Page 30 of King of Cruelty

I stood up. “You guys, go and save Genny. She needs you. But on your way, call down to the hangar and tell them to fuel up the jet. I’m going to New York.”

GENNY

Voices sounded from the hallway. I didn’t have to strain to hear, all the shouting and carrying on they were doing made their conversation easy for all the woodland creatures in Elmshire Woods to eavesdrop.

“—bitch did something to Brother Abraham! She must’ve! He called down saying he trapped a Merchant rat and was coming down to dispose of her, then next thing we know, she’s bursting through the door, Brother Abraham is nowhere to be found, andhe’s not answering his phone. She killed him,” the guy shouted. “She must’ve killed him.”

“Brother Abraham could never be taken out by some skinny little bitch, okay? It’s just not possible!”

“Then where is he? Where are his guards?” another calmer voice asked. “Why is she here, and he’s not?”

No one had an answer for him.

“From this point, we have to assume Brother Abraham, Brother Clark, and Brother Eugene are out of play. We also have to assume she called for help after taking them out. Her brothers and their empty-headed henchmen are on the way as we speak.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Wake the fuck up,” Calm Guy snapped. “Of course they are.”

“No, because if her brothers were on the way, she would’ve waited for them,” Shouty argued. “Blundering in here was a desperate move because she didn’t know what else to do, or where else to go. Brother Abraham wouldn’t have brought her here unless she was blindfolded, and she couldn’t have gotten here on her own if she killed him before they hopped in the fucking car.”

I gritted my teeth. I fucking hated the smart ones.

“She’s on her own,” Shouty confirmed—glee leaking into his voice. “Brother Abraham may have paid the ultimate sacrifice, but in doing so, he gave us our best weapon against the Merchants. As long as we have Genevieve Hunt, they can’t touch us.”

“You’re right, Brother.” Calm Guy was smirking his ass off. I didn’t need to see it to know it. “You’re absolutely right.”

“Still, we’ve got to change locations,” said Third Guy. “Just in case. We’ve underestimated the Merchants before and paid for it. Losing Brother Abraham for one.”

“I agree,” Calm Guy replied. “All right, here’s what we do. Brother Sam, start moving out the guys, the guns, the food, theTV, the fridge, everything. The secondary location’s got nothing. It’s got less than nothing, so we’ll need it all.”

“Right.” Stomping footsteps sounded Brother Sam’s retreat, running off to follow orders like a good little dog.

“Brother Malcolm, arm the bomb.”

I froze.

“We’re only taking Hunt with us. She’s all we need. If the Merchants blow in here looking for her, they won’t resist trying to free all of these bitches like the heroes they pretend to be. While they’re wasting their time sawing at chains, the bomb will tick down—taking them all out.”

“Can’t we take a few of them with us?” Brother Malcolm asked. “There are a couple tasty ones I’d like to sample again.”

My lips peeled back from my teeth.Oh, you’ll get a sample of something all right. Straight to fucking hell.

“I told you to stop doing that,” Calm Guy snapped. “We’re not thug rats like those fucking Merchants. We’re better than them.”

Oh yeah, so much better, asshole. You don’t approve of raping innocent people but you’re plenty happy to murder them.

“Hey, you said I couldn’t touch them unless they gave me permission.” Smugness laced that shit’s tone. “And they all did.”

Yeah, they gave “permission” after you beat the crap out of them.

“Answer’s no. There’s barely enough space at the other location for all the brothers. We’re not giving up room so you have someone to play with. Just do what I say and arm the bomb.”

“You do it,” Brother Malcolm returned. “That shit makes me nervous. My hands will shake and I’ll end up blowing us all away.”

“Fuck’s sake, fine. I’ll do that while you get a blindfold and gag on the Hunt bitch. Put her in my car. We’re moving her first—getting her far out of her family’s reach.”

More stomping footsteps announced that Calm Guy was off laying a deadly trap for my family by blood and by sisterhood. Only one pair of footsteps left.

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