Page 42 of Vicious Knight

He shouts for help as the croc opens its giant maw revealing a million teeth.

No one is dying on my watch today, including my animals, so I pull out my gun with the idea to scare off the crocodile.

I’m about to shoot when Kade runs forward and throws his knife. It sails through the air and lands in the crocodile's head. Seconds later, my croc flaps around the water until it goes still, dead.

Blakeley and the others climb out of the water then Kade looks back at me, taking note of the gun in my hand.

“You killed my pet.” I raise my brows at Kade.

“I thought it was going to eat him.”

I don’t bother to answer since he passed the test, which was teamwork and bravery. “Team Two and Four stay. The rest of you can go.”

With sour expressions, Team Five leaves.

I look back at Team Four and Two, Kade and James specifically. James knows he’s only standing there because he and his group piggybacked off Kade’s group effort.

“Well done, men.” I nod at them. “You made it this far. As you gathered, the test was to see how well you can work in a team and how brave you can be. Also, I saw just how much you want to be part of our elite. You may open your coffins now.”

They open them, and the looks on their faces when they see what’s inside are memorable. But not in a good way.

It’s my job to know these guys inside out so I'm aware of their deepest emotional wounds. Each of the items in the coffin represents a nightmare that would fuck with these guys for years.

I pay attention to Kade the most as he looks at the picture of his parents.

Feeling my gaze, he locks his eyes with mine and it’s the first time I’ve seen any emotion in him apart from that stern, unreadable expression.

“Tonight, you banish the memory of your old lives and move forward. To be a Knight you must be fearless and sometimes you have to be heartless. Is that understood?” I look around at the faces of the eight left behind. All of them nod their understanding. “Then here endeth the lesson. Place your items back in the coffins and close them, then you may go. Everyone except Kade.”

I focus on Kade while the groups do as I instructed. He does it, too. Caspian and Lucian lead the rest of the group away, leaving me with Kade.

He looks nervous. Another emotion I haven’t seen him display since knowing him. And I make him more nervous on purpose by prolonging the stretch of silence between us.

He’s figuring me out while I’m doing the same to him. People say it takes one to know one and that like minds are drawn together. I sense that’s what’s happening between us.

My problem is I always clash with people who are like me. One could argue that Caspian and I are so similar that we have the same personality, but that’s not true. He has a heart. I don’t. It makes the difference. It means you don’t easily allow your emotions to get in your way and hinder you.

Looking at Kade, I see he’s as heartless as I am.

Maybe just a little more. The kind my particular blend of fucked up calls a challenge.

“If you pull a stunt like last night again, you’re out of Raventhorn.” My tone is as sharp as a slap in the face. It slashes Kade’s bravado down by another few notches.

“I’m sorry for what I did. I know James could have died.” He looks like he means that apology well enough, but I know he’s not sorry in the least. It was his intention to kill James.

“If you’re going to be in my unit let’s agree not to lie to each other. You don’t give two shits if James lives or dies. Is that correct?”

His jaw tenses and he looks uneasy at being called out. “Yes. It’s true.”

“My problem with what you did is that you used my shit. My modified, illegal, deadly shit that has my name written all over it. If he’d died they would have blamed me, and I would have been stripped of my Knighthood.”

Realization forms in the press of his lips and in the wideness of his stare. “I never considered that.”

“No shit. Don’t fuck with me like that again. If you do, I will fuck you up and make you wish you’d never been born. Is that clear?” I stare at him hard, but with the cool calculated mask of malice.

“I hear you.”

“Good, because you don’t get any more chances with me. Now get out of my sight.”