Page 85 of The Filth Kings

The air was thick, the scent of champagne and expensive fragrances lingered in it. Monster nodded his head at his men that he had in place for security. I stopped mid stride when I laid eyes on a familiar face. A face that I’d never forget since a kid. Octavio…

My mind refused to accept it, my heart slammed against my ribs and the room started to spin. He stood tall and broad shouldered; he was a shadow of the timid boy that I remembered when we were younger. He was a lighter version of me. He stood by the back hidden bar with a glass cup in his hand. I staggered back, Monster placed his hand on my shoulder to keep me grounded in place.

“That’s our brother?—”

“Octavio…” I finished his sentence.

My vision wavered as tears swelled in my eyes, and before I knew it, my feet carried me forward and in seconds, my arms wrapped around him from behind. I held him tight like I wished I could have done when he was forced out of Impurity’s house with Jalissa. His body shook against my chest, I felt Monster presence at my back.

“We all were ripped apart—” he choked out.

His voice was soft but broken, filled with years of pain.

“They’ll never break us again.” Monster added, his voice sounded choppy like he was trying his best to hold back his own flood of emotions.

I released Octavio, he turned all the way and stood to face me and Monster.

“Jalissa?”

“Dead.” Monster and I said at the same time.

Years of distance and lots of wondering where he was and how he was doing dissolved in an instant. I was no longer a man carved out of darkness…I looked over at Monster then back at Octavio…I was a brother again. I had family and a woman that I fell hard for without second thought.

Untitled II

Not so anonymous anymore.

Herringbone

Hades

Flames licked at my skin; I felt no pain. The fire had always been a part of me but now it seared into my flesh that refused to break or burn. Smoke curled around my fingers like Impurity’s touch. I eyed the embers beneath my feet as I stood at the edge of an abyss that shifted into visions of my past.

Faces that I once trusted twisted in betrayal. I turned around and saw Impurity and Jalissa on the other side of hell. I didn’t give a fuck anymore. I didn’t lose at all, although my plan to have me and Impurity’s son step into position once he was of age deterred with Detavio killing me so soon.

My blood, my legacy, a son that no one never knew existed still moved around in the world. His presence would soon be a storm that no one expected. I smirked through charred lips. Everyone thought that they had a happily ever after. My wrath hadn’t died along with me. Soon, the Decebal men would feel what I felt, then burn right along with me.

The End!