Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High Book 2) by Sam Crescent (classic children's novels .TXT) 📕

“In the past twenty-four hours, Drake’s gotten word of three men entering our town. They’ve got the appearance of tourists, but Drake’s not buying it. He’s gone to check them out, and they’re not tourists.”

“How do you know?” Caleb asked.

“I know how tourists act, okay? This is my job, to keep Emily safe, and I’m telling you, she’s at risk right now. Whatever deal you made with Valentine, either he did betray you, or your fathers have got some swing even from the inside. My suggestion is Earl helped you guys.” Drake pointed at the file he’d given me. He always liked to create files for his work. Of course, he also enjoyed getting a nice big reward for a job well done. I couldn’t fault him. His work was always flawless, for the most part at least.

“If Earl hadn’t done his job, I believe we’d have already experienced multiple hits. Instead, we’ve got men traveling to our town. I think they are your fathers.”

I didn’t like this. If it was one of our fathers, it meant someone within our team, which was an extremely short list, was betraying us.

Caleb took the file from me and began to look over the report Drake had compiled. I’d give the fucker one compliment, he was always thorough and so far, he’d saved our asses multiple times. I often had to wonder why. Why did he want to save us when we’d hated his guts during high school? We still hated him at times, but still, I wouldn’t get rid of him just because I couldn’t stand him.

“I want Gael and Vadik,” Caleb said. “They’re going to deal with these men. Drake, you’re on Emily watch, but this time, don’t piss her off, and don’t make any kind of deal with her. I can handle my own problems. River, you’re with me.”

“We going to our fathers, or having the short list of traitors coming here?”

“We’re going there, and they’re coming to us.” Caleb slapped the file into Drake’s hands. “Whatever she wants.”

“And if she wants this body of mine?” Drake ran his fingers through his hair.

“You’re begging for a beat down,” I said, already walking away toward my car. I was itching to stab something, anything. I didn’t like being betrayed. It left a bitter taste in my mouth, not to mention it also pissed me off in a big way.

We’d worked hard to get where we were.

Taking over from our fathers hadn’t been easy. We had to be united against them, and that had taken time. We’d had to kiss their asses, all while plotting to bring them down. We’d put our lives at risk every single day until we finally changed the allegiance of the soldiers and minions, and overruled our fathers. Our mothers were all off enjoying spa days and travel. I’d even sent Amelia, my sister, out of town for the foreseeable future. This was no place for young girls. They were never to set foot in Crude Hill again. If they did, we’d kill them. We had given them an out that no one within our world had ever been granted. Of course, they didn’t argue. Why would they?

We knew what we were doing.

After climbing behind the wheel, I started the engine as Caleb got into the passenger side. “You trust him?”

“We’ve got no other choice,” he said, pulling on his seatbelt.

I didn’t bother to put mine on.

Pulling out of the parking space, I pressed on the gas and sped right up to the gates. I clicked the button I had installed in my car, and they opened. I drove past them and waited long enough for them to close. I didn’t like the thought of someone waiting for an opportunity to slip right past.

It had happened once.

A woman had gotten through the gates and been able to pass as a maid. She’d hidden in Vadik’s bathroom and he’d gotten a nice scar as she’d stabbed him. The woman in question had been a soldier’s mother. She’d been pissed about his death sentence, and well, since then, we’d been a little more cautious with our own safety.

Right now, my first priority was to make sure Emily didn’t die. I wouldn’t be able to handle her death and I couldn’t even handle the thought of it. We needed to make sure she never got hurt in any way.

She meant everything to all of us. I didn’t want to lose her. Not for a single second.

Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, I drove in silence toward our destination. Our fathers’ prison wasn’t too far from our own home. We’d designed it purposefully so we could be close to them at all times.

Turning off the ignition, I climbed out and stared up at the house. On the outside, it looked like a beautiful, lavish estate. On the inside, death and decay clung to the walls.

I flicked my keys as I followed Caleb to the door leading to the basement. He keyed in the code, and I turned, looking around. Something caught my eye as the door opened, and I grabbed Caleb’s arm.

“Wait.”

“What for?”

“When did we install security leading into the bastards?” I pointed my finger at the camera. It rested between two exposed posts.

Caleb took a step toward it. It was a little too high but the angle was perfectly placed for the door.

Neither of us could reach it. Caleb looked around. Finding a plank of wood, he used it to poke the camera through and I caught it before it could smash.

It wasn’t one of ours. I would’ve recognized it.

“Someone’s been here,” Caleb said. “Fuck. Is there any way of finding out how long that has been here?”

“Nope. We need to get this back to Gael or Vadik. They’re the only ones of us who