Page 35 of Sadistic Retribution (Rise of Phoenyxx #2)

Synn

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I notice each of the other guys reach for their phones at the same time. Please let it be our mothers. It's not, though. I glare at the incoming call. This is not fucking good. Fuck.

Before I answer, I motion towards Pazessca, Valley, and Harris. “Stay over there, and don’t say a word.”

I look to my brothers, and we all move to the kitchen. I angle myself so the living room can’t be seen, then answer a video call. Fuck me. “Father.” I nod in acknowledgment. The others read their screens, frowning. Frost looks up, and mouths “text.”

“Son, is everyone there with you?”

“Yes, Sir.” I motion for the guys to come closer, so we can all be seen on the screen.

“Good. Now listen up, all of us are in agreement on this. We heard the girl has resurfaced, the little friend—what's-her-name.”

“Valley,” I tell him drily, licking my lips.

I'm glad they didn’t have a clue where she was. We managed to find a small apartment about an hour away, which we paid for in cash. It was decked out with everything she needed. We couldn’t give her access to the internet, or the phone, but she was comfortable.

“Yes, her. Now, this can't be salvaged after everything. We need all of you to come home immediately.”

“But Father... we still need to take control. We're still working on it—”

He cuts me off with a glare. “This is not up for negotiation. Your work there is done. You need to come retrieve your seats as our heirs.”

Shit fuck dammit! I’m panicking, trying not to let it show. I glance at the others, all as pale as I must be. I just respond with a curt, “Yes, Sir.”

The line disconnects, and I whirl to face the others. We head into the living room. “I gather you heard all of that?”

Harris frowns with a grim look on his face. “What are you going to do?”

Pazessca looks freaked out. She jumps up, beseeching me with her eyes. “You can’t leave. We need to fuck this place up, and rescue the others in The Morgue!”

Frost steps up. “I can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but we need to ignore them. Do not answer any calls or texts. We also need to hide out somewhere they won’t find us.”

“Um... bro? They'll kill us. Literally. You sure about this?” Trikk looks like he’s a heartbeat away from flipping out.

“I agree with Frost. Where will we hide, though?” I say.

Harris stands up. “What about my place? It's not as big as this one. But I can manage to fit you all in. Though you’ll have to share bedrooms. It's only got four.”

“That could work, but do our fathers know about Harris?”

“There’s no telling,” Frost starts pacing. “I can’t think of any other options, though.”

Ghost speaks up. “My place in the tunnels?”

“For all six of us? There's no way.” Razor shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

“I guess our only choice is Harris’s place,” I say reluctantly. There really is no other viable option.

“Everyone, gather the shit you’ll need for a while.” I look at Pazessca. “Don’t worry, baby girl. We will finish this shit. Then, we'll all get the fuck out of here!”

She exhales a shaky breath. “Okay. We don’t have time to waste.” She chews her lip for a minute. “It’s time to raid that fucker Augustine’s office. We need to take every damn thing in that office.”

“What about the Director?” Valley questions.

Pazessca gets a hard look on her face, determination written all over her. “I will take his ass out.”

“Wait, what?” Trikk gapes.

“You heard me! He’s mine to kill—got it?”

Harris looks at her like he doesn’t recognize her. “Pretty Girl...”

She holds up a hand. “Don’t. This is happening. I have plenty of pointy things to do the job with.”

With that, we all turn to go pack a bag. We'll go to Harris’s, then plan this raid.

Phoenyxx

I'm hyped up with adrenaline. Once the guys got settled in at Hunter’s, we sat and planned. They are grouped up two per room. Synn and Razor, Frost and Purge, and Ghost and Trikk.

I’m spinning the big, serrated hunting knife in my hand. It's huge, and sharp as fuck. I also have the switchblade stuffed in my bra. I gave the dagger to Valley—no way I’ll leave my girl unprotected. The guys—including Hunter—have blades of all shapes and sizes.

It's close to lunchtime, so I want to get there before the fucker leaves to eat. It's perfect timing. The students will all be in the cafeteria, and the teachers will be elsewhere eating, also.

“Everyone ready?” Hunter looks at every one of us. Yeps go around the room. “Let’s go, then.”

We file out of his place, standing strong by each other. We all have scowls on our faces, beyond ready to end this shit and finally get some fucking answers.

We slip into the admin building, fanning out to not be noticed by the few straggling students in the building.

We head down the long hall to Augustine’s office, coming back together.

We are in sync, working as one unit. I can’t help but feel a tug at my heartstrings, but I shove it in the back of my brain.

I can’t afford to be emotional right now.

I’m gripping Valley's hand, and I squeeze it to reassure her that all will be okay. She looks at me, eyes wide. “Will we be okay, Nyx? I just want to find Bry and get the hell out of here.”

“We will, Val—I promise. I'm not leaving here without Bryan, 6, or 3.”

She squeezes me hand. “Love you.”

“I love you too.”

We get up to the door, the hallway completely empty. We don’t bother knocking, we just burst in.

Augustine gets up fast. “What’s the meaning of this? You can’t just barge in here...” He trails off, eyes bugging out when he sees Hunter.

I smile, a sick, sadistic wide one. I whistle a tune, walking toward his desk and skirting it to stand right in front of him. “You’re a problem, Director. One we can't afford to have anymore.”

He splutters, face turning red. I slide my hand under my shirt, pulling out the huge knife. He stiffens, holding his breath. “You dare come in here and threaten me? You will all be sent to the medical wing!”

I start laughing, and once I start, I can’t stop. I walk slowly around him, standing behind him. I run my finger down his spine, then reach around, placing the sharp blade at his throat. “I dare you to say one more word...”

He straightens up. “I will call the Solomons—and the police! Unhand me!”

“Tsk, tsk Director Dumbass. That was one word too many.”

Synn and Razor walk over, each taking one of his arms to hold him still.

I don’t want to do this behind him, so I come around to face him again. “I want you to look me in the eye, asshole!” My blade comes up again, and Synn yanks his head back with his other hand.

Augustine’s gaze skitters everywhere but on me. His eyes are frantic, silently begging for help from everyone in the room. It's laughable—as if I'd let him continue to breathe!

I don’t drag it out. I slide the blade across his throat, using all my body weight to lean into the cut. I filet him from ear-to-ear, severing his carotid. Blood spurts out like a fountain, and I jump back to avoid the splash. It keeps spurting, and the river of red around him grows.

“Look at me!” I order, holding his terror-filled eyes as he bleeds out.

He chokes, unable to get a breath. His limbs weaken, and the guys let go of his arms. He crumbles to the floor, and I lean down, wanting to see his eyes glaze over in death.

Within seconds, he stops breathing, and his head lolls to the side.

“Goodbye, motherfucker,” I mutter, turning to face everyone. “Mission fucking accomplished.”

Purge groans, palming his crotch. “That made my dick hard, Iskra.”

“Same, man,” Razor shifts himself in his pants.

Frost pipes up. “Get everything. Move fast!”

“What about the computer?” Purge asks.

“Everything!” Synn bellows.

We rush to grab the shit on his desk. The drawers are unlocked quickly, and we pull out file after file, piling them onto the desk, putting the pile of papers on top.

“Check for secret compartments,” Frost reminds us.

I rifle through each empty drawer, pressing and pulling. I hit success, peering into the false bottom of the drawer. There’s a thick file in this one. I pull it out, a picture sliding out of the side. I grab it to put it back and freeze in place. It's... me. As a child.

This is before the Solomons. What the fuck? The people in the background are blurred. I can’t make out faces. All I can tell is it appears to be a man and a woman, with another figure standing off to the side.

Out of nowhere, I’m sucker punched by a memory.

Phoenyxx Age 5

It's a pretty spring day. The birdies are singing; the smell of flowers fills my nose. Laughing, I run in circles around the garden in the front of the house.

I'm playing Duck, Duck, Goose with my imaginary friends. I'm picked to chase, of course. I let out a stream of giggles as I dart around, going from tree-to-tree.

I hear a female voice filled with laughter, calling out, “Ah, Carina!”

What the fuck was that? Was that my... Oh God. The timing of this!

Synn comes over to check on me. “Breathe, Pazessca. Put it back, we’ll figure everything out, okay?”

I look at him, uncertainty all over my face. “I just had a memory from childhood. I don’t know where I was, but I was happy...”

“Alright, bring it up after we get finished in here, okay?”

Rattled, I nod, putting the picture back inside. I go back to the drawer, feeling around for anything else. It's empty, and the guys are all on their own drawer, so I stand back.

“Bingo!” Trikk yells. “Found our families’ files.”

They make quick work of the rest, piling it all high on the desktop. “This is all of it,” Purge confirms. Ghost pulls out a backpack, and we shove all the paper and files into it. Purge grabs the computer monitor, Hunter grabbing the keyboard and tower.

Frost opens the door, looking around the hallway. “There’s no one. We need to move quick. Remember the plan—we are leaving from the side door, one hallway over.” He reaches for the handle, locking it behind us as we exit the room.

We walk fast, heads on a swivel to make sure we’re not spotted. Trotting over to the side door, we make a break for it. The courtyard is thankfully empty since lunch is in full swing. We practically run over to the boys’ dorm, thundering up the stairs, and over to Hunter's apartment.

Once we’re in, the computer is put down on the small kitchen table inside, the backpack placed next to it.

“It’s time to work,” Hunter says, with Trikk letting out a “Duh...”, making me smile before I remember I’m still pissed as hell.

Purge works to set up the computer, and the files are spread over the table.

“There’s more room in the bedrooms. Everyone, grab some files and start going through them. Shout if anything looks interesting,” Hunter tells us. He looks at me, adding, “Take a shower, baby. You can borrow a shirt and sweats from my dresser.”

I nod, anxious to wash the stink of dead Director off me.