Page 30 of The Wicked

“I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant is that he kept us alive because he needs us. That means, as much as he wants toput a bullet through our heads, he has to wait until we are useless to him.”

Devil eyed me suspiciously.

I knew I sounded so assured, as if I knew something they didn’t.

Devil’s connection to Elio was the only thing keeping us alive. We were Devil’s family, and if Elio touched any of us, he’d lose the only family he had left. We were pretty much set to wreak havoc as long as Devil was by our side.

“Everyone and everything is replaceable to Marino; don’t be fooled,” Devil said.

“I doubt that,” I said, my eyes searching his. “Look at us; we’re treated like guests instead of prisoners. I mean, we’re eating fucking pizza. We have access to our phones and the internet. What hostage eats pizza and accesses the internet? That should tell you something.”

“Yeah, or maybe he’s got a fucking pet crocodile, and he’s treating us good because his crocodile loves fresh, well-fed, happy meat. And by happy meat, I mean us,” Dog said.

Milk lightly slapped his arm. “Who has a crocodile for a pet?”

“You’d be shocked, Pinky Brain,” Dog said.

“So.” Upper sat up. “You wanted to cause trouble, what did you have in mind?”

I curved my lips into a sly smile.

The loud music from Elio’s casino was the relief my body needed, and from the looks on the faces of my beloveds, it was exactly what they needed too.

“This better be a good idea,” Devil muttered beside me.

“Do you smell that?” I asked him, and he frowned, sniffing the air.

“Weed?”

“No. It’s the smell of a great idea.”

“Nah,” Dog said. “I just smell another bullet coming; this time, I don’t think he’ll miss.”

“I love it,” Milk said. “I want to get very drunk and steal some money.”

“No stealing,” Upper chided her, but his eyes were filled with mischief. “We’re gonna cheat ourselves some cash, and I might find myself a hot guy who will buy me beer.”

Devil shook his head, his frown hardening.

I ignored his low spirits, feeling the rise of excitement in my stomach. “This, guys… is our zone. Let’s make as much money as we can. And maybe we might be lucky enough for it to end in a huge casino fight, cross that off our bucket list.”

Dog threw his arm around my shoulder, careful not to hurt my arm. “I’m a zombie slut for that genius brain of yours.”

“Hm, talk dirty to me.” I leaned into him as we began walking amongst the crowd, who didn’t pay heed to us. Yet. Soon, they’d notice.

“How long do you think until they realize the soldiers assigned to watch us are no longer watching us?” Milk asked.

“An hour or two,” Upper said. “Should supply us enough time to cause some trouble.”

“That is if we don’t get reported to the boss himself, seeing as we are simply walking into his turf like hisguests.Wonderful,” Devil said.

We stopped in the middle of the club, and Dog distributed some cash he’d stolen from the wallets of every soldier we’d encountered before reaching the casino. “The goal: use these to win big.”

“I’ll hit the tables,” Upper said, going east.

“You guys are gonna get me killed one day,” Devil muttered.

“I call roulette, my specialty,” Milk said, already heading in that direction.