AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Leave one breathing,” I replied, looking at the building. “Strip them of their cuts.” I took point, leading my brothers into the building, where we methodically cleared each old classroom and faculty lounge until we found four Devils waiting for us in the old cafeteria. As soon as we entered, they turned, brought up their guns, and started shooting as one unit. I dove underneath one of the steel tables, trusting that my brothers would follow suit. Bullets flew through the air, the thunderous volley of bullets coming from the AKs deafening inside the room.
Gunnar took cover beside me, that wicked grin on his face once more. “How long do you want to play with them?”
I didn’t want to be here. The sooner we took care of this little problem, the sooner I could get back to Alex.
With a sneer, I shot one of the Devils in the kneecap, then blew a hole in his head when he fell. Silas took out another guy, felling him with a gut shot. Easton got another, hitting him between the eyes. That left one more. The bastard had the good sense not to keep shooting. He laid down his weapon, looking all of us over with a mixture of disdain and fear.
“Easton,” I said, pulling the cigarette from behind my ear and balancing it between my lips.
Easton moved forward, slinging his AK over his shoulder, while we kept our sights trained on the Devil. He was an ugly motherfucker. Facial tattoos. Pockmarked skin. Missing teeth.Silas collected their guns while Easton crouched down and started stripping the cuts off the dead men’s bodies. From my pocket, I got my lighter, rasping the flint over the wheel until a flame jumped to life. I could feel the Devil’s eyes on me as he waited for me to pass judgement.
Gunnar walked up to the Devil and shoved the muzzle of the AK right into his face. “Strip.”
“The fuck?” the other man spat. “Fuck you.”
Gunnar aimed his gun to the left and fired. The guy who had gotten shot in the stomach stopped writhing and fell quiet. “Did I stutter?” he snarled. “I said strip.”
The guy only gaped at him.
“I’m waiting,” Gunnar sing-songed, wagging the AK in front of his face.
The Devil stripped out of his pants, cut, shirt, and boxers, leaving him as naked as the day he was born. Gunnar smiled. “Now run along back to La Croix and tell him the Savage Hunt is coming for him.”
Silas hammered the last nail in place, securing the final bloody cut that had belonged to the Devil’s Chaos upside down onto the Dead Wall. The Hunt let out a cheer, and I took a long pull of my beer, staring at the bullet-hole-ridden pieces of leather. Collectively, we’d hit three warehouses that belonged to the Devils, hijacked a truck that was carrying five thousand units of e-cigarettes, stripped four bikes, and taken four cuts in our morning of mayhem.
And now, we celebrated, even if it was the last thing I wanted to do.
Molly’s funeral was tomorrow. Rixon had barely left his office, and I was worried he was spiraling into a place so dark he’d never be able to find his way out again. I took another sip of my beer, knowing that once I was finished with it, I would be going to my room and getting into bed with Alex. She told me she was happy to stay in there while the party was happening, and after Gunnar’s questions about her this morning, I wanted her to stay away from the prying eyes of the club.
Eli walked up to me, tapping the side of his beer bottle against mine and leaning against the edge of the bar. “Sorry we didn’t get to catch up in Columbus,” he said.
“Yeah, me, too,” I lied. “But Rixon needed me back.”
“Sure is rough losing an old lady like that.”
I gave him a nod, placing down my now-empty beer bottle and pulling out my tobacco and rolling papers. I rolled a couple of cigarettes, then handed one to him.
The flame at the end of his lighter danced between his fingers, casting his face half in brilliant orange and the other in sinister shadow. “How did it happen? I heard she was shot outside her door.”
“She was.”
“Think the bullet was meant for Rixon?” he asked, exhaling a long line of smoke before handing me his lighter.
Holding the flame to the end of my cigarette, I asked, “What makes you say that?”
He shrugged. “Going after an old lady is the ultimate declaration of war. Going after the president’s old lady? Well, that’s a whole other level of stupidity.”
“What are you getting at?”
“I’m saying maybe the bullet wasn’t meant for her. Maybe Rixon was the target.”
Or me, I thought darkly. But why the fuck did the Devils want to take me out?
“Even if it was, it doesn’t change anything. Molly is dead. Rixon won’t rest until he’s avenged her.”
He took another drag from his cigarette and moved his head closer to mine. “Rixon told me of his concerns.”
“What concerns?” I replied, playing dumb—waiting until Eli showed his hand first.
