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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Amo Jones
Read between
October 13 - October 16, 2022
His mouth curves up into a dark smile. “Can I watch next time?” I slide back to put some distance between us. One that says sure, why not? In fact, I’m almost certain I’d let you join. But before the words can leave my mouth, a hand is around the front of my throat, yanking my head backward until I’m looking up at Kyrin who’s behind me. Kyrin glares at Kohen. “You sure as fuck like playing with my trigger finger, Ko.” Kohen’s mouth curves awfully similar to the Joker’s. “What can I say, you all make it too easy.”
“Dove didn’t want blood on her hands. She’s not the girl you’re all probably assuming she is, thanks to Perse’s narrative. She dealt the cards, picked our victim, and I got to play a game of revenge. If she didn’t want to deal the cards, she stuck to men who deserved it. Rape, murder—she always found a reason, and being in Patience, it wasn’t all that hard to find vile targets.”
“The men who we picked, Dove knew them. She knew them all.” My eyelashes flutter, no doubt my skin paling. “How?” Kyrin adds. I shake my head. “That’s not my story to tell, but they deserved it. Every single one of them.”
I wrap my fingers around Kyrin’s chin, forcing his eyes to mine. “If I find out that you’re both hiding something from me, I am not responsible for what I do to both your pretty faces.” Kyrin whacks my hand away. “Cute, baby. Real cute.”
She’s trying her best not to look at Keaton and Palmer still, and that’s when I realize everything. Keaton and Cartier have something going on. Kyrin will absolutely murder both of them.
“Thanks for that, by the way. Please don’t tell my brother.” “Your secret is safe.” I follow behind her as she leads me down a hallway lined with doors. She opens one, gesturing into a room. “I don’t really want to be collateral damage when he explodes, if you know what I mean.” “Thanks,”
“Good luck trying to get away from Kyrin and Eli. Something tells me you’re more fucked than I am.” “That’s where I’m going to need your help.” Instant. “I’m in.”
“Cartier, I don’t care if you do or if you don’t. I will protect you and care for you because I’m pretty sure I—” I pause, swallowing past the rock that has formed in my throat. She smiles at me, dropping her arms to her sides. “I get it. Now go, please don’t die. Honestly, I think my brother just might kill me if anything happens to you.”
“You’re an ass. You were supposed to stay home.” “Lilith, baby, I’m way fucking smarter than you think, and if you even think for a second that I was going to let you walk back into the depths of hell without one of your hellhounds, then you don’t know me at all.” He starts squeezing through the middle, until he’s in the passenger seat, sliding open his phone. “How’d you get past Cartier?” The corner of his mouth curves into a sexy smirk. “I’m Eli Rebellis. She has a vagina. Most of them want to fuck me.” I roll my eyes. “Try not to say that around Kyrin.”
“We’ve got some people who will be joining us.” I turn on the stereo, needing a distraction from not knocking him the fuck out. “Collide” by Justine Skye and Tyga starts playing. “Do I even ask?” I drop the car into third with a tap of my finger. “Nope, you don’t need to. They won’t come in. They’ll be outside. I know this is technically Kiznitch drama, but my boys won’t back down until they know Patience has no ties to someone we despise in our world who has caused a lot of fucking pain and death.
“I’m a mess.” I try for that argument since it’s nonnegotiable. “We know,” he answers casually, sending off a text before shutting off his phone and turning to face me. “But you’re still ours.”
‘Always a rebel, forever a soldier, one as a lover, the other don’t bother.’
“Until me, they had it right. Every woman that a King ends up with gets a tattoo to signify that. Some fucking twisted way of ownership. With the Rebellis line, the women have always had that riddle tattooed on them somewhere.”
“Yours needs to go on your throat. Like a fucking collar.”
“So, why did we leave Kyrin behind?” It’s the question I’ve wanted to ask since leaving the city. Eli skims his tongue over his bottom lip. “Because I want to watch shit burn.”
There have been a handful of times in my life where I’ve known that I’ve fucked up. One of them was when I was twelve years old and pushed Cartier down one of the dirt ramps in the forest that backs up behind our valley, and the other time was when I gave Lilith back to Patience, but now I’ve just realized there are three things. And that’s leaving both of them fucking unattended.
“Dumb motherfuckers.” “I don’t think they’re dumb,” Keaton adds. “I think Lilith is bold as fuck—rightly so—she can be. She can fight very fucking well, and the other is just, well… in love.”
Seeing Lilith’s photo pop up on my home screen, my jaw clenches. I swipe it unlocked and her live face is on my screen. A fucking FaceTime. This chick’s got jokes. “Lilith,” I say calmly, looking out the window at nothing in particular. It’s more for me to calm the fuck down. “I’m going to fucking kill you both.”
Killian answers the phone and I put it on speaker so Keaton can talk, too. “Could you not fucking wait ten fucking minutes? Shit. We’re on our way.” “No!” I grind out, annoyed that they would even expect me to do that. “Would you if it was Sass?” There’s a long pause, and I almost miss what I had just said. It’s not until Keaton clears his throat and squeezes the steering wheel when it dawns on me what I just admitted to. When my eyes drift back onto the screen of my phone, I find Killian’s smug as fuck smirk looking back at me. “What?” I snap. “Oh, nothing, just that you know exactly what you
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“Eli made a detour into Riverside, picked up The Kings. Any idea why that might be?” Killian has more history with them than any of us. Not so much history, but he just got along with them really well and had a weird friendship with Nate Malum-Riverside. Yeah, as in the town. Kill’s smirk washes off. “That’s weird.” “I know.” “You trust him?” “Eli?” I ask, looking to Keaton who is waiting for my answer. I run my finger over my upper lip. “Yeah. I do.”
“Nah, man. The Kings don’t fuck with shit unless someone has fucked with one of their own. No one else would ever be worth their time.” “Yeah,” Keaton adds over his arm. “And they have… Lilith. Lilith is basically one of theirs now if Eli has claimed her.” “First of all,” Killian says, taking a seat on a leather sofa. “They call it ‘calling red’, some weird blood pouring shit on owning their women, and second of all, nah. This is something else.” He seems to ponder. “Eli is there for something else other than Lilith. Guaranteed.”
Trust. The five-letter lie. The ultimate tool to manipulate. They do trust me. Both of them. As I do them… but this is much deeper than even they can dig. I could bury my everything in the Vitiosis graveyard and it still wouldn’t be deep enough to explain what I’ve hidden from them. Because there is something. Something big.
I drowned myself in both of them and pretended like what I knew wouldn’t destroy everything and everyone who they thought they knew, including each other.
“Anywaaaayyyy.” Lilith rakes her long hair away from her face and it falls over the rest of her hair like silk. “Can we go drop some bodies, or what?” “We’re going to be friends.”
“It’s amusing that you don’t think your dick is also on a leash, Eli…” Lilith throws back. I can almost hear Nate’s laugh mocking me. “Yeah?” I fire back, a smug smirk on my face even though I know she can’t see me. “But it’s what you do while holding that leash that my dick likes very. Fucking. Much.”
“Kennedy, aka your mother, had called Bishop for protection while she was here. That’s how we found out that she has more people here, since he turned her away.”
She presses a kiss onto my lips, but before I can grab her again, she steps out of my grip and starts running toward the entrance door with a loud laugh, dodging bullets. “Fuck!” “Told you!” Brantley growls. “You’re not fucking ready for that.”
We start making our way to the door, shooting up to where the bullets are coming from when a Dodge Charger skids in front, blocking our view. The passenger side door swings open and Kyrin slides out with two AKs strapped to each hand. He points to me with one, ignoring the bullets flying everywhere. “I’m not done with you both, but where the fuck is she?” “Oh—” Nate laughs, pushing off the wall and raising a gun to the window in the building, squinting his eye and pulling the trigger. “He is going to fucking eat you alive. Again, I see the hype…” I flip him off and point to the building,
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“Eli?” “Yeah, baby…” “I love you. Can you tell Kyrin, too?” Silence. I know this trick. I remember it from my training, and not once did I ever get out. “You can tell him when we get to you.” Eli is in a closed room, no more gunshots firing off in the background. His tone is calm, serene, as if he knows he’s going to see me again. He won’t.
I turn around to face whoever it was that came through and gave me the sword, licking blood from between my fingers when I see it’s Bear. She smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “We at war?” “Ah, our little Grizzly Bear. Who let you in here?” Bear flicks her sword around her arm, dancing and clicking her neck. “Me, bitch. I let me in here.” “What happened to your vow of no murder?” I whisper to her, waiting for Kennedy’s next move. Bear shrugs. “You’re in trouble, I come running.”
“What if they’re The Kings or Brothers?” Bear shrugs. “You’re losing your edge, Little Devil.” She flicks her sword out, slicing someone across the throat. I watch as his head rolls off the top of his shoulders and falls to the ground. “Then they deserve to die.”
“Jesus.” King steps back, gripping onto the wall to steady himself. “Kohen is going to lose his shit when he sees you.” “He won’t see me—” Bear says, placing the sword back into the holster on her back. “I don’t want to see him.” “Dove, he’s fucked in the head. You have to see him.” “And that’s not my problem, Kingston!” Bear snaps, shoving past them all.
I put my hand out to both of them, just for laughs, because no way will they touch me. Only they both slide their hand into mine, shaking tightly and nudging their head. “I’m Nate, this is Bishop, and the broody one who left to make sure the red-haired one doesn’t die is Brantley.”
She curls her finger toward someone else. “Come. You know what you have to do.” “What the fu—” Eli steps in front of me, turning over his shoulder at both Kyrin and me. “What are you doing? Get back here.” “I can’t, Lil. There’s something I have to do. I’m sorry.” His eyes fall to the ground, before his shoulders square. “Oh, you forgot.” Kennedy starts raising a finger with each word. “Surprise, sight, sound, trickery.” She starts laughing, and for the first time, I wonder how the fuck this woman could be my mother. …no, I can see how. I reach for Eli’s arm, pulling him back to me as Kyrin
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“And I love you, too.” My heart shatters into pieces, and I’m pretty sure they land in his pocket. Tears slide down my eyes. I’ve cried only twice in my life. This being the second time. I already know we will never see him again. Once he has gone with her, she’ll kill him when she’s finished with him, and there’s not one thing I can do to stop it.
I spin around, looking among all The Kings. “Is this why you’re here? To watch your fucking friend walk off to his death?” Bishop is the first one to walk closer, his shoulders back and his eyes on me. He’s all business, which is surprising for his age. “In three days, I’m going to come to you. In three days, this will make sense. Until then, I need you both to not do anything reckless. Don’t look for him. Don’t fight Kennedy. Eli is right. We were never going to get out of here alive without his trade. You need to trust what I’m saying—what he just did. At least for three days.”
Nate points his finger between the two of us. “It’s almost like—” “—fucker, if you try to add Madison’s name into this equation, the next body that drops will be yours,” Bishop calmly says while still smiling at me. “Touchy subject still.” Nate winks at me. “But I get it. The next three days are going to be rough. Just try to keep it straight.” “One more question…” I say, though the bile that’s rising in my clogged throat tastes a lot like anger. “Eli once told me that The Kings play games and riddles. Is this one of them?” Bishop flicks his tongue over his lip, and I see it. I see a glimpse
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He’s ready for death. Fucking hope he is, because next time I see him, I’ll be sure to draw him close enough to smell her fucking poison.
She doesn’t know that Dove is alive. King is so fucking dead. It’s not my secret to tell, and Perse and I aren’t close enough friends for me to feel obliged to tell her, so I move on to the reason why I called her.
They all stare blankly up at me. Oh God. This is going to be like trying to contain stray cats.
What happened between us tonight wasn’t something I’d ever experience again. It was a goodbye, a hello, and an I’m sorry all in one. I saw a bigger picture of Kyrin tonight, and now I don’t want to let it go. Him go. I’ll fight for him, for his pain and anger, for all three of us.
the more time I spend with Perse, the more I find myself liking her. Once I like her, they’re all fucked because I’ll blow up their whole spot by telling her about Dove.
“Talk.” I waved my curtain out of the way to look down onto the driveway, checking for any movement. “Ever heard of The Brothers of Kiznitch?” I paled. “Which one are you?” “Kyrin. Nero.” “Ahhh,”
Look, I was told that you’re the person to call if I needed extra protection in New York.” I gazed off into the distance. “I can’t imagine a Brother of Kiznitch, son of The Four Fathers, needing protection.” “Not for me. For my sister.” “She hot?” “Motherfucker, if you so much as lay a single fucking finger on her, I will chop it off. King or not.”
Cartier looks over Maya’s shoulder, pausing her lone dancing in the background. “Ahhh.” Her tone is coy, as if she’s bored or has seen the same shit multiple times before. She probably has. “Don’t even take that seriously. That is my brother pushing you away. It’s desperate. Clearly.”
“Maya, I’ll be right back.” She waves me off. “Go get the thing, girl. I’ll be here for the show.” Before I open the RV door, I hear her say—“and I’m not talking about the sex…”
I click on that annoying yellow ghost because I know she is with Lilith tonight and I know Kiznitch women. They tend to play us like a fiddle.
She can play this game all she wants, but it won’t change the truth—that she’s mine. All fucking mine. Even if right now, I’m being a fuckwit.
I’m a gentleman, I’m not going to deprive other women of at least testing the best meal they would never have, but another male? Hell no. Heads will roll. My smirk is gone and I’m scowling at my phone. “Fucking Maya. She’s all of our karma, I think,” Killian yaps off in the background. “Just saying, though, fuck, Lilith is something else. She is not a woman to cross.”
