Page 6 of Vicious Behaviors

‘She loves us. She’s one of the few who still does.’

I know.

‘And Lucky? He’d throw himself in front of a bullet for Frankie.’

I know.

‘Which means she’s important to us, too. She’s family.’

I know that.

‘You know??? You know! What are we going to do? That’s what I want to know?!’

My jaw clenches so tight my back molars ache. My fists curl into my lap as the monster’s voice slithers into my thoughts again, smooth and terrifyingly eager this time.

‘You know what we have to do. There’s only one thing to do. Kill whoever is trying to steal them from us.’

It’s that smug, thrilled tone that gets me every time. The beast inside me doesn’t care about Stella. Or Lucky. Or even Frankie. He doesn’t care about love or family. All he cares about… is blood. The sweet, metallic scent of copper in the air. Its warmth soaking through his fingers and skin. The euphoria of watching someone bleed out at his feet as the light drains from their eyes. That’s what he lives for. The begging forleniency and mercy. The frantic sounds of chaos. The stench of death. And now that my siblings’ lives are on the line, he’s clawing at my insides—biting, howling, desperate to come out.

Killing Father McDonagh earlier today wasn’t enough. He wants more. More carnage. More screams. More souls to devour with his black heart and razor-sharp teeth. And the worst part of all of this is that I’m more than willing to feed him. I do it freely and without reservation. Because if I don’t… he feeds on me. Feeds on my bruised and tormented soul until I’m nothing but a shell. Until there’s nothing left of me at all. Just him. Only him.

So as he hums in the back of my mind, sharpening his fangs and nails, I whisper my consent. “Kill whoever you have to, as long as our family stays whole.”

‘I always do.’

Half an hour later, we speed onto the abandoned airfield and find a private jet beginning to taxi down the cracked runway in the distance.

“There!” I shout, the devil seething with glee in my ear when he sees his target.

Dom cuts the wheel hard and floors it, aiming straight for the private jet. But it’s too late. The plane lifts, its wheels dangerously close to grazing the hood of our car with a metallic screech before it rises into the night sky.

We sit in agonizing silence, watching the plane disappear into the dark of night, praying that Stella, Frankie, and Lucky aren’t inside.

A fool’s prayer. We all know they’re on that plane. The question is, where is that plane taking them?

“Drive to the hangar,” my father says, his voice cold as a blade. “We need to know where that plane is going.”

Dom nods and turns us toward the building. Other cars start to arrive, their headlights slicing through the darkness, filled with my father’s lieutenants, all too eager to join in on the action.

The first thing we notice as we reach the hangar is that its doors are wide open. The second is the two men lying on the ground. One is already dead, his eyes open and glassy, while the other is bleeding badly from a gunshot wound to his leg, writhing in pain, trying to crawl away.

My father doesn’t hesitate as he steps out of the car. “Marcello.” That’s all he says. Just my name. No command to follow. No uttered order to obey. He doesn’t need one. I already know what he wants me to do. It’s the same thing the monster inside me has been salivating for.

I immediately jump into action and walk toward the man, still dragging his bleeding leg behind him like dead weight.

‘Let him try to run,’ the voice purrs. ‘You know I love a good chase.’

However, I’m not in the mood for his games. Not tonight.

I grab a fistful of the man’s hair and yank him back, crouching low to whisper in his ear, “Where are my sister and brother?” The cold hiss of my voice sounds foreign to my own ears. “Who took them?”

The bastard has the audacity to spit on me. “Fuck you.”

‘Oh, goodie,’ the demon inside me hums. ‘He wants us to break him.’

I shove down the bile clawing up my throat and tighten my grip on his hair.

“We can do this the easy way,” I say calmly, “or the hard way.”