Lost Cause (Killer of Kings 8)

“Boss!” Priest tensed up.

“If you’re not one of us, then get your ass out that door and see how long you last. On my last check, you’d already be dead. All my men have been risking their lives to save you. A supposed nobody who has just turned out to be somebody.”

Priest saw the tears glistening in her eyes. She was strong, but this was too much, too fast.

“Boss, enough.”

“No, I’ve had enough of you right now. Do you want to know why you won’t be able to find who that name belongs to? The name you’ve wanted since day one at Killer of Kings? Because he’s already fucking dead. They all are. There, I said it. The man you’ve been hunting was killed years ago by one of Viko Fedorov’s men. I’ve been trying to gain intel on what exactly went down, but I can’t get shit because it’s been squashed by the Circle of Monsters. Now you happen to be fucking his daughter.”

Priest glared at Boss. “I suggest you be careful,” Priest said.

“I helped to make you what you are, Priest. Don’t question me. I’m still your boss. You turned down the opportunity to have it your way, years ago, remember?”

Priest’s nostrils flared. Viko Fedorov had promised him everything he had hoped for, but the cost to be a Monster was too great. To become initiated into the Circle of Monsters required a test, one Priest hadn’t been willing to do.

He’d been asked to go to a secure location and to kill the suspects inside. It had been two women. Two cold, lonely women who looked petrified. He’d walked away because he refused to kill innocents and that was exactly what they looked like to him. Those lowlifes would kill puppies for breakfast and women and children on a whim.

With the Circle of Monsters, no details were given. They expected blind loyalty. A date, a time, and a location were all you got. You were expected to go in, kill, and get out. No questions asked.

He’d needed to know what those two women had done before pulling the trigger. Viko Fedorov had told him he’d never be Monster material. What he needed was men of action, of trust. Men without a conscience.

Priest had walked away without the information he needed.

He later discovered the two women he was supposed to kill had been pure evil. They had owned a care home, where they willingly took in children and hurt them in the vilest of ways. Torturing them for years. Making money off their innocence.

Viko had spent only twenty-four hours giving them a taste of their own medicine, and Priest was supposed to kill them.

He’d failed. But how was he supposed to know?

“I’ll go,” Cleo said.

****

Priest sat by her side, and Cleo knew he was having difficulties with her. One quick glance in his direction and she saw how much he glared, his brow furrowed as he stared off into space. He was pissed off, but it was different. They had been on the same page only hours before, but once again, there was this divide between them, and she had a feeling it was because of who she was.

Circle of Monsters.

She didn’t even know what that meant, but from the way all the men looked, they were not happy about coming to a secure location to meet them.

This was bad news.

Digging her fingers into her thighs, she tried to not think about who she was meeting. “It’s an ugly night,” she said, filling the silence. She had tried not to talk, but knowing she was about to potentially meet one of her parents, she was nervous and fidgety.

The men were not helping.

Why were they all so … good-looking. They all had muscles, some were heavily inked, and they all looked serious.

“How are you doing there, little monster?” Harb asked. He was the only one seemingly amused by what was happening. “From the moment I looked at you, I knew there was something familiar about you. I should have known you were Target’s kid.”

Cleo tensed up. “You’ve met him?”

“Yeah, had a few dealings with him as well. He’s an evil son of a bitch. Not a man I want to meet on a cold, wet day, that’s for sure.” Harb tutted. “It explains how you’ve gotten out of so many scrapes.”

“What do you mean?” Cleo asked.

“It means that Target has been around,” Gabriel said.

She had been introduced to Gabriel in passing. He’d been her driver once before.