Quintez's Point of View When everything finally sunk in, I realized the rest of the room was staring at me. Their faces were twisted and morphed into curiosity. Some had their lips tugged into a pleasant smile, mainly Roberto and Dominique. Ever since I had joined forces with Dominique, his youngest son had taken a liking to me. Saw me as more of an older brother than his older brother was. Out of the three men, he was the nicest. Sweetest. Sadly, he was blessed with such a fucked up father and brother. Although, his mother had seemed nice before they promptly discarded her. Avoiding eye contact with the girl still tied to the chair, I skirted past her. Smiled back at Dominique when he embraced me from the side. His breath smelled of alcohol when he exhaled. When Roberto offered another drink to his father. When he declined with an upturned palm, Roberto moved it toward me as an offer. I shook my head. "Smoked a large bowl before your dad called. If I took that now I might en
Camilo's Point of ViewI had sent a scout to Dominique's house. Forced him to run faster than he had ever before. The clock was ticking and there was no telling what would happen once it ran out. Dominique had proven he had no humanity left in him.So he wouldn't spare Farren anything.The likelihood of her making it past tonight in their clutches became less and less. She wasn't made to endure torture. Or anything down that line. Her skin was made to be worshipped, not marred. If I could have gone in her stead, I would have.Gladly lay down my life to give her her freedom back. Rafael and Alejandro felt the same. We knew the depths to which the Ramirez family had fallen. Killing their own mother and wife. Yes. Farren wouldn't make it out alive if we didn't act now.Alejandro was busy on his laptop when the scout came back. Breathless. Trembling. Utterly naked. His chest heaved and his thighs trembled. But it was the fear in his eyes that told me the worst had happened. Or maybe he w
Farren's Point of ViewFuck Phaedra. Fuck Tristan. Fuck Dominique. Fuck them all. That was all I could think of as they spoke in front of me. Spoke over me and about me as if I wasn't even in the room. This had turned into something that went beyond Lupitum and Dominique's urge to take over the business.They wanted to gain favor with the royal family. Wanted to send me with Phaedra willingly, knowing that I would be a cow to the slaughter. Except if what she had said was true. That she wanted me by her side as her sister. To help her overthrow the monarchy and place herself on the throne instead. That Reginald had grown too drunk on power and was proving himself to be an unfit king.The snide remark about how Nerezza being a mad woman didn't seem to help her cause at all. Only angered me to the point that I wanted to rip out of my ties and strangle her myself. Although, I settled on growling back at her. Let my eyes do the talking. Showed her the clear disdain I had for her."Take th
Quintez's Point of ViewI knew she was angry when she said all of those things. Knew that she was frustrated from being kidnapped. But it didn't mean what she said wasn't the truth. I was a coward. A selfish one, at that. I had never tried to do right by anyone, not even the man I claimed to serve.Who was a complete and utter monster, might I add, with zero regards for anyone's life except his own. But this was my time to make a small change in the world. A large one in my life. If I did this now, saved my mate, I was going to change everything. There was no telling what Camilo might do to me but I had faith that Farren would try and get me out of the mess I had created.Only if I tried to save her now.Taking a step forward, I glanced over my shoulder at the back door. Phaedra and her guards had no doubt gone to the villa just on the other side of the house. Dominique and Tristan had gone to sleep, hoping that daybreak and their money came sooner rather than later. This left me wit
Farren's Point of ViewI was terrified. And it wasn't just for my own safety. He had a look in his eyes that told me I wasn't going to talk him out of this. Or even try to convince him that it was a bad idea. Oh no. I had said horrible things to Quintez. Called him a coward. Now the bastard wanted to prove otherwise and would likely get us killed in the process.At least my death would be mourned but I doubted his would.There was a difference between bravery and stupidity. I feared this to be the latter instead of the former. Even my little stunt with falling over couldn't help me out of it. Not that I wanted to go with Phaedra. The bitch could burn down with the rest of Makatza. But I didn't want one of my mates in a grave before me.This felt oddly like he would. Quintez's pocket knife worked tirelessly against the restraints. Sawed more than cut at the rope fibers. A bead of sweat had formed on his brow from the concentration. After another moment or two, he wiped it away with th
Farren's Point of ViewThe shouting started not long after the siren went dead. I knew in my bones that we had no time left. That we needed to run. Hide. Do anything but just stand here and wait for our doom. The car was no longer an option. Our quick escape was dashed by motion sensors and those horrible floodlights.Although, Quintez looked stuck in place. His eyes were wide and jaw open. Stared off into the distance. Even with all the screams of men, he refused to move. Kept gawking at something I couldn't see.I willed my heart to stop hammering, to no avail. No time like the present, it seemed. Whether my heart wanted to or not, we had to go and fast. If I died because of heart failure because of this, I was going to haunt the hell out of Quintez. "Come on!" I growled at the statue of a man. Grabbed his hand and dragged him down the last few steps. He came reluctantly. Snapped back into himself for long enough to scream at me."They are blocking our way to the cars!" I noticed
Farren's Point of ViewI ran to the road as fast as I could. Looked back once or twice to see Quintez hot on my heels. Slobber ran down the sides of his muzzle as he came at me. Kept enough distance between us to keep the men following us at bay. Some had shifted fully. Others were only halfway. Most of them had guns. Shot at the air all around me. I swallowed down the urge to fall to the ground. Forced my legs to keep moving. There was a screaming pain in my side now. Stung like a thousand bees never could. Being fit and being skinny was not mutually inclusive, I had just realized. Just because I weighed closer to a brick than a person didn't mean I could run any faster.One thing that kept echoing inside my mind was the man who had helped us this far. Who had fallen. Died right beside me. There was no time to thank him for what he had done. For all the help he had been. He had given up his life for me. For Alejandro. Roberto Ramirez was nothing like his father.At least now he coul
Farren's Point of ViewWe dropped them off in a field somewhere. Or rather, scared them half out of their wits until they tumbled out of the car of their own free will.Quintez had noted some half-eaten shrooms on their back seat when we had gotten in. The guy offered him a jacket to make himself more decent. He had taken it. Took the packet of shrooms as well, under the cover of the jacket. Showed it to me when the couple tried to make small talk.But their words came out funnier than before. Made less and less sense the more they spoke.Both humans were high off their minds. Which only made me wonder why they were driving around. If you were going to fuck with substances, at least do it safely. But they had broken the first rule of drug use and now we were going to steal their car because of it.So, silent as the night, and after a prolonged period without the ropes, I shifted only my head. It was the most I could do. The only thing that I had in me to change. It was taxing and tryi