“It should’ve beenusliving in his house, it should’ve beenmethat he gave his attention to all these years. Instead, he could only obsess with findingyou! Ranted nonstop like a crazy fuck about you havingmagic powersthat would make us millions. Said the Bloody Scorpions would hold all the power nationwide if we found you. Fucking idiot!” He sneered about Voodoo having magic powers, and we all kept ourselves expressionless.
The movement in the air next to me was nearly imperceptible, but I knew. Venom and Voodoo flanked me, and by their slight movements, I knew they noticed it too.
“You know you’re not getting out of here alive,” Venom said calmly, to keep Skid talking.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re going to let me walk out of here, or she’s the one who won’t make it out alive.” He yanked on her hair again, causing Jasmine to cry out.
“Why? We’ve had an unspoken truce for over a year. Why now? You’re starting a war you can’t win,” Venom said as he held his weapon in an unwavering hand.
Skid cackled crazily. “Don’t you know? I already have. The connections I have are more powerful than you could ever hope to be. You mess with their business, and they’re going to tear you apart piece by piece. Toy with you like the rats you are. We’re going to destroy every single one of you bastards. But we’re going to start with my dear baby brother and his best friend,” he said as he looked from Voodoo to me.
To someone who didn’t know better, everything in the room was normal. Those of us who knew could see the slight hazy shimmer that was moving around him.
I noticed the indent press into Skid’s forehead right as the confusion filled his eyes. The gun he held on my sister flew upward, and the back of his head exploded. Red spatter hit Jasmine in a garish display before Skid fell. His hand still held her hair, and my sister tumbled back to land on him.
Ghost was suddenly there, reaching for her as she went down, but his hands came up empty.
She twisted and scrambled away right as I reached her. Using my bandana, I wiped her face off as I murmured soothing words into her ear. Then I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her naked body and lifted her into my arms.
“I’m sorry. I tried to grab her, but I wasn’t fast enough,” said Ghost with regret in his eyes.
“It’s okay. Thank you,” I said with relief heavy in my tone.
Voodoo stepped up to me. “Do you want me to take her?”
I nodded. “Thank you. I need to get my son,” I croaked in relief.
“I got her,” he assured me. But first he paused over Skid’s dead body to spit on him and murmur something that sounded a lot like gibberish but was incredibly powerful. Then he carefully gathered Jasmine in his arms. Our brothers parted for him to leave the room.
As he carried Jasmine out of the house, I picked up my son, who was still out for the count.
“What did he do?” I asked Lynda, suddenly realizing he wasn’t simply sleeping. She appeared guilty and started to cry.
“It’s all my fault. He thought if my knee was fixed, we could go home. Then I tried to stop him when he tried to protect Jasmine, but I got kicked and he did it again,” she said with a sniffle as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Goob squeezed his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head.
Knowing that if my son was anything like I’d been as a kid, there wouldn’t have been any stopping him, I shook my head. “No, it’s not your fault. He’s going to be okay. It might have been a blessing, because he won’t remember a lot of what happened.”
She nodded, but a soft sob escaped her.
As we moved to leave the house, we had to pass the last room, where Blade stood in the doorway obviously in shock. What I saw made me pause as well. Raptor had a hand over his mouth and a pained look on his face.
Packed in the room and stripped naked were at least twenty-five women. Ranging from grown women to barely teenagers, they looked scared out of their fucking minds. I wanted to vomit. “Holy shit,” I choked out. “What the fuck?”
“See if there are any clothes, sheets, anything in the house,” Venom ordered E as he pulled out his phone. He stormed to the back door, and we heard him speaking rapidly as he paced.
“What are we going to do, P?” Raptor questioned as we all waited for his guidance for our next move.
“Santiago is coming with backup,” he said with a clenched jaw. I raised a brow in shock. Venom then motioned toward Lynda, my sister, and Trace. “Get them out of here and back to the clubhouse. I’ll wait here with Blade and Ghost.”
“Are you sure that was the right move?” Raptor asked quietly, but I heard.
“Are you questioning my decision?” Venom narrowed his eyes at Raptor.
“No, boss, but that’s calling in a big favor. We’re going to owe them,” he replied.
“The way I see it, we’ll be even.” He crossed his arms and lifted his chin.
Raptor snorted. “Not likely, but whatever you say.”