I’d been preparing to take him out ever since I’d heard of his sudden return.
Twenty-five years he’d been gone. Twenty-five.
For the first few years, most club members believed he was preoccupied with something. Perhaps a woman? Perhaps a new addition to his arsenal. But when no one came to collect our Ten Club dues, we knew something had happened to him. Members were getting arrested for their crimes. Judges and politicians stopped protecting us. Word started getting out about Ten Club.
After that, things turned into the Wild West until Serina, a longtime club member with ambition, called in enough favors to be voted in as the new “King.”
I hated that bitch. She was always too greedy, wanting a slice of everyone’s pie. At least King left us alone. We paid our dues. We called when we needed something we couldn’t handle. We showed up to a meeting once every few decades. If anyone broke rules—like stealing from club members or welching on deals—then one of King’s Seers would show up and issue a warning.
That was all it took.
Because everyone knew the next visit would be from King if you fucked up again. And no one wanted to end up with their head in a jar in his infamous warehouse. For the record, those heads never died.
So when Serina took over, trying to insert herself in our business, no one was happy. We paid ten fucking billion dollars a year each to belong to Ten Club, and the entire premise was that membership bought us immunity for any crimes. It bought our freedom to pursue whatever we liked. Nowhere did anyone sign up for a bullshit share-my-evil-loot model. Serina wanted to know what people had in their arsenals, what they were trying to acquire, and she wanted dibs.
After a few decades of that, some of us began contemplating overthrowing Serina, but I questioned what I was really getting out of Ten Club. I didn’t need access to corrupt lawyers and judges. I didn’t need deal enforcement with other members. I was powerful enough to handle all that on my own.
What I really wanted was to get rid of anyone more powerful than me, who might try to acquire my family members after I restarted my bloodline. To Ten Club members, we would be mere objects to collect, like the Seers.
Ten Club had to go.
Then King returned. A gift. He did most of the dirty work for me, and now all I had left to do was eliminate him. So, yes. I was absolutely going to kill King, because King was still going to come after me.
And now I’ve kept my word to Jeni. Our new deal stipulated I come here and save him. Which I’d done. I never promised I wouldn’t kill him afterward. The only trick was keeping Jeni in my corner. It would serve me better in the long run. She needed to witness King attempting to eliminate me first. I would defend myself.
I scooped Jeni from the floor, her arms flopping to her sides as I carried her to the living room.
I deposited her on the sofa, where she let out a groan. “King…” she muttered.
“Not King. Ansin,” I said.
Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?”
“You looked is what happened.”
“Oh…”
“I’d offer you water, but I doubt any of it is safe to drink in this house. How about a beer?”
“No. No beer.” She pointed to her purse near her feet. “I have juice.”
I grabbed it, and she took a small sip.
“Better?”
“I think so.” She sat up, pressing her palms to her eyes. “I need to go find King now.”
“I’ll go. You stay here and res—”
“No.”
I smiled. “Don’t trust me, little treasure?”
“What do you think?”
“I hope you’re not holding a little decapitation against me?”
She stared blankly.
“I had no choice,” I said, attempting to hide my amusement. “Sage would have woken up tomorrow with you on her hit list, and I couldn’t have that, now could I?” True.
Jeni slowly swung her feet to the floor, swiping her long hair from her face. “I’m fine. I’ll go with you to find him.”
So she didn’t trust me. Good for her.
I helped her to her feet. “I know where he is, but you must walk behind me. Like I said, Sage loved her traps, and this house is filled with them.”
“How will you know where they are?”
“I helped her install some—a trade for some of her dream juice.”
“Dream juice?” She raised a brow.
“It was her specialty. It’s basically liquid hypnosis—can make a person believe they’re somewhere they’re not.”
Jeni crinkled her nose. “Did she give that stuff to King?”
“Probably.”
I noted a sadness in her eyes.
“What is it?” Not that I felt sympathy for her, but my curiosity was piqued.
“Nothing. Let’s get him out of that room. And then I want to burn this place to the ground.”