Vicious Minds (Children of Vice 4)

“If it’s your city, why the fuck are you asking me to save it? Why don’t you kill them yourself?” I asked him.

“The Hippocratic Oath,” he replied and I smacked the back of his head. Why the fuck did he have to be so goddamn difficult?

“The great Ethan Callahan, a man so dangerous people die even when he does nothing,” Wyatt muttered.

“Wyatt Callahan, a man so cunning he’s convinced the world he’s an angel,” I snapped. He wasn’t better than us…he was exactly the same.

“I—”

“Everyone but his siblings, of course. We know what you did in Chicago,” I went on and he paused. “I’m sure you did it for a good reason. Doesn’t change the fact that you did it, now, does it? That you’re just like the rest of us…both hero and villain.” A child Liam and Melody.

We spoke more before he left, and Ivy went to look for more food. I pulled out to my phone to message her.

“When you are finished your vacation, I’ll apologize. And you’ll kill her then.” I texted, though I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for. It didn’t really matter.

“I won’t be free for another two weeks. You’re going to need to manage until then.”

“Work?”

“Our daughter is in a play at church.” she replied, and I held my hand over my mouth to hide my smile when she sent me a photo. Our daughter dressed as angel, halo and all.

“I can manage. I’ll let the chaos grow here. Send me a video.”

“I will.”

“I miss you.” I waited, but she didn’t reply right away so I went on. “The more time I spend with women who are not you the more I realize I need you.”

“Good.” She texted back. “And I miss you too…we both do. Is Wyatt ready?”

I grinned. “No. Wyatt is still in denial. I’m going to have force him. Which means I might get hurt.”

“That will bring your parents out.”

“Aren’t you worried about me getting hurt?”

“I’ll save you.” She replied. She enjoyed that role, being my hero. “So we are only getting Wyatt?”

“I’m not sure if they will show and right now it doesn’t matter. We’ll get him back. And you can claim your bet.”

“Finally.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been eating like a damn cow.” Ivy said as she came back with a large bowl of

noodles, two sandwiches, and bag of chips all on a tray.

“Isn’t that normal for you?”

“I’m not sharing,” she added, stuffing a fork full of noodles into her mouth. That did not help my opinion of her. However, it did prove that Calliope’s drugs were already doing a number on her. She’d never let what happened with Klarissa happen again.

Wednesday, September 20th

I said nothing and didn’t dare look away from her. Making it out of this alive depended on her staying focused. “You’re going to be all right.”

“Maybe you don’t understand the situation here!” he yelled, and I still didn’t look at his face.

BANG!

I flinched for the first time since I was a child when he shot into her shoulder. She bit her bottom lip hard, swallowing her screams and her pain. The blood soaked through her blouse. She wasn’t strong enough. If he pushed her, she’d break down…and this would escalate. I needed this motherfucker alive so Wyatt could kill him.