Endeverafter: The Series Presents The Cursed One

Chapter Two

"What the bloody hell happened? I said I would be right back." Virek d'Luca frowned as he stared at the dead body lying at his feet. Full of several stab wounds and a bullet hole in the forehead, all he could do was blink. After a moment, he took a deep breath and turned to the side. "Don't you lot both answer at once."

Axel and Sven, identical twin brothers, stood there in silence. Axel, the older twin with a beanie on his head, was the first to speak. "Boss, I know this looks crazy but hear us out."

"Oh, I will and if I don't hear the words 'he attacked us', I will snap your neck."

"Nevermind," Axel said, dropping his head.

Virek sighed. "You blokes had one job," he said, holding up one finger. "One job. What could have possibly happened in the twenty minutes I was gone?"

Axel looked at his brother, Sven, and then back at Virek. "You said to kill him if he moved," he replied, shrugging.

"And?"

"He moved," said Sven. He cocked one of his pistols, placing it in the holster underneath the back of his shirt.

Virek narrowed his eyes at Sven before he turned away. If the twins had been anyone else, he would've killed them already. But they weren't. As the only two people in the world he trusted with his own life, he had no choice but to excuse their behavior. Even when said behavior was reckless and stupid. "Tell me you at least got some useful information out of him before you shot him in the head."

"Does it matter?" Axel asked. "Mercenaries are notorious for lying."

Virek shook his head and pressed his lips together as he continued to stare at the body. "That may be true but that is why we torture them," he said, through a tight jaw. "To determine if what they're saying is true or not. We were meant to find out who vandalised the Trinity Lounge." With narrowed eyes, he turned towards the twins again. "What am I supposed to tell the Seelie Court now?"

"You could tell them to fuck off," Sven replied, dismissively.

Virek dropped his shoulders and grinned. Against his better judgment, he wished he didn't find Sven's response funny but he did. "You're insufferable," he mumbled. He kneeled down beside the body and stared at the hooded man. His mask was pulled up from his face. He grabbed the man's head by the chin and let out an exasperated sigh. "Lucky bastard."

'Lucky' in the sense that the hooded man died having dealt with the twins and not him personally. With his body still intact, he would still have something the authorities could identify him with. After the last incident, the twins insisted on being in charge of 'questioning' their victims and Virek had no choice but to relent to their suggestion. The Seelie Court had not been fans of him leaving charred corpses across Camden Hills and he wasn't in the mood to be scolded for the hundredth time.

Virek's phone chimed, so he stood up and pulled it out of his jacket pocket. It was a notification with a link to an article in the Camden Hills Chronicle. He skimmed through the article and sucked his teeth. "There was another murder this morning," he announced, lowering his eyebrows. "The body of Cassius Burns was found dead on Elmwood and Pine. No suspects. The case remains ongoing." He put his phone away. "Not the news I was expecting."

"You think it's Fae related?" Axel asked.

"One would assume so."

"If he was a Light, the Seelie Court is not gonna like that," Axel said.

"No, they're not," Virek said, licking his bottom lip. "Which means that I should be hearing from them soon."

"I don't get it," Sven said, his brow furrowed. "Why do they always call you? Kai is a Light. Shouldn't he be handling this type of shit?" He looked down at the body with disgust on his face.