Chapter eleven

Chapter eleven

Carter

I hated the pungent smell of blood and shit that reeked in the basement. It was why I tried as much as possible to not be in charge of torturing the prisoners. I had other people do that for me.

But today, I needed the rush I only felt when I take a life. I’ve had a persistent headache ever since a certain heir decided to show up from the dead. Everything was at stake now. Just because of her.

I couldn't physically pass out my frustration on her. Hurting her would only jeopardize me more. And I could never in good sense hurt a woman. I have to transfer my anger to someone more deserving.

The conniving and loathsome Serpent currently tied up in the basement.

The guards straightened when I walked in. They always did whenever they saw me, which was rare. Of course, they knew what I was about to do.

They scrambled to open the door before I could reach it. I stepped in without sparing any of them a glance.

The Serpent was chained to the chair in the middle of the room, his head bowed, his blonde hair plastered to his bloodied face. Whoever had tortured him had clearly done a good job. Too bad I have a mood today which might cause him his life.

I circled him once. Slowly. He didn't raise his head but he was obviously still conscious.

I drew a chair and sat directly opposite him.

“You know who I am.” I said. Not a question. Everyone in our world knew who I was even if most of them never saw me.

Just hearing my name was enough to make them pee their pants. But all that was about to change now because of an unruly teenager.

He lifted his head, his lips curling into a smirk despite the swelling on his cheek.

“The Ace who thinks himself King.” he croaked.

My jaw tightened and I sucked in a sharp breath. I chose to ignore his taunt and leaned forward until our eyes leveled.

“Then you know how this ends if you don’t start talking.”

He chuckled. “You think you can end this,” he spat out blood. “You can kill me, but the Serpents will keep coming. You can’t kill us. We won't let the heir liv–”

My fist slammed into his jaw before he could finish speaking. His head whipped to the side, blood spraying across the floor.

“How did you find her?” .

The fact that the Serpents found the lost heir before the Shadows did was a big taint on our reputation. The Shadows were supposed to be the best. But we've clearly slacked if mere Serpents launched an attack against us and almost won. It was an insult.

“Your precious heir…” he spat blood at my boots, “...won’t make it past the week.”

I let out a humorless laugh.

“Is that so?”

He smirked at me. He was clearly on the verge of breaking and was just putting on a false bravado. At least, the Serpents taught their members to withstand torture and be loyal to the end.

Well, they didn't teach the Ace.

I picked up the knife from the small table lined with torture devices and smiled. The Serpent still managed to keep his smile but I could see his eyes twitching. He was still, too still, and trying so hard to mask his fear.

I brought the knife up to his face and traced his cheekbones with the tip.

“Do you know why they call me Ace?” I asked in a low, lethal tone.

I sensed the slight shiver that ran through his body and I smirked. That fear in people's eyes when they realized that I hold their fate in my hands,that's what I love most about killing.

“Answer me, Serpent shit. Do you know why?” I asked again in the same tone.

I placed the tip underneath his jaws and tipped his head up so he was looking directly in my eyes. He shook his head frantically, his pretense finally falling off revealing the fear beneath.

“The first man I ever killed cheated me in poker. He made me so mad that I sliced his neck open and shoved an Ace card down his throat.”

He must have seen death in my eyes and he began shaking vehemently. His eyes pleaded with me but his mouth never said anything. A loyal dog then.

“The moral of the story is to never make me angry. And you have just made that mistake.”

I didn't let a second pass after my last word before I shoved the knife up his throat and watched life leave his eyes. I pushed his lifeless body on the floor and watched the blood pool out.

I could hear footsteps shuffling behind me but I didn't look. I didn't care if I made them uneasy. They should know not to cross me now.

“Burn the body.” I said and walked out without waiting for a response.

I heard someone mutter, “Yes, sir.” but I didn't stop.

I made it up the stairs into the main house and was about to take a turn when,

“You look like shit!”

I didn't need to turn to know who just walked up to me. Raymond James, my second in command, and also the only person aside from my family that's allowed to talk informally to me.

“I feel like it.” I scoffed.

“That bad, huh?” he asked, falling into step beside me as we walked through the corridor.

“He knew nothing,” I said flatly before he could ask about the Serpent I went to interrogate.

“Or he knew everything and was too loyal to break,” Ray suggested.

I shot him a dangerous look and he quickly raised his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, don’t bite my head off. I’m just saying. You know how it is in our world.”

He was right, in a world like ours, men didn’t care about dying, they stayed loyal to the cause. Well…not all.

“News travels fast,” Ray said again. “Too fast. Everyone in the underworld knows the Shadows’ lost heir is alive, and they’re rallying behind the idea of her taking her rightful place.”

I clenched my fists tightly. “She’s not our heir.” I snapped.

Ray glanced sideways at me. “People are gonna need a little more convincing than that, Ace.”

“I know, Ray. You don't have to remind me. I know what her presence means.” I groaned.

“Good,” Ray said simply. The silence between us was heavy but neither of us made an attempt to break it. We both understood what was going on, we didn't need words.

The double oak doors of my father's study came into view. I knew nothing but trouble awaits me on the other side but I didn't over think it. I pushed the door open and stepped in.

My father sat behind his massive desk, his fingers steepled. He didn’t speak right away. He just stared at me with a blank expression.

“Close the door behind you, Ray,” he said finally. “I need to speak to Carter alone.”

Ray bowed his head and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Sit,” my father commanded.

I sat.

“You killed the Serpent,” he said, it was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“He was useless.”

“Or you were impatient?”

Again, not a question.

He didn’t sound pissed, but I knew my father long enough to know that he was just as pissed about the Heir as I was. It didn't matter that he just married her mother and was now bound by obligation to protect her.

“You understand you are not to do anything to hurt the heir.” He spoke after a long silence.

“Yes, Father.” I responded tightly.

“And no harm must come to her, either external or internal. As her second in command, you have to keep her safe always.”

My jaws clenched tightly at the title he used. Second in command. Up until the mysterious arrival of the “supposedly dead heir”, I was addressed by a different title. The Heir of the Shadows, a position I had worked for my entire life. I had earned it.

But suddenly, it didn't matter how trained I was, how experienced I was, the Wolfe heir was back and would take back her throne.

But I would be damned if I let her take away what was rightfully mine. I don't care if she loses her life because of it.