Hysterical laughter is my answer. “You think there aren’t any in this town on someone’s payroll? Naive bitch. You’re not going anywhere except under my basement floor.” His muffed answer is what I expected.
“That is a little cliche, don’t you think? Even for you.” He’s a wanna-be Soprano only without the pinky ring, expensive suits, or Italian accent. But by the size of his gut, I’d say he has an unhealthy relationship with carbs.
“Look, we’ve been friends for a few years now? Does that not count toward anything?”
Nothing.
His silence is a good sign shit is about to hit the proverbial fan but it is the deafening crack of thunder right outside the door followed by all-out hell releasing inside the bar that drives the point to my feet. I shoot a look over my shoulder and spot familiar bikes in view of the surveillance camera; their riders nowhere to be seen.
Oh shit.
Fingers trembling, I force the lock open and swing the door wide, bracing for I don’t know what to expect really.
But it’s not Devil toting something that looks like a shotgun forged with a Glock. He stops in front of me and speaks without looking my way. “I see you found the Chevy keys.”
“Yeah, thanks for the tip.”
His lips pull into a wolfish grin. “It’ll be fun to see what Ares does to you for taking his second baby.” And there is the truth.
“You set me up.” Dread fills me. Why I don’t know but the way Devil grins like he’s set me up for the perfect fall gives me instant heartburn.
He shrugs. “Thought maybe we could kick the ant nest. Get behind me and try not dying, before I get you to the prez.”
“You planned this.”
He neither confirms nor denies my allegations. Just takes my hand and says, “Here.”
Cold metal meets my fingers.
“I don’t know how to use that thing.” A disadvantage at the moment but it is what it is.
Devil looks at the bloody knife I’m clutching in my other hand. “My guess is you’re a quick learner. Just don’t shoot me in the back unless you mean it.”
When I make no move to take it, he grabs a hand and curls my fingers over the rough handle.
“Safety’s off and there’s a bullet in the chamber. Point and pull at anyone who isn’t a Savage. Got it?”
I nod and see my life flash by in the glint of light off silver. I plaster myself to the wall just as a wooden handle swooshes by the tip of my nose to make a sickening thud in flesh.
Devil grunts. I don’t hear it more than see his shoulder hunch and his chest cave from the force of the knife flying through the air. A flash of grit hits his expression a split second before he aims and pulls the trigger.
My ears stop working from the deafening boom and right before my eyes a man in a leather jacket and spiky black hair topples to the floor.
I’m frozen to the spot.
Beside me, Devil wraps a hand around the grip of the knife sitting several inches inside his shoulder and pulls, the heavy weight clatters at our feet, blood splattering on the tips of my boots.
I watch for signs of him fainting, but I guess I’m the only one seeing dots in front of my eyes. Which is a good thing. Truly. Between the two of us he is definitely the one going to survive and maybe save my ass.
My entire mindset about doing anything it takes to save my sister just got a real dose of reality. People are out here getting hurt because of me. But none are innocent, I remind myself. Not even Ares.
Ohmygodwhatthehellisgoingonis all my brain is screaming when I fall in behind Devil and let the man be a shield for my rash, compulsive stupidity.
“Let’s see what Ares has to say about your midnight adventure. If you wanted to paint the town red, you should have told me. I would have loaded you on the back of my bike and taken you myself.”
His voice is muffled in my half-deaf ears.
Ares. Shit. He’s going to kill me if we make it out of this. How the hell did he even find me?