These Dark Minds

These Dark MindsThe Wraiths of Chaos City Book 1Rowe Quinn Copyright © 2023 Rowe QuinnAll rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Contents Title PageCopyrightAUTHOR NOTEChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29Chapter 30Chapter 31Chapter 32Chapter 33Chapter 34Chapter 35Chapter 36Chapter 37Chapter 38Chapter 39Chapter 40Chapter 41Chapter 42Chapter 43Chapter 44Chapter 45Chapter 46Chapter 47Chapter 48Chapter 49Chapter 50Chapter 51Chapter 52Chapter 53Thanks!The Wraiths of Chaos City AUTHOR NOTEPlease be advised that this is a dark, urban fantasy novel with elements that may upset some readers. It is for mature audiences, and includes; substance abuse, murder, torture, mutilation, abduction, sexual assault and other violent themes. It's a slow-burn, reverse harem with M/M scenes. Chapter 1AYLEN I was sorting through my haul of stolen shit. Mentally calculating how much I would get for the shitty phones, and hoping it was enough to pay rent and keep the debt collectors at bay. It had been a shit couple of weeks, and I was late paying for the first time ever. I just hoped the thugs who’d loaned my dad his drug money would hold off a few more days so I could pawn everything. It made me sick, knowing they could show up at any moment and invade my home.Just two more days, that’s all I needed.I should have known I wasn’t that lucky.Three heavy knocks on our metal front door made my heart almost leap out of my chest. My stomach twisted, and my body turned to ice. I froze, my gut clenching as I glanced down at the items scattered across our scuffed coffee table. There were a few small baggies of various drugs, and a half-burned roll of amp that my dad had been toking on before he’d passed out. There was certainly enough here to see me in cuffs if it was ACIA at the door. But I knew it was something worse than that. Whoever was out there was bad news.We never had visitors. Not any that didn’t call first, not at this time of night. And dad was usually so out of it, nobody bothered to come calling for him anyway. I certainly didn’t want people seeing him in this state.It had to be them. Loan sharks. My time was up.Three more bangs, harder this time, and my stomach threatened to empty what little I’d eaten all over my stolen goods. No. I wouldn’t let them scare me. I’d been dealing with pricks like this for years. Tonight was no different. Except tonight, I couldn’t pay. Tonight, I had to beg.I hated that I had to carry this burden. My dad’s income was inconsistent—you know, since he was high all the time—so he relied on me for almost everything. It had been that way since mum left and he spiralled. I started thieving soon after, knowing it was the only way for us to survive. Then, as soon as I finished school, I found a shitty job and continued stealing on the side. I was more than familiar with many of the dealers in the area, and when I needed a boost of cash, the woman I pawned my hauls to always lent me what I needed at a low interest rate. Sometimes, she even gave me the credits if I did some shady jobs for her.I calmly set my power loose to get a sense for who I was dealing with, just in case I was wrong. I was immediately hit with a wave of frustration from a gruff male whose thoughts were filled with images of my dad looking pale and exhausted as he pleaded for more time and more money. I winced at the sight of him, all dishevelled and humiliated. Begging. Pathetic.Fuck, dad, have some dignity.The sight made me sit up straighter, determined not to reduce myself to such a state. I was better than that. Better than him. I loved my dad, but I was not going to end up like him. I’d rather die.The man outside wasn’t alone. I could feel three distinct signatures on the other side of my container door. I could almost taste the impatience from another man, mixed with a whole lot of boredom. I got a quick look at each of them through their eyes. I didn’t recognise them. They weren’t the usual guys my dad borrowed from. So, who the fuck were they? They weren't ACIA; I would’ve recognised the uniform of one of their agents. Whoever they were, I didn’t think they were the kind of people to just go away if I ignored them long enough.I jumped out of my skin when the banging started again, and this time, it didn’t stop. My mind instantly went back to another night several years ago, when a similar sound filled our crappy shipping container. Nothing good happened when I opened the door that night either. It was probably the worst night of my life.When the banging didn’t stop, another set of banging added to the noise through the thin metal walls as my neighbour joined in, including a few muffled shouts for good measure.I quickly crossed the dingy space, which was narrow and long, with rusty blue, corrugated walls. There was only one window, which was built into the left side of the double door that took up the whole front wall. A vibrant fluorescent glow came through the dirty glass from the street signs and holographic billboards that illuminated our city day and night. It cast everything in an artificial blue-purple hue, which was more familiar to me than daylight, since the