Chapter 11

I walk back into the dining room steaming.

Ego just admitted that he was happy about the fact that Urge and I were related. He just admitted that he wanted Urge for himself. He was playing the part of this innocent friend but truth was he wanted Urge for himself.

“Ego is a fucking liar! Do you hear me Urge? Everything he was saying at dinner was a goddam lie,” I am steaming, “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him. Urge…Urge? Are you OK?”

Urge’s head is down when I walk in the room. He raises his head at that moment. He’s crying. I don’t remember the last time I saw Urge cry. Tears are rolling down his face. When the others were there he wasn’t crying. He looked distraught but he wasn’t exactly crying. Now he had let loose. His eyes were a beet red. His tears rolled down his cheeks. I was usually the one emotional. Urge never showed this kind of emotion.

“Do you really want to talk about Ego right now?” he asks me staring deep in my eyes.

He was right.

Fuck Ego.

I move towards Urge. Seeing the love of my life like this hurts. I end up sitting across the table. A normal person would want a hug. I knew Urge wasn’t a normal person, though. He didn’t require hugs or anything like that. It would probably be a stab to his pride if I did that. So I sit there and wait until the whimpering stops before I speak.

“What…are we going to do?” I ask him.

My voice is shaking. The emotion is real for me too. I loved this boy but if he was my brother did that make me as sick as my mother was. Was I as perverted as she was? That is what Avarice stated. What’s the difference between her sins and mine? She was a cannibal and I was committing incest. The sins of the Assembly were so deep and they lingered in me still.

“We’ve been through worse? Haven’t we?” he asks me.

He’s not sure. I can hear it in his voice.

“No we haven’t.”

He pauses. He takes a deep breath, “I love you Desire. You love me. That’s not a question. We’ve already done the act.”

“What will people think?” I ask Urge.

“I don’t care what people think,” Urge asks, “But you do. Don’t you? I can see it in your eyes. It’s too late, Desire. Brother or not I’ve fucked you a million times. Raw. I’ve nutted in you. What does it matter? We are two guys. It’s not like we are going to have some special needs baby or something. It’s not like we are going to feel awkward at fucking family reunions. Our parents aren’t in our lives.”

I nod.

“You’re right...” I respond in a distant cold way.

“Desire?”

He looks away. He’s annoyed. I can’t lie to Urge even though I want to.

“What? I said you were right.”

“You don’t believe I am, though. You are rethinking this. I know you Desire. I can tell. You aren’t even looking at me in my eyes right now.”

He’s right. I’ve been avoiding his eye contact. I can’t get out of my head what Avarice said to me. I was sick. Just like my mother. Just like my father. I was born into this sin. I was destined for this sin. I stare out into the distance. I want to cry but the tears aren’t coming like they came for Urge. Why didn’t they come? Why was I so numb right now?

Urge was my life. He was my heart. This is what happens when your heart breaks and the cracks begin to show.

“DESIRE!”

Urge slams his hand on the table, getting my attention.

“I’m here. I’m with you.”

“Show it,” he responds, “We can’t let this tear us apart. You know? We’ve come too far. You understand right? I know what you are thinking. This isn’t your perfect life like you wanted. We can still make it work, though. Think about it like a recipe. If something doesn’t taste right you just add something else. You just mask up the flavor with something else. Right?”

Either you mask it…or you scrap it and start over.

I smile at Urge, “You’re right.”

“I don’t believe you Desire.”

“What else do you want me to say?”

“I want you to raise your weapon, Desire,” Urge states, “I want you to be the assassin that I know you are. I want you to fight for this.”

I want to be strong for Urge but worry is all over my face. It’s not fear about loving Urge. I know I love Urge. It’s fear that this dream I had is coming crashing down all around me and I can’t pick up the pieces. Urge is trying to motivate me. He’s calling for me and I have to find a way back to him. He’s all that I have and I know I have to find my way back to him but right now there is something in my mind blocking me. Goddam Avarice. Why did I have to go in that room? Why did I have to speak to her?

“We’ll make it work…” I say forcing myself to feel this. I have to force myself to feel this. I have to show him that I love him because it’s the truth. No matter how hard it is right now it’s real.

This time, he looks at me. I’m not sure if he believes me or not but he walks over to me. He grabs me.

“Stop looking down. Raise your weapon. Fight with me.”

I look up at him. I raise my weapon. I kiss him. Our lips lock. Our tongues interact with one another. Urge grabs me up as I kiss him. He walks with me all the way to the bedroom. The entire time his tongue is down my throat. I understand now what it means to be so entranced in your sickness when I feel his hands underneath my ass. He cradles me. He lowers me onto the bed.

“I’m scared…” I admit to him.

“You’re vulnerable. You should be scared. And I’m vulnerable too. I want to show you how vulnerable I am tonight. Tonight let’s do something different Desire. Let me show you how vulnerable I am…only for you.”

I’m not sure what Urge means until I see him take his pants off. He takes his underwear off at that moment. His dick is hard but that isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that Urge climbs onto the bed and he bends overs. His head is rested over on this headboard. Urge’s ass is touted up towards me. He shows me his hole. It's pink and puckers. It's smooth as well with just a few short hairs. There is a dimple in his both ass cheeks so deep they look like tiny craters. His skin is so smooth and brown like milk chocolate. Slowly he clenches and opens it. He’s welcoming me.

I’m so unsure why he’s doing this.

“Are you sure?” I ask him.

Urge is a top. He’s always been a top.

“I’m yours, Desire. Every part of me is yours. Every last part belongs to you regardless of what a piece of paper says. Right now I want you to take it.”

I lower my pants. Urge’s ass has always been muscular and perfect. I been down and taste him. I lick the asshole. I bite on the asscheeks slowly. The taste of his skin fills my mouth. This is different for us. Urge doesn’t respond to it. I can’t tell if he’s enjoying me eating him out or not. He just remains in the same position. His asshole tastes so good, though. My dick is so hard that it is spitting out. I’m trying to block out of my mind who he is. I stop when I hear Avarice’s voice in my head.

“Um…”

“Why’d you stop?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t stop. Baby. Fight past it.”

It’s almost like Urge can read my mind. It’s almost like he can tell that I’m struggling with being intimate with him now that I know he is my brother. I spit on my hands and use it to lubricate my dick. It’s always been round, plump and yet firm at the same time. I get behind him, doggy style. Slowly I insert my hard cock into his asshole. Urge doesn’t scream or whine but he does jerk a little bit at first.

“Are you OK?”

He nods, “Yes. Don’t worry about me. You know I can take a little pain. Show me you’re fighting for this with me.”

This isn’t just about sex. Urge wants to see how passionate I am. I mount him. My stomach slides on his back. My dick struggles to get past his tight walls. The head of my dick makes it in. His walls push back at each thrust. They are so tight they clench my dick. I see a little blood on the tip of my dick but just a little bit. Not enough to stop. So I continue. I push deeper into his prostate. He bites down on his lip hard. He looks so fucking sexy.

I pull out. My dick is throbbing for him. Precum is oozing out of it. I make sure I give my dick a good jerk so that the precum forms a lubricating bubble at the tip of my dick. I aim back towards and realize it's just enough precum to get past his walls. I enter him. It's easier this time. I'm fully in this time. I start stroking. I am slow at first.

That’s when I see it. Urge is crying.

“Urge we don’t have to do this.”

I’m not sure why he is crying. Is it the sex or is it something else?

“Yes, we do. FUCK ME, DESIRE! Stop being so scared. TAKE IT!”

The command is loud as fuck. It’s so strong. He’s almost angry that I keep challenging him on this.

Fine. I start fucking him harder and harder. I push past the walls. I push past the tightness. I’m slamming my dick in him harder and harder. With every thrust I feel like I want to have an orgasm but I struggle to hold it back to prolong this. Most guys would loosen up after a while but not Urge. He stays tight. His ass clenches my penis. It’s not often Urge will let me fuck him. It’s clear he’s trying to prove something. He’s trying to prove how much he wants me. He cries silently the entire time I fuck him. He doesn’t moan to show that he is enjoying it. He doesn’t jerk around the bed anymore to show he is in pain.

He just silently takes my dick.

I am sweating all over his back. He doesn’t mind. I bite down on his upper shoulder. He lets me. I bite so hard I draw blood but he just closes his eyes letting me. I am pounding into his cheeks. I’m slapping his butt as I pound him with this deep anger. I am so angry. I’m taking out all my anger out on Urge and he just lets me.

“I’m going to nut!”

Just at that moment Urge pushes me out. He turns around towards me and starts sucking my dick. As I nut he fastens his lips around my dick. He bobs his head furiously on my dick. He uses his hands on my ass to push me deeper. He deepthroats my dick just when I feel the spasm on my dick. I send streams of semen down his throat and he takes it all.

Urge swallows every last drop.

Every. Last. Drop.

Afterward, I lay down on the bed. I face away from Urge. Urge puts his arms over me. There is this unspoken tension between us. The pillow I'm laying on feels like bricks. I can feel Urge looking at me the entire time. I know he wants to say something but he doesn’t for a while.

I feel his arm come over me. He spoons me from behind.

“Do you feel better?” he asks.

His voice sounds so hopeful.

“Can I be honest?” I tell him.

“Desire you’re scaring me…”

“I’m scaring myself. Urge,” I state before shaking up a little bit, “I feel…I feel dirty…”

I expect Urge to argue with that after I say it. I expect him to turn me over and try to motivate me to keep at this some more. I can hear him now in my head saying "Fight for us. Raise your weapon." That’s not what

That’s not what happens, though. Urge moves his hand off of me. He turns over. He is so silent. He is so still. There could be a thousand miles separating us in our Queen size bed and it wouldn’t make a difference right now.

Urge moves his hand off of me. He turns over. He is so silent. He is so still. There could be a thousand miles separating us in our Queen size bed and it wouldn’t make a difference right now.

I want to say something else. I want to say anything, but I have to be honest with Urge. I couldn’t lie. I feel sick to my stomach with all this. With that, I close my eyes. I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince Urge of this or if I’m trying to convince myself.

~

The next morning I wake up and Urge isn’t there. He usually wakes up in the morning to exercise. I walk around the house. He isn’t doing pushups in the second bedroom. His running shoes are still in the closet. He isn’t in the garage cleaning his guns either. Urge just isn’t around. I don’t blame him. A part of me knows that I’m not sure if I want to be around him right now either. Last night was amazing and it did make me feel better when I took out all my frustration inside Urge's ass. At least I knew there was still passion between us but the entire night I was having dreams about Avarice.

I take a shower expecting him to be back when I’m done. He’s not. His towel is still hung on the door. Like a weirdo, I find myself smelling Urge’s towel. It smells like him. Damn I loved this boy something crazy. Brother or not. Maybe I was a weirdo. Maybe I was a pervert. Maybe I was just like Tom and my mother. It sucked that it felt so good to be one., though.

Thirty minutes later I hear a horn outside.

There is a car outside my house. It’s sitting there. I don’t recognize the car but it’s clear they are trying to get my attention. I end up making it outside to see a little bright yellow Mini Cooper pulled up so far on the sidewalk that it was almost on the curb. I notice the driver almost immediately as I walk out.

“Love?”

Sure enough, I should have known little ass Love was the only one who would get a car so tiny. He doesn’t smile at me or anything like that. He just says, “Get in.”

“Why?”

Love opens the door, “Don’t make me change my mind about making up with you, OK?”

I get in the car. I’m wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. I have on flip flops and my hair is still wet from being fresh out the shower. Love doesn’t seem to mind, though. As soon as I get in he takes off. Love is a horrible driver. I’m grasping onto the door the entire time we are strolling through the streets. Love damn near hits a few of my neighbors as we make our way through the neighborhood. I'm sure Craving must have taught him how to drive at this point. It's amazingly reckless.

We end up at the local pedestrian mall. It wasn’t a huge mall or anything like that. There were all these outside stores. It was the only thing people really did on weekdays in Pleasantville though so it was pretty crowded by Pleasantville standards even in the morning. The teenagers were skipping school and hanging out or skateboarding. Housewives had gathered around with their husbands’ credit cards. Families were heading out to get some brunch at the two popular cafes.

“A Tuxedo shop?” I ask him.

“Someone had to take you. You need some serious help in picking one up. You dress like a confused closeted suburban school teacher who has a thing for big dick trannys. If your wedding is going to be this weekend then you desperately need my help."

“Why you?”

“Because I love you,” Love states crossing his arms, “Most of the time I do at least. And honestly, you need to marry Urge.”

“You do remember Urge is my brother right?”

“Well, you guys don't look like it. So it doesn't matter. It'll be our little secret. I know what you are thinking. Yeah. Craving would probably kill me if he knew I was out here helping you. He is so against this. He thinks it’s sick.”

“You don’t?”

Love sighs, “Listen I’m not stupid. You get single and Craving is going to jump on that like he does every piece of ass around. And you guys already have a connection so I’m not going to risk it. So no I don't mind. You can marry Urge.”

Love was ridiculous. He still thought I wanted Craving of all people. I could never. It was pointless arguing that point with Love. though. He already made up his mind about it.

"You know Ego was the one who fucked Craving right? Not me..."

"I'm not stupid. I see them together. After thinking about it, I believe you when you said Ego was using Craving to get to Urge. So this is payback. We are going to make you look amazing and Ego is going to gag. This time it won't be gagging on my ex's dick."

Love has a sinister smile on his face. Truthfully I was just happy that he wasn’t acting like a dickhead to me. He was the last person that I thought would be supportive of Urge and I getting married, though.

“Didn’t you say we were a self-destructive?” I ask Love.

“Love isn’t easy,” Love responds, “Here try this.”

“I’m not wearing a pink tuxedo Love.”

“God you’re boring. What color were you thinking?”

“All white…maybe?”

“You need flavor like your food. You can't be all bland."

"Urge likes bland."

"Dam you have a point. Well let's go with white then. Here this one then. Perfect…”

I do what Love says. It’s so awkward. It isn’t about Love. It’s the fact that I am having second thoughts about this wedding regardless if I want to believe it or not.

I come out of the dressing room after wearing my tuxedo.

“Oh! Handsome!” the sales associate says. He walks over. He’s a handsome guy. Probably too handsome.

I smile at him weakly and quickly though not wanting to exchange glances.

“Thanks,” I respond.

“I can always have the jacket cropped to show off that nice ass of yours,” the sales associate responds, fumbling with his beard a little bit.

“He’s taken,” Love states, “Obviously.”

The sales associate throws up his hands, “Sorry. Well, let me know if you need any help at all. I’ll stand over there.”

The sales associate guy isn’t the only one giving me attention. A few ladies who are in the shop getting fitted for bridal dresses are saying the same thing. I can overhear them complimenting me and even looking at my ass. I normally wouldn’t care about the attention and definitely today I didn’t care about it.

“When the sales associate at a wedding shop flirts with you, then you know you look good,” Love states, "Cause he gives no fucks if you are the groom or not."

He gives me a nod to the sales associate who is still staring over me from across the store with these wanting eyes. The guy licks his lips even. I don’t care about handsome guys in stores, though. There is only one man whose opinion means anything to me. That one guy looked better and was worth more to me than any of these guys I could encounter.

“You think Urge would like this?”

“Yeah. Why are you shaking? You seem nervous, Desire,” Love tells me, “Talk to me.”

“I love Urge. I want to be with him. I’m just scared that us being together is a little perverted. Urge told me last night that it was too late to rethink this. We already had sex. We were already in love. We had sex again last night but it didn’t feel the same.”

“Was it not good?”

“No it was amazing. That wasn’t the point. Afterwards, I felt dirty. I felt like it was wrong. You know? I’m not saying I’m this perfect moral person but I don’t want to be perverted. My mother is a cannibal. My father kidnapped kids and trained them to be killers. I don’t want to be like them…”

“Desire come here,” Love states, “Look at your reflection. What do you see?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see a caring friend, I see an amazing cook, I see someone who would make an awesome fucking husband,” Love explains, “You are the most lovable cuddly assassin I’ve ever met in my fucking life. If you were some perverted killer don’t you think you would have known it by now? I can’t even snap a neck in peace when you are around.”

“Love, why would you even want to snap a neck?”

“Because I’m PERVERTED! I’m an assassin! That’s my point. The fact that you even ask a question like that with our past makes you not like your parents. It’s annoying how normal you really are compared to the rest of us. It gets on my nerves. Your parents don’t define you. There is a reason I can’t stay mad at you. There is a reason Allure cries when you are happy. There is a reason Craving protects you. Desire, there is a reason why Urge loves you.”

“What reason?”

“You are the best among us Desire. The very best.”

Did Love really feel that way? I don't think he's talking about combat because Urge would probably kick all our asses twice. He's referring to something else. Something deeper. Looking at my reflection I just feel like Love broke it down in a way that makes it so clear. Compared to the rest of them maybe I really wasn’t as bad. What was I scared of? Sure I may be off the rails a little bit but I can get back on. Urge loved me and I loved him back.

Why the fuck was I so afraid?

“You’re right.”

“I am?” Love asks, genuinely surprised.

I nod, “You are. I’m going to marry Urge. Fuck it. I’m going to marry him.”

Love smiles, “As you should. Now let’s try on this glittery gold tuxedo. You’re a gay male assassin. Your wedding CANNOT be boring Desire. I refuse. Desire? What’s wrong?”

I get another text from Urge. I look down at my phone. My mouth drops open a little bit.

“I just got a text from Urge. He said that he left.”

Love raises his eyebrow at that moment, “To go where?”

I shrug, “I don’t know. He just said not to come looking for him.”

“So? Maybe he just needs some time to clear his head before the wedding.”

I look down at the message. He didn't write anything else except that but my heart is beating so fast right now.

“Or maybe he’s not coming back.”

Love laughs at that moment, “How do you get that from the text?”

“Remember I told you last night I felt dirty. Well. I kind of told Urge that,” I respond.

Love slaps me on my forehead, “Why the fuck would you go and do that?”

“I wanted to be honest…”

“You be honest to your friends. You don’t tell your MAN after sex that you feel dirty, dumbass. Fuck you’re so dumb Desire,” Love responds, “Men are weak. They don't show it but they are. They are secretly sensitive and they can't handle that. Especially not Urge. Have you lost your fucking mind? You know he has the emotional maturity of a lonely rock on the peak of the Appalachian Mountains. He’s doesn’t understand things like that. He probably took it literally. He probably thinks he disgusts you.”

Love is right. I hadn’t even been thinking about how Urge would take that. He wasn’t used to emotions. These things were new to him. He was crying during sex for godsakes.

I’m panicking.

“Fuck Love. What do I do?”

“Text him back.”

I text him back. I get an error message back.

“He blocked me.”

“This is bad…” Love states.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Love,” I state.

Love shakes his head, “I’m not talking about Urge. Look outside Desire.”

I turn at that moment to see what Love is referring to. There are 20 figures outside. The shadows appeared out of no where! They are all clad in dark blue uniforms. They had ninja tabi socks and utility belts. A few had armed gauntlets. They had hoods with masks on them. The mask and hood covered their entire faces. They stood like statues outside of the store. They were eyeing me down…especially me for some reason.

My mouth drops open. Assassins!

They are all clad in dark blue uniforms. They had ninja tabi socks and utility belts. A few had armed gauntlets. They had hoods with masks on them. The mask and hood covered their entire faces. They stood like statues outside of the store. I see guns. I see automatic weapons on them. They were eyeing us down…especially me for some reason.

“What is this? Early Halloween?” the sales associate asks.

“Do you have a back entrance?” I ask him.

“Why?”

“Take the other customers out of the back entrance,” I order him, “Now.”

The sales associate laughs, “Why?”

He thinks this is a joke. One of the ninjas shatters the store front glass! It breaks into a million pieces. A smoke bomb is thrown into the store. Coughing ensues.

“NOW!” I scream at the sales agent.

He doesn’t hesitate this time. I watch him grab the bridesmaids and they start exiting the store. Love grabs me and we immediately duck behind the register. I push up against the drawer. How the fuck did this happen? How the fuck did the Assembly find us so easily?

“Do you have weapons?” I ask.

“What do I look like? Urge? No, I don’t have any weapons on me,” Love responds.

Fuck. We were cornered without weapons. Love peaks over the counter. A bullet skims past his head barely missing him. He ducks back under! I hold him down making sure he doesn't do that again. I don’t think he can see anything through the smoke. He’s coughing his lungs out at that moment.

“Give me your phone!”

He gives me his phone.

I grab the phone and call up the only person I know who can send backup. I call up Denny.

“Denny, they found us.”

Denny sounds genuinely surprised at the phone call, “Who?”

“The Assembly…”

“Are you fucking joking me? That's impossible."

"Unless you know anyone else who dresses like ninjas in all black then yes. The ASSEMBLY is here!"

Denny is panicking. I can hear it in his tone, "I don't get it! I don't fucking get it Desire! They wouldn’t have gotten past our surveillance.”

“Not unless they had some help.”

“Fuck. Where are you? I’ll bring a team.”

“The pedestrian mall. And Denny we have no weapons. We’re surrounded. It’s just Love and I.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Denny. We won’t last.”

“Desire. I’ll be there. I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me. I’d never let anything happen to you,” Denny responds.

The way he says it makes me think there is some emotion behind it. It kind of scares me a little bit that I am moved by Denny. It’s almost like he truly cares. It’s almost like he wants to be that protector right now and honestly with Urge gone I know he’s the only one who would really be able to bring the backup that we need.

We needed major weaponry! Major. “What’s he saying?” Love asks as soon as I hang up the phone.

“What’s he saying?” Love asks as soon as I hang up the phone.

“He’s bringing help!”

“And what the fuck are we supposed to do about the Assembly ninjas who all probably have codenames of scary things like Vengeance, Madness, Hatefulness, Mania and Fury heading our way?”

That was a good point. One assembly member was enough. This seemed like a whole army of them. Would my mother really want to kill me that badly? I'd never seen an Assembly attack on this scale before!

NEVER!

If you send so many Assembly assassins then you must really have wanted that person dead. You must have wanted something worse then death. Would she really want to get rid of me that much?

I knew what this was. I knew what it had to be! This was OVERKILL! My mother was really trying to get rid of me. Would she really want to get rid of me this much though?

Gunshots ring out!

Bullets lace the wall cabinet wall. Wood spliters are flying everywhere. I cover my ears. Is this going to be the way that I was going to die? I get numb in place. My ears are bleeding. I'm not sure if I was cut or it is something else. It seems like they are flaring their bullets at us which is odd. It’s almost like they are trying to scare us out or something. They want to shoot us but it seems like they are too scared to really approach us even though they are the ones armed. I am just completely confused by it but hell I don’t think Love and I are too upset they are shooting from a distance.

For five minutes we are in hell. The wood splinters are probably the things that injure me the most. They impale my skin. Each bullet is breaking up the service desk, though. We don’t have too much longer! We don't have too much defense left. The bullets get closer and closer!

Sooner or later we would have to do something. We couldn’t wait here for Denny and the backup forever.

“Throw me…” Love said.

“Come again?” I ask.

“We’re going to die here if we don’t fight. Throw me at them. I’ll take a few out. I’ll try to get a gun,” Love states.

“Love I know you were some type of gymnast but right now we don’t need Simone Biles. We need SOS agents.”

“I was actually circus performer! Now throw me goddam it.”

I don’t know what he’s thinking. He must be suicidal. I pick him up though. Love is unsurprisingly light. I toss him over the counter as hard as I can. I can’t see where I’m throwing him. When I throw him however I just hear bullets. The bullets are just ringing all over the place.

Did I just kill my friend?

No. Fuck no.

I run out at that moment. I can hardly see a thing with the smoke. I grab one of the ninjas. I drop kick him into the wall. He attempts to get back towards me. His punches are fast but not fast enough. I dodge every last one of them. He reaches in his utility belt and grabs a knife out of frustration. Big mistake.

He slashes at me few times. I kick his hand when he misses after his second attempt. The knife flies up into the air.

We both jump for it!

I just so happen to jump faster. By the time we land I have that knife lodged into the side of his shoulder. He struggles to remove it while bleeding out. I help him, jerking the knife out of his shoulder and giving him a round house kick that he’d never forget. The ninja falls to the ground.

“One down,” I state to myself.

Just in time. The smoke was clearing. As the smoke clears though I see that there is only one person left standing. It isn’t an Assembly assassin either.

It’s Love.

“19 down,” he smiles at me.

Sure enough there is a litter of dead bodies all around Love. He didn’t even break a sweat. I knew Love was good. He could manipulate his body like no one I knew. He might as well have been a goddam gymnast because his fighting included a million flips all over the place. It was hard to catch a hold of him and he was very invasive. Still. He didn’t even have a single scratch on him.

He didn’t spare them like I did. Just at that moment I see trucks pull up. I recognize the trucks. SOS agents. Our backup was here. I notice them run in. Denny is leading the charge. They all have guns. It’s damn near a small army here. When they come in they look a little confused.

Denny raises an eyebrow, “I thought you said you needed backup.”

He looks down at the bodies.

“I thought I did too,” I say just as surprised as he was.

Love shakes his head, “That was way too easy.”

Denny walks over to one of the guys who is on the ground. They were in a ninja masks. I’d seen Assembly members come out in the black outfits before. I’d seen them do it, but this was different. I’d taken that one guy out really easily. Love had no trouble taking 19 of them out.

Denny looks at the face of one of our attackers.

He shakes his head, “I recognize this guy. These are pretenders. These aren't even assassins. This wasn’t the Assembly.”

I’m confused.

“What?”

Denny looks a little embarrassed and confused when he admits, “These were SOS agents.”

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com