Page 26 of Pretty Ruthless Monsters: Complete Series

There’s a noticeable tension in the air between the two sides, and they seem to be trying to keep their distance as much as possible. It’s understandable, considering we’ve been rivals for so long. Telling them to get along now is going to be a pretty big ask.

Nico clears his throat, and then slips his hand into mine.

I have to fight against every instinct I have not to snatch my hand away. Instead, I take a deep breath and link my fingers with his, binding our hands tighter together.

“Thank you all for being here,” Nico says, bringing the meeting to order.

“Most of you have probably heard already, and some of you might be wondering why the hell we called you all here today. Especially together.” There are some rumbles of assent in the crowd, and he nods, then continues.

“As of today, Enigma and Carnage are working together. We’re putting old grudges to rest and joining forces.

That goes from the top all the way down. ”

He pauses, and when I don’t say anything, he squeezes my hand discreetly. I swallow, trying to focus on the reason we’re here and not the feeling of his palm against mine.

“That’s right,” I say, raising my voice. “Nico and I have worked out an arrangement, and we’re putting the past aside. What came before doesn’t matter now, and we all have to move forward. We expect that all of you will follow our lead, no matter what bad blood used to exist.”

“Bad blood? That’s putting it fucking lightly,” someone mutters from the crowd.

Someone else snorts at that, and there are some general grumbles of agreement.

There’s shifting and side-eyeing going on, but no one outright dismisses the plan or opposes it. So that’s a start.

“I know it’s not going to be easy,” I continue. “And we’re not asking this lightly. As much as our two organizations have been at each other’s throats over the years, right now, we have a bigger threat to worry about.”

Some of the people assembled nod their heads, and I can see several people on my side share concerned glances, clearly knowing what I mean.

Nico takes up the explanation, smoothly continuing where I left off.

“Carnage members, you know we’ve been targeted recently by some unidentified threat.

You know that whoever it is has been fucking with our drops and our runners.

We can’t let that shit stand. The same people have been targeting Enigma, and we think it’s an effort to try to destabilize us both and take over our territory.

So it makes sense to try to take the threat out together.

We’re stronger together than we are alone. ”

I’m struck by the way he speaks to his gang. He’s clearly a leader, clearly the one in charge, but he doesn’t talk down to them or treat them as subservient. He speaks with an authority that feels innate, as if it’s something he was born with and not just something he learned along the way.

I wonder if I’m that good at talking to my people.

“Like I said, we know this won’t be easy,” I add. “But we’re going to have to have each other’s backs if we want to make it clear that we’re not letting some shadowy attacker take us over or run us out. So it’s in everyone’s best interests to make this work.”

There are some grudging nods on both sides. At least people can see why this is important. That we’re not asking them to set aside this rivalry for a trivial reason.

If I had the choice, we wouldn’t be in this mess, but we are.

“That’s all for now,” Nico finishes. “Some things will be changing going forward, but we’ll update you when we have more. You’re all dismissed.”

As soon as the groups start to break up, I slip my hand out of Nico’s and walk away from him. He lets me go, turning to talk to a member of his gang who comes up to him.

I use that distraction to walk to the other side of the concrete pavilion, needing a break from all this.

“That went… better than I expected,” a deep voice says from behind me.

I turn to see Emmett, his face set into concerned lines.

“Yeah, it did.” I let out a sigh. “I was expecting a little more pushback, to be honest. I was prepared to remind everyone what that fucker did to Paulie so they could choose for themselves what side they wanted to be on.”

“Glad it didn’t come to that.” Emmett shoves his hands into his pockets, chewing his lower lip. “I’ll keep my ear to the ground with our crew. Make sure no one tries to start shit.”

“Thanks, Emmett. Hopefully, people will take it in stride. It’ll be an adjustment, but we all have to make sacrifices for this.”

He nods and then steps a bit closer to me, dropping his voice.

“Listen, Quinn. I know why we’re doing this, but you need to be careful.

The Princes might want to protect their own, but that’s the only reason they’re doing this.

Don’t trust them. As soon as they see a reason to, they’ll probably fuck you over, and I don’t?—”

He breaks off suddenly, stiffening. I’m not sure why at first, but then I look over his shoulder, and understanding dawns.

Nico is striding toward us, a hard look on his face.