CHAPTER TWELVE

Thorne carried the blonde into the house like she was nothing more than a rag doll. She kicked and clawed at him, but he didn’t even flinch, making her resistance laughable.

Lucian and I followed close behind him, stepping into the chaos with unhurried strides. The screams inside were already echoing through the house. We’d expected this to happen much later. She just moved our timeline up and I wasn’t complaining.

Romeo and Atlas had broken away to go in through the sunroom, setting themselves up to cut off any retreat. Hunter had been inside since the night before. For as many times as they went through this house, I couldn’t believe they hadn’t found him. He wasn’t exactly subtle about it either, he’d moved around just enough to stay in plain sight while staying under their radar. Jason, the fucking fool, clearly didn’t know what situational awareness meant.

Hunter had been right beside him at one point. Every floor was accounted for; we’d been meticulous.

Naija ran up the stairs with Gabe right behind her.

“What are you doing?” Autumn yelled after them. They were gone without a reply and she was left with Cherish and Daniella, moving down the hallway that connected all the lower rooms. Daniella turned towards the kitchen, more than likely thinking they could make it out of the rear exit, but Rome and Atlas had got inside by this point.

“Fuck.” She backtracked and shoved Cherish and my girl further down the hall.

“Lower level,” Cherish yelled.

She must have meant the basement. That was smart in a limited, narrow-minded way. That would keep them away from us for a while, sure, but it was also a death trap. No exits. No chance of escape. She was about to box my girl in for us.

Lucian caught sight of them too, his laughter softening into a hum of interest. “Desperation always makes for good entertainment.”

“Mint,” I called, my voice clear even through the distortion of the mask.

She and her sister both turned to look at me. Autumn’s eyes swept over me, her fear and fury rolling off her in waves. She was trying so hard to stay strong, but I could see the cracks beneath the surface. Fuck, she was so beautiful like this. It made my blood sing .

“If you come to me now, this will go a lot easier.”

Cherish held her arm up like a barricade. “She’s not going anywhere with you, Carson so why don’t you go fuck yourself?”

My grin grew beneath the mask. Atlas moved into the hall; Amber’s head cradled under his arm. Apparently, he wasn’t done playing with it. “We’ve already come all this way. Why would he leave to do that now?”

Autumn’s chest heaved, and for a second, I thought she might cry. Instead, she lifted her chin and looked right at me. “Go to hell, Wilder. You twisted fuck.”

God, I loved her.

Romeo circled around Atlas and reached them quicker than they could blink.

Autumn dragged her sister back and reached for Daniella at the same time he did. He took hold of her hair and wrenched her away from them. Her panicked rage echoed through the foyer as she fought against him.

Cherish gave up a little too quickly for someone meant to be that girl’s best friend, now damn near shoving my girl through the basement door as she tried to get to Daniella. They vanished, the door slamming shut behind them.

Thorne tossed Liza like the trash she was. Her head smacked against the hardwood, and she whimpered.

She scrambled to her feet, and he grabbed her again, this time not letting go, lifting her back off the floor.

“Leave her alone!” Daniella let out a guttural scream. Romeo shut her up by covering her mouth with his gloved hand. Jason moved forward like he was finally going to do something about us, a fire poker in his hand.

He looked fucking stupid with marker all over his damn face and only wearing one sock.

Lucian slowly looked at him and tilted his head, a sure sign he was amused. “I think, you think you’ve got guts,” he said taunted.

Jason hesitated, his grip faltering as he looked between Lucian and the rest of us.

Smart boy.

Or maybe just scared shitless.

Either way, I ignored him. He wasn’t my concern. KJ, ever the picture of twisted delight, skipped into the house behind us, her dark hair swinging as she kicked the door shut.

She had been playing her part perfectly, staying one step ahead of them the entire time. She lived for this as much as we did, the chaos, the fear, the game. It wasn’t just fun for her; it was art.

The sound of people running, followed by a door slamming shut carried from upstairs, but we didn’t need to concern ourselves with that. Hunter was up there, waiting for just this moment, his patience finally paying off.

Jason took a few steps back, his eyes darting toward the front door as if escape was still an option. It obviously wasn’t. Ryan stood his ground, chest rising and falling as he tried to keep his cool. I could see the tension in his jaw and the way his hands clenched into fists.

He wasn’t stupid.

He knew exactly who I was under the mask, and he knew why I was looking at him. Fortunately for him, knowing our identities didn’t matter since he wouldn’t be leaving this house alive.

It was a shame that we couldn’t stream this. The girls that got fucked once or twice and then killed fetched good money, but the ones we terrorized like this were prime entertainment. The rental aspect went even higher, something about hunting unsuspecting families got people excited. I wasn’t putting my girl on our broadcast for obvious reasons. She wasn’t for anyone’s entertainment but mine.

KJ tilted her head slightly, her stance casual. Her mask, with its exaggerated doll-like features, made her unsettling presence even more striking as she stood watching the scene unfold. Lucian didn’t bother with the gun strapped under his suit jacket. He was a man of theatrical brutality.

He moved swiftly, wrenching the poker from Jason’s trembling hands. Jason froze for half a second, and that hesitation was all Lucian needed. With deliberate force, he slammed the pointed end of the poker into Jason’s stomach.

The air left him in a sharp wheeze as he doubled over, blood blossoming under his t-shirt. Before he could recover, Lucian brought the poker down again. The sound of the impact was beautiful, and after a few more hits Jason crumpled to the floor, unconscious, blood running from his temple. Head wounds always got messy.

Ryan backed himself into a corner, chest heaving as he tried to calculate his next move. What a shitty bunch of friends this was. Just more reasons why Mint didn’t need them. He hadn’t even attempted to help the guy.

I stood before him, my mask hiding the satisfaction curling my lips. I stepped closer, not needing words to let him know who had the upper hand. He chose then to lunge, enraged idiocy driving him. I grabbed him mid-motion, slamming him hard into the wall. The impact made the framed picture behind him shatter and crash to the ground, shards scattering like splinters of my rage.

He swung at me and missed. Swung again and I deflected, letting him get a hit in so he had a flicker of hope, then I grabbed him by his throat, pinning him in place. His face contorted with pain and panic as I leaned in, my voice low. “The biggest mistake of your life was touching what’s mine.”

I brought my knee up into his ribs, the sound of the hit satisfying as he let out a choked gasp. He doubled over, his breath a ragged wheeze. I grabbed him again and slammed him back into the wall, making sure the back of his head felt every ounce of force as the plaster buckled and crumbled. When I finally let go, he fell to the floor, gasping and clutching at his ribs.

He wheezed his voice barely a rasp. “Let the girls go.”

Atlas, leaning casually against the doorway and playing with what was left of Amber’s hair, gave an amused chuckle. “Look at that, a real hero—”

His words were cut off by wood splintering and a piercing scream from upstairs. A moment later, a body crashed over the banister, slamming into the ground with a sickening thud. Liza wasn’t far away, sprawled on the ground since Thorne had rendered her unconscious.

She wasn’t dead yet, but Gabe was. His neck was twisted at an unnatural angle, head facing completely backward. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the ragged gasp that tore from Daniella’s throat behind Romeo’s hand. He held her close, mockingly soothing her with gentle shushing sounds while laughing like the brilliant maniac he was, balancing on the balls of his feet.

Ryan was frozen, his eyes wide and locked on the mangled body of his closest friend. His chest heaved as he stared, shock rendering him immobile.

“Aw, don’t look so upset,” Thorne sneered. “That could’ve been you if you’d been as stupid as he was.”

I started to walk away, but a thought stabbed through me like a blade. He had wrapped his arm around her and then kissed her temple. The image was burned in my mind, raw and unforgiving.

It could have been a lingering handshake and my reaction would’ve been the same. I knew the way he looked at her wasn’t wholly platonic. Autumn never saw what I did, because she only ever saw me. I had been ready to come in the moment I watched it happen on the cameras, but Lucian and Hunter helped me see reason.

I turned back, crouching down beside him. His chest was heaving, his face contorted with pain as he tried to push himself off the floor. I grabbed his hand and twisted sharply.

I ignored his pained cries and kept twisting until I saw visible bones breaking, popping, and shifting beneath the skin.

“You know what that was for, don’t you?”

“Y-you’re fucking sick,” he groaned.

I laughed and took hold of his wrist. “I’m not sick,” I replied smoothly, twisting his wrist in the same manner. “I’m devoted. There’s a difference.”

He tried and failed to get away, his entire body trembling. I tossed the broken limb away and rose, watching as he flailed pathetically pushing against the floor with his good arm. I brought my dress shoe down between his shoulder blades. Hard.

His chest hit the hardwood with a nice little thunk, the impact driving the air from his lungs as he flattened under my weight.

“You guys are having all the fun,” Thorne sighed, his voice tinged with a pout.

“You’ll get your turn,” Lucian promised.

I turned my attention to the rest of the room. Jason and Liza were out cold, and Daniella was still in Romeo’s grip, her terror palpable. Her wide eyes darted between us, looking for some escape, some mercy where there was none to be found.

“Kristy,” Lucian called to get her attention, his tone calm but commanding. “Help get these three tied up in the dining room.”

KJ didn’t hesitate. She skipped into the living room, her gloved hands reaching down to grab Jason by the hair. Despite his limp weight, she dragged him effortlessly, humming a tune to herself.

Romeo shook Daniella. “Do I tie her up too?”

“Didn’t she say she wanted to fuck you? Maybe let her live out the fantasy.”

He canted his head, pretending to think it over. “What do you think?” he asked her, his voice mockingly sweet as he leaned in closer.

“Should I play with you? We all saw how you rode that tiny dick last night. It was very…theatrical. On top of the dining table was a bit much, though.”

She glared at him, refusing to let her fear fully show. “Fuck you.”

Romeo laughed. “Oh, I like it when they’re like this. The false bravado really makes a difference.”

“Let’s go get the sisters,” I said, my voice low, almost bored. There was no rush. Not when everything was already in motion and we knew exactly how this was going to play out.

“Help Kristy,” Lucian directed at Atlas as a scream of "No!" rang out upstairs, followed by the unmistakable crash of glass shattering. None of us paused or cared to investigate.

My girl was trapped below me. Scared. Pissed off. Vulnerable.

That’s exactly how I needed her.