Raul bit on the cigarette that was in his mouth, taking a large drag before letting out the smoke through his lips. The dense white smoke swirled out and disappeared into the night air.
He looked at the scene in front of him in satisfaction.
This was his biggest haul yet.
He had been slowly building up his network and connections, starting small and finally, he made it.
Raul took another long drag, feeling the nicotine filling up his lungs and enjoying the feeling it gave him.
It was akin to those who smoked cigars at the end of a job well done. The cigar represented luxury and a relaxed state of mind. According to Freud, a cigar is a phallic symbol and is representative of masculinity and raw energy.
Not that Raul was into all of that philosophical stuff - and he didn't like cigars anyway. To him, it was rather pretentious to smoke a cigar in celebration. To him, it was more 'manly' and down-to-Earth to smoke a cigarette.
It did relax him and it did give him a sense of 'icing on the cake' sort of feeling.
Like right now.
Who said that one should never cross the dreaded King of the Underworld, Nitocris?
Raul scoffed as he threw the cigarette butt away and took another one. His ever vigilant side-kick aka goffer immediately lit up the cigarette for him.
Raul had a condescending smile on his face as he thought of the so-called King.
He had heard of this person and that this King was much worse than the previous one. Worse, in the sense that his methods could be crueler and worse, because he was much more efficient than the former King.
So people didn't get away with a lot of things and suffered for it.
Raul never believed that anyone can stay on their throne for long. It was time for the King to be overthrown and it was he, Raul, who would do so.
And today was just the beginning.
All those years of doing things slowly, under the radar, and in small 'doses' finally paid off.
People were starting to realise that the King had gotten weak and no longer had absolute control over his domain.
And Raul was the one that would be next in line.
It was only a matter of time.
And he had the patience to wait.
Raul smiled, thinking of the day when he would become the King of the Underworld.
✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿
Max was happy.
So so so happy.
He didn't know what this thing he was on was, but it was awesome!
It went by so fast.
When his Alpha put him in this thing that didn't let him move, he had been puzzled. Not quite happy to not be able to move, but seeing the fist in front of his face, Max settled down.
He whined a bit though.
Just to show his Alpha that he wasn't happy at having to sit still in the thing that didn't let him move.
He yelped and barked when the sudden noise hit the air, making his ears hurt a bit.
It wasn't painful, but it was sudden and he was shocked.
Feeling the pat on his head and his Alpha holding him tightly, Max settled down. When he did, he found that he actually liked the strange sound. It wasn't too high pitched, nor low, and he had never heard such a sound before.
Max tilted his head, listening intently.
He looked left, he looked right, and then he looked up.
He could smell the night air, sense the coolness and reveled in it.
And then the most amazing thing happened.
There was wind in his face.
It wasn't just hitting his face but it felt like his entire head was being pressed by this gush of pressure and wind, and he could feel the speed under him.
With the gentle purr of the engine under his feet, his ears still hearing that strange but hypnotic sound, and the wind in his face, Max howled happily.
More! More! More!
Faster! Faster! Faster!
He didn't care that his eyes seemed a bit dry as he tried to stick his head out more. With great disappointment, he felt his head being pushed away from the awesome wind.
"No, Max," he heard his Alpha say.
Max slumped into his bag, dejected and complained silently in his heart.
Not fair.
Alpha said no.
Must listen.
No means no.
Alpha no fun.
Why no?
Not fair.
Alex looked at his sulking wolf pup and wanted to laugh. He could practically feel how unhappy his pup was and he rubbed Max's head.
Max looked up at him and Alex tilted the bag outwards, letting the wind hit his face again.
Max nearly jumped out of the bag in joy and started howling again.
Nearby, Raul's head jerked up.
"What was that?" he asked with a frown.
"Sounds like a wolf, Boss," his minion answered.
Raul hit the back of the head of his minion, "We're in the city, you moron."
His minion rubbed the back of his head, his face showing his grievance but he did not dare say a word about his unhappiness.
"I'll go check it out, Boss," his minion said as he shuffled his feet to walk out. Just then, the sound of motorcycles filled the air.
Raul's frown got deeper.
He wasn't expecting anyone.
The rest of the people there immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at their Boss.
Seeing his expression, they understood and waited for his orders.
"What the f*ck are you waiting for?" Raul barked at them, "Go and welcome the intruders!"
At that, some men turned towards the weapons that were on a table nearby while some took out the weapons that were on their bodies: some had guns, and some had knives.
However, just when two steps were made by the men who were heading to the table, three of them seemed to have stumbled and fell to the floor. At first, the others thought it was a joke (not the funny ha-ha type) until blood seeped out from under them.
"Oh, no need to welcome us," came a sultry female voice from behind them, "We're already here with our own gifts to give."
Raul had a bad premonition upon hearing that voice.
Very bad.
Still, his face did not show the nervousness and dread that he felt as he turned around slowly - as if to indicate that he was not afraid.
He had been at this for years, so how could he not know of the rumours?
The fabled top assassin couple of the King of the Underworld.
But they had not been seen in action for so long that people tend to forget about them. Well, correction.
Not 'forget' but rather, start thinking that all of the things said and heard were really just exaggerated rumours that turned into fables.
Even when they started hearing about the fact that the couple had a son that the father was 'training' seemed ridiculous.
Who would bring out a small kid to kill?
No one really believed it though they spread it.
Now, however, hearing that female voice made Raul question the so-called rumours.
He knew instinctively that it could not be anyone but Fyre for no other female was crazy enough to enter their den like this.
As his gaze landed on the redhead that stood there with her head tilted at them, her red ruby lips arched up in a slight smile as she tapped her chin with her delicate finger, his heart froze.
His eyes darted around and could not see her partner but he knew he must be around.
Fyre never worked alone.
Ice did, but never Fyre.
"Be vigilant!" shouted Raul, as he tried to look around for that elusive figure.
Three more thuds were heard and Raul saw three more of his men falling to the ground. Yet, Fyre had not moved at all.
So it must be Ice.
But where was he?
If one was to use the newly dead to try and guess the origin of the weapon trajectory, one would first need to see where the weapon was on the body. That, and the location of the body itself so as to narrow down the distance.
The problem?
First, they couldn't see what weapon was used, let alone know where it had been thrown from. Secondly, the three bodies were in three different locations - and not even close to each other.
Was there more than Ice?
It couldn't be.
Ice was too possessive and would never allow another man - or woman - near Fyre.
Then Raul remembered the other ridiculous rumour.
Could it really be true?
Their son?
Just as he was still trying to figure things out, and as everyone was huddled together with their weapons in front of them in defence, a dark figure fell from the sky and landed right in front of Raul.
"Hello," Ice said with a smile, his blue eyes bright as he stared at the frozen Raul.