Page 43 of Remi's War (Four Dark Horsemen 2)

But until then, with the echo of the pain rocking my soul inside me?

I won’t give up my search.

Remi

“Amalia.” I call her name, pushing through the bodies toward the exit, my gaze alone warning everyone in close proximity to make way.

If my woman thinks she can let me touch her and then run back to New York to her fiancé, then she has another think coming!

I’ll kill Lionel right in front of her eyes before I let that happen.

A hand snatches my elbow, halting my movements, and I spin around to rip it away and punch the fucker who dares to stop me from pursuing my woman, when I see Octavius standing in front of me. “Remi.” Warning laces his tone as his eyes speak volumes. “Meeting room now.”

“Let me go.” I try to pull away, yet his hold is relentless, and several degrees drop between us, the tension growing rapidly as we face each other. “Five seconds, Octavius. You have exactly five seconds to let me go, or I’ll forget you’re my friend.” I look at the entrance again, seeing Amalia disappear through it, and the hunter in me chants only one thing.

Catch her. Catch her. Catch her.

“You’re acting insane.” His fingers dig into my elbow, but I twist it back, finally freeing myself from him. “You’ll bring war on our heads, and I won’t let you do it.”

“You are not the leader, Octavius. Remember your place.”

He smirks, his eyes growing colder. “Take your own advice, Remi.”

People gather around, whispering to each other while Samantha stands several feet away, fear etched on her features, as she doesn’t know how to react to this situation.

We never fight, at least not against each other.

“I have no time for this.” I spin around, darting after Amalia, needing to get my hands on her before she flies, when Octavius stops me once fucking again.

And this time in a way I could not ignore.

“We have rules. You swore to follow them.”

We operate with unity, creating a powerful front nothing can break, and in this, everyone stays away from us.

Which means any small thing can shake the unity and bring the downfall to all four involved, one of the reasons we’ve agreed to vote on decisions.

If you hurt one of us, you might as well have hurt all of us.

If a vote is not in someone’s favor, it means one of the four is on his own and deals with his situation separately, never endangering anyone else.

The ring on my finger burns my skin, flashing a memory in my mind so bright it’s as if it just happened yesterday.

“What the fuck is this?” I ask, picking up one of the rings with a black stone, examining it closely.

“These are our rings.” Florian gives us the rest, each one of them having a different colored gemstone in the middle, matching our eyes, while the overall shape and the platinum surrounding it is identical. “With this, we are part of the Four Dark Horsemen, our unity.”

“Isn’t it like a chick thing?” Octavius wonders, slipping a ring on his hand. “I vote for matching tattoos.”

“We’ll do that too.” I show them the design on my pad along with the quote. In chaos do we thrive. “That’s what makes us feel alive,” I reply, and we all laugh while the darkness slowly settles into our hearts when the full meaning of this hits us.

Those rings forever represent one simple truth.

We’re murderers who are bonded by a horrible secret from the past.

And by the oath we all took just seconds ago, signing the parchment with our ten rules together.

“Gentlemen, I think you forgot about our meeting.” Santiago’s voice pulls me from my memories, and I look at him, grinning at everyone as he throws his arms over our shoulders, tension vibrating from him while he grits out through his teeth, “Are you both out of your fucking minds?” He stands straight for the passing women who snag a picture of us. “Making a scene in the middle of a club?” He maneuvers us to the elevators. I shrug him off and walk ahead as everything inside me rips in two.

---