Ice ain't sweet

Blood in the water

Chapter Title: "Blood in the Water"

⸻

Aniyah —

I knew the second I walked into that trap house something was off.

The air was too still. No dice shaking, no music, no smell of cheap weed or half-burnt food.

Just silence.

And the way Big C looked at me when I stepped in? Like he wanted to warn me but didn't have the guts to speak.

That's when I saw it—

Marcus.

And five of his old-school hitters. Lined up like a firing squad. Arms crossed, eyes full of smoke.

"You makin' too much noise," Marcus said, stepping forward. "Girls like you don't last long in this life. Not when you come in swingin' like you got a d*ck between your legs."

I smiled, slow.

That's what they never got—I didn't need one to be feared.

I tilted my head. "You gon' lecture me, or you gon' try something?"

"You think you a boss?" he sneered. "Bosses don't get tested—they do the testing."

His boys surrounded me in a half-circle.

I didn't flinch.

"I am the test," I whispered.

Then the lights cut out.

Boom.

One shot cracked.

Screams.

I dropped, rolled behind the counter, pulled heat from my ankle holster and fired twice. I didn't care who I hit. This was survival. Not politics.

Saint's boy Solo came busting through the back door, spraying wild with the Draco.

The whole room turned into hell.

⸻

Saint —

I woke up in a cold sweat. Gunfire in my head like a soundtrack.

She wasn't answering her phone.

Solo called, out of breath. "Yo—Aniyah just lit up Marcus' spot. It's bad."

I didn't ask questions. I grabbed my gun, ripped the IV out my arm, and limped out that hospital like I was going to war—because I was.

If they came for her now, it wasn't just beef. It was blood.

⸻

Aniyah —

I stood in the middle of that house once the smoke cleared.

Three bodies on the floor.

One still twitching.

Blood on my shoes.

My stomach flipped—babies or not, I ain't freeze.

I finished it.

When Saint pulled up, eyes wide, shirt half-buttoned and face pale, all he said was:

"What the f*ck did you do?"

I wiped the blood from my cheek and stared him dead in the face.

"I made an example."

He looked at me different after that. Not like I was a girl he had to protect.

But like someone he might have to protect others from.

And that night?

He kissed me like he missed me.

Like I scared him.

And I liked it.

⸻

The Streets —

They called her "Saint's Baby Mama" before.

Now?

They called her Black Ice.

And every kingpin in the city knew...

Winter had just arrived.