Cross (Dark Kings 3)

Bones eyes light up, and Titan gives a soft laugh at the change of events. Finally, luck is on our side.

“I can get them,” he rushes out. “I just need ten minutes.”

“That’s not necessary,” Bones state, flipping open his knife. “Derek,” he orders.

Derek grabs the zip ties and yanks Mitch to his back on the concrete floor. Grave straddles his legs while Derek holds the side of his face down. Mitch tries to fight them as Rachel jumps to her feet and tries to run away. I grab her from behind, wrapping one arm around her stomach, pinning her arms to her side while the other comes up to cover her mouth and force her to watch.

Bones shoves the knife into his stomach and cuts downward—blood pours out and onto the floor around him. Bones reaches in and digs around for a few seconds and then pulls out a tiny bag. Bones holds up his hand as blood drips from it onto Mitch. He lies there, his body convulsing a couple of times, then stops completely—he’s dead.

“I believe we had a deal,” Bones announces, standing and tossing the bag to Turner, who catches it midair. Some blood splashing on his clothes.

He smiles. “Never doubt the Kings.”

“Hold her.” I shove Rachel into Grave’s arms as he stands.

I kneel, flip the Zippo open, and light it once again on my jeans. Holding it to Mitch’s pants leg, I wait for the flame to catch and light him on fire. Then I stand and turn to Grave.

“He said she’d be there.” She sobs in his arms. “That leaving the stencil behind with the company name would frame you. But you’d get off because of your connections. She’d be dead … and I’d have you.” She rambles out everything we already knew. Mitch played her, but she would have killed Alexa to play me.

“You were willing to let her die for what you wanted,” I growl, the burning body quickly heating up the cell.

She sniffs, her eyes full of fresh tears. “Cross … please?” Her hands reach to me to get away from Grave.

He lets go of her, pushing her into my chest. “Now I must do the same.” I shove her down to the floor onto Mitch. The fire catches on her clothes, and she screams as it attacks her like a wild animal needing to feed in order to survive.

The smell of burning flesh gets stronger. It’s a smell you’ll never forget. It lingers for hours. And we all stand around watching them burn, making sure nothing is left, knowing that my Queen is safe.

EPILOGUE TWO

CROSS

WE ALL SIT around the table at Grave and April’s, having Sunday breakfast. It’s our newest tradition as our family grows. The girls coming into our lives makes us more and more human. Less evil in our everyday life.

“Hey, Alexa,” Grave starts.

“Hmm?” She looks at him, slowing her chewing.

“Do you mind staying on at Crown? That is, until Lucky’s is back up and running, and I can find someone else to take over.”

She looks at me confused and then back at him. She swallows her food. “I don’t mind, but I don’t want to take that away from you.”

“You’re not.” He reaches over and takes April’s hand, bringing it to his lips. He kisses her knuckles, making her blush at the intimate act. “I want to come home and be with my wife after a long day at Kingdom.”

Alexa starts nodding. “Yes, sure, that’s …”

A silence falls over the room, and April starts laughing.

“No!” Jasmine breathes, her palms slapping the table. “You got married without us?” she asks in disbelief.

“No, but …” April holds up her left hand and smiles brightly, showing off the massive diamond that’s on her ring finger. “We have a wedding to plan.”

The girls start jumping up from the table, screaming and hugging one another. The guys laugh. Bones walks over to his brother and slaps him on the shoulder. “I’m proud of you, brother,” Bones tells him. Grave nods, smiling, but I can see him trying not to get choked up about marrying the love of his life.

A lot has happened over the past two weeks. We’ve started renovations on Lucky’s. We dropped the investigation and had Jeffrey sign off on the accidental report. Then Jasmine, Alexa, and I got into a very heated discussion when I told them I was paying for all of it. I didn’t want either one of them to worry about it. Jasmine had already put up so much for Kink, and Alexa only had enough set aside from selling the studio to do the small remodel. I told her to keep the insurance money, and I would handle it.

Ethan is in jail. Grave finally had enough and called in a favor. Ethan was picked up during a sting operation for distributing illegal narcotics to a minor. He’ll be away for a while. We’re just glad he didn’t kill anyone or himself. April tries to visit him, and he refuses to see her. She hates herself for it, but even more, she hates that he doesn’t want to be better.