Cross (Dark Kings 3)

CHAPTER ONE

CROSS

Thirteen years later . . .

CLICK.

The sound of my Zippo in my right hand, flipping open and closed, fills the meat locker—a room at Kingdom where the Dark Kings and I handle our business. The kind that others can’t know about. An underground concrete room where no one can hear the screams of whatever unlucky bastard we drag down here. It’s nothing more than one chair and table in the middle of the room—screwed down, of course, so neither one can be used as a weapon against us. Four concrete walls and floor. One light in the center of the ceiling.

It’s our hell. We drag the sinners down here to make them pay for their sins.

My three best friends and I grew up being exactly what the Three Wisemen—our fathers—hoped we would be. And I’m thankful that none of them are alive today to witness that. I’d hate for my father to feel any satisfaction in regard to what kind of man I’ve become. I know the other Dark Kings feel the same way.

Our fathers knew us as weak little boys. Now at twenty-six, the world knows us as Titan, Bones, Cross, and Grave. Each one of us earned our nickname at different times in our life for various reasons. None of them good. People bow to us because we fucking earned it, not because our fathers gave it to us. We’re nothing like them. We’re worse. We just choose not to hide who we are. No, we parade it around Las Vegas in broad daylight.

Our newest victim sitting in the chair glares up at me as I lean casually against the concrete wall across from him. His brown eyes fall to my Zippo.

Click.

I flip it open and closed again. I do it all the time. Doesn’t matter if I’m stressed or relaxed. It’s a reminder that I was born to burn in hell. And if I wanted to, I could take everyone with me. My mother didn’t realize just how right she was when she gave me this on my birthday.

“I’m not telling you shit!” he snarls, slapping his hands on the table. His once white T-shirt is ripped and hanging off one shoulder. He’s got a bruise under his left eye from where Titan knocked him out before we dragged his ass down here.

We’ve been waiting for thirty minutes for him to regain consciousness and join the party.

“That’s what they all say,” Bones states from my right.

Titan leans against the back wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Grave stands to my left, texting away on his cell. I’m guessing to his pregnant girlfriend. He must have a lot to say because he’s been typing for a good minute.

“We’ll give you a second to think it over,” Bones tells him, being nicer than normal.

The guy throws his head back laughing, spit flying from his mouth at the action. “I don’t need a goddamn second. My lips are sealed.”

“Well …” Bones looks over at me, arching a dark brow. “Then he’s no use to us.”

“I agree,” I say, flipping the Zippo shut and pocketing it. “Titan?” I look over at him and nod, giving the signal. The guy had his chance, which is more than what we usually offer. We’re all in a pretty good mood today, so it’s his choice to die.

Titan steps up behind him and yanks him from the chair, shoving him facedown onto the table. The man tries to fight him, but he yanks his arms behind his back, keeping him pinned down. Bones steps forward toward them.

“They will kill you!” the man shouts. “All of you and everyone you love!”

That gets Grave’s attention. He looks up at the man from his phone, his fingers pausing over it, but says nothing.

“Where are they?” Bones directs his question to Titan.

“Back pocket,” Titan clips.

Making his way around the table, Bones yanks a bag of zip ties from Titan’s pocket and removes two from the plastic before dropping the rest to the floor. “Ya know, Kenneth,” he starts as he slides the end of one through the other, pulling on it to make sure it’s secure at the length he wants. “I’m not in the mood to get bloody today.”

“Fuck you, Kings!” The guy thrashes on the table under Titan’s weight. “You can’t touch me …”

Titan yanks him from the table and spins around so Kenneth now faces Bones.

“No one is untouchable,” Bones states, then quickly wraps the zip tie around the man’s neck. Kenneth tries to fight, but Titan has a good hold on him, giving Bones easy access to thread the zip tie before yanking it tightly against his skin. The sound of the zipper seals Kenneth’s fate.

Titan then shoves Kenneth to the right. The four of us watch him as he falls to his knees, panic on his face while his hands try to pry it off. As if he has a chance. Not going to happen. Death doesn’t leave any room for dignity. Not when you know it’s coming. Your fight or flight kicks in no matter how little of a chance you know you have.