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I pulled in, the engine chugging low as I made my way up the middle aisle to the bikes parked in a row at the front. Slowing to a stop, I put my feet out to balance the bike, and I used my heels to back myself in between Kane and Cash’s motorcycles. Otto and Theo’s were there, too, sitting front and center.
I killed the engine and swung from the bike, and I strode for the front door where Ty and Jonah were manning the door.
The two of them were brutes, ensuring that anyone who came through the doors playing the prick immediately found their asses tossed to the curb.
Ty jutted his bearded chin at me, dude covered in tats, a ton of them compliments of me. “River Tayte. Good to see you out and about. Rest of the boys are already inside.”
I gave him a clipped nod. “Thanks, brother.”
“Not a problem.”
He stepped aside so I could wind my way into the crowd.
Kane’s was set in an old church, the walls brick and the ceiling steepled. Long, slender stained-glass windows rested high on the walls, and the strobes from the stage where the band played struck against the glass and sent sparks of color glinting over the space.
A long bar ran the far-left side, and there were a slew of stools set up along it. The dance floor was in the middle with the stage at the back, and along the right side were a bunch of tables and booths tucked within the dim light and dancing shadows.
The place appealed to both locals and tourists alike, the club exuding a sexy, posh vibe.
Trent Lawson owned a killer club in Redemption Hills, and he had helped Kane set it up. Kane had been happy to take his advice of bringing in rotating bands of different genres, and the roster never failed to keep the place swarming night after night.
I cut through the left, and people parted as I went, no doubt sensing the energy that crashed from within me. Instinct warning them of the barely hinged violence that skated through my veins.
Five bartenders took up different sections behind the bar, slinging drinks as fast as the orders were tossed out to them.
Mallory caught my eye, this gorgeous chick who’d come to us and had decided to stay. The only one here who knew what these meetings were all about.
She angled her head toward the swinging door that led to the back of the church where the kitchen and offices were located.
I didn’t slow to acknowledge her. I edged right through, boots eating up the floor as I took purposed strides down the long hallway.I passed by the kitchen and the breakroom and a few other offices before I made it to the very back where I pushed through the door to Kane’s office.
Inside, the light was muted, the floors the same rustic wood as the rest of the building, furniture to match.
My crew was already there.
Theo stood leaning back on the edge of Kane’s massive wooden desk, his arms crossed over his chest, and Kane was behind it, rocking in the executive chair.
Otto was pacing, roughing an anxious hand through the long pieces of his hair.
Cash loitered in the corner to my right, mostly out of sight, though I could feel the severity radiating from his being.
Stepping forward, I locked the door behind me, and upon my entering, Kane stood and moved to the wall of bookshelves on my right. He shifted a couple old books aside so he could get to the keypad he’d installed and tapped in the code that made the latch give.
Then he pulled open the section of bookcase that hid the passageway.
Kane ducked through it first, and all of us moved, following him down the narrow, cramped stairwell to the basement below. Cash was at the tail, and he closed the bookcase behind us. It was musty down there as the space had assuredly been used for storage back in the day, the floors nothing but raw concrete and the walls rough, exposed brick.
A big, round table sat in the middle of the room, and five chairs surrounded it.
We each took our spots, our hands stretched out in the middle of the table with the matching, swirling crosses marked on our flesh.
And I called to order the meeting of Sovereign Sanctum.
TWENTY-THREE
RIVER
SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD
