The Devil's Game (Rhodes to Hell Book 1) Read online

Page 2


  “It’s kind of hard to accidentally murder someone, Say,” I tell her, laughing before pulling away from the curb and into some light traffic.

  “The knife slipped,” she says, still holding on to the fact she accidentally stabbed a man over eighty times.

  “Just own it, baby,” I tell her. I can see the smile pulling across her lip, “no one in this car is judging you. We’ve all killed people.”

  “A knife doesn’t slip eighty times, Salem. Du bist meine kleine Schwester and you should be proud you saved yourself that day, because no one was coming for you.”

  The car is quiet after Nicholai finishes because we all agree. Preston pushed her with what he put her through and he knew what would happen to her if she didn’t fight back. He wouldn’t let us save her but when it was all said and done it turned out she didn’t need saving at all. She just needed some extra encouragement. He’s never put the pressure on her that severely since.

  “Did you bring my carry on?” Salem asks Nicholai and he nods, lifting one of the two backpacks from the floorboard.

  She takes the bag and I hear the zipper and then the sound of her water bottle popping open. Salem always has water.

  “Let me get some,” I say to her, turning my head but keeping my eyes on the road.

  “No,” she laughs, “you get no water.”

  “Ah, come on Salem, I’ll call you angel like Hollis does.” I grin, and cut my eyes quickly to Nicholai before looking back to the road. “Come on just a sip, angel.”

  “Ew, Messiah, stop. You sound like a fucking creep.” She laughs, putting the straw part to my lips as I stop at a red light. I close my lips around her straw and look at her as I pull the water into my mouth and she smirks at me, both of us knowing to her I’m the furthest thing from a creep.

  “Stop looking at her with those eyes,” Nicholai grumbles and I pull off of the straw and laugh.

  “What eyes?”

  “Eyes like you want to get into her tiny ass shorts,” he grinds out. “Leave her alone.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about Nicholai, I was just getting water.” I don’t hide my grin as the light turns green and I pull off. He punches me for it. Hard.

  “Leave my little sister alone, dickhead.”

  I laugh and grab my shoulder where he hit me. “I’m just fucking with you, man.”

  “How’s it going for you?” Salem asks from the back seat and I shoot her a look in the mirror.

  “Shut up,” I tell her, still grinning. “If you don’t want to go tonight I’ll see if I can get Preston to let you help me with the package in the back. I can make it messy for you.”

  “Ha, uh … no I don’t think so. Not wanting to chop bodies tonight,” she tells me, and I grin.

  We’ve all been there with Preston, aside from Salem, but it’s only a matter of time before he breaks into her shattered little world too. Nicholai can’t protect her from the disposal side of things forever. He’ll die trying to protect her though, because it’s just how he is. He protects all of us.

  It doesn’t take long to get to the airport and no goodbyes are said because they’ll be back by lunch tomorrow and what would I even say to them? Good luck, don’t get killed but also don’t come back empty handed? I feel like silence is better. They’ll be fine.

  I get on the highway headed back to our side of town and think about what I’ll have to do to get rid of the body in my trunk. There isn’t much left of the guys face, but after draining him I’ll burn the pieces of him I hack off of his body with my knife and he’ll be gone. Turned into dust and erased from existence. One wrong move got him all of this.

  I pull up to one of the dumps Preston owns. It’s just outside town and the bumpy gravel under the tires rocks the car as I pull into the lot and back up to the door of one of the biggest buildings on the property. I put my car in park and look over at the tall piles of trash to my left and wonder why this is the part I love the most.

  The disappearing act.

  I know it’s fucked up I like the shit I do, but I don’t give a fuck. I’ve never killed or disposed of someone who didn’t actually deserve to die, so I sleep fine at night for the most part. I know I’m fucked up, but we’re all a little fucked up on the inside.

  I get out and pop the back of the Tahoe and pull the body out by the thick black plastic it’s wrapped in and throw it over my shoulder. I walk over to the pit and throw it to the tiled floor below. I get my knives from the set of lockers on the other side of the wall and pull on a plastic suit to protect my clothing before heading back into the pit.

  After slipping into the latex gloves, I open my bag of knives and pull my favorite out to slice open the body bag. Just from being in the bag, the body already has an even worse smell and no matter how many times I do this, I’ll never be able to appreciate the smell of decaying flesh.

  Ready to get rid of the dude, I start with his arm and as I slide the blade against his clammy skin it goes in clean, only forcing resistance when I hit bone. I push hard into it and his forearm is off in one clean cut.

  I grab the fingers and lightly toss the piece of his arm to the center of the floor where the drain is. Blood oozes from all of the pieces of him and as I ready myself to cut the top of his arm from his body, I grip his skin making even more blood drain from him.

  I’m halfway done with the disposal when my phone buzzes from my back pocket. I look up and I have a horrible urge to itch my brow but the gloves on my hands are covered in blood.

  I know only one person would be calling me right now, so I pick up the pace and I drive my knife through bone after bone, my adrenaline pumping hard. I continue to cut through the thief’s flesh and bone and toss his mangled body parts into a pile at the center of the pit. There’s blood everywhere but it’ll be wiped away in no time when I’m done.

  Once I’m finished chopping him up I take the man piece by piece to the burner and as I toss the last of his leg into the pit I chuckle to myself because it’s safe to say he’ll never steal from us again.

  RUBY — PRESENT

  Shuffling the papers on the desk together, I make a pile and do my best to ignore the nagging feeling to go check on the bloody mystery man who rode the elevator to the top floor earlier. His stare had been so deep and dark, but behind it there was something else pulling me in.

  It pulled me in deep before I could even realize and I now I can't stop thinking about him no matter how hard I try. He’s still calling to me like a flame to a moth and it’s as if I already know I’m going to get burned, but I want to see why I’m so drawn to him anyway.

  He needs something and for some reason I feel like I can give it to him. Or maybe I need something from him, I haven’t figured it out yet. In my head, there are only so many things I could need a person for and with a face and muscles like his, I feel like I can definitely find some things to need him for.

  I try keeping myself busy with a few other things before I finally give in and decide to go to his floor and see if he’s okay. I know he told me to stay out of his way, but I just can’t. I circle around the desk and beeline to the elevator. I’m done waiting.

  Nathan opens the door and once I step in his knowing smirk rubs me the wrong way. “What, Nathan? Why are you looking at me like you caught me fucking my boss?”

  “No reason,” he tells me. “What floor are you going to?”

  “The top one,” I tell him, determined to not let his knowledge about the man upstairs stop me.

  “Ru—” he starts, but I cut him off.

  “No, I don’t want to know. I’m going up there and nothing you can say is going to stop me.”

  “He won’t answer your questions, Ruby. It’s a lost cause.”

  “Maybe for you it’s a lost cause, but I don’t see it the same way.”

  He shakes his head and sighs, but doesn’t try to argue anymore. I’m sure he knew there’s no use in arguing with me. Nathan and I haven't known each other for a long time, only a few days,
but he knows I don’t give in very easily thanks to the talk we had my second day. So, instead of trying to change my mind, he presses the button to the top floor and the doors slowly shut.

  We ride up in silence, my own heartbeat the only thing I can focus on. I would be lying if I said I’m not extremely intimidated by the man I am on my way to see. He towered over me downstairs and looks like he could probably crush me like a soda can, but my curious mind wanting to know more beats out my insecurities by a long shot.

  When the doors open again, I take a deep breath and step out into a small lobby looking room. There is a stairwell to my left and to my right stands a big burly man with an earpiece in his ear and all black clothing on.

  His arms are crossed over his chest, and he stares ahead never breaking his stance as I approach. Once I get close to the door I stop and glance up at the big man. He says nothing so I reach my hand up to knock on the door.

  My fist is caught in his tight grip before it reaches the big wooden door and I flinch, letting a squeaky gasp escape my lips. He releases my hand quickly, pushing it back towards my body. I grab my fist lightly and rub back and forth, trying to ease the pain radiating throughout my hand. I honestly think he broke something. I hope not.

  “You lost?” he finally asks when I don’t move.

  “No.” I drop my fists to my sides and clinch the one throbbing, my confidence building again. “I need to speak with the man who just came up here. He left something in the lobby.”

  “You’re a terrible liar.” His gruff voice sends chills down my spine, but I hold his stare anyway.

  “Fine, he didn’t leave anything down there, but I do need to talk to him.”

  “Why did you lie?” he asks, his frown deepening.

  “I didn’t think you’d let me talk to him,” I explain, truthfully.

  “Why should I let you talk to him now?”

  I want to see for myself if the guy is okay. There was so much blood all over him before, there is no way I can believe at least some of it wasn't his. I probably should be more freaked out with the fact he was covered in blood, but while I’m a little intimidated by him, I’m not scared.

  “Because I care.”

  His eyes narrow and he turns his shiny bald head to the side slightly and pushes his finger into his earpiece gently, like he’s trying to listen harder. “Are you sure, sir?”

  He jerks upward again and steps to the side of the door to unlock it. He opens it and goes back to where he was standing before and nods me inside without another word.

  He closes the door behind me, and I’m left in the front of what looks to be the most pristine apartment I’ve ever seen. The ceilings are so high and there is a huge glass table in front of me with a statue of a golden lion sitting on top of it. I wonder how the table can hold the statue so easily, it sure looks heavy.

  The lion is on its belly while the head rests on the paws, but what catches my attention about the statue is the lion's face. Everything about the lion's posture tells a story of relaxation or rest, but the lion's face wears a pained expression and it strikes me like a lightning bolt.

  In my head, the bloody man is the lion in front of me. He’s calm, cool, and collected on the outside, but inside I bet a whole shit storm is brewing so deadly it could wipe out nations. He’s hurting and I can’t for the life of me understand why I know, but I do. He needs someone to care and I think it’s maybe why he told the big man outside to let me in.

  Someone clearing their throat pulls me out of my thoughts about the lion and I glance behind the statue and spot the bloody man staring back at me. He isn't bloody anymore though, and I raise my eyebrows as I notice all he’s wearing is a towel and the leftover water droplets from the shower he clearly just finished.

  His warm brown skin is a contrast to all of the white walls and gold trim in his apartment and his low cut black hair is no longer hidden by a backwards hat and is faded to perfection.

  “I thought I told you to stay out of my way, little one.”

  “Well, yeah, you did,” I tell him, clearing my throat with a small cough and slowly making my way around the table. “And I guess I tried a little.”

  “I hope you don’t call coming into my home trying a little.” He frowns harshly, shaking his head.

  “Oh, no. I gave trying a chance. Then I just said fuck it and now, well, here I am.”

  “Heeding a warning from someone, especially someone like me, would be pretty smart in this situation.”

  I stop walking.

  We make no moves to change the dynamics of the room as we stare at each other. Truthfully, I don’t care about his warning, I care about my curiosity. “Well, a warning doesn’t mean much without reason.”

  “You need more of a reason to believe me when I say stay away from me?” He chuckles a humorless laugh. “The first time you saw me I was covered from head to toe in another man's blood. Which, while we’re on the topic of heeding warnings, you should think twice about telling anyone what you saw, I don’t need the cops sniffing around.”

  “I’m no snitch,” I growl out, a frown deepening on my face. “I don’t know anything about you other than what I’ve seen and it was enough to catch my attention. I’m interested, which is why I’m here.”

  He shakes his head and crosses the room to me, my breathing picking up faster and faster the closer he gets. “And what is it that caught your attention, little one?” he asks, his eyes hazy, his body close, and his tone patronizing me as I listen to him talk.

  “Aside from the blood, I haven’t figured it out yet,” I shrug. “Today, I just wanted you to know I care, and I came up here to see if you were actually okay because were covered in a lot of blood. I honestly didn’t believe it all belonged to someone else.”

  He keeps his eyes trained on me as he asked his next question. “Believe me now?”

  I rake my eyes up and down his body, again, not missing the bulge under the towel which is extremely noticeable, and not hiding the fact I am all the way checking him out, before looking back up at his face. I don’t see any blood or cuts at all, so I answer him truthfully. “Yes.”

  “Good. Now, I need to get dressed so I’m going to ask you to go back downstairs. I imagine I’ll be seeing more of you and your big concerned eyes, so until next time, little one.”

  Chapter One

  HOLLIS — PRESENT

  She’s too beautiful for something as evil as what I am and the world I live in. I want her to listen to the warnings I’ve given her. I will hurt her. We will hurt her. My world will ruin her life until there is nothing left, but she doesn’t seem to care from what I can tell because she’s far too curious about me and cares too much.

  People don’t just care about me because they have goodness in their hearts. That shit doesn’t exist. Everything comes with a price and the price for dealing with me is a pretty high one.

  There is no helping me, no caring, so I know when she’s finished being curious she’ll regret it all. I also know the price of her being around me resembles something looking a lot like her happiness or satisfaction. She is too beautiful and too happy, for me to suck it from her. I won’t ever give her what she wants because I’m Hollis Knox.

  I give people black eyes and broken noses, not happiness and red roses.

  She has a lot of nerve. I’ll give her the recognition she deserves for coming all the way up here to check on me. She’s like a little mouse in comparison to me, but she still came running straight into the lion's den to see if I’d lied about the thorn she’d been sure was in my foot. There’s nothing there, she has nothing to worry about, but she is concerned anyway and it’s a little unsettling for me. She doesn’t even know me.

  I don’t need her caring about me, I know what’s meant for me and I deserve all of what comes to me. I am not a good person and bad people don’t get to have good people in their lives without ruining them. And I will surely ruin her.

  My phone ringing pulls me from my thoughts and I pick it up
and stare at the screen. Elijah’s name is displayed across the screen and I huff. He wants me to tell him what I’m doing but it wasn't his business. I don’t want to go have fun but I answer anyway.

  “Hello?”

  “Hollis, bad news.”

  I curse under my breath and shake my head. “What now?”

  “Meet me at the house on Lombardy.”

  The line goes dead, but I know what the house on Lombardy is for. He must have found the other shit head who stole from him and now he needs my services again. I throw on another pair of jeans and a fresh shirt before reaching for my wallet and cell phone and heading for the front door.

  Concord gives me a curious look on my way out, but I ignore him and press the button for the elevator. I don’t tell him where I’m going. His job is the doorkeeper, he isn’t my keeper, although sometimes he likes to toe the line a little too much for my liking.

  I step onto the elevator and he watches me as the doors close. Then it’s Nathan's turn to give me a curious look. I can bet they are both thinking I am chasing after the girl, but she has nothing to do with why I’m leaving the comfort of my apartment.

  “Sorry for the visitor earlier,” Nathan says to me out of the blue, but something in the way he says it pisses me off and I cut my eyes to him quickly. “Ruby seems to be a stubborn one, but I think she means well.”

  Nathan is older so I try to be more lenient with him, but him knowing the girl he’s referring to as Ruby rubs me so wrong. I want to punch him and I don’t even know why. She is nothing to me and I can’t figure out why I even care.

  Instead of punching Nathan for knowing someone I have no claim over I clench my teeth and look at him with malice written all over my face. “I wasn’t bothered by her.”

  He understands my stare and lets the subject drop. When we make it to the first floor, I step off the elevator without another word. She is there staring off into space from behind the desk when the doors close behind me. Her face turns to one of inspection when she sees me.