Mag-log in"I can't fucking believe it. The one time I'm at home watching TV, she gets kidnapped? What the fuck?"Hael tore around his home, grabbing his tools while getting Max on the line. He answered straight away, "On my way, boss. Shared the info with three of our men. I know Jack and Raymond are on their way. What's the plan?""We bury them on their own land, standing up so the fuckers never rest."Hael's voice was grim as he slammed his front door, shoved his gear into the trunk of the car, and launched himself into the driver's seat. The welcome sound of a V8 engine roaring to life could be heard, and then he planted his foot, fishtailing out of his driveway as he drove off with one thing on his mind: whoever took his girl would die.2.Max ran out of his house, followed by two brothers. Gabriella waited on the side of the road in her convertible, engine running like the boss she was, and although the situation was serious, she still managed a grin as Max hopped into the front passenger
The back of the van smelt like old socks, and Ariana struggled to calm herself at first. She practiced the relaxation technique her dad had taught her before she started reaching for more than just a basic understanding of Silva's mind control. She was already in the beta state, wide awake and hyper-alert to what was going on around her, so Ariana began to slow her breathing, ignoring the sounds, the way the vehicle moved, and the different voices that wouldn't help her right now. Muscle memory took over, and Ariana felt herself begin to relax, entering what her Dad called the Alpha state. It took Ariana months to master the Alpha state and reach the point where she was relaxed enough to let her body rest while her mind opened up, entering her creative state. The place where she could problem-solve. It was a simple trick to get her mind from beta to alpha; often, repeating a backward countdown was enough. So she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began 3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1, exhalin
"We hardly get the time to talk anymore," Ariana sighed, stirring her thickshake. Daniel had driven to the same ice cream shop they used to go to when Ariana's dad decided to treat them. Those days were long gone now, but slurping her drink was bringing back those memories."You are so lucky to have your dad, Ari," Daniel said, stirring his own ice cream soda," I wish I had a father who really made time for me no matter how busy life got."Ariana reached across the table to grab her friend's hand; it was true that her father went above and beyond what other fathers did, and she smiled gently. "Yeah, I certainly got lucky in the parental department; he really does want what's best for me.""How have you been, Danny?"Daniel smiled softly, looking into his glass and then away before answering, " I'm twenty years old, still living at home, with a huge axe swinging at my head because I'm too chicken shit to tell my parents I don't want to take over the family business."Ariana continued t
Jack Scott sat in on the founders' meeting, half asleep. Although he wasn't a member of the founding family, he represented the other families in town and had to take minutes at these meetings. The gunfire he'd witnessed yesterday morning was weighing heavily on his conscience, and for the first time ever, he'd made an excuse to stop Hael from coming to dinner tonight. It also eased his mind to hear that Ariana was out with her friend Daniel in another town this evening, because the unease was creeping up his spine again, suggesting something wasn't right in Mercy.He looked around at the vacant seats, noticing people fidgeting. Then someone else sat down beside him."Anything interesting, Mr. S?"Raymond popped a bubble, chewing gum in the most obnoxious way possible, before taking it out and sticking it under his seat. He was the kind of kid that you expect to do weird stuff, and Ariana and he were as thick as thieves; there weren't many seventeen-year-olds who knew what they wanted
Hael loved the smell of the stables. The horses currently housed there would leave with the old owners, but he was already in contact with some Arab horse breeders. He had purchased two steady, bombproof quarter horses as a more emission-friendly way of checking on his land, and would look to buy four thoroughbreds in the near future. But for now, he enjoyed walking.The cleaners would be finished with his family home in a few hours, but the residents of Mercy were rattled, and this underhanded bid for more territory couldn't go unpunished. Hael took deep breaths. He exhaled as he followed the path leading to the woods behind the stables. The sound of busy birdsong and cicadas was like natural morphine, calming Hael's mind the deeper he went into the woods. The air itself seemed cleaner, and the deep breaths he took poured relaxation into every pore until Hael felt his mind slipping into an altered state, the stress melting away as if it had never been there.Up ahead, the ground was
After the morning's brush with death, I tended to business quickly and decisively. Men were scattered throughout Mercy, gathering intel so we could figure out the next steps. Max called the other factions, and we were set to meet on neutral territory later today to see if this was an isolated incident or whether we were about to engage in a territorial war.But I was doing something completely random while everyone else was talking shop."Just sign here and here and initial over here, then it's done, save for the down payment, and which bank are you securing your mortgage with, Mr Wilder?" The agent was an older woman; she was all about business, and I appreciated that." I don't need a mortgage, thank you, Mrs. Clayton. If you give me a minute, I'll transfer the agreed payment into your company's account. I don't need escrow, and the current owners have ninety days' notice to move out?"The older woman looked speechless. "It's a twenty-four million dollar investment, are you sure you







