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Of course, if that person thought it was their way to get to me...

“How much information can the spy give you?” I asked.

“They’re not in leadership, but they’ve got an ear to the ground and ways to hear things they’re not supposed to hear,” Remy said. “Can’t give us everything, but they’re already giving us more than we would have otherwise.”

Along with Saraya. The combination of information and Saraya made this person invaluable. I wondered how long we could afford to keep them on the inside. Because the more we knew...

“Did they tell you whether he’s going to make a move?”

Remy shook his head. “He won’t come unless he knows he has the numbers, and if the Hell Hounds aren’t committing the way he wants them to, he doesn’t have those numbers. He knows it and we know it. But we have to work on the other two clubs. Make sure he’s in an even chancier position. Because if he makes a move and the war happens here...” His voice faded away, his eyebrows rising up to tell me what he meant.

Yeah. If Devil came to our turf, we’d be split between defending the innocents around here and fighting Devil’s guys. It would be a fucking bloodbath. Better by far if we went to him. We’d have the element of surprise, we’d put them back on their heels, and everything would happen in an area of the county where we wouldn’t have to worry about shooting innocent bystanders.

“We have to get those other two clubs to desert him,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “We have to make sure he doesn’t have the numbers to initiate this.”

“But if we’re the ones doing the attacking, we’re going to have to go through the cops,” he pointed out.

Right again. Because he’d have the cops surrounding him regardless. To get to him, we’d have to go through them. And fighting the cops... Everyone would go to jail. Total annihilation. Everyone on either side would either be dead or in jail for life. A guaranteed death sentence.

“We can’t just leave her there, Remy. And we can’t let him come after us here. If he comes, he’ll bring the cops and we’ll be in the same boat.”

It was the ace up his sleeve, and the part that we hadn’t been talking about. We might win the war. We might have the numbers. But if we were fighting the cops, we were going to end up in jail anyhow.

It was also the only way we were going to get Saraya back and put this thing to bed. I didn’t care if it put me in jail. I wouldn’t be able to protect her, but she’d be safe from Devil—who’d be either dead or in jail—and she might be able to start another life. One where she didn’t have to be so scared all the time.

When it came right down to it, I was willing to sacrifice myself to give her that chance.

And I’d had a thought in the middle of the night about it. If Devil was dead, would the cops come after us? If their paycheck was gone, would they even care that two clubs were slaughtering each other?

I wanted him dead because it would mean he was finished coming after me and Saraya. But would killing him achieve another purpose and get the cops out of the middle of the thing, too?

“What are our chances?” I asked, knowing Remy would have the answer. He had people in the other clubs who were more willing to tell him the truth. I always got the runaround.

Knowing that and knowing who to ask for real information was one of my secrets to leading the club successfully.

Remy made a face. “Some of the other crews are questioning your motives. They don’t want to go to war over some girl.”

“It’s not about the girl,” I growled. “And you know it. It’s Devil throwing me under the bus. Tink. Brock. Gemini. Mandy. It’s everything Devil has done to destroy our territory, and his habit of murdering at will. No one likes him. No one wants him here anymore. We’re doing everyone else a favor by getting rid of him. No one is safe while he’s here, Remy, and they all know it. They might be saying they’re questioning my motives. They’re not. They know why we’re doing this. And they’ll join us when the time comes. We just have to give them a reason.”

Remy made another face, but then nodded. “That’s your job, Boss. I’ll set up the meetings.”

I watched him turn and go, knowing I was right.

Knowing that if we told everyone we could get rid of Devil once and for all, they’d agree to back me instead of him.

CHAPTER 8

SARAYA

I DIDN’T SEE ANYONE all day, though someone slid a tray under the door containing nothing more than a bowl of soup and two slices of plain white bread.

“I’ve died and gone to prison,” I muttered, grabbing the tray and yanking it toward me. I was starving and lonely, and I would’ve done just about anything to have an actual conversation with someone. Preferably someone who didn’t sit smack-dab in the middle of Devil’s machinations.

Then, when I took a bite of the soup, it was cold.

I gagged and shoved it away from me, keeping the bread and the glass of water that had come with it. I was hungry, but only a heathen would eat cold chicken noodle soup.

I wasn’t that desperate yet.