Page 51 of Blood and Thorns

I clenched my jaw. “Says who?”

“I don’t know, the other dealers. Come on, man, please don’t—” His words ended with a scream, the skin of his jaw peeling back beneath the heat.

I studied the packet, not recognising the symbol of a stained-glass window. “What’s it called?”

The cries died down, but I didn’t bother looking up.

“They… they call it Enchanted Dust.”

“Hmm.” Nodding to Langdon, I let him have his fun.

I had a more apathetic reaction to the resulting chaos and death, which apparently wasn’t normal according to both the psychologist and therapist Alexander took me to at sixteen. That lasted a whole three sessions before I threatened to kill them.

Langdon, being several years older, had gone only once, somehow sweet talking his way between the psychologist’s legs even without the ability to speak.

He liked to seduce people before watching them burn beneath his flames, unlike me, who was more blunt. Caden, despite sharing blood, was by far the most rational. Unless he was bored, then he really liked to smash things with that hammer of his.

I guess Eight would’ve preferred Caden to be his interrogator, because after breaking a few bones, Caden would’ve probably put the fucker out of his misery.

Langdon, on the other hand, was still playing with his food.

Another scream, the sound causing my limited patience to wear thin.

I’d slept only a few hours, but even with painting, thefight, andher,itstill wasn’t enough to calm this fucking current inside me. It was like I’d been struck by lightning, and my body didn’t know how to deal with this excess energy.

I needed an outlet, somethingmore. Something violent, preferably with my toy.

I’d been busy with tracking this prick the last week, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t aware of her every moment. Lounging around my home reading her book and befriending my staff. She didn’t think I knew that every night she’d come looking for me, sneaking into the west wing to watch me paint from the shadows.

My beautiful little rabbit,so curious even in her fear.

It took a lot for me to cool my constant rage, but she had this calming presence that spoke to my demons. It made me want to crush her, just to see what would happen. Whether she would break or fucking embrace it.

I turned to the twins. “Deal with this once he’s done.”

“Sir,” they said in unison, dipping their heads.

Leaving Langdon to his game, I made my way to my office.

The club was created as a place to launder money, as well as a beacon of my influence across the city. I ran it along with a group of trusted staff. Sitting at my desk I glanced down at the paperwork, the words meddling together, even moving until they blurred into something I had no hope of reading. So I didn’t bother to try.

Pulling out my phone, I unlocked it, frowning at the pictures until I found the one of the phone, and then the contact with the antique clock.

I trusted Caden with my life, which was the only reason I left him alone with Arabella. I knew blood meant nothing in my world, but he’d proven his loyalty to me over and over, taking a bullet more than once.

Caden was a year younger than me, but we grew up together between my home in Paris, and his in London. It was him and my uncle who came and found Lang and I almost dead. They were the ones who’d brought us back to England, and protected us until we’d recovered.

“Bas?”Caden answered on the first ring.

“Meet me at the container.”

I could hear his frown.“The container? What’ve you heard?”

In five years I haven’t had a single problem with the quality. Designed specifically to be as clean as possible, giving off the best possible high and assuring a returning customer.

“I think someone’s fucking with our powder. We’ve just heard a rumour that our stuff’s corked and not being pushed.” I made the most money keeping the entire pyramid under my thumb. But I also sold to third parties, which widened my pool of customers.

Langdon came in then, an almost peaceful gleam in his eyes that was a juxtaposition to the scent of scorched flesh. He raised a brow but said nothing as I put Caden on speaker.