Avory & Ellory

Chapter 1

Avory

“We’re not going to kill your brother because he stole your teddy bear when you were five, Nancy,” Ellory says. I can hear the eye roll in his tone.

I glance at him, and as it always does, my heart gives a little skip. He’s sitting in his desk chair, the bottom leg rest out so he can fold his legs under him. The back is pushed backward, so he’s slightly reclining, and he has his tablet in hand as he goes through contracts.

It’s a strange thing to say that Ellory is strikingly exquisite because we’re identical. I know every single curve of his body. Every hard line and soft spot. I know how a shirt will look on him when I try it on. I know everything about this man.

Yet, to me, he’s entirely distinct. It doesn’t matter that we were once the same cluster of cells before duplicating twice. It doesn’t matter that we were born minutes apart. I love him with every breath I’ve ever taken. He’s my everything.

And yeah, he’s simply breathtaking in a way I don’t see myself or Imry. Which is strange, I know. I’ve spent many years trying to figure out why Ellory looks so different to me when I know damn well he isn’t at all. Especially since the three of us have always kept the same hairstyle, clean-shaven face, and physique.

We’re sitting in our office at work. Yes, we even share an office. It didn’t begin that way. We had our own separate spaces, but one was rarely used since we like to work together. Needless to say, it didn’t stay that way long. After we stopped using the second office, we came in one day and Dad had moved the other desk into our office, so we each had a space to work.

I know how fortunate we are that Dad supports us and our… unconventional relationship. By unconventional, I mean the world has a stick up its ass and people can’t mind their own business when something doesn’t concern them. Such as me and Ellory.

Anyway, our desks are simple. There’s a little more personality on Ellory’s desk than there is on mine. There’s something softer about it, though it’s not in any way feminine. I’m not even sure I can put into words how it’s softer. Maybe Ellory is just softer, so everything around him feels that way.

I glance out the garden-facing window. On the other side of the massive expanse of gardens is Myro’s house, though we can’t see it from here. Sometimes we pretend we can when we want to give Myro a hard time. It’s not like we don’t have access to binoculars.

Turning back to my tablet, I look at the same contract I had been ten minutes ago. There’s nothing interesting about it. I’m not even convinced it’s a good reason to kill someone. Yeah, an old boss showing favor to select people sucks, but is it worth killing someone? No. Speculation that there’s something going on between that boss and their favorites… is that a reason to kill someone? No.

Maybe it’s low on the ethical scale, but this kind of harkens back to what I was saying about my relationship with Ellory. It’s no one’s damn business. What do I care what happens between two people behind closed doors?

That’s not a reason to die. It’s curious how one is willing to pay for their ex-boss’s death. I wonder if maybe they’re not just a jaded employee who was let go for whatever reason or… maybe they used to be a favorite and were replaced? That’s a lot of malice they’re holding onto toward a former boss.

I click out of that contract and mark it denied. The next on the list is little better. Seriously, why do people want to waste their money on killing someone over a soft grievance? Take them to court! They may lose, but murdering someone for letting their dog shit on the contract holder’s lawn? I mean, get petty. Figure out something that will piss off your neighbor and exact revenge.

Clicking out of that one, I also mark it denied.

This is what most of our days look like. Weeding through stupid contracts until we get to one worth committing murder over.

“Look at this one,” Ellory says as he crosses the short space between us. He places his tablet on top of mine. “It’s a dog fighting ring. This guy stole the contract holder’s dog, but the dog was chipped. The guy followed the GPS and found the dog fighting ring. There are some very disturbing pictures, not only identifying this ‘bait dog’ as his that was stolen, but also proving the dog fighting ring.”

My face scrunches at the information I’m reading, and I don’t look at the images.

“Let’s do this one ourselves,” Ellory says. “I want to kill that man and rescue the dogs.”

I look up at Ellory with an eyebrow raised. “Please tell me you don’t want to rescue abused dogs. That’s not the kind of farm we run here.”

He smiles and I swear, there’s a ray of light that comes from it. “No. But maybe Rhodes will take them into his pack.”

I snort. “Unlikely.”

Rhodes is our cousin whose favorite weapon is his pack of massive wolf dogs. If I were to be afraid of anyone, it would be Rhodes and his beasts. He’s a little unstable at times, too. Which means he fits right into the family. After all, my sweet, soft Ellory is also a little unhinged. He likes to sing nursery rhymes as he kills people. He enjoys the feel of blood running between his fingers.

Not that I let him actually touch blood unless he wants to draw my blood.

Pushing my chair back, I take his hand and pull him into my lap. Ellory comes down and snuggles into me, bringing his legs up and tucking his feet between my thighs as he presses his nose to my neck.

“Please, can we kill them?” he asks.

I push my fingers into his hair and hold him close. There are times I think I can feel an echo of his heartbeat alongside mine. As if when we’re close enough, the cells of our hearts remember being one, and for a time, they become completely synchronized.

“We’ll pass it along to Voss and see what he can find out,” I say.

His lips spread into a smile against my collarbone. “Thanks, Av.”

I pull his head up and press my lips to his. He sighs, his entire body relaxing in my hold as I keep our lips locked. Sometimes, the best kisses are those not involving spit. We already share DNA; swapping spit is unnecessary.

Ellory climbs out of my lap and brings his tablet back to his desk. I watch him for a minute before turning back to my own tablet. As I click on the next contract in line, I muse about how I can take care of this dog-fighting ring without Ellory getting involved. It’s not that he’s not capable of handling it. He’s certainly not the kind to get queasy or have nightmares.

But he’s mine, and I want to protect him from all the ugly in the world. Just like I’ve wanted to do forever. Like I’ve tried to do since we were kids.

A vision of Ellory tucked into the corner of our bed behind me while Mom stands over us insisting that we stop being gross and sleep in separate beds now that we’re getting older looms in front of my eyes. I can still feel the surge of anger that flooded me then. How dare she say those things to Ellory! How dare she make him feel bad!

I shake my head to rid myself of the thoughts. I know I’m not the only one who wishes we had the strength to serve our mother the kind of mental abuse she put us through. I imagine that’s why Dad won’t tell us where she is or how to get in touch with her. If we knew how to locate her, I think we’d all become slightly obsessed with the dilemma of whether we could bring ourselves to kill our mother.

Okay, not all of us would have that dilemma. I think Loren would take off in the night and return with a bloody knife the next day. No questions asked. No lost sleep. No regrets.

There are days when I wish I could be more like Loren.

My thoughts drift away as the contract in front of me becomes slightly more interesting than the last ones. “El,” I say, “I have another for the New World Order Temple.”

“Yeah?” He gets up and crosses the room to stand over me. I stretch the screen to increase the font size a little so he can read it at a slight distance.

I frown as I read it, though.

“There are no hard facts in this one,” Ellory says, sighing. “This is complete and total speculation. Some very serious accusations when there’s zero proof to back it up. Accusing someone of child molestation and rape isn’t something to take lightly.”

“Yet, given the two legitimate contracts that have come in about this megachurch, I’m not convinced they’re fabricated lies,” I say.

“Oh, same,” Ellory agrees. “We should definitely add it to the list.”

It’s not often we receive contracts from unrelated people concerning the same target. Once we did over a serial rapist. Three separate contracts. But it’s so incredibly rare, instances stick out like a bloody corpse in the middle of a snowy field.

“Not gonna lie. I kinda want to go to this church and see what it’s about,” Ellory muses.

My shoulders tense. I’ve read enough via contracts to understand that this megachurch leader, a guy by the name of Ryan Johnston, is a seriously shady character and there’s almost always a ‘special’ one-on-one cleansing process that new followers go through when they join the church.

The thought of someone touching Ellory makes me feel like a feral animal. I grab his hand and yank him down to me. He’s startled, eyes wide. “Who do you belong to, El?” I growl.

His breath comes out in a whoosh. “You,” he answers. Do I hear his heart racing?

“Who do you belong to, Ellory?”

“You, Ave. Always you. Only you.”

The exchange from when we were six echoes through my mind and for an instant, I can see us curled up in bed together as we watch the stars move across our ceiling by the projector. Imry’s asleep beside us, his back on Ellory’s side, sandwiching him in.

A knock on our office door breaks through the memory and the moment. Ellory visibly shakes his head, and I wonder if he’s remembering the same exchange. He blinks into the present, gives me a sweet, sexy smile, and returns to his desk. I turn my tablet screen off and call, “Come in.”

Myro opens the door and steps inside, followed closely by Azlan Deth. Do I find it ironic that his last name is Deth and his profession is murdering people? Nope. Just a very strange coincidence.

Our brother looks much like us, though there’s an older, scruffier appearance about him. Wait, maybe scruffier isn’t the right word. He’s not nearly as defined as Dad, though sometimes I think he tries to be because that’s what’s expected as the heir to the empire.

But Azlan is the very definition of dark and psychotic. He’s slightly shorter than Myro, with long hair that’s held at the back of his head in a messy bun. He has this lumberjack-style facial hair going on and you can almost always see that his body is covered in dark tattoos. Through his white shirt, I can see the dark outline of a giant skull covering his abdomen. I can also see that his nipples are pierced.

He’s a fascinating man, obsessive about his lovers in much the same way Loren is about Oakley. Which might have been the reason Dad took a chance on him. He’s been with our murder division for the past couple years, though his murderous rampage began two years before that, something that he fully disclosed to us when he talked to Dad about the jobs. Maybe in an effort to show trust. Or that he’s serious. I didn’t know.

Loren’s fascinated with him in the same way Azlan is indifferent to everyone else. I think Loren’s fascinated because he’s never met another person with an antisocial disorder and he can’t help his curiosity. Azlan, on the other hand, doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything other than his lovers.

It’s made us all question why Dad trusts him. His loyalty is to himself and his three partners. I’m not convinced he has any to Dad or Van Doren Technologies at all. Which means he’s a very dangerous employee to have.

But Dad trusts him for whatever reason.

“Hey,” Myro says. “Ready for the briefing.”

They take chairs in front of my desk as the door shuts securely behind them. I dial Dad and wait for him to answer.

“Avory,” he greets when he picks up.

I grin. He always knows when it’s me calling and not Ellory, even though we have the same fucking line. “Myro and Az are here,” I tell him. “You available?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Thanks.” I disconnect the line and look between them.

“Okay,” Ellory says, leaning forward in his chair, his legs still tucked under him. “Have either of you been to a megachurch sermon?”

I snort, then laugh when Azlan looks at him like he’s grown a second head and it’s that of a frog.

“No,” Myro answers, amused. “Why?”

“I’m curious to know if they’re filled with hypnotic messages or something. How can someone be so easily sucked into something so obviously bullshit?”

“I suppose when you believe in a god strong enough, it’s easier to be gullible for someone claiming they’re that god’s disciple,” Myro says, shrugging. “There’s a hypothesis that organized religion attracts the weak, easily herded individuals in society who can’t be bothered to think on their own. Here’s a book. You may choose which parts to become heretical about and which to disregard completely, and at the end of your life, as long as you ask forgiveness, you’ll go to heaven. I can do that with fairy tales too, and I’d be a much better person.”

“Choose which parts and disregard others?” Azlan asks, raising a brow.

“Yep. Sure, let’s call divorce evil and homosexuality a mortal sin. We’ll live by those words. But it’s equally mortally sinful to wear a mixed blend of fabric on your skin or grow two different vegetables side by side. Which do the heretics have an issue with?” Myro asks.

Ellory grins as he sits back in his chair while Azlan looks at Myro almost blankly.

“That’s asinine.”

“Welcome to organized religion,” Myro says just as Dad opens the door after a single knock.

He pauses at Myro’s words and looks among the four of us. “What did I just walk in on?”

“We’re discussing megachurches,” Ellory says. “Want to join the discussion? Do you have some contributing thoughts to add?”

Dad chuckles and shakes his head. That’s not a no. It’s in amusement as he steps inside and shuts the door. “Let’s hold off on that discussion for another time. We have a contract to discuss.”

Ellory sighs. “That’s not nearly as entertaining,” he says, slouching. “Fine. But can I pick the method of murder?”

Dad meets my eye. Okay, maybe I need to take Ellory out and let him kill a bad guy, so he settles down.