Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Nyla’s face flushed a deep red. “I never said that. Just that I was good at getting the information Milo wanted.”
“Don’t like it, Sting.” Mars, the bastard, never took his gaze from Nyla. “Smells funny to me. Especially since this Milo didn’t even attempt to disguise who he was. He’s close by. She likely knows where.”
I was about to tell Mars to go fuck himself when Cyrus and Walker stepped outside. Both men were as stony faced as they came. Whatever they found at that shack wasn’t good.
“Found one body and one they only thought was dead,” Walker said without preamble. “Got her to Stitches, but he’s not overly optimistic about her chances.”
Nyla whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself. “Oh, God.”
Walker nodded to Nyla. “Worried about that one. Said the boys were told not to kill her, but one of them had a thing for suffocating women while he fucked them.”
Cyrus picked up the narrative. “Looked like that was how the one girl died. Strangulation. I’ll leave it to Stitches to confirm, but it looked like she’d definitely had sex recently. Either unwillingly or she liked excessive violence.”
“I thought they were both dead,” Nyla whispered. “I should have made sure. Maybe I could have gotten her out with me…”
“Had a lot of time to plan your escape, did you?” I spoke softly, but insistently. There was no way I could let her take any blame for this particular fiasco.
She gasped and looked up at me. “It was only after I watched them… After… Mick untied me, getting ready to move me to the bed and chain me back up. Caleb was still with Leta. Jana… I watched him while he… Caleb slit Jana’s throat while he…”
“That’s pretty much what it looked like.” Cyrus held Sting’s gaze. “These guys don’t appear to have any moral compass. I’ll let Stitches make the final report to you, but it looked like she’d been murdered while she was raped, or immediately after.”
Mars snorted. “Like you have a moral compass?”
Cyrus’s gaze found Mars. “If I didn’t, you’d have been dead a long time ago. Brother.” Cyrus glanced at Nyla. “Not sure what she’s told you, but I don’t think any of this was staged. Course, if she’s as good at getting information as she claims you should take that into consideration. And yeah. I heard most of what she said before we came out here. Also happen to think there’s a good bit she doesn’t know. Not and be beat up the way she is.” He turned to go, then glanced back. “I’d make sure to keep her away from Mars, though. Given his lack of sexual partners, I’m sure there’s a wealth of information she could extract from him if she’s any good in bed.”
As Cyrus had probably known it would, that got a rise out of Mars. He stood abruptly and took two steps toward Cyrus before Walker stepped between them and put a hand on Mars’s chest. “Back off. He’s baiting you. You know that.”
“Fucker’s askin’ for it.” If it were possible for someone to be so angry steam was coming out of their ears, Mars would’ve had it on full display. War and violence did funny things to a man. Mars often had violent flashbacks. As a result, more than one club whore had come out of his bed worse for wear. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and every woman he took to bed knew the score and thought they could handle him. That wasn’t who Mars was. He’d never hurt anyone on purpose unless they threatened his family. But because he couldn’t always control his PTSD, he’d remained celibate for the past couple of years so he didn’t accidentally hurt a woman again. I had no idea if it had helped or not, but he stayed clear of the women in and out of the compound. I could relate to Mars. It’s what I often did when I’d been in any situation that might trigger me. Such as the run I’d just come back from.
Cyrus, though he had Asperger’s and had difficulty relating to other people and their emotions, knew what he’d said would spear Mars. He also was aware enough to know Nyla hadn’t deserved Mars’s ridicule. So, Cyrus’s remark was likely a punishment for Mars being a dick to Nyla. Which told me Cyrus was only an asshole when he wanted to be. Or didn’t give a shit if people took him the wrong way or not.
“All right,” Sting snapped. “Enough. Mars, stop being an asshole. Wylde, take Cyrus with you and do some computer shit.”
Mars glared at Cyrus who just shrugged and left, turning his back on Mars without hesitation. That was who the Iron Tzars were. Mars and Cyrus might not see eye to eye, but they were both Tzars. They’d have each other’s back even if they hated each other. Fights might break out at home, but no one was ever going to be out for more than a little bit of blood.