Setting a knee on her stomach, I stopped Piper from getting up right away. As I stared down at her, my mind flashed back to that day in the church. Just quick, fleeting sensations, memories, but they were enough to make me freeze up.
The sound of gunshots echoing in a small space. All the blood. The hatred that had radiated from the Greenback Serpent’s eyes as I pulled the trigger and ended his pathetic life. If I had the choice, I’d do it again ten times over.
My grip on Piper’s body relaxed, and I glanced down at my hands, for a moment not seeing my gloves and instead seeing blood everywhere. Father Charlie’s blood. The blood of the only man who’d ever truly been kind to me. For just the quickest of seconds, I couldn’t breathe, something hard poking at my heart, the same low, painful ache that arose anytime I thought about that day.
It wasn’t that long ago, but it felt like it was yesterday all the same.
Piper’s voice brought me back to reality: “I could get used to this.” Her full lips had drawn into a smile, and she didn’t move to push me off her, didn’t move at all. She probably wasn’t trying to be funny.
I opened my mouth to say something, to try to brush off the fact that I’d spaced out, but right then a new set of car lights turned upon us. Someone else was arriving, only… who the hell could it be? We were all here already, as far as I was concerned.
Slowly, I got off Piper, and together we dusted our bodies off. She muttered, “Who is that?”
“Beats me,” I said. I moved back to where Zander stood, near Luca and Cade. Piper went to the twins, whispering something to them, and then she glanced at Nix, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d told her what I’d done. It wasn’t much, but I was certain it’d be enough to set a certain Arrowwood off.
The car wasn’t as fancy as most of the vehicles here, which only lent to the mystery of its driver. Everyone waited with bated breath as the car parked and its driver got out, and when the man straightened himself out, I was struck motionless.
A man in a priest’s uniform, only it wasn’t Father Charlie, because Father Charlie was dead. No, it was Cypress’s priest. The Black Hand’s man: Father Ezekiel. Or Zek.
Zander said, “What the fuck is he doing here?” He looked at Luca. “Did you invite him?”
“Hell no,” Luca said. “Why would I invite him? Priests are no fun by definition, in case you haven’t heard. All God this, God that, sins, forgiveness—blah, blah, blah. In case you can’t tell, I’m not big on religion.”
Deep down, the uneasy feeling that swelled and blossomed the moment I saw Zek’s face told me that I knew what he was doing here. Somehow, I just knew: that bastard was here for me. Because he had to be. Because I’d left Father Charlie’s cross in a pew in his church, and somehow he’d tracked down the fact that it was me who’d left it. It was the only explanation.
Damian didn’t seem to appreciate the priest’s appearance, for he pushed to the front of us, meeting Zek halfway. “What the fuck is a man of the cloth doing here? Listen, you might be welcome at other Black Hand events, but not here.”
Ezekiel only blinked at Damian. “I’m not here for you.”
That got Damian to huff. “Don’t think you heard me.” He took a step forward, getting in Ezekiel’s face. “You ain’t welcome here, priest. Leave now, otherwise I might have to kick your ass outta here myself.”
The look Ezekiel gave him after that threat read one thing, and that was unimpressed. Never had I seen a priest with a better poker face—though I supposed he was used to dealing with dangerous people, so Damian getting all up in his face probably wasn’t anything new.
Damian didn’t like that. Oh, he didn’t appreciate the lack of reaction on Ezekiel’s part at all. What happened next took place in a matter of seconds. Damian’s fingers curled into a fist, and he launched it right at his face. I thought he was going to hit him, but it turned out, it was all a ploy, because that fist stopped an inch or so from Ezekiel’s face.
And still, Ezekiel did not blink. He didn’t flinch at all. There was absolutely no reaction from him.
“Damn,” Zander whispered, and I concurred. There was something about this priest, something out of the ordinary, that much was abundantly clear. You had to see a lot of shit, go through a lot of shit, to be able to steel yourself for a punch to the face and not react at all.
The fact that Damian had pulled back the punch at the last second didn’t matter… unless this entire time, Ezekiel was calling his bluff. I didn’t know what to believe.
Damian smirked, dropping his fist and stepping back, giving the priest some room. “You must have some balls of steel, priest,” he said, looking Ezekiel up and down, appraising him in a new light, much like we all were. “Respect.”
“I have seen much worse than you,” Ezekiel stated. “Your respect is the last thing I care about.” His gaze shifted among us all, settling on me. “I came to speak to her.” Now everyone looked at me.
Man, I was the person of the night or something. Fantastic, wasn’t it?
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” I said, hoping he would get the hint and leave.
“Let us talk a short walk. I promise I will not keep you all night.” Ezekiel did not take the hint, and he obviously wasn’t going to leave until I talked with him.
I thought it’d be Zander leaping to my defense, acting like the white knight he surely wasn’t, but it was Luca who said, “She said she doesn’t have anything to say to you. That means she definitely doesn’t want to go on a midnight stroll with you, dude, so just get back in your car and go—”
Before everyone here jumped in to defend me against him, I heaved a sigh and cut in, “Fine. A quick walk. That’s it.” Zander’s questioning gaze turned to me, and I hoped my returning expression told him I would be fine. I could handle myself with him, even if the mere fact that he was a priest reminded me of Father Charlie.
Ezekiel was no Father Charlie.
Ezekiel pushed through the crowd to get to me, seemingly uncaring that everyone turned to stare at him, watching his every move. He held his head high, his laser sights on me. Why on earth he would come here tonight to speak to me was beyond me. Hell, I had no idea why he’d want to talk to me at all.