Devotion |Kylo Ren x Reader|AU|

~Old Foes~

"Finally."

Vicrul crosses his muscular over his chest as Kylo climbs out of his black Mercedes that had been waiting for him at the airport. He slams the car door shut behind him and gives his friend a look as if to say 'don't test me.' Vicrul puts his hands up defensively and turns to walk back up the long pathway, but Kylo's hand shoots out and grabs his wrist tightly.

"Are you armed?" He mutters quietly.

"Relax. I am but so are the four dozen other people in that fucking house." Vicrul pulls his wrist free. "You'd better show Snoke some respect when we're in there. You're clever, Ren, you don't want to be on that man's bad side."

Kylo scoffs rather gruffly, but doesn't argue as he follows Vicrul up the concrete path flanked with neatly-trimmed, green hedges.

His eyes roam over the exterior of the old colonial mansion. It was made of an intimidating, yet faded grey brick that was crawling with thick ivy. All of the windows had curtains pulled over them and were barred by black wrought-iron. Two men with hefty guns were standing guard at the oak double-door. They give Vicrul a once-over and study Kylo Ren carefully. He notices them shift nervously. Obviously they were aware of who he was.

As the two assassins step inside, Kylo takes his chance to observe the house as they walk. He liked to give every place he walked into a quick once-over. It didn't matter if it was a store, restaurant, hotel, or even a bathroom. He always checked for quick escapes and useful objects in case something went wrong. With his line of work, it was best to always be on edge.

The inside of the house was rather old. The marble floors were white with a golden-brown criss-crossed pattern. Most of the furniture was made from a polished mahogany and were kept in pristine condition. Small tables and towering shelves held shining silver valuables and trinkets. A red-carpeted staircase led upstairs and disappeared once it turned a sharp corner. Kylo could only suspect that there were more of Snoke's men roaming around up there.

He had seen at least a dozen crawling the grounds already. They were all along the gate up in the front down that long, menacing gravel driveway. The house itself was surrounded by tall pine trees; at least two or three acres of them. Those men were most definitely prowling through the woods like wolves waiting for Little Red Riding Hood to take the wrong turn. One wrong move and Kylo would have all of their gun barrels lined up with his head.

Kylo's observant eyes skim the rest of the house. Old paintings in gold frames hung on the wood-paneled walls. They mostly depicted landscapes but a few showed off families and the men who were previously in the position that Snoke was in. It was hard to imagine that that monster had had a family, but there they were in oil paint and acrylic. He didn't doubt the existence of those portraits covering up some safes holding rather illegal items. It wasn't in his place to judge; Kylo was the owner of a few of those items as well.

Vicrul glances back at Kylo momentarily before they both enter a rather big study. When the two of them enter, ten other men immediately snap their attention to them. They cross their arms and give the strangers death-stares. A few of them seemed to want to avoid eye-contact Kylo. Those were the few that either knew who he was or he had seen before. Some of their faces were undeniably familiar.

Now wasn't the time to worry about those men. The only person who had Kylo's attention was the intimidating specimen sitting comfortably behind a desk. He had to admit that Snoke's face was unsettling. The man had beady blue eyes that seemed to pierce through the soul. His lips were thin and his facial features were a little off-centered. He looked like a jigsaw puzzle that had been put together incorrectly. There were definitely battle scars twisting those features. Kylo guessed he had been through a lot since the last time he had seen him.