War and his Queen (Carpe Noctem)

by Amo Jones

I type in his password—riddlemethis—and shove the SD card into the laptop.

Priest cracks his neck, leaning into the glove compartment and taking out two Desert Eagles and a large sheath.

“Do I look familiar to you, young one?” He flashes a gold-toothed grin.

“Why are you here?”

“Oh, now where would the fun in that be if I told you?”

“You look like him.” It’s a hoarse whisper,

He chuckles and acid burns the back of my throat. “I guess that’s because he’s my father.”

His eyes widen and his smirk falls when he realizes he misread me. I’m a product of the Elite Kings, and we don’t cower to our fear, we shoot it between the eyes and call it a win. I lift my hand out the window with my index finger on the trigger, before emptying the clip into his skull. Blood explodes from his forehead as his car skids sideways before flipping four times and landing at the base of the Ferris wheel.

I’ve never taken a life before. Not ever. I’ve seen dead bodies and people die, but never at my own hands. I fucked up. In the haze of my rage, I was blinded by the hunger for vengeance. It was his son. I just dipped the igniter to a war in gasoline.

have to protect Evie from as much as I can. For her own safety. For her little brother. For her parents who are about as close to a second family outside of our lives as I’ll get. I’d never want any of this to touch them, and neither would Dad.

River reaches into my car and takes my gun. “Who is he, Hale?” Her tone is gentle. “Do you know him?” I shudder. “He’s—he—was.” I stop,

“Hey!” Stella brings her hand to mine. “We will figure this out. The boys don’t need to know. We can call in the cleaner after we do our thing, and then there’s no evidence left, okay?”

“Pull back…” I hit the headrest with my palm.

“Why?” Priest hesitates,

“Because we don’t have the armor to take on what is waiting for us over that hill.” My eyes land on Halen. “Right?”

“Right.” I kick Priest’s chair. “Back up. We need a plan.” He reverses,

After this weekend, everyone in this car will not be able to so much as shit without one of us knowing about it. Yet right now, I can’t help but feel the separation between us and the girls. Has it always been like this, but

“Everyone out. Meet in Halen’s room,” Priest bites out tonelessly.

“What do you think happened?” I’m the first to ask because it could be a number of things.

Priest is silent for a moment. “Twin-tuition… this is something that has been going on for years. I can feel it with her. How she’s responding to it. Almost conditioned. She’s acted out of haste, and now she’s freaking out about the repercussions, which means this has something to do with people we already have tension with.”

“Yeah… but what? And who? It can’t be the Gentlemen because Riverside wou...

“Well, I’m about to find out.” I reach for the door handle when Priest’s words stop me. “I get that the two of you have got all of that going on… but I wouldn’t in this house. If Dad catches you, I ain’t helping.” I shove the door ...

Taking a hard left, I stop outside her door. A fucking door. A basic-ass beige door with patterns carved into the wood. She’s hiding something. And I’m about to squeeze it out of her. I don’t bother knocking, but the natural scent hits me in the face and almost catches me off guard. I haven’t been in here for a long time.

Her bed is in the center, with its feet facing the door, and the California king is decorated with feminine plush blankets and one hundred and fifty-two pillows.

surrounded by random cutout photos of everyone over the years. Even fucking baby photos of us. Halen and her sentimental bullshit.

Even though both hers and Priest’s rooms are the same size, somehow, she manages to fit more shit into hers. Borderline hoarder.

When we’re out of earshot, I grab her elbow. “Talk. Now.” Her eyes come to mine in the wall-sized mirror. “No.”

“The fuck do you mean ‘no’?”

“I can’t do this with you. You’re just going to have to trust me.” “Trust you?”

“Halen, I barely fucking like you right now.”

“Are you sure about that?” She steps closer, her bloodstained hand coming to the tattoo on the side of my neck. “Or are we going to keep pretending?”

“Why not?” My brows rise in challenge,

“It’s not like we haven’t been fo...

I draw closer, leaning against the wall as beads of water roll over her body.

I don’t realize I’m doing it until I’ve reached for the back of my shirt, throwing it onto her pile. I step into the shower just as she turns to face me, swiping water from her face. “War… everyone is in my bedroom right now.” “So?” I whisper over her lips

“Then you’re gonna have to be quiet.” Before she can protest, my mouth crashes against hers as I bury my hand into the back of her hair.

because now I’m gonna ruin her. Slowly. Bit by bit until she doesn’t realize she has nothing left until she...

Releasing her hair, my hand wraps around her throat and I ...

My fingers bruise her thighs when I lift her from the ground, as she wraps h...

She cries out through weakened whimpers, but I catch them by covering her mouth with my other hand.

“Can you shut up?”

“Awww…” I tease,

“Halen doesn’t like being told what to do. Fuck. Can’t say t...

There’s a faint echo of a door closing in the background, but neither of us stop.

Her movements are frantic as she slides her hand between our bodies, tugging at the belt around my waist. After forcing my jeans and briefs down and tossing them out of the shower, her lips are back on mine and her kisses become more desperate.

My hand rests on the wall beside her head as a chuckle vibrates between our lips.

When warmth curls around my cock, I bite down a groan as I thrust my hips into her touch.

“I simply tasted you and hours later, I have you here. With your brother outside the door and your tits in my mouth. But if I fuck you, Halo?” My hand slides down the wall, bringing us closer. “If I feel your tight little cunt mold around my cock like a fucking ownership title, well…”

“Then I’m gonna fucking surrender.”

“So fuck me.”