Page 58 of King of Malice
In Cadence’s case, the men were all of seemingly balanced temperament, to make certain they’d be patient with her struggles. When she doesn’t trust, she fights.
Her Hunt required players that would not use force with her, only on other men. It was imperative. Of course, one hunter managed to fool me, a mistake I promised myself I would not make again.
Which is why the players of this field fill me with alarm. This lineup is twenty times more aggressive than Cadence’s.All of these men have competed before, most of them in the most aggressive manner possible.
I don’t like it. I’m not sure I’d allow any of them a second chance to compete. The fact that they’re all here on one hunt has me seriously questioning Trent’s judgment. And now, he’s late.
I’ve never doubted Trent before, we’re brothers in arms and in pain. But lately, he’s been acting strangely. Trent was one of my father’s top guys before we came to the states. My father blackmailed him, much the way he did me, taking the woman that Trent loved in order to force Trent’s loyalty.
But Trent has been faithfully helping me take power away from my father so that we can get his wife, and my sisters, back.
The men flanking me shift restlessly.
We’re in the middle of a field, a river winding on the left, trees ringing us on all other sides. The river has created a forested oasis. Which is why I chose this spot. It’s close enough to Vegas to be convenient, but quiet and private enough that our activities are not discovered.
I bought the area and fenced it with a twelve-foot wall to keep prying eyes out.
“What the fuck?” One of them rumbles. Tazz. Crazy MMF fighter who likes spirited women. His last girlfriend was the CFO of a major company. He’s quite gentle with women, it’s other men with whom he’s inappropriately hostile. His aggression was a problem during the last round of The Hunt.
“Calm your shit down,” Callum rumbles. He’s ex-Special Forces and scared the woman in his competition so much that she spent the first week with her winner, curled around him like a fly stuck to fly paper. He didn’t mind, and it likely helped their bond, but it was unnecessary for Callum to frighten her that much.
I look down the line of them, my eyes narrowing. Trent knew I’d flagged each of these fighters. Why are they here? He’d never make a decision like this without speaking to me. Why did he do so this time?
Which makes my skin prickle with warning. Trent has beenstraight-up acting strange and I would have noticed if I wasn’t so distracted.
My muscles twitch as I pull out my phone and call him. He doesn’t pick up.
But I understand why he didn’t answer in a moment when headlights flash through the trees, and I hear the clang of the gate closing. He’s finally here.
I hope he picked a woman who is prepared for this level of masculine energy. It’s going to take a strong woman to survive this.
He kills the headlights and the path from the parking area to the field goes dark again.
The air stills and I feel its crackle as the men around me shift restlessly, ready to begin.
I’ve checked all the contestants for weapons, but I reach back feeling my own pistol where it’s nestled in the small of my back. I look to the right, one of my men standing at the end of the line.
Alex. He looks back with the same wariness that I feel.
The entire place is rigged with cameras, more of my men are in a booth watching in case they need to intervene. We have all sorts of safety measures in place, but that doesn’t stop the sizzle of wariness that zips through my body.
I grab the walkie talkie from my hip, hitting the call button as I bark into the receiver. “What’s Trent doing?”
The line crackles as one of the men answers, “Leading the girl to the field now. Hunt should start any second.” I don’t recognize the voice on the other end which only heightens my concerns. Something is very wrong.
The contestants have heard his words and they still, ready and waiting.
The air crackles with their tension and mine as my back molars grind together.
Looking toward the path, a lone figure appears, small and hunched. My eyes narrow. She’s wrong. I know it in a single glance.
A woman with this sort of field should be a fighter. The kind of strong who can handle the aggression. This woman is frightened outof her wits. “Wait,” I rumble low even as Tazz takes a step forward, muscles twitching.
Alex steps forward too and the other men follow suit, shaking their limbs as they prepare, waiting for the sound of the horn. “Wait,” I yell out and then hit the button on the walkie talkie. “Do not sound the horn. I repeat, do not sound?—"
There is no answer, no one responds before the horn blasts through the field, my command ignored.
The woman screams and something in the pitch of her voice, I hear the fear.
