“I was eight, where else was I supposed to go?” She bit out, breaking eye contact with him. “And the streets were barely any better.”

  “At least back then you were an obedient thief.” He said coldly. He pushed himself off the desk and took a step toward her. Instinctively, she stepped back and regretted her decision instantly. For a second, they stood in front of each other, both knowing that on some level, Hunter still wasn’t brave enough to stand up to him. He smirked and nodded his chin toward the door. “Just remember your place.”

  She turned and quickly left, afraid he’d change his mind.

  Kazimir and Vince whipped around when they heard the door slam open and Kazimir’s eyes widened as Hunter approached. He fumbled with her jacket and weapons, the gun actually falling to the ground. “I need it now.” She hissed impatiently.

  “Jesus Hunter, just wait one second.” Kazimir scolded as he leaned down to grab her gun and handed it to her. “What did he say to you this time?”

  She glared so harshly that he flinched away. “Don’t worry about it.” She said venomously.

  “Will we be seeing you soon?” Vince asked, patting her on the head. She swatted his hand away and glared at him.

  “Doubtful.” She said as she holstered her gun, clipped her knife back to her thigh, hid her knife in her boot, and threw her jacket back on. “Stay out of the morgue, alright?” She said over her shoulder as she walked down the stairs, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

  “Same to you.” Kazimir said, grinning.

  She ran down the stairs, not bothering to look around before barrelling through the metal door, making Nikolai jump.

  “I see it went just as well as every other time.” Arsen said, smirking. Nikolai had his hand wrapped around the hilt of his gun as he half-hid behind Arsen’s large body.

  “Don’t be a dick.” She snapped as she bared her teeth. Arsen laughed while Nikolai shuffled back a few more steps.

  “Is your boy coming to pick you up?” Arsen asked as he walked toward her with his hands laced behind his head. He towered over her and treated her like a little sister. Arsen and Vince had been with Weston since he started carving out a kingdom for himself in Othloh, and Kazimir joined soon after. They’d known her for many years, watching her grow into the murderous shadow Weston had created.

  “Not sure.” She said as she looked around. The street was empty. “He’s with Dante.”

  “Well, she’s not big on conversation.” Arsen pointed out.

  “Yeah, but she likes secrets. And Raphael’s full of those.”

  “That’s true.” He said, scratching the back of his head. “Are you going to be okay?”

  She nodded and stretched her hands above her head. “Yeah. I know these streets, I’ll be fine.”

  “I know.” He patted her on the shoulder and pushed her forward. “Don’t die.”

  She let out a breathless laugh and rolled her eyes. “I’m too young for that.” She looked over her shoulder and sighed. “Though I shouldn’t wander too far. I don’t want Raphael to lose me.”

  “Don’t you have a phone?”

  “It’s at his place.” She said.

  “That’s a great place for it.” Arsen said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

  She shrugged and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut-off when a silver sports car whipped around the corner and skidded to a stop in front of the warehouse. Dust rose from beneath the car’s tires and Raphael burst out from the driver’s seat before running toward Hunter.

  “Oh, thank God you’re still here.” He said as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. She was so startled she didn’t even move. “Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”

  “I left it at your place.” She said, shocked at how worried he looked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Seriously?” He sighed through his nose before shaking his head. “Whatever. We need to go now.” He didn’t even acknowledge Arsen or Nikolai as he grabbed her wrist and dragged her toward the car. “We need to get back to Lucian.”

  “Wai—Raphael!” She said as he pushed her toward the passenger side. “What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way.” He said as they slid into the car. Before she could fully close the door, he revved the engine, did a quick U-turn and sped down the street.

  She quickly buckled her seatbelt and gave Raphael an incredulous look. She was the reckless one in the relationship, not him. “Slow down! What happened with Dante?”

  “Information for information.” He said without letting his foot off the gas pedal. He didn’t even look at her as he weaved around cars. “And what I got was not good for us.”

  “What did she say?”

  “I’d told Lucian I heard a rumour that Kestrel was getting in bed with Russians. And Dante confirmed that. What she also told me was Kestrel isn’t meeting with them in two and a half weeks, but in one.” He quickly glanced at her and took in a deep breath when he was forced to stop at a red light. They lived in a city run by criminals, but even they had to follow some rules. “We have way less time than we thought.”

  “Shit.” Hunter cursed as she banged her head against the headrest. “Shit!” She slammed her hand against the dashboard and pulled her bangs away from her face, running her fingers through her short brown hair.

  “And that’s not even the bad news.” He said sourly. As soon as the light turned green, he hit the gas pedal and the car jerked forward. “The reason I got here so fast was because one of my informants called me.” He bit his lip and sighed heavily. “Someone blew up the Crow’s Nest.”

  It felt like time stopped for just a second as her head began to pulse. She could hear ringing in her ears as she turned to look at Raphael. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were so fierce they could melt an entire iceberg. She clasped her hands together as the sudden urge to shatter something overcame her.

  She’d never felt so angry in her life.

  “When?” She asked in a monotone voice.

  “Maybe twenty minutes ago.” He glanced at her with a worried expression. “No one got hurt. Lucian and Jocco got out before the explosion.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. After a few minutes of complete silence, she opened her eyes and looked at Raphael. “Where are they right now?”

  “Last I heard they’re at Fee’s place.” He said as he turned left down a quiet street in Weston’s territory. Josephine’s tattoo parlour and home was in Charlie’s territory, which was between the Lorenzo Cartel’s territory and Minosea’s. Though it would’ve been faster to cut through Occisor’s small part of the city, Raphael was purposely avoiding it.

  “We can’t stay there.” She said, staring out the window. “We can’t give Kestrel another excuse to attack Charlie’s territory.”

  Raphael nodded. “I know. I’ve got ideas for that.”

  Hunter stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, not bothering to look away from the window. She was seething, but was trying to keep it contained. She’d known Kestrel would retaliate, but no one had gone after Occisor that brazenly before—they hadn’t thought the risk was worth it. Lucian Crow was a terrifying man on his own when he was angry. But it wasn’t just him they were provoking, it was an entire murder. A murder of vindictive crows.

  After another twenty minutes of quiet driving, Raphael pulled up in front of a worn-down building covered in graffiti. There was an unlit sign in the window and a banner over the door with eroded cursive writing on it. Hunter knew it said “Fee’s Tattoos,” but that’s only because Raphael had told her so, long ago. She couldn’t read it herself. She’d never been taught how to read or write.

  As they got out of Raphael’s sports car, a hooded figure emerged from a back alley and slowly walked toward them. She recognized the curly red-brown hair peeking from beneath the hood.

  Raphael nodded and tossed his keys to Quinn. “If you crash it, I’ll send Hunter to kill you.” He said seriously, looking at his car worriedly.

  Quinn rolled his eyes and grinned. “Your fancy car is in good hands.” He said, giving Raphael a thumbs-up.

  She wasn’t in the mood to make small-talk and turned around to walk toward the tattoo parlour. Raphael said a quick goodbye and jogged to catch up to her.

  She pushed open the front door and a bell jingled above them. From the back, a female popped her head out and smiled brightly. “I’m glad you could make it!” Josephine said. She waved them forward. “Come on, the rest are in the back.”

  Josephine had long black hair with pink highlights. Both sides of her head were shaved and her hair was pulled back into a messy bun. She wore tall, black, stiletto heels, tight ripped jeans, and thick mascara and eyeliner around her blue-green eyes. Her arms and chest were covered in bright, colourful tattoos.

  Hunter had met Josephine for the first time after she’d officially joined Minosea. Josephine had done the Minosea tattoo on Hunter’s back, followed by the black feather for Occisor, and any other ink Hunter felt like adding. She was one of the few people Lucian trusted outside of his immediate circle as she wasn’t officially under any specific Crime Lord.

  Hunter brushed past Josephine and walked toward the back offices. She’d been here enough times to know her way around the building.

  “Sorry about her,” She heard Raphael say, “she’s not in a good mood right now.”

  Josephine laughed. “When is she ever?”

  Hunter walked past the tattoo stations and burst into Josephine’s office without knocking. Everyone’s heads snapped toward the door and she noticed Jocco’s hand reach for his gun. He sighed in relief when he realized it was just Hunter and relaxed.

  “You know it’s rude to come into a room without knocking.” Lucian scolded. He was leaning against the desk, his fingers casually wrapped around the crow’s head on his cane.

  She felt all the tension leave her body as she looked over the three people in the room. Scarlet was sitting in one of the two chairs, picking at her fingernails and looking bored. She yawned and half-heartedly waved at Hunter. “Welcome back.”

  “How did you guys get out?” Hunter asked as she let go of the doorknob and stepped into the room.

  “Oh, did I forget to tell you?” Raphael appeared behind her and leaned his chin against her shoulder. “I’ve had people watching Kestrel and the Crow’s Nest. They noticed some of Kestrel’s guys sneaking around. They were able to get everyone out through the back.”

  She patted his head without looking at him. “I guess you can be useful once in a while.”

  He grinned and stood up straight. He looked at Lucian and shrugged his shoulders. “Though I have some bad news from Dante. We traded some information and she confirmed a part of the rumour I’d heard about Kestrel. Turns out he’s for sure meeting with Russians, but now our timeline is a week instead of two and a half.”

  Hunter saw everyone in the room tense up as they stared at Raphael. Lucian’s expression didn’t waver, but she noticed his fingers tighten as he sighed.

  “That isn’t good.” Scarlet said, biting her thumb.

  “Most of the plan is done, so we just have to find a new place and gather all our information.” Hunter said.

  “And we can’t stay here though.” Raphael admitted hesitantly.

  “Yes, I know.” Lucian drummed his fingers on the crow’s head. “Do you have any ideas?”

  “I have a couple safe-houses throughout the city.” Raphael said. “I use them as meeting places.”

  Scarlet pouted. “But I want to stay with Fee!” She whined as she reached out toward the door. Hunter looked over her shoulder to see Josephine leaning against the door frame, her ankles crossed as she looked at Scarlet with a goofy, love-struck smile.

  “Really, I don’t mind.” Josephine said. “I’ve got a couch and some floor space upstairs.”

  Lucian shook his head. “That’s very kind, but we don’t need to give Kestrel any more reason to attack Charlie’s territory.”

  Scarlet threw her head back and sighed exasperatedly. “Fine.” She drawled, pouting.

  “I had someone bring me a car, so we can leave whenever everyone’s ready.” Raphael said as he wrapped an arm around Hunter’s shoulder.

  “Hopefully it’s less obnoxious than the sports car.” Scarlet said as she tilted her head to look at him.

  Raphael waved his hand dismissively, brushing off Scarlet’s comment. “I think you mean less awesome.”

  Lucian tapped his cane on the ground to get everyone’s attention. “We’ll leave right away.” He said as he stood straight. “Again, thank you for everything, Josephine.”

  She nodded and smiled. “I’m always happy to help.”

  Without another word, Hunter spun out from beneath Raphael’s arm and walked toward the door. Scarlet burst past her, almost knocking Hunter to the ground, hugged Josephine, and kissed her. Josephine smiled beneath the kiss and Hunter rolled her eyes as she walked past them.

  She let Raphael take the lead and followed behind him. In front of Josephine’s tattoo parlour was a beat-up black four-door car with tinted windows and no licence plate. It looked exactly like half the cars in Othloh.

  “That’s much subtler.” She said as she brushed past him and walked toward the passenger seat.

  He sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything as he slid into the driver’s seat. Jocco, Lucian, and Scarlet joined them a few moments later. Scarlet sat in the middle and Jocco had to curl in on himself to properly fit in the car.

  “Please tell me it’s not far.” Jocco said, looking annoyed and uncomfortable. His knees were pressed against his stomach and his arms were pushed against his chest.

  “Ten minutes?” Raphael said uncertainly, glancing at Jocco through the rear-view mirror.

  Jocco muttered something in Cantonese, but didn’t say anything else.

  The rest of the ride was quiet, and Hunter could tell everyone’s mood was getting worse the more they had time to think about what had happened. She could feel the anger slowly bubbling up again, and she could only imagine what Lucian was feeling. The Crow’s Nest had been his legacy, and now it was nothing but rubble and charred books.

  She almost breathed a sigh of relief when Raphael stopped in front of a tall apartment building. It was in Dante’s territory, near Weston’s border. It was mostly deserted, with few people milling around. The buildings around them were not in great condition—most had broken windows and were missing doors. The apartment building was the only solid-looking structure around them.

  “I’m surprised this area belongs to Dante.” Scarlet said as she leaned forward, peeking her head between Hunter and Raphael. “She doesn’t usually let anything get this wrecked.”

  “I think one of the minor gangs in her territory took it over some years ago. It’s barely worth anything, but even having control over the shittiest of buildings shows you’ve got some power.” Raphael said as he killed the engine and stepped out of the car.

  Hunter flipped her hood over her head and quickly stepped out as well, followed by everyone else.

  “And she just let you have this place?” Jocco asked, looking up at the tall building in front of them. It was about ten stories high and looked in very good shape compared to the other buildings.

  “I’ve got places all over the city. Dante and Charlie actually like that I have separate offices in their territories. It makes me, and by extension Occisor, more accessible.” Raphael explained.

  They all stopped in front of the door and Scarlet turned to Raphael expectantly. “Do you have keys to this place?” She asked, pointing to the door.

  Raphael didn’t say anything and instead just pointed at Hunter, who rolled her eyes and elbowed her way to the front. She pulled out her lockpick and quickly unlocked the door, opening it wide for everyone to walk through.

  Scarlet frowned. “Keys work just as well, you know.” She pointed out.

  Hunter shrugged. “I don’t carry keys around, they make too much noise.”

  Raphael rolled his eyes and motioned for everyone else to follow him. The hallway was eerily quiet, and it seemed as if there was no one else in the building. As they walked past the row of numbered doors, Hunter noticed some of them had small cameras embedded in the wood. She looked over her shoulder and shivered, hating the feeling of being watched.

  They stopped at the end of the hall in front of an old elevator. Jocco grimaced. “Is that going to hold us?” He asked worriedly, as if he didn’t really want to know the answer.

  Raphael gripped Jocco’s shoulder and nodded confidently. “It’s fine. It’s more or less stable.”

  “What?” Jocco asked in horror. Scarlet bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Raphael grinned happily just as the elevator door opened and everyone crammed in, Jocco hesitating for only a second before Scarlet shoved him forward. “How far up are we going?”

  “All the way up.” Raphael said as he happily pushed the highest button. Hunter pushed herself as far back as she could and pressed her back against the cool metal wall. She watched as the numbers above the door kept changing. The elevator jolted to a stop and the doors slowly began to open. Jocco was the first to get out, pushing past the doors even before they were fully open.

  “Which room?” Hunter asked as she stepped out of the elevator last and looked down the long hallway. It looked very similar to the first floor, except there was a large window at the end of the hall.

  “The eighth one.” Raphael said. She pulled her lockpick out and carefully started to count the doors. She stopped in front of what she believed was the correct one.

  “Here?” She asked, turning to look at Raphael with a raised eyebrow. He nodded and she quickly picked the lock and opened the door.

  The room smelled musty, as if no one had opened the door in many months. Through the windows, she could see the dust coating almost every surface. The apartment itself was very spacious with scattered furniture covered in white tarps.

  “It’s not the Crow’s Nest, but it’ll have to do.” Raphael said as he closed the door behind him. Scarlet walked up to one of the couches and pulled the tarp off, disturbing all the dust around her, before throwing the tarp to the side and sitting down.

 

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