20. Micah

Ibeckoned August closer as I leant against his headboard.

Bare except for a pair of sweatpants, he climbed between my legs and rested his head on my abdomen. I'd stolen one of his shirts, the fabric soft and saturated in a fragrance entirely his own. My fingers idly twined through his damp hair while his hand snaked beneath my thigh, methodically tracing the lines of my tattoo. He couldn't stop touching it, entirely possessed.

"What happened, Micah?" We'd settled into a post-lust haze, the soft purple glow of his cell lulling us into a phantom space of unlimited time. "I've only known the bare minimum about your family. From what I've heard, no one has knowledge of any intricate details."

"What do you know?"

"The Sovereign was one of the four powerhouses of the underworld. Then out of nowhere, they were completely wiped from the playing field. Hell, I didn't even know King had a daughter, let alone four. It was said he had a couple of sons who were killed in the explosion of the King Estate, but nothing was confirmed." He trembled slightly, thinking of the violent rumours he'd heard.

True. Hardly anything was known about the downfall of the Sovereign. But it was an undeniable fact that the organisation was betrayed and completely massacred. Each and every member, affiliate and sympathiser was disposed of, or disappeared as if they never existed at all.

I inhaled a vital breath. I'd never spoken about it, never articulated my tragic past into formulated words, severely protective and simultaneously wary of trusting anyone outside my circle.

Exhaling the same elongated breath, I surrendered my last remaining resolve and returned Psycho's openness with my own.

"We owe our survival, in part, to our father," I said. "Oliver King was a vigilant and semi-paranoid man, like most people in our area of work. He did everything in his power to keep our identities a secret. He even gave us all masculine, dominant names to add to that narrative, which fulfilled its purpose."

"Soon, all of Junction City believed my father had sons to further the King bloodline. He didn't confirm or deny these rumours, and no one would dare ask otherwise. So, when our house was raided and sacked, they had no reason to assume they hadn't completed the job. Because, to the masses of the JC, we didn't exist."

August hummed in unabashed awe. "Holy fuck. He was a genius."

"Not enough to prevent himself from being betrayed and killed, unfortunately," I said bitterly, unwarranted spite and accusation thickening my tone.

Though I missed my father, I still held him responsible for leaving us, and losing our sister in the process. You'd think with the nature of my Variant, I'd be more empathetic and in tune with my emotions. Instead, the truth became a burden, my endless reel of pain corrupted me, tainted me. Unable to forgive, nor forget.

August continued to mindlessly stroke his fingertips over my skin. Nothing I'd revealed unsettled him. All he cared for was my wellbeing and position in all of it. He was a soothing balm that settled my soul like no other.

"What made you come back now? What brought you back after all this time?"

"For the past four years, my siblings and I have searched for any scrap of information we could find about that night. It was bizarre. No one claimed the win, the responsibility for the downfall of one of the most powerful organisations in the country. Even more strange was that no one took ownership over the open drug trade in Junction City. With the Sovereign wiped out, anyone could have stepped up and taken everything for themselves. Yet, no one ever did—until now."

August tilted his head at my clear observation, the new information seeping in.

"Ludus Maximus?"

I affirmed with a nod. "Ludus Maximus. I know you were sent here before they started distributing, but—"

"Tell me what you need from me, baby."

"We need to get to Maximus, but he's locked himself deep in the Caverns. Which, as you know, are impenetrable. We can't get close, or even manage to get a glimpse of him. We need to know his role."

"He's truly in the drug game?" August's brow furrowed, sceptical of the information I was providing.

"He's not just in it, he's taken over the entirety of the Sovereign syndicate and its jurisdiction."

PSYCHO

I shook my head, still hesitant to believe he had changed his mind since I'd been locked away. Maximus was one of the most stubborn people I'd ever met.

Raising from the bed, I lit a cigarette. "When I was inducted, Maximus was already plagued by paranoia. He understood there were higher powers at play when it came to the downfall of your house, and was always adamant not to trample on the bones of the Sovereign. Maximus was never interested in that side of business. He's a bastard, but more astutely, he's a survivor."

"You've been away for a while, August. Power and money easily change a good man, let alone a bad one. Hell, people will give just about anything for a hit of Amp."

"Amp?" Where have I heard that before?

Micah shuffled forward, sitting on the edge of the bed. "An amplifier drug that came on the market four months ago. It enhances one's Variant. Highly potent, but difficult to acquire. Ludus Maximus is the sole provider, along with other drugs."

I paced, a trail of smoke floating to the roof. I'm missing something vital. Then every tendril of convoluted web stitched together and clicked into place.

"Ludus Maximus isn"t sourcing the drugs. They're only distributing them."

"All evidence says otherwise. How do you know there's a third party involved?"

"Because that's why I was sent to Oakview. That's why I was locked away in this fucking shithole." I wanted to tear myself apart for my own foolishness. More than that, I wanted to rip the core foundations out from the whole underground until all that remained was the tortured corpse of Maximus, dead at my feet.

Fatigue draggeddown my muscles and exhaustion pulled at my lids. My sole undivided focus concentrated on staying upright.

It had taken me five days to fulfill the Boss's order. With hardly any sustenance and even less sleep, I had found and slaughtered the entire Crisis MC. Dishevelled, bloodstained and an all-round goddamned mess, my feet reluctantly tugged me through the Caverns towards Boss, instead of slipping into a well-deserved coma.

His private quarters were deserted. The place was usually bustling with either soldiers, servants or whores (which, in some cases, could be considered one and the same).

I didn't have time to contemplate the strangeness of it all (nor did I care, for that matter). He'd demanded a report immediately after the job was complete, and he'd be happy with the outcome. Wanting to get the debrief over with, I aimed for his office.

I raised a fist to knock on the closed door when elevated voices filtered through the thick wood. Boss loathed insubordination, and interrupting his meeting would not be taken lightly. I had no choice but to wait.

Leaning against the opposite wall, my head dropped back. I was utilising all my willpower not to lower to the ground and curl up like a kitten, right there in the middle of the bloody hallway.

Raised, aggressive voices jolted me awake, unsure if it'd been five seconds or five minutes, microsleeps catching me unaware, luring me into brief bouts of unconsciousness.

"She's not happy with your results," said a masculine voice I'd never heard, as it carried through the closed door.

"What do you want me to do? Her requests are unreasonable," Boss said, his gruff, aged tone recognisable.

"Your excuses grow weak, Maximus. Maybe you"re too old. ‘Bout time you found a successor."

The distinct sound of a violent struggle followed, loud thumps and crashes siphoning amongst one another.

Whoever the hell was fighting Boss must have had a death wish.

My attention spiked, debating whether I should go in and help or remain outside and mind my own damn business.

A forceful thud hit the floor. "Don't ever associate me with the word weakagain," Boss said.

The other guy laughed and I cringed. Whoever the fool was, he was going to get his tongue ripped out.

"Watch yourself, or your precious Ludus will be next. You know we have the means and resources to make that a legitimate threat," the stranger snickered. "We will deliver Amp in two months. Be ready—or else."

My hand flexed at the deliberate warning. Did this imbecile know the Ludus at all?

Soft clicks alerted me to a petite woman approaching down the corridor. She halted beside me, her expensive perfume overpowering and irritating my nostrils. Her attire screamed luxury: designer heeled boots paired with a skintight dress, her lime green hair and pierced nose clashing with her extravagant getup.

She tsked. "You shouldn't be here." Her eyes twinkled with danger.

"Says who?" Was it me, or was my speech slurred?

She shrugged in return and pushed the door wide open without preamble. "We have a lurker," she announced to the now-silent room. All sets of eyes bounced to me as she grabbed my shirt collar and hurled me onto the office floor.

My reflexes were sluggish, deprived of any energy, the lack of sleep from the past five days reigning down on my rebuttal. My Variant even flapped around in my chest for a good second before wallowing away to nothingness. I was tapped out.

The other stranger pointed an accusatory finger at Boss. I could now put a face to the voice. The guy was slightly shorter, but stocky, his brown hair spiked in a purposely messy way, a nice shiner growing over his right eye. "Is this the so-called loyalty that you proclaim? You"re fucking over with!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Boss said. "Nothing will be repeated. Right, Psycho?"

Maybe I was having some weird as fuck dream. Surely Boss wouldn't concede to these two amateurs. They appeared to be around the same age as me.

My gaze bounced between the three, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. Boss's eyes caught on mine and I could easily read the rage cultivating in their depths. He was angry—at me.

I found myself nodding. "I won't say anything."

I wouldn't, cause I fucking couldn't. I had no idea what the fuck they were on about.

The female sauntered to the middle of the room, demanding all attention. She licked her lips as her head snapped to Boss. "You will ensure that, won't you, Maximus?" Her tone was authoritative and arrogant.

As I was about to scoff, Boss submitted with a resolute nod. I was rendered speechless.

He kept his promise. And in doing so, destroyed my life.

"Noneof it ever made sense to me. I didn't know or understand anything. That day, I heard and saw something I wasn't supposed to. Only now am I starting to get an idea of what that was." I stopped pacing, eyes tracking over my golden girl with enlightenment.

"Who are they?"

"I don't fucking know. Their names were never spoken. I only saw them for a short period, and even then, my memory is unreliable. I was so sleep deprived, at first I thought I was hallucinating. Until my head was shoved in a brown sack and I was brought here."

Micah raised, venturing closer.

Watching this perfect being approach was bittersweet. She was flawless, ethereal in her presence, and here she stood. In my tattered shirt, locked in the loony bin assigned to a psychotic killer.

Micah grasped my hand, pulling me forward. With no will to resist, I drifted into her embrace, fingers automatically latching onto the Gladiolus tattoo permanently settled on her upper thigh, a bright beacon for me to own. She'd inadvertently called to the most visceral part of me. With this demand, I had wordlessly claimed her mind, body, and soul.

"We will find them," she said. "And you're going to help us. Help me."

I held no reservations, only acceptance at her request.

Pressing a kiss to her hair, I said, "Revenge against Maximus?"

"Revenge," she said, the vow sealed into my skin. "There will be a full investigation into what happened tonight. You've already killed Fern. Please refrain from killing anyone else in the meantime."

I smirked. "Hey, you killed Katsy. We're even."

"Fine, just promise me you'll keep a low profile. Stay undercover. I can handle everything else. We're so close to getting you both out. Wait for me?"

"Forever," I said, so low I was unsure if she even heard.

MICAH

He did not stay low. He did not stay undercover.