Page 31 of Dark Things (Payback Duet #1)

Rebelle

I hate clubs. The lights, the noise, and all the sweaty people crammed in one area. And don’t forget the drunk assholes who think it’s okay to put their hands where they don’t belong.

“You want a drink?” Haunt whispers in my ear. It’s so fucking loud in here I can’t even hear myself think.

I nod, taking his hand as he leads us to the bar. While he’s getting the bartender's attention, I take a look at the space. It’s nothing special, but I guess college kids don’t need fancy. The clubs in the city are a whole different world than this shit-hole.

A big guy dressed in all black catches my eye as I track his movements to a curtained area. He slips behind it, but doesn’t come out. Interesting.

Haunt hands me my drink, and I take a sip, keeping my eyes trained on the curtain. There’s nothing else of real relevance. No VIP section or roped off area for expensive table service. Just a bar, dance floor, deejay booth, and a hallway that must lead to the bathrooms.

I start walking toward the curtained-off area, Haunt following me. When we get to the dance floor right next to it, I pull Haunt closer and start to dance, neither of us really putting any effort in, but blending in with the rest of the crowd.

Haunt leans down and brushes his lips with the shell of my ear. “Another guy just disappeared through the curtain. Want to follow?” He nibbles on my neck before letting go and looking into my eyes.

I smile, and tug him toward the edge of the curtain. Without looking back, I duck behind it, giving myself a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

The only thing back here is a stool where I’m sure a guard should sit and two doors. I’m hoping one of them leads to wherever the fuck Mario does business.

Haunt tries the first door, but it’s locked. The second opens up into a small storage room. Nothing of importance, cleaning supplies and what looks like shelves of tarps and plastic.

“Want to wait for the poor bastard to come back and then we can get in that way, or are you looking for something more stealthy?” Haunt jokes, knowing full damn well I don’t do stealthy.

“Let’s see what the guard has to say when he gets back. I’m sure it will be enlightening.”

Haunt posts himself beside the door, and I stand in the middle of the hallway. We’ve done this so many times, we don’t have to communicate.

A click sounds from the other side of the door, and I steady myself, hand resting on my thigh, just over the handle of my blade hidden by my skirt.

A huge, burly guy comes out, his bald head shiny from the overhead light. He spots me and steps back for a second before a scowl forms on his face.

“You shouldn’t be back here,” he growls, taking two steps toward me.

I smile, pulling my knife from its sheath. “I’m exactly where I want to be. You’re the one who’s going to be second-guessing your career choices.”

He grabs his gun from behind his back, but before he can straighten to point it at me, my blade arcs through the air and lands in his shoulder.

He screams and drops his arm, the gun clattering on the ground, but before he can move, Haunt is behind him, a powerful arm wrapping around his throat before he drags him into the closet.

I step in, closing the door behind us. “Now you’re going to tell us what’s behind those doors. And if you decide you’d rather be loyal to that piece of shit, I can guarantee you’re going to regret it. This is your life or death moment. How we proceed is up to you.”

If he could kill me with his eyes, I’d be a puddle of blood on the floor. I sigh, “He’s going to be difficult. I can feel it.”

Haunt laughs and gives the guy a shake, pulling his gun from his back and pressing it to the back of the guy’s head. He kicks him to his knees before me. I lean over and yank my blade from his shoulder. Another low scream comes from his mouth as blood pours down his arm.

“Fuck you, bitch. I’ll never talk,” the guard says.

Shaking my head, I put the tip of the blade under his eye. He flinches, just enough to cause my blade to nick the skin.

“Okay, I can see you’re not one of the smart ones.

It’s annoying as fuck, but I get it. You don’t think I’m scary enough to follow through with my threats, right?

Just some little girl who’s playing at being tough.

But here’s the thing, I’ve been all grown up for a really long fucking time.

And I’ve been killing for the last three years.

Guys just like you. The ones who think I’m nothing but a silly woman.

Not strong enough, not powerful enough, but yeah, let’s get this over with. ”

I push up my sleeve and he glances at my forearm to the tattoo that’s there in bold letters. My mark, my identity clear for all to see. Sometimes I fucking hate looking at it, making me remember how far I’ve fallen, but right now the fear it causes sends a thrill up my spine.

“Pitch,” the guy mumbles, eyes wide searching my face.

“I think he’s finally getting it, gioia mia ,” Haunt says, digging the gun in closer to the guy’s head.

“Are you? Getting the danger you’re in? The only option is to tell us what’s behind the door or you get to die in this disgusting closet surrounded by what looks like cleaning supplies. I mean, they won’t have to go far to take care of your body, so there’s that.”

“Fuck, okay, fine. It leads to three rooms: the gambling rooms, the office, and the other one is used for special guests.”

I tilt my head to the side and glance up at Haunt. “So, a kill room?”

He nods, but then hisses when his head scraps along the muzzle of the gun. His hands are shaking in front of him. And his legs quake with the urge to collapse.

“Where’s your access card?” I ask.

He goes to his pocket, but Haunt tuts and bends down to reach into the guy’s pocket instead. Haunt pulls out the card and slips it into his own pocket before standing up again.

“Is there a back entry? I can’t imagine they drag ‘special guests’ through the bar,” Haunt asks.

The guy swallows, but nods. “It leads into the building behind us. It’s a front, nothing inside but boxes and building materials.”

“And does your card work to open the external door on that building?” I ask, shifting my weight and leaning against the door. These boots are killing my feet. I should have just worn my Doc Martens.

“No, I only have access to this door. Mario, Gino, and The Crows are the only ones with that info. ”

A scowl slips over my face as I lock eyes with Haunt. This can’t be fucking happening, but I need to make sure.

“These crows, do they happen to be three college-age football players?”

“Yeah, Mario calls them that because they hunt as a murder. I have no fucking clue what that means; I just look after the door, but you hear things, ya know?”

I close my eyes, pinching the space between my brows. I need this like I need a hole in the head.

“Looks like we’re going to need to team up with il corvi after all, gioia mia ,” Haunt says, a laugh lacing his words. I’d punch him in the tit right now if there wasn’t a meathead kneeling between us.

“Fuck my life, right now. Get his wallet, and we’ll get him out of here.”

Haunt hands me the guy’s gun he picked up from the floor, and takes his wallet out of his back pocket, flipping it open and taking out the license.

“Okay, Silviano. We have your info. There’s really nowhere you can run to that we won’t find you.

Now, thank Pitch that she’s letting you live, because I would have put a bullet in your fucking skull. ”

After a few seconds the guy looks up at my face again. “Thanks, Pitch. I’ll be out of town in twenty-four hours. You won’t see me again.”

Haunt grabs him under the good arm and hauls him to his feet. Silviano winces but doesn’t say another word. I step into the hall first and motion to Haunt to follow after clearing the way. We stick to the darkened corners of the bar before slipping out the emergency exit next to the bathrooms.

Silviano takes off as soon as he’s free of the building, and Haunt and I watch him go.

Haunt takes out a cigarette from his pocket and lights it before handing it to me. I don’t usually smoke, but this is fucked, and I need something to calm the storm inside of me.

“I want to scream and kill something,” I say, walking down the alley back to the SUV.

“I know you didn’t want to work with them, but it seems fate has other ideas. Or we can just kill them and grab the access card. It could be fun. Lord knows I owe those fucks a beating for what they did to you. If we didn’t need to keep a low profile I would have diced them up already.”

Haunt opens up my passenger door, and I take one last drag before handing him the rest of the cigarette and climbing in. I close my eyes for a moment, trying to get my anger under control, but there’s so much inside me it feels impossible to contain.

Once we pull out onto the road, I turn to Haunt, studying how beautiful he is in the dim moonlight. He’s so fucking perfect it hurts to look at him sometimes.

“We go to them, make the deal. Kill Mario and then get Magnus like we planned. Stan will be too busy with whatever the fuck he’s going to do and not paying attention. Then, before we disappear with Magnus and Cat, we take him out,” I say.

Haunt exhales and places his giant hand on my thigh. It almost circles the whole thing, grounding me in a way nothing else can.

“We’re so close, gioia mia . I promise it’ll be over soon, and then we can live on the beach somewhere, fucking under the stars every night.”

I roll my head to look out the window, watching the town go by in a blackened blur. Nothing about being here has been easy, but I can’t doubt Haunt’s words. This ending is fast approaching, I just hope we’re all alive by the time it’s done.