Little Fury: Book 1 of The deadly Little Thing Trilogy
Little Fury: Chapter 11

Marcus is gone for a week, and I replace myself unsure what to do with my time. We’ve never been apart since he came here. Even when we were younger and he didn’t talk to anyone, not even me, he was still always with me. We had to cancel his birthday party, but I hope we can do it when he returns. After five days of him being gone, I was starting to worry he wouldn’t be coming back. But two days later, Harry gets a call and has to drive to the airport to pick him up.

“Ava, you need to calm down, you’re vibrating, it’s annoying.” Parker tells me as he types away on his keyboard.

“Whatever Parker, I’m excited; he’s been gone for a week!” I tell him a lot louder than I need to, but my nerves make me weird.

“I’m aware Ava. I live here as well.” he deadpans.

“Parker, I miss the old you who was quiet and didn’t know what sarcasm was,” I retort.

“Now, Ava, don’t be mean. I may have been quiet, but sarcasm and I are old friends. I just refrained from saying it out loud to people.” He smirks.

“Well, can you go back to keeping it to yourself? I honestly think it would do the ranch a great service for you to stop talking.” I deadpan.

Parker barks a laugh out, “Ava, I swear to god my smart mouth has nothing on yours. I can’t wait to hear the venom that’ll leave your mouth in a couple more years.”

After spending another hour with Parker, learning some coding and doing what I am pretty sure was hacking into Wes’s computer. I head back to the house.

“Hi, sweetheart ” Beth calls from the living room as I enter the house.

“Hey,” I say with a distinct pout as I sit down.

“They’ll be here any minute, please try and relax.”

“I know, but a week, Beth! What if something happened to him? It’s a long time with an asshole like his father.”

“AVA!!!! I understand you’re worried, but there is no reason for you to swear,” she scolds me.

“Sorry,” I mumble.

I pick up the book I was reading last night and try to get lost in the story, but my brain is not cooperating. When I’m just about to throw the book across the room, we see headlights on the road. I run out of the house to greet the guys.

Marcus opens the door of the truck before it even comes to a full stop. He runs to me, hugging me hard. And I return it just as fiercely. “I missed you!” I tell him.

“I missed you,” he tells me with his head buried in my neck.

We turn to head to the house “Hi, Harry,” I call back to him.

“Hello, Ava.” Harry says as he grabs the bags from the back of the truck and follows us towards the house.

We walk into the house just as Beth pulls dinner from the oven. “Perfect timing, guys. Sit down; dinner is ready.”

We all sit in our usual spots and begin filling our plates. Once our plates are full and we’ve started eating, I look over at Marcus. “So? How was it? Bad? Good? Way worse, way better?”

“It was fine. But that’s only because my mother’s family was there so my father was on his best behavior. You were right, Harry. They had no idea he had threatened to kill me but instead sent me here.”

“Did you tell them?” Harry asks Marcus.

“Nah, my dad will get his when it’s time. And it will be me who delivers it, no one else,” he says. The words sound like a vow.

I catch the look between the adults, but I don’t care I’m just too focused on having him back.

After dinner we head up to my room to talk.

“So? How was it really?’ I ask him.

“It was fine, honestly. I barely saw my dad and his new wife and son. I spent the majority of the time with my mother’s family. The trip back to New York was the worst of it. My dad drilled it into me that I was to tell them I chose to live here at the ranch. Because the training Harry provides is invaluable.”

“But how do they not know? How has no one let it slip that your father is a piece of shit?” I ask him, genuinely curious.

“Simple. With my mom dead and me being 12, who is going to have contact with them? The Russians here are more worried that the Sokolov’s will decide to move here and take everyone out so they can run things. So, no one was ever going to give them a reason to pay closer attention to the world over here.”

“That makes sense, but how does someone like your father have so much luck? “

“No idea.”

“So, what did you do all week?’ I ask.

“A lot of things with my mom’s family. I stayed with them at the hotel, had all my meals with them. I spent a lot of time with my cousin Alexi. He’s four years older than me, but he was cool. My grandfather asked me many questions about what I was doing here. If I truly wanted to be at the ranch. They also asked if I wanted to return to Russia with them.”

I look over at him, panicking for a moment that he would leave me for good.

“Relax. I have no desire to go to Russia. I think the winter here is shit enough that I have zero interest in living through a Russian one.” he says, “But really, I had fun. It was nice feeling like I had family again.” His words sting a bit.

“You’re my family, Ava, but this was blood.”

I don’t understand the distinction between the two, so I smile and nod. We talk for a while longer, Marcus telling me how cool Alexi is, about everything he did with his grandfather. I don’t know what it is; I have no explanation other than a feeling but there’s a shift with us. It’s slight, and I can’t put into words what it is, but our bond is different somehow.

When Marcus goes to his room to sleep, I stay up for a bit thinking about what he told me—how much it meant to him to have blood relations. As far as I’m aware, I have no blood relations anywhere. It’s why I ended up here and not with them—or at least no blood relations that want me. I have no idea if I’m just being sensitive to Marcus being so happy with his family, but either way, something feels different to me.

The next morning, Harry was at the kitchen table waiting for us. Beth had made some pancakes, but she was nowhere to be seen. I knew the minute I stepped into the kitchen that I was right; something had changed.

“Eat up, guys. We have some stuff to do.” His voice seems to be missing his usual undercurrent of amusement. Once we’re done eating Harry tells us to head up and get changed.

Wear things we can exercise in.

Well, this seems like it’s going to be less than fun.

We get changed and meet Harry outside. “Alright, let’s go,” and we follow along like a couple little ducks trailing their mother.

Harry takes us to the gym, and I can’t stop the sigh that escapes me when he opens the door.

Twelve years.

We got twelve years of being kids before our parents’ sins catch up with us. Wes, Parker, Carter, Theo, and Sebastian await us inside. Harry’s watching us; I give him a nod that he returns. My eyes go to my best friend as he greets the guys like it’s any other day. He misses that the usually joking Parker is replaced with a serious one.

“Marcus shut the fuck up,” Harry growls at him.

He looks at him, his tone taking him by surprise.

This is the man the others get, the one people pay for. The Harry who does bad things.

‘Get on the treadmills.” Theo tells us.

“Yeah, I’m not in the mood for a run today, guys. I have some insane jet lag,” Marcus says to the room, still not catching on that today is a very different day than yesterday was.

Theo steps towards Marcus. He easily has a solid foot or more on him height-wise. Never mind that Theo is scary looking even when he’s smiling. “Not messing around” Theo is every bit the predator I’ve heard Wes call him.

“Shit, man, back off.” Marcus raises his voice at him.

He cocks his eyebrow and gives a low menacing chuckle. “Marcus, I’m not going to ask twice. I never ask twice. So, you can either comply, or I will force you to comply, and I promise you, if I force you, you will hate me for the rest of your days. So be a good kid and do as I ask, please.” he drags a hand through his hair. “I like you and Ava a lot. What’s about to happen here today and over the next few years of your stay, well, all of us here are sorry for it.”

Marcus looks from him to the rest of the guys. They all nod. They all look sad and sorry but have the same determination.

Marcus realizes it now. “Who? My father or my grandfather?” he asks Harry.

“Both, son,” he says quietly, “both of them feel like it’s time for you to learn what you have been sent here to learn.”

“And her?” he asks with a hint of fire in his tone.

“Ava is here for the same reasons. So, if one of you is starting, you both are.” He tells us, focused on me.

“It’s ok. I knew this was bound to happen. I thought it would happen sooner.” I answer as I step on the treadmill.

“This is going to suck, Ava, but I need to get a baseline for what your fitness level is at the moment, so I know what I need to do to get you started,” Theo tells me as he starts up the program.

Marcus makes his way over to one of the other treadmills and steps up.

“Same for you. This will suck today.”

“I know you two are in good shape for kids, but this is a whole new world now,” he tells us his voice quiet.

Our program starts, and we look at each other. I wink at Marcus, and he flips me off, and then we run.

I have no idea how long we ran. I only know I thought I was going to die. From there, Theo made us lift weights, do crunches, try to do a pull up, and so many other things that I have no idea what they were or what they were for. By the end of it, every muscle in my body is jelly. My lungs feel like they are going to explode, and I look over to Marcus and see he’s fared no better.

Pretty sure this is child abuse assholes.

“What was that, Ava?” I hear Theo ask me. I realize I didn’t say that in my head; I said it out loud. “I said I’m pretty sure this is child abuse assholes.”

I hear Parker and Wes chuckle, and I swear I see Theo nod at me. Harry, however, didn’t replace it so amusing. “Oh, little Ava, you just bought yourself 50 more crunches for you and Marcus.”

I glare at Harry, hating him a wee bit at that moment.

We do our crunches then slowly make our way back to the house. Beth has dinner waiting for us. Marcus and I scarf the food down so fast that I honestly couldn’t tell you what it was. We head upstairs to shower and go to bed.

” You shower first.” I nod, not bothering to inform him I had no intention of not showering first.

The morning comes way too early. “7 a.m., time to get up,” Harry announces from my door as he flips my light on. I flop over and bury my face in my pillow, and groan. I hear Harry at Marcus’s door. Marcus is less polite than I am. I hear something hit the hallway wall. “You’ve got a good arm there. Now please get the fuck up. Beth has breakfast almost ready.” Harry calls out to us with way too much enjoyment.

I drag myself from bed, less sore than I was expecting to be. My abs hurt like I’ve never felt before, but the rest of me isn’t too bad. I head into the bathroom to brush my teeth and pee. Marcus knocks, walks in and joins me at the sink. We have our morning routine down pretty well, so sharing the bathroom never really bothers us.

I return to my room, throw on some sweats and a T-shirt and head down the stairs for breakfast. The minute I hit the first step, every bit of yesterday’s lesson comes back to me, and my legs almost give out. I have to grab the banister to stop from falling. I laugh at myself because my legs hurt so bad I can’t really hold myself up. Then I laugh harder because laughing hurts my abs so much, I have tears in my eyes. This is going super well. I slowly make my way down the stairs, I’m almost at the bottom when I hear Marcus squeak behind me as he hits the first step. Satisfaction rolls through me at the sound. I may love Marcus, but I’m not above wanting him to hurt as much as I do.

I sit at the island, resting my head on my knuckles, watching Beth flit around the kitchen finishing up the food for us. Marcus joins me at the island and mimics my position. Harry is reading the paper, sitting in his usual spot. Today is eggs, bacon and potatoes.

Taters if you’re the Scotsman to my left.

Fresh fruit and toast, as well as Beth’s homemade jam. She places everything but the eggs on the table. “Sorry, Beth, I should be helping you.” I move to get up, noting Marcus doesn’t.

“Nope, you sit; I got this,” she tells me with a wink.

We start to fill our plates, and Beth comes to each of us and puts freshly cooked eggs on them. She finishes cooking her eggs, then sits and joins us. We eat in relative silence for a bit.

“How are you two feeling today?” he asks us, no mocking in his voice.

“Oh, today you care?” Marcus asks Harry and I whip my head towards him, surprised by the tone.

“Let’s get a couple of things straight right now, kids,” our guardian starts. “You two have been here long enough now to have at least a small idea of what it is I do, and what this Ranch is for. Yes?”

Marcus and I nod and mumble yes, food still in our mouths.

“Good, so I don’t need to explain that part to you? You are aware I train people to steal things, I train them to use guns, knives, explosives and many other things all designed to cause damage, maim or kill?” He pauses again, waiting for us to acknowledge his words. We nod. “You’re aware that Parker trains people on the computer side of things? Hacking, coding, bypassing computerized locks and scanners?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Yes,” Marcus tells him.

“Ok, so I’m going to assume you also know people here are trained in hand-to-hand combat?” Harry says, looking at us.

Both of us nod back at him.

“Amazing. Now, have both of you pieced together why you were sent here?” Harry demands.

We’re silent. Beth is just looking back and forth at all of us.

“They’re only twelve. Maybe…”

Harry turns to Beth. All of his usual playfulness when he talks to her is missing. “Beth.” she glares at him. “I agree they’re only twelve. I had hoped to have at least two more years before training started, but Enzo fucked that up for everyone here.” He pinches the bridge of his nose, something he only does when he is trying not to yell. “Enzo demanded Marcus start training now. Yuri also thought it was time. Enzo demanded that since he was paying for him to live here, he should have gotten so much more back on his investment at this point.”

“I thought that you ran everything autonomously.” Beth questions.

“I do. Every contract states my word is law. But Marcus and Ava aren’t my typical students, so concessions had to be made on my part in order to keep him here. Enzo wanted to keep him, hire some random assholes to teach him what he was paying me to teach. I was having none of that.” Harrys worked up now, and his accent is getting thicker with every word.

“We have strayed from the topic at hand. Where you two are concerned, I’m being strongly persuaded to start training you now. The fact that Parker has been slowly teaching you guys things over the last few years is apparently not enough. So as of yesterday, you have both officially joined the program.” Harry says looking resigned to all of this.

“I made my own requests and stipulations. Enzo and your grandfather accepted them. You will both still attend school like normal. You need to be able to hold normal conversations, you need to be able to hide in plain sight with the regular folk and I have no desire to teach either of you calculus, nor do I feel comfortable having a teacher who isn’t part of this world here at the ranch daily teaching you. So, after school and on weekends you will train. You will train with me, Parker, Theo, Wes and Carter. You will train a bit from time to time with Sebastian, but honestly, till you guys are older, I’d rather keep that crazy fucker as far away from you as possible, and Ava, you will be seeing a lot of Miss Bennett.

“Questions? Concerns? Observations?” He asks the last one directly at me.

I smile despite the life-changing announcement he just dropped on us. “Not really an observation but more of a question: who is Miss Bennett? And why will I be spending time with her and not Marcus?” I ask with a bit of a smile.

“Because she instructs females only. She teaches them female things,” he tells me.

“Well, that clears it up for me, thanks.” I shake my head.

“Ava! Please don’t have a piss at me right now.” Harry tells me clearly not enjoying my humor.

“Ok breakfast and information hour have now come to an end. Let’s go, you two. Theo is waiting.” He stands, snaps his fingers like a genie granting a wish. I’m pretty sure I didn’t make this wish.

Wonder if I can return it and ask for a different one.