PRA IS E FO R LO NDO N M ILLE R
“London Miller writes with both complex
emotion, high paced intensity and a diverse
cast of misfits that you can't help falling in
love with.”
— BESTSELLING AUTHOR, MARY
CATHERINE GEBHARD
“This series continues to play out much like
a chess game with all the players being
moved around but with no known end …”
— AMAZON REVIEWER, SANDY
“The way the Den of Mercenaries and Wild
Bunch series are intricately woven into
each other is impressive.”
— EDGY REVIEWS, LILY
CONTENTS
Also by London Miller
I. The Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
II. The Wraiths
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
CODA
Iris.
Acknowledgments
About the Author
A LS O B Y LO NDO N M ILLE R
Volkov Bratva
In the Beginning
Until the End
The Final Hour
Time Stood Still
Valon: What Once Was
Hidden Monsters
The Morning
Mishca & Lauren: The Boxset
The City: A Volkov Bratva Novella Collection
Den of Mercenaries
Red.
Celt.
Nix.
Calavera.
Welcome to the Den: Volume One
Skorpion.
The Wild Bunch
Crooks & Kings
Shadows & Silence
Seasons of Betrayal
Where the Sun Hides
Where the Snow Falls
Where the Wind Whispers
To Maria,
You loved him the most.
We’re all guilty of something. Dig deep
enough and you’ll find whatever you need.
— SYNEK ‘SYN’ JØNSSON
PART I
THE INTRODUCTION
PR O LO GUE
WHEN THE RAIN smelled of thunder and lightning,
Synek Jønsson was ready to leave it all behind.
He sat in the alley across from the bar that had
become his solace in the past few years, a knife in
his hand as he waited for a sign or message or
anything that would ease this heavy ache he felt to
end his own life.
He’d done many deplorable things in his
lifetime, but only recently had those actions come
back to haunt him. He saw faces when he slept and
heard screams where there were none. The only
relief he could find was at the bottom of a liquor
bottle, and although it promised he wouldn’t feel
anything at all by the night’s end, even that wasn’t
proving to be enough.
Sometimes, it only added to the pain.
It didn’t matter that a party was happening
inside the four walls of the Wraiths’ compound, or
that he was supposed to be inside celebrating with
the others. Instead, he’d stood in the rain for a
while before sitting with his back against the brick
wall as heavy rain pelted his jeans and boots until
he was nearly soaked through.
Even so, he couldn’t care enough to draw his
legs up and out of the rain.
At least he was feeling something.
It wasn’t the cold that bothered him, or the
music, or even the winter showers. The only thing
he could feel was his usual wretched state—the one
he always found himself in after a day of wielding
the knife in his hand.
Once, he’d loved this thing and all he could do
with it—the knife had grown to be an extension of
himself. Now, it was just a reminder of what he’d
become over the past few years.
A thing they’d molded and shaped and fucked
up until even he couldn’t remember who he’d been
before he ever agreed to join the Wraiths.
But that was in the past. Something he should
have let go of by now.
Rain dripped from the ends of his bleached
blond hair—hair he’d long grown annoyed with
seeing every time he caught sight of his reflection
in a mirror—further dampening the front of his T-
shirt.
Exhaling for patience, Synek slid out of his
leather jacket and tossed it aside. Then his knife
was back in his hand, his face reflecting off the
gleaming metal as he gave it a little twist.
It would easy, too easy, to slide it across his
wrists or even drag it down his forearm to stop
anyone from trying to save his life. It was the smart
thing to do—end his life the way he wished
someone had done so long before he’d become a
killer.
He deserved to die—no doubt about it.
He just needed to do it. He needed to press the
serrated steel against his flesh and jerk it back hard
as he’d done to so many others.
A fitting death, he thought.
Flipping the knife around in his hand, Synek
didn’t spare the blade another glance before he
held it to his arm …
“I took you for many things, Synek Jønsson, but
a coward was never one of them.”
For the better part of an hour, Synek had slowly
drunk a bottle of bourbon until only the dregs were
left and his fear of death had slowly seeped away.
He was far too blotto to react to the sound of the
voice coming from the mouth of the alley, or the
man in the dark suit standing underneath an
umbrella who it belonged to.
He was in no mood for this shit at all.
“Fuck off,” he answered in return, not caring
who the man was or why he was there. He only
wanted solitude to do what he needed without
interruption.
His brusque tone should have been enough to
send the man on his way—it did for others—but
apparently, he had some sort of death wish because
instead of leaving, he ventured closer.
Synek listened to every step he took, the man’s
leather shoes sounding impossibly loud against the
concrete beneath his feet.
The man was bolder than most, coming so close
that his umbrella effectively blocked out the rain
that had steadily fallen onto Synek’s legs since he
had ventured out here.
Now, he was better able to make out the man’s
face as he wiped the rain from his eyes.
He’d been expecting one of the newer little
shits who thought the Wraiths was an organization
worth giving their lives to and didn’t yet understand
it was best to leave him be, but he should have
known from the accent that wasn’t one of them.
The man in front of him couldn’t have been
much older than he was—perhaps even younger,
though it was impossible to tell—and though he
was the one intruding where he wasn’t welcome,
something seethed in the man’s gaze.
But even if Synek couldn’t tell the man’s age,
he could easily read the rest of him.
Like how expensive his three-piece suit was, or
how his shoes cost about the same. And when he
shifted his arm just a bit, the gleaming silver face of
his watch flashed in the low light of the alley.
Whoever he was, he obviously came from
money.
Which made him curious considering the man
seemed intent on bothering the shit out of him. He
didn’t know anyone outside of the Wraiths who
were well off, and even they all still wore some sort
of leather or denim.
But it didn’t matter how much money he had.
Synek wasn’t trying to make a spectacle of himself.
“Nothing to see here,” he said with a nod of his
head back the way the man had come.
Unfortunately, the man still refused to move. “If
you die, that puts a bit of a wrinkle in my plans,
you see, so before you decide that all hope is lost,
let me make you an offer.”
Synek couldn’t tell if the man was serious or
taking the piss, but either way, he was in no mood
to deal with riddles and shit. He already had enough
to work through in his own head.
“Listen, bruv, it’s me doing you a favor here.
You get me? If you think you know me, then you
know who I work for, and trust me, they ain’t going
to be nearly as nice as I am. Understand?”
Even still, the man remained in place, his
expression never changing.
He had the sort of patience Synek wished he
possessed, but unfortunately for the man in front of
him, he had a hair-trigger, and he’d already pulled
too hard.
Most people didn’t want to be in his presence
when he was sober and coherent, let alone when
he’d been stewing drunk for hours and in a
perpetually bad mood.
He was a right sight already when he wasn’t
drunk, but he could only imagine what he must look
like now—scuffed boots on his feet, a threadbare
shirt that was doing fuck all against the rain, and
the despondent look on his face.
In his drunken state, Synek almost believed the
man was just on some bent to save the desolate, but
slowly, as if the words pushed right through the fog
in his mind, he thought of what the man had said
once he had approached.
The name he used …
A name he shouldn’t have known.
All thoughts of letting the man leave fled, his
sluggish brain finally catching up with the rest of
him. He might have stumbled a bit as he stood, but
he never lost his grip on his knife.
He was too focused on how easy it would be to
sever his carotid artery.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The man smiled, slow and steady. “A friend,
should you want one.”
“I have no use for those,” Synek replied with a
shrug. “How d’you know my name?”
Since the moment he’d left his childhood home
back in London, Synek never told anyone his full
name—he hated the sound of it. If anyone asked,
he always gave the shortened form—Syn.
“I know a great many things, but I’ll tell you
what you want to know in due time. To answer
your other question, they call me the Kingmaker.”
“Right.” The hell kind of name was that? “Why
are you here?”
“I told you. I’ve come to make you an offer.”
“Yeah? And what sort of offer is that?”
“Freedom,” he said.
It wasn’t the strangest thing he’d ever heard.
“You think you can take me from the Wraiths, do
you? At what cost?”
Nothing in this world was free, especially from
strangers in expensive suits in the middle of the
night.
“Consider it a bonus on my job offer. Should
you choose to work for me, I can give you what
you want most.”
Synek shook his head, lowering the knife he
hadn’t moved since the man, the Kingmaker,
started speaking. “You don’t know shit about me,
mate. You don’t know what I want.”
“I know you never wanted to suffer at the
hands of your mother,” he said, voice unwavering.
“I know she’s who haunts you most.”
It was the wrong thing to say, the words
conjuring images better left in the past. But once
they were there, playing on repeat in his head as he
experienced the trauma all over again, Synek
snapped.
He wasn’t thinking about consequences or
explanations as he flipped the blade around in his
hand, fully prepared to shove the tip of it into the
man’s chest and give it a brutal twist, but before he
could get within an inch of the man, someone else
was there, a powerful hand clamping down on his
wrist.
He hadn’t even noticed him approach from the
shadows of the alley.
This one wore combat gear along with a
bulletproof vest strapped to his chest.
It explained why the Kingmaker could just
stand there without fear of what Synek might do to
him—he had a bodyguard.
But he’d faced tougher men than this, and he
never ran from a fight anymore.
He dropped the knife he held without a second
thought, launching his other fist into the man’s side,
which effectively loosened his grip on him. Synek
had spent years getting his arse kicked by brothers
who found it funny that he couldn’t fight back.
The last thing he needed was a reminder of that
weakness.
But beyond that first satisfying punch and the
answering grunt it caused, he couldn’t land another,
no matter how he alternated between fists and feet.
Whoever the Kingmaker had with him was quick
and blocked every hit effortlessly.
He didn’t even look winded as he dodged
another strike. Not even when Synek nearly got his
feet from under him. Only then did he add a bit
more force behind his moves as he easily swung
behind him, kicked the back of his knees, and sent
Synek down onto the concrete, the force of it
making him grit his teeth at the agony in his bones.
“Let’s not fight, shall we?” the Kingmaker
suggested, not looking the least bit rattled that he’d
almost been stabbed to death. “I wager you’re
upset because I know about your mum? Don’t be. I
know a lot of things about a lot of people. What I
know won’t be used against you; it’s merely my
way of saying I understand who you are.”
And, Synek thought bitterly as he was forced to
look up at the man, he knows my weakness.
His heart thumping heavily in his chest, Synek
scoffed, wishing he could knock off the hand
resting on his shoulder. He hated the feeling of
being locked down like a caged animal. “You know
fuck all about it.”
The Kingmaker’s expression changed then from
arrogance to … something else. “I know far too
well what it’s like to live with a woman who
despises your very existence … the way it can eat
at everything you think you know. She was
supposed to love you, wasn’t she? Your mother.
But she didn’t give you that. She showed you how
cruel this world could be before anyone else could
get their claws into you.”
Synek hadn’t known what to think when the
man first started speaking, believing he was about
to blow smoke up his arse, but by the end, he was
listening. And it was clear from just the serious note
to his voice that he did, in fact, understand.
But how the hell could he know?
“The Wraiths aren’t any better, I imagine.
You’re only as useful to them as your latest victim.
I can give you more than that, should you want it.”
Everything he’d said was true, but even if the
man was able to give him the one thing he’d longed
to have since the moment he realized the mistake
he’d made by joining the Wraiths, there was only
one problem … “You don’t ever walk away from
the Wraiths with your life,” he said, the words
pulled from him reluctantly. “That’s not how it’s
done.”
“The question is never and will never be what
you can do. It’s what I can. If you want to be free
of them and have his training,” the Kingmaker said
with a nod of his head to the man standing behind
caysii
Arkusze
Dokumenty
Table of Contents Part I Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Part II Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22
Chapter 23
PRA IS E FO R LO NDO N M ILLE R “London Miller writes with both complex emotion, high paced intensity and a diverse cast of misfits that you can't help falling in love with.” — BESTSELLING AUTHOR, MARY CATHERINE GEBHARD “This series continues to play out much like a chess game with all the players being moved around but with no known end …” — AMAZON REVIEWER, SANDY “The way the Den of Mercenaries and Wild Bunch series are intricately woven into each other is impressive.” — EDGY REVIEWS, LILY
SYN. DEN OF MERCENARIES #6
LONDON MILLER LM BOOKS, LLC
Copyright © 2018 by London Miller All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Editing by: Jenny Sims Cover Design by: London Miller
CONTENTS Also by London Miller I. The Introduction Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 II. The Wraiths Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21
Chapter 22 Chapter 23 CODA Iris. Acknowledgments About the Author
A LS O B Y LO NDO N M ILLE R Volkov Bratva In the Beginning Until the End The Final Hour Time Stood Still Valon: What Once Was Hidden Monsters The Morning Mishca & Lauren: The Boxset The City: A Volkov Bratva Novella Collection Den of Mercenaries Red. Celt. Nix. Calavera. Welcome to the Den: Volume One Skorpion.
The Wild Bunch Crooks & Kings Shadows & Silence Seasons of Betrayal Where the Sun Hides Where the Snow Falls Where the Wind Whispers
To Maria, You loved him the most.
We’re all guilty of something. Dig deep enough and you’ll find whatever you need. — SYNEK ‘SYN’ JØNSSON
PART I
THE INTRODUCTION
PR O LO GUE WHEN THE RAIN smelled of thunder and lightning, Synek Jønsson was ready to leave it all behind. He sat in the alley across from the bar that had become his solace in the past few years, a knife in his hand as he waited for a sign or message or anything that would ease this heavy ache he felt to end his own life. He’d done many deplorable things in his lifetime, but only recently had those actions come back to haunt him. He saw faces when he slept and heard screams where there were none. The only relief he could find was at the bottom of a liquor bottle, and although it promised he wouldn’t feel
anything at all by the night’s end, even that wasn’t proving to be enough. Sometimes, it only added to the pain. It didn’t matter that a party was happening inside the four walls of the Wraiths’ compound, or that he was supposed to be inside celebrating with the others. Instead, he’d stood in the rain for a while before sitting with his back against the brick wall as heavy rain pelted his jeans and boots until he was nearly soaked through. Even so, he couldn’t care enough to draw his legs up and out of the rain. At least he was feeling something. It wasn’t the cold that bothered him, or the music, or even the winter showers. The only thing he could feel was his usual wretched state—the one he always found himself in after a day of wielding the knife in his hand. Once, he’d loved this thing and all he could do with it—the knife had grown to be an extension of himself. Now, it was just a reminder of what he’d become over the past few years. A thing they’d molded and shaped and fucked up until even he couldn’t remember who he’d been before he ever agreed to join the Wraiths. But that was in the past. Something he should have let go of by now. Rain dripped from the ends of his bleached blond hair—hair he’d long grown annoyed with
seeing every time he caught sight of his reflection in a mirror—further dampening the front of his T- shirt. Exhaling for patience, Synek slid out of his leather jacket and tossed it aside. Then his knife was back in his hand, his face reflecting off the gleaming metal as he gave it a little twist. It would easy, too easy, to slide it across his wrists or even drag it down his forearm to stop anyone from trying to save his life. It was the smart thing to do—end his life the way he wished someone had done so long before he’d become a killer. He deserved to die—no doubt about it. He just needed to do it. He needed to press the serrated steel against his flesh and jerk it back hard as he’d done to so many others. A fitting death, he thought. Flipping the knife around in his hand, Synek didn’t spare the blade another glance before he held it to his arm … “I took you for many things, Synek Jønsson, but a coward was never one of them.” For the better part of an hour, Synek had slowly drunk a bottle of bourbon until only the dregs were left and his fear of death had slowly seeped away. He was far too blotto to react to the sound of the voice coming from the mouth of the alley, or the man in the dark suit standing underneath an
umbrella who it belonged to. He was in no mood for this shit at all. “Fuck off,” he answered in return, not caring who the man was or why he was there. He only wanted solitude to do what he needed without interruption. His brusque tone should have been enough to send the man on his way—it did for others—but apparently, he had some sort of death wish because instead of leaving, he ventured closer. Synek listened to every step he took, the man’s leather shoes sounding impossibly loud against the concrete beneath his feet. The man was bolder than most, coming so close that his umbrella effectively blocked out the rain that had steadily fallen onto Synek’s legs since he had ventured out here. Now, he was better able to make out the man’s face as he wiped the rain from his eyes. He’d been expecting one of the newer little shits who thought the Wraiths was an organization worth giving their lives to and didn’t yet understand it was best to leave him be, but he should have known from the accent that wasn’t one of them. The man in front of him couldn’t have been much older than he was—perhaps even younger, though it was impossible to tell—and though he was the one intruding where he wasn’t welcome, something seethed in the man’s gaze.
But even if Synek couldn’t tell the man’s age, he could easily read the rest of him. Like how expensive his three-piece suit was, or how his shoes cost about the same. And when he shifted his arm just a bit, the gleaming silver face of his watch flashed in the low light of the alley. Whoever he was, he obviously came from money. Which made him curious considering the man seemed intent on bothering the shit out of him. He didn’t know anyone outside of the Wraiths who were well off, and even they all still wore some sort of leather or denim. But it didn’t matter how much money he had. Synek wasn’t trying to make a spectacle of himself. “Nothing to see here,” he said with a nod of his head back the way the man had come. Unfortunately, the man still refused to move. “If you die, that puts a bit of a wrinkle in my plans, you see, so before you decide that all hope is lost, let me make you an offer.” Synek couldn’t tell if the man was serious or taking the piss, but either way, he was in no mood to deal with riddles and shit. He already had enough to work through in his own head. “Listen, bruv, it’s me doing you a favor here. You get me? If you think you know me, then you know who I work for, and trust me, they ain’t going to be nearly as nice as I am. Understand?”
Even still, the man remained in place, his expression never changing. He had the sort of patience Synek wished he possessed, but unfortunately for the man in front of him, he had a hair-trigger, and he’d already pulled too hard. Most people didn’t want to be in his presence when he was sober and coherent, let alone when he’d been stewing drunk for hours and in a perpetually bad mood. He was a right sight already when he wasn’t drunk, but he could only imagine what he must look like now—scuffed boots on his feet, a threadbare shirt that was doing fuck all against the rain, and the despondent look on his face. In his drunken state, Synek almost believed the man was just on some bent to save the desolate, but slowly, as if the words pushed right through the fog in his mind, he thought of what the man had said once he had approached. The name he used … A name he shouldn’t have known. All thoughts of letting the man leave fled, his sluggish brain finally catching up with the rest of him. He might have stumbled a bit as he stood, but he never lost his grip on his knife. He was too focused on how easy it would be to sever his carotid artery. “Who the fuck are you?”
The man smiled, slow and steady. “A friend, should you want one.” “I have no use for those,” Synek replied with a shrug. “How d’you know my name?” Since the moment he’d left his childhood home back in London, Synek never told anyone his full name—he hated the sound of it. If anyone asked, he always gave the shortened form—Syn. “I know a great many things, but I’ll tell you what you want to know in due time. To answer your other question, they call me the Kingmaker.” “Right.” The hell kind of name was that? “Why are you here?” “I told you. I’ve come to make you an offer.” “Yeah? And what sort of offer is that?” “Freedom,” he said. It wasn’t the strangest thing he’d ever heard. “You think you can take me from the Wraiths, do you? At what cost?” Nothing in this world was free, especially from strangers in expensive suits in the middle of the night. “Consider it a bonus on my job offer. Should you choose to work for me, I can give you what you want most.” Synek shook his head, lowering the knife he hadn’t moved since the man, the Kingmaker, started speaking. “You don’t know shit about me, mate. You don’t know what I want.”
“I know you never wanted to suffer at the hands of your mother,” he said, voice unwavering. “I know she’s who haunts you most.” It was the wrong thing to say, the words conjuring images better left in the past. But once they were there, playing on repeat in his head as he experienced the trauma all over again, Synek snapped. He wasn’t thinking about consequences or explanations as he flipped the blade around in his hand, fully prepared to shove the tip of it into the man’s chest and give it a brutal twist, but before he could get within an inch of the man, someone else was there, a powerful hand clamping down on his wrist. He hadn’t even noticed him approach from the shadows of the alley. This one wore combat gear along with a bulletproof vest strapped to his chest. It explained why the Kingmaker could just stand there without fear of what Synek might do to him—he had a bodyguard. But he’d faced tougher men than this, and he never ran from a fight anymore. He dropped the knife he held without a second thought, launching his other fist into the man’s side, which effectively loosened his grip on him. Synek had spent years getting his arse kicked by brothers who found it funny that he couldn’t fight back.
The last thing he needed was a reminder of that weakness. But beyond that first satisfying punch and the answering grunt it caused, he couldn’t land another, no matter how he alternated between fists and feet. Whoever the Kingmaker had with him was quick and blocked every hit effortlessly. He didn’t even look winded as he dodged another strike. Not even when Synek nearly got his feet from under him. Only then did he add a bit more force behind his moves as he easily swung behind him, kicked the back of his knees, and sent Synek down onto the concrete, the force of it making him grit his teeth at the agony in his bones. “Let’s not fight, shall we?” the Kingmaker suggested, not looking the least bit rattled that he’d almost been stabbed to death. “I wager you’re upset because I know about your mum? Don’t be. I know a lot of things about a lot of people. What I know won’t be used against you; it’s merely my way of saying I understand who you are.” And, Synek thought bitterly as he was forced to look up at the man, he knows my weakness. His heart thumping heavily in his chest, Synek scoffed, wishing he could knock off the hand resting on his shoulder. He hated the feeling of being locked down like a caged animal. “You know fuck all about it.” The Kingmaker’s expression changed then from
arrogance to … something else. “I know far too well what it’s like to live with a woman who despises your very existence … the way it can eat at everything you think you know. She was supposed to love you, wasn’t she? Your mother. But she didn’t give you that. She showed you how cruel this world could be before anyone else could get their claws into you.” Synek hadn’t known what to think when the man first started speaking, believing he was about to blow smoke up his arse, but by the end, he was listening. And it was clear from just the serious note to his voice that he did, in fact, understand. But how the hell could he know? “The Wraiths aren’t any better, I imagine. You’re only as useful to them as your latest victim. I can give you more than that, should you want it.” Everything he’d said was true, but even if the man was able to give him the one thing he’d longed to have since the moment he realized the mistake he’d made by joining the Wraiths, there was only one problem … “You don’t ever walk away from the Wraiths with your life,” he said, the words pulled from him reluctantly. “That’s not how it’s done.” “The question is never and will never be what you can do. It’s what I can. If you want to be free of them and have his training,” the Kingmaker said with a nod of his head to the man standing behind