Pretty in the Dark (Dark and Wild #2)

Chapter 19

19

JUNIPER

T he run-down warehouse we pulled up to looked like it had been abandoned years ago. For all I’d known about my home town, this section of it was a complete mystery to me, and the unfamiliar territory didn’t do much to help ease the anxious ball of nerves that was my stomach.

Kage’s blacked-out Audi RS7 stood out like a sore thumb among the trash cans that were tipped over and the debris that was littered around the alley in front of the heavy, metal doors, but somehow I didn’t think there would be anyone around to comment on it. The ride had been quiet, with neither one of us choosing to break the silence with idle small talk. Something I was grateful for. My nerves wouldn’t have been able to keep my mouth in check, and I was sure I’d blurt out some stupid question like, “So, who have you killed lately? Anyone I know? Are you planning on it being me?”

Because that was what I’d been thinking from the moment I’d gotten into his car and we’d sped off into the night. I was in the car with a bona fide killer, never mind that he was my brother. His grandfather’s death had proven that family ties didn’t really matter much to him. If I was in the way, Kage wouldn’t hesitate to remove me.

Or would he? My gaze slid to my brother as he parked the car and sent off a rapid-fire series of text messages. The skulls on his knuckles danced in the dim interior lighting, grinning at me in a way that almost made me think they were taunting me, daring me to call it off and retreat into the safe world I’d once known. Blissfully unaware of any legacy or danger.

Kage opened his car door and stepped out, coming around to my side and opening the door for me, his hand reaching out in invitation. I took a deep breath, my eyes fixated on his fingers and the wide expanse of his palm. This was it. This was my last chance to back away and say no. I could feel his eyes boring into me as if he knew the internal struggle I was having.

“Juniper?” My eyes flicked upward to meet his, and I was taken aback for a moment by the empathy I found in them. “You don’t have to do this.” He was giving me an out.

Something unclenched in my gut and I felt my breath release. I put my hand in his. “Yes, I do.”

He didn’t say anything else as he pulled me out of the car and shut the door behind me. The chilly air bit into my cheeks, as if the mountain weather had decided to skip fall entirely and plunge the city straight into winter. I pulled my leather jacket tighter around my midsection before following Kage across the alley to the metal doors, where one was now being held open by a tall, burly man, dressed entirely in black leather, with tattoo’s covering nearly every part of his face.

Tattoo face didn’t blink at me as we approached, and instead fixed his beady eyes on Kage. “He’s all ready for you, sir.”

Kage nodded, barely sparing the man a glance, but I couldn’t help but notice the grinning skulls that decorated the right side of his face. There were three of them in total, and they looked eerily like the same skulls that graced Cade’s arms and Kage’s hands. I stopped short and faced him, tipping my head back to meet his eyes as he towered over me.

“Nice tats.” I said.

The man blinked as if dumbfounded that a living, breathing human was actually speaking to him.

“Who did your work?” I asked, shifting slightly to the side to get a better look at the distinct shading and line-work. They were definitely done by the same artist.

Kage said nothing behind me, but I could feel his presence like a watchful, curious shadow.

Tattoo face flicked a glance to Kage as if seeking his permission before eyeing me again. “He’s a private artist. No one you’d know.”

“Huh…” I cocked my head, studying the way the tattoo’s grinned and danced in the shadows of the dim alley light. “What do they stand for?”

He shifted, just the slightest, his face hardening for a moment. “That’s club business.”

“Well, considering I’m his—” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder to where Kage was standing sentinel behind me. “—sister, I guess that makes it my business too.”

Again there was a quick glance of confirmation to Kage, but I held up my hand. “Uh-uh, eyes over here, big boy. I’m asking the questions, not him.” Tatty-face’s eyes jerked back down to meet mine, his mouth opening in shock at my boldness, and at the fact that Kage said nothing to counter my demands.

“They stand for kills. Each skull is a mark of death.” He blurted out, before looking worriedly at Kage once more. “Oh shit, sir…” But Kage kept his gaze intently on me.

“It’s alright, Marco. Bossiness runs in the family.”

My stomach clenched, and I knew my face had gone at least two shades paler, but I didn’t say anything, just nodded my head and murmured my thanks before heading inside the dark interior of the warehouse. Kage followed behind me. “Juniper…” He murmured in the dark.

I stopped short to catch my breath and tamp down on the rising nausea. Each skull stood for a kill. A death. My brother’s hands were literally death.

And so were Cade’s. His arms were covered in dozens of grinning, sardonic skulls. I’d laid there admiring the beautiful way they twisted, danced and teased at me out of their veils of smoke and shadow. I hadn’t even been able to count them all because each time I thought I had a number, a new one would peek out at me from where it was half-hidden in shadow.

I felt Kage take my elbow, and it took everything in me not to jerk it away and run screaming. “You had that guy standing out there on purpose.” I hissed at him.

His face was impassive. Those black eyes like deep pits daring me to fall into their darkness. “I knew that you needed answers to questions, and Cade isn’t prepared to give them to you right now.” There was almost a hint of apology in his voice, as if he felt just a little bit bad about how he'd set me up.

Answers that Cade would never have given me on his own. I knew that now, without a shadow of a doubt. Cade would have never revealed the truth about his past and who he was, because to do so would expose me to the darkness in himself. Darkness that he didn’t want to face.

“Who did he kill?”

Kage held a hand to his heart in a mock protest as a smirk curved his lips upward. “Really? You’re more concerned about Cade? You’re not even going to question my markings?”

I scoffed. “Your reputation precedes you, I didn’t need to know. I would have been shocked if you didn’t have blood on your hands.” My previous morbid fantasy about my brother spilling my blood on these streets flashed through me. “Unless, of course, you’re planning on adding my skull to your trophies.”

His smirk turned into a full grin as he let out a soft chuckle, and the tightness in my chest loosened. Kage wasn’t trying to hide who he was from me. My brother embraced his darkness. Yeah, he was a manipulative bastard. What man in power wasn’t? But he wasn’t hiding it. Something like admiration bloomed. I’d been kept shadowed and in the dark so long by the people in my life, that seeing someone unapologetic about who and what they were was refreshing, even if it scared the living shit out of me.

“You didn’t answer my question. Who did he kill? And why?”

A black brow arched in admonition. “Come on now, Juniper, you’re smarter than that. I never said Cade killed anyone.”

I glared at him. “Culpability.” He wouldn’t—no, couldn’t answer my questions, because to do so would frame not only himself, but Cade as well. He was protecting him while also trying to help me. Answers to those questions weren’t going to come from my brother.

We were moving now down a long corridor that was lit only by the occasional swinging lightbulb. I passed by doors that opened to long, abandoned admin offices and supply closets, but Kage kept leading me deeper and deeper into the back until we came to another set of doors leading to a stairwell. Our footsteps echoed off the metal steps as we went down to what I assumed was the basement of the building before pausing before another set of large metal doors.

Whoever or whatever was down here, was kept so far away from the outside world that no one would ever hear them scream. Anxiousness made the palms of my hands sweat, and I rubbed them on my jeans.

“You don’t have like, men with machine guns behind that door waiting to shoot my head off, do you?” My nervous attempt at a joke left my voice squeaking off the metal and concrete that surrounded us in the stairwell. I didn’t really believe that my brother was out to kill me, not that he wasn’t completely capable, but the suspense of this surprise was beginning to weigh on my already fragile nerves. The one thing I was grateful for, whether it was the lingering effects of my medicine or not, was that my normal stress-induced headache hadn’t made an appearance.

Kage’s lips turned down and he turned to face me, a seriousness in his black gaze piercing through me. “Juniper, you have nothing to fear from me. I promise.”

I released an anxious breath and nodded. “You’re going to have to forgive my jumpiness. I’m still getting used to the idea that the Kage Diovolo is my brother.”

“Well,” There was a rumble of rough emotion in his voice. “...believe it or not, I’m still getting used to the idea of you as well.” He shook his head. “I’d been told you existed, but the details of your birth were always a mystery to me. I’d honestly given it up to rumor before I was suddenly left without the best bar manager I’d ever had at the Pit.”

I laughed. “You mean the only one that actually stuck around despite how hard the jackals tried to run her off.”

He grinned, white teeth flashing in the dimness. “That too. I should have known then that a Diovolo had them by their balls. Now, little sister, would you like to see the gift I have for you?”

I cocked a brow. “It’s a little early for Christmas and too late for my birthday.”

He pushed open the door and stood back so that I could enter the warehouse. It was entirely empty except for a lone figure seated in the center of the room. I squinted in the darkness, trying to make out who was waiting for me as we approached.

I came to a dead stop several feet from the ominous figure hunched over in the chair, while Kage made his way to where the person was sitting and hadn’t said a word or moved.

A gasp left my lips as ice flooded my veins when I realized why. The man’s hands and legs were bound to the chair, his head covered by a black bag so that I couldn’t see his face. An eerie sense of déjà vu came over me, and I looked at Kage who was resting his hand casually on the man's shoulder, watching me intently.

“You’re gifting me…a person?” My voice squeaked out, and I winced at how nervous I sounded. Not at all like the sister of a bad-ass gangster.

“You haven’t been very honest, Juniper.” My head snapped up to meet my brother's gaze, apprehension making my stomach do small flips. There was something off about the way the man was leaning forward, his hands placed on his knees. My eyes traveled down and I noticed that he didn’t have shoes on either, his feet covered by dingy socks. Why did I feel like there was something I was missing?

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You were supposed to report to Cade if there was anything unusual going on, weren’t you?” Kage’s fingers gripped the shoulder they rested on, and a low moan emitted from beneath the bag. I slid a few steps closer, trying to figure out who the person was, and why I felt a sense of familiarity.

“There’s been a lot of unusual things going on lately, you’re going to have to be more specific than that.” I retorted dryly, and somewhat proud of myself for not running away screaming. There we are, now you’re sounding like a badass.

“Well, let’s start with the skulls?—“

“Cade already knew about my car.” I cut him off, and Kage clicked his tongue almost as if he was scolding me.

“Juniper, you know damn well I’m not talking about your car. But fine, if you want to play coy, be my guest. I just thought you’d want a chance to ask the person responsible about all the mysterious things going on around your house.” He grinned and slipped the black bag from the man’s head, and my mouth dropped as I took in the bruised and bloodied face of the man that was clinging to consciousness in front of me.

A man I knew very, very well.

Anxiousness slipped away as shock and rage took over when the man blinked bleary, baby-blue eyes in my direction, giving the barest hint of recognition before closing once more in pain and groaning softly.

My brother had just gifted me my douche-bag ex. Jax Myer.