The Six: Genesis | A Reverse Harem Novel

Seventy-Two

I've hacked personal and public servers, thumbing through millions of files to find the right leverage. Yet, I've never seen a file as redacted as the one connected to Charlie's older brother, Bane. Never.

Iris makes short work of replacing the missing characters. From the dark, they resurrect. Black boxes disappear as I read, falling farther into a hole about Charlie's family.

Bane Hendrix has kills dating back two decades, spanning across dozens of countries and nearly every continent. They're gruesome, vile and send a torrent of violent shivers down my spine. The man knows no bounds, no mercy, and has no conscience.

Photos unspool with the lettering.

Bits of shattered bones, bloody walls and floors stained with body fluids flip one after another. He's done this damage. Ruined families, friend networks and torn governments apart with little more than a hunting knife and shoestrings.

No wonder Charlie is so brutal.

He's had the same upbringing, wrought with the horrid training. The same ferocity follows the man I love. He, too, tore apart our attackers with no remorse and left them so broken they couldn't even be identified with dental records. Nothing but stacks of ruined flesh, bones littered with muscle and their busted gear.

Why was his brother after me? Had he—Charlie—sent him? Had their father sent him?

When Charlie failed to keep me locked in the mansion, was he planning to return for me to take me to his father? Would he return to me as the remorseful lover, hoping to bring me before his family for whatever twisted thoughts they had in mind? What did Bane want?

As I hurry down the empty corridor, my mind settles on Jason's words. He'd spoken about Jasper wanting access to my organisms. If he was willing to sacrifice a hundred men for my capture, would his sons rank higher on the list?

I didn't want to hurt anyone, but if Bane came after me, I'd have no choice.

My next mission centered on finding out how he'd located me so quickly. I round a corner and sprint south for two cars, crashing through the abandoned halls and rickety doors to find the engine car. It churns heavily, growling as the railcar climbs higher and higher.

We're nearly two meters off the ground. A dangerous and deathly height for a normal human, but if I can slow my descent, I'll be up and running in less than 20 minutes. Green landscaping stretches on for kilometers, dotted by bursts of whimsical flowers, short, squatting red-bricked buildings and Opal's famous winding roads.

Memories brush along my mind, gently invading my thoughts as I wish for the cinnamon buns on Writer's Lane and the sweet-tart candy from Glover's Candy Emporium. At the aquarium on the southside, massive whales prowl through the waters, and Ryker would take me there and feed me the sweetest of the chocolate cupcakes for the afternoon. Then, we saunter along the impressive edge of Marion Park, where a great fountain style to look like a couple dancing sits.

Heart aching, I turn away. There are so many happy memories here, and each one turns my throat into a desert. Swallowing back tears, I focus on the engine car.

Like traditional rail engines, the skyline railcars are designed with an engine car totting several passenger cars behind it. Many of the skyline rail trains number from 45 to 150 passenger cars depending on the size and power of the engine. Ours is smaller, so we are only carrying 52 cars in total.

The dining car is nearly the last one. It and other cars are double up, sitting on either side of the rail to allow the worker's corridors to essentially hide from the main populace. If Bane moves as fast as I think he does, I only have about four minutes until we're face-to-face.