see," Orson said. "are you all here then? Bedlam and Hex too?" There was restrained amusement in his tone.

"In the main room," Josie said before Mad Dog could answer. The Alpha ground his teeth. All the leaders hated each other but these two hated each other the most.

"Did you plan this?" Hazel whispered to me as we all headed to the dark cafeteria. Bedlam and Hex were there already, each with their own crew. Bedlam was pure zombies. The leader was slumped in a chair, looking apathetic and tired.

"Maybe," I whispered back to her.

"This better not get in the way of killing my brother."

"We needed others or we didn't stand a chance. The Wards will distract Bree while you handle Baz," I told her. It was sort of the truth. She looked up at me and smiled. Don't look at me like that, Hazel. She really thought I was the good guy. That I was helping her. I looked away from her mismatched eyes, I couldn't stand it.

"Quick lesson," I started. "We have Rabids and Infernals, which are the shifters and demons who you've met a few times. Then there is Hex, the witches, and then Bedlam. Bedlam is everyone else and they are pretty much all on their second life at this point. Or third or fourth."

"So Bedlam is the zombie Ward," she offered.

"They are now. Then there is Bree and her men. They hunt the halls at night. They have a deal with the staff to not kill them as long as nurses leave a door open every night."

"A door open… so that the person can be killed," Hazel said, putting it together.

"Exactly. The Wards have to bribe the nurses every day to avoid getting a door left open. Bedlam never had good numbers, they couldn't afford bribes."

"So they die and Zero, Doctor Stein, brings them back to life."

"That's pretty much it. Also, I forgot Neutral." I slid my hands over Hazel's shoulders and massaged them.

"What are you doing?" She asked, eyes darting around frantically and face heating like I was dry-humping her in public. I led her to the long cafeteria table that all the leaders were sitting at, kicked out a chair, and guided her ass into it.

"You're the leader of Neutral—us."

" Me ?" She asked. The other leaders looked at her. Orson was sitting in the chair with Bree hanging on his shoulders like a scarf. Nemo had stomped from somewhere and stood behind them, looking grumpy as usual. He glared at me and I pretended not to notice.

Where was Baz?

"Yes, you," I replied, squeezing her shoulders. At the table sat Hazel, Orson, Mad Dog Mick of Rabids, Josie of Infernals, and the other two leaders. Bedlam was Horatio, a cherubic vampire turned zombie because even vampires weren't safe from having their blood drunk from Bree. Last was Hex whose leader was Coral, a tiny sea witch with purple hair who liked drowning men.

They all looked two seconds from killing one another. The Wards never got along well but lately, things had gotten worse. It was a combination of things. The fact Bedlam had all been zombified and therefore less desirable for Bree to eat was a big one. It meant bribes no longer guaranteed your group wasn't getting picked for the Hunt Halls.

The balance of power was also in question now. They knew Stein had given me the power to shift. Rabids was breathing down my neck and everyone else thought I'd join them.

Then there was Hazel. She didn't fit in the main groups nicely and was a powerhouse determined to take down the very threat that had birthed the Wards.

Tensions were tight.

"Well," Orson said, crossing his legs and sitting back in his chair. His leather-gloved hands settled on his crossed knee. "Tell us what you want."

The leaders stared at each other. Except Bedlam. His eyes closed and his head slipped to the side. His blonde curls hung over his napping face.

"I want my brother," Hazel snapped before anyone else could talk. Bree and Orson looked at each other and then laughed.

"Rabids want asylum," Mad Dog blurted out.

"You're already in it," Orson joked.

"I mean—"

"The dumbass means they want to negotiate you eating us instead of them," Josie snapped.

"This isn't going good," I whispered to Hazel, sounding concerned. I wasn't concerned. Everything was going to plan except for Baz not being here. He had to be in Bree's room. If need be, I'd go talk to him. Convince him to come out for the big asylum-wide talk. I wanted to give Hazel what she asked for—her brother, face-to-face.

I just didn't want the same outcome she did.

Josie and Mad Dog jumped up from their chairs swinging. Hex's leader was trying to de-escalate but was receiving a barrage of hate flung her way by Josie.

"Stay out of it you backstabbing bitch," Josie snarled. Coral screamed and flung herself at Josie who was throwing a punch at Mad Dog.

Someone knocked over the vampire leader of Bedlam. He woke up angry and hungry, leaping into the fray of the leader fight, chomping at the bit to sink his teeth into someone.

"Can't trust anyone in here," I sighed.

Hazel looked dumbfounded as the entire room broke out into fights. Bree, Orson, and Nemo looked entertained. Hazel's attention snapped back to Bree.

"Give me my brother or die."

Bree's smile stretched manically then she launched at Hazel. They went to the floor, rolling around, red hair everywhere. Bree grabbed Hazel's hair and tugged. Hazel's smile spread. She pulled Bree close, shoving her face in her throat.

"Take a bite, bitch. I can't wait to see you burn from the inside out." This was oddly hot. My eyes slipped up to an empty hall as I saw movement. Someone was running towards us. Big boots appeared then black pants and leather gloves… not an inch of skin was exposed. A grinning clown mask smiled at me.

Finally, Baz was here.

Everyone noticed the moment he arrived. The entire room shifted backwards and then kept fighting. Bree went still, her big eyes looking up at Baz.

Hazel's eyes widened as all her cruel confidence suddenly bled out of her. For a moment she looked terrified.

"Sorry for the delay," Baz said. "Had to break containment to come say hi. Bree is apparently into bondage." He dropped a rope on the ground.