War and his Queen (Carpe Noctem)

by Amo Jones

isn’t funny!” I turn to find Priest, but he’s still chatting behind me with the girl he was with, his eyes meeting mine mid-sentence.

“I’ll always fucking catch you, Halen.” I move away from her as we both stand.

“Thoughts on Katsia and her suspicions of the girls?” Priest lowers onto the bed I use while we’re in Perdita.

When we decided this was how we were going to handle enemies going forward, we knew we’d spend more time here, so we had a shack built on the same property as Katsia’s, without being too close to her.

“You and I both know there’s t...

“It’s only a matter of time until everything comes out.”

“Let them do it at their pace. I enjoy watching them squirm.”

“You wanna talk about me and Halen?” His eyes turn cold. “You both knew what you were getting yourself into. I won’t pick sides when shit goes down, because you know shit will go down. You’re both too messy. Too volatile. But there’s a distinct difference between the two of you that I’m not sure either of you have realized.”

“And the difference is that she needs it more than you do.”

Priest blows out a cloud of smoke.

His teeth glisten through the veil of smoke. “I guess there is that.”

Priest’s phone ringing interrupts our conversation and he reaches into his pocket to grab it. “Dad,” he answers and puts it on speaker. “Yeah?” “...

“She was fine.” “Good. For whatever reason, they’r...

“They’re bred from it. Not sure what you expected. Nature always overpowers nurture.” Bishop falls silent. “Let’s hope fucking not.” He sighs. “I’m not sure if it was a good idea keeping them separate. They probably should have been with you all from the start. You...

“Hold up!” I round the bar to get closer to the phone. “You want us to pull them in closer? How close?” Brantley speaks next and Vad...

“What’s changed?” Pri...

“Why has it gone from show them the ropes, to expose them to it all?” Hi...

This doesn’t bother me as such. They saw a lot of ugly last night.

“I don’t want to have this conversation over the phone, especially when you’re all in Perdita.”

When our parents were young, the way the Elite Kings were run was a lot different. Priest and Halen’s pop, Hector, had a lot to do with that. Once they all settled down with our mothers, they wanted to change shit. Mainly once Madison came about. Then my mom and her history with this f...

“We’ll be back in a few days. Got some shit to ship out.”

“The ritual is this Sunday. You all need to be preparing.”

“Eli’s trying to call. I’ll see you all w...

“Don’t they have a daughter? She still around?” Bishop falls ...

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I look between him and Vaden. “What? None of you remember their daughter? Eli, Kyrin, and Lilith’s?” Priest’s eyes dilate. “Yeah, I do, but didn’t she die?” I shrug. “I don’t kno...

The next day arrives quickly. Eat, kill, fuck, sleep. Repeat.

I move to the side of the room and watch as one of the girls tug at the cuffs around her wrists.

I cross my arms in front of myself and lean against the post of the bed. She wasn’t cute. I mean, she was attractive, if you were into her kind. You know. The innocent, girl next door, ‘I bat my fucking lashes and shake my pom-poms and get whatever the fuck I want’ kind. Never been into that. They’re too easy. They say yes to everything and never challenge you because they’re so thirsty for your attention. She is one of them.

The red bandana that’s tied around her mouth does its job of keeping her quiet.

Leaving my belt buckle undone,

She wobbles to her feet, naked and bruised as the moonlight contours her every curve. Nothing. I feel nothing. Not that I ever did when it came to fucking women, but this feels different and I don’t know why.

My body jerks and I search the familiar angles of her face, desperate for anything to anchor me back down to reality. After everything that happened on Perdita, I can’t seem to catch my feelings on it all. The boys are unhinged. I never would have thought it’d have been that extreme. It’s not enough that they kill our enemies, they also have to use them as pawns for their morbid obsessions.

“Oh, are we finally breaking free of the constraints from the animals we have in our lives?” She pauses a moment. “Fathers included.” I wince. I don’t want to touch Dad right now. I’d always been a daddy’s girl. My mother drove me crazy for the better part of my life, so Dad’s lap was my favorite spot. I would have done as he told.

I was his loyal weapon.

“Yes.” Another call comes through, but I hit ignore when the photo of...

“Well now, that wouldn’t be very I promise not to tell people we fucked in the back of War Malum’s car after he denied you of me, would it?” Bas boasts as he closes his door.

He leans against the hood of his car, crossing his legs at his ankles.

He reaches into the pocket of his slacks and takes out a packet of cigarettes, biting one into his mouth.

“Maybe I’m just here for innocent fun?” I bat my lashes at him to add to my pseudo. He snickers. “Doubtful. Do your daddy and sociopathic brother know you’re here?”

He puffs on his cigarette,

“What I want to know is, what you’re doing here.” I lean forward. “Are you following me?” He pauses the cigarette before it reaches his mouth. “And if I told you that I was?”

“Now, why would I expose all my signals? I wonder what I would do?”

I didn’t know who he was, and I didn’t care. I broke into War’s garage, pushed his RX4 down the driveway before starting her up down the street, and picked up the first guy I saw. It just so happened that Bas was in our estate. I didn’t ask why at the time, or even now. I probably should have.

Bas swipes the curve of his lip in an attempt to hide his chuckle. “Okay, Halen. I’ll be seeing you.” Then he’s back in his car as fast as he came.

“Shit, you slept with that?” Stella taps her foot,

“He’s cute.” “He’s regret,”...

But why was he here, that’s the question. I haven’t seen Bas Blackwell in a long time. The last time wasn’...

It should have been Stella. She acts like she isn’t as big of a car girl like the rest of us, but you put that girl behind any wheel and she’ll smoke you off the line.

Dad’s name flashes over the front screen of my phone and my smile falls. “Hold that thought.” My finger hovers over the screen. He’s never had to discipline me. In fact, he refused to. Probably explains a lot now that I look back to my past—and current—choices, but it’s why I’ve always felt soft around him. He’s never had to raise his voice at me.

Bishop Vincent Hayes doesn’t have to raise his voice at anyone, because his name alone is enough to scare everyone. Except me, apparently, since I have decided to play on his nerves since suspecting he’s been playing favorites.