Page 13 of Beastly Armory
Filing through the pile of paperwork I’ve needed to go through for a week, I spot nothing of use. These documents have been in the family for decades and are important for the estate, found in the attic trunk by a worker. Some contain our land deeds, but none held the titles to the car washes and body repair shops that we used to own, fronts for our gun running from the armories.
“I have to get them back. The people of Gnarled Pine Hollow,mypeople of East Side have been sitting ducks ever since Strauss stole all our armories.”
“Well… notall.” Markus points to the oiled portrait of my father above the mantle. Behind it sits our family safe. Inside is the location of the rest of the armories that has been a Freidenberg family secret for decades. This past week, I spent time studying it carefully.
Sadness strikes me peering at Papa’s smiling face inthe picture, wondering if I’m disappointing him by coming back.
When I was fourteen, trying to exert my independence, I threw in Papa’s face that I was an heir to the Freidenberg throne, could hold a place on the senate when I became of age after his death. The look in his eyes was of utter pain, forbidding me from ever coming back to Gnarled Pine Hollow, saying that it was too dangerous, but he didn’t understand the true threat lay in leaving. Anyone who had tried ended up dead.
You can’t justleavea family name, no matter how many fake government documents you have. Secrets and history run as deep as the river flowing through the center of town, probably masking blood and a flurry of murder weapons. There are too many wrongs that the four families have done to each other over the centuries to just let things go. He didn’t know then what I came to learn over the last eight years.
No one gets out of Gnarled Pine Hollow alive.
Rebelling, wanting to seemyhomeland, I sneaked out of our suburban house one night. I was angry at him for denying me such an auspicious title and grabbed a Greyhound all the way into town after stealing their credit card. I didn’t really have a plan, but when I stepped off the bus, I ambled into West Tech, where Cal was squatting at an old computer behind the counter. The city already looked so much different in the six years since we’d left, the whole of East Side appearing like a deserted war zone.
The heir of the foxes didn’t recognize me atfirst, but after a scan, he grabbed my shoulders, half in a warm embrace and the other with terror as he shuffled me to the back of their store.
“Max, you shouldn’t be here. If Franklin finds us… IfStraussfinds us… you’ll be in danger.”
Swallowing down my questions, I let my old friend move us toward the warehouse. “I know, but I wanted to come back to see my house. Thought I would take over when I got to be eighteen.”
Cal’s worried brow scanned my face. “I try to hang out with Ace, but he’s taken up with some guys on South Side. I bet he’d want to hang out with us if he knew you were back, though. Maybe we could head to the park where there aren’t any cameras. Make it like old times.”
Livia waltzed in, then through the open garage bay in the back, looking like my wet dreams come true. Her long black hair and hazel eyes beheld me with that ferocity she always had, a small, smug smile on her face. I was stunned. No longer a kid, I was completely mesmerized by what the vision of her did to my body. Unfortunately, the sight of her gave me an instant erection that poked dramatically out of my jeans. To add to my embarrassment, she glanced down at it and smirked.
Just as I opened my mouth to tell her some stupid line, some of Strauss’s men entered the store, their hand tattoos flashing as they reached for their weapons when they spotted me. Wasting no time, the three of us took off.
During the long chase through the city streets, Cal ended up getting split off from us while Livia and I were cornered into an alley with one of Strauss’s tanks. Hecrept straight for her, probably thinking she was just another asset for their trade. I threw myself on him and beat in his face until he stumbled enough that I could grab his gun. Apologizing and backing up all the way, the guy took off with his hands in the air, but I was ready to shoot him dead even at that young of an age, all to protect my little fox.
“Lion… don’t. He’s gone. We’re safe now.” My arm shook from the adrenaline coursing through my veins, but steadied when Livia placed a hand on my bicep. When I turned to meet her eyes, we held each other’s gazes seriously for a long moment.
“Are you okay, foxy?”
She swallowed audibly, the motion causing her plush lips to purse. A little nod answered my question, but like a homing beacon, my focus was on her mouth.
“H-how have you been?”
Livia’s breath came out in a snort. “We aren’t friends, Max. You’re the enemy. I just got chased around town because of you.”
“I came back to see you.”
Rolling her eyes dramatically, she crossed her arms. “Yeah, right.” But briefly, I saw a moment’s hesitation. A vulnerability like shewantedit to be real. That fleeting face solidified it for me. Even at fourteen, I knew… I wanted her. Strauss’s rules and family lines be damned.
Brushing some hair back from her shoulder, I leaned forward to take my reward after a hard-fought battle. “Can I kiss you?”
With a slight gasp, her eyes widened before droppingto my waiting lips. “We aren’t supposed to be together. Y-you’re a Freidenberg, a bear?—”
“Yeah, and you’re supposed to marry some mafia asshat. I don’t care. Please?” Like a poison, she’d infected me. If I drank her, I may die, but she was worth it. Still staring at my jawline, she barely blinked. “Just one kiss, little fox.”
Shoving her bottom lip underneath her front teeth, she shook her head. And just when I was about to block her in with my body, she kneed me right in the crotch.
My last vision of her was running down the alley, granting me a pitiful look back while I doubled over in sheer agony.
Markus found me wandering on the street nearby and brought me back to Papa, who was so disappointed in me, he cried. I’d never seen my mother so upset, and I felt so guilty about what I’d done; I spent the next year just trying to make them trust that I wouldn’t run off again, rarely leaving the house.
Papa’s idea to join with the other two families to produce a majority senate vote got people killed. Strauss somehow received word of the clandestine unions and, because of that, carnage rained down upon us. My parents were likely betrayed by one of the other families. Or, perhaps, Strauss found out himself. I wasn’t sure which.
“They all had it wrong… my father and mother, Asa Donovan’s parents, and Calum and Livia’s. Thinking they could combine and make peace. Look where it got us. Fleeing from the Day of the Raging Bull.” I snarl with irritation.Day of the Raging Bull… like it was some fucking holiday. “Why did the war between the families first start all those centuries ago, Markus?”