CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Everything that had happened so far, aside from a few small incidents, was all part of a bigger scheme.
Mine.
And theirs.
I was doing all I could to ensure my puppet made it through this. Once she made it to the next checkpoint, we could work side by side again. That would be imperative to us making it out of Devil’s Playground alive.
Until then I had to keep doing my part.
Being the hellraiser—working with and against certain members of the Infernal Syndicate.
Ky spoke to me via my still muted earpiece, guiding me through the carnival towards where he and Brody were waiting. The only people that gave me a second glance were the ones forced to attend the Diablos Carnival. Everyone else was aware of who I was and made sure to get out of the way.
When I reached the far side of the carnival grounds, I double-checked I wasn’t being followed. There was a faulty piece of chain link fencing back here I would be using to make my exit. There weren’t any cameras in this area so only someone being a nosey fucking bastard would see me. That’d be the last shitty decision they ever made.
When I didn’t see anyone, I quickly ducked through and stuck to the shadows until it was safe to step out. I knew the people in the control rooms had to be scrambling right now.
They’d be sweating bullets trying to appease the big bosses and find out what the fuck was going on. Me and the boys were notorious for doing whatever we wanted, but we were being a bit more unpredictable than usual.
I’d muted my headset so no one could hear what I was saying unless I wanted them to. I hadn’t wanted anyone stranger than me hearing my girl moan either. These twisted fucks would be just hairbrained enough to want the same for themselves and I couldn’t turn the Playground into my personal slaughterhouse.
Not yet.
I crossed the street and jogged to where the ice-cream truck was idling silently. As soon as I was inside, Brody shifted into drive and got us away from the carnival.
“It went well?” Kyrous asked.
I stepped over Morrigan’s gagged and bound body, reclaiming my usual seat on the bench.
“Pretty much as expected,” I replied to Ky.
He didn’t ask me to clarify. He couldn’t even if he wanted to. His headset wasn’t muted like mine.
“Where we heading to?” Brody asked, doing a slow turn around a corner.
I glanced down at Morrigan and nudged her with the toe of my boot. She wriggled around, drawing further into herself with a soft whimper.
“We need to drop her off now.”
“Got it.” Brody flipped the switch for the music and immediately the calming tune of the ice-cream truck began to fill the air.
It didn’t take long for us to arrive at the predetermined intersection where Morrigan needed to go.
Along the way we passed by another group that was doing surprisingly well. I think they’d lost a single person so far out of four. They were running in the opposite direction, the sound of the ice-cream truck spurring them into action.
At the intersection, Charon and his cousin were already waiting on their set of matte black Vulcans for their new toy.
“I got the doors,” Kyrous stated, slowly rising from his seat.
I retrieved my back up knife since I’d just left my usual behind for puppet. I crouched and freed Morrigan from her restraints. She was covered in sweat. Given our truck was air conditioned, this could only be from a bad reaction to the injection of Helios she’d gotten.
Her response time was slower than usual too. Even as I pulled her to her feet, I think it was the undeniable sound of the motorcycles that got her attention.
Or maybe she noticed the two masked figures waiting for her once Ky opened the doors.
“Wait,” she pled weakly, dragging her feet. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Stop embarrassing yourself. Your life doesn’t mean shit to me.” I shoved her towards Ky, unphased by her begging for the pathetic excuse of a life she wanted to hold onto.
He caught her and shoved her ass out onto the street where she landed on her face. She immediately tried climbing her delusional ass back into the truck. It was truly running from one evil to another. Ky slammed the doors in her face and Brody hit the gas, giving him a chance to lock them.
“We can move on now,” Ky more stated than asked once he was done.
“Yeah.” I sat down and lifted off my mask, taking a few minutes to breathe without it.
Ky did the same across from me, pulling his phone out, no doubt watching Gracelyn again. He hadn’t said anything yet, but I knew he was pissed about the vicious drug that was now swimming through her veins. I don’t know if that was because he was growing fond of her, like one did a pet or a pupil, or because someone had fucked with the controlled variables he always had.