“Lifetime”—ThreeDaysGrace
“Prospect! Get your ass in here!” Angel yelled at me from the chapel door. Immediately, I dropped the rag I’d been using to wipe down the bar.
The other prospect looked up from where he was sweeping, and his eyes widened as he froze for a moment. Then his gaze dropped to the floor, and he resumed his job, happy to stay out of whatever was going down.
My heart slammed in my chest. You’d think after all this time, I’d be used to that feeling, but it caught me off guard every fucking time. Breathing, blood pulsing through my body, and pain were all things that at one time would’ve been a foreign concept.
“Yes?” I asked, stopping in front of him. “Did you need me to bring you all something?”
“No. But you better get your ass in there,” he said as his dark brown eyes narrowed and he motioned into the room.
With a confused frown, I stepped inside. Every member stared at me with either a scowl or an expressionless gaze. My life experiences had me damn near standing at attention in front of the men I respected and looked up to. Though to call them men was almost laughable for someone like me. They were mere babies.
“Roscoe, how long have you been with us?” Venom asked as he rested his tatted forearms on the wood table. That name still irked me. Fucking Roscoe—like my current paperwork guy couldn’t have found a better identity for me.
“Three hundred twenty-one days,” I answered immediately.
“You gonna tell us what happened that day at the mall?” Venom asked in a deceptively soft voice. I swallowed hard. They may have varying abilities, but I wasn’t sure they were ready for my truth.
“I… I wasn’t watching our surroundings close enough, and I didn’t see the assailant before he got to us. Because of that, I was stabbed and left the women in a vulnerable position,” I replied knowing that wasn’t what he was asking me, but I didn’t know how to tell him the truth. They had abilities, but they weren’t anything like… well, me.
He leaned back in his chair as he looked down his nose at me. Voodoo stared with his uncannily perceptive gaze, but I knew he couldn’t read me. No one could.
That day had been a nightmare. I’d never intended to leave the women in danger. It had been my job to protect them, and I’d failed. They should’ve taken my prospect status or at the very least beat the fuck out of me—if not both. Yet they hadn’t. I’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since.
“Angel?” Venom called out and Angel stepped up behind me. Then Venom looked at each of his brothers one by one. An unspoken conversation seemed to ensue. He finally stopped at Raptor, the VP.
“If you can’t be honest with us, I’m not sure you’re cut out to be a Bastard,” Raptor drawled. Though my heart was spiraling, I wanted to laugh. Little did they know I was a bigger bastard than any of them would ever know. Yet, I needed them. For the first time in ages, I had a family and somewhere I belonged.
“Give him your cut,” Venom ordered.
It didn’t matter that I deserved that decision, it was suddenly hard to breathe. I shook my head in denial. There was no way to explain why I needed them and needed to be here because I didn’t know myself.
“You telling the president of the Royal fucking Bastardsno?” Venom asked incredulously.
Unable to answer in a manner that wouldn’t get my ass kicked, I clenched my jaw. Ghost stood up, but I kept my gaze locked on Venom. I inhaled a shuddering breath, but my lips stayed sealed.
“You’re not fit to wear this prospect cut, boy,” Ghost snarled into my ear. Though he startled the shit out of me with how quickly he was next to me, outwardly I remained stoic. His fingers curled around my cut at the back of my neck. When he started to pull it down, I wanted to fight him for it, but I was outnumbered, and while I’d survive it, the beating would hurt like a motherfucker. I wasn’t quite into the pain like I used to be.
Reluctantly, I let him strip off the one thing in years that I’d taken pride in wearing. The lump in my throat burned and practically choked me. The pain almost rivaled the day I lost Soleil…. Well, that didn’t matter anymore.
“You have anything to say in your defense? Like how you healed yourself that day?” Raptor asked as he strummed his fingers on the table. His silence was heavy, and they all waited.
Still, I said nothing.
Venom then leaned forward and growled, “If you were a brother, you’d be obligated to tell us. You know that, right? Bastards don’t keep secrets from each other.”
I wanted to snort. Maybe I didn’t know what they were hiding, but I knew every single one of them had secrets. In my position, it was better to keep a still tongue.
“So, I guess you better start talking,” Voodoo snarled as he brought his hands from under the table and threw a wadded-up black ball at me.
Reflexively, I caught it and looked at it questioningly. Recognizing the colors folded neatly in the supple black leather, I jerked my head up to look at Venom. He had a smirk that was nearly camouflaged by his salt-and-pepper beard.
My mouth fell open like an idiot’s, but I couldn’t help it. My heart raced and the rushing of blood whooshed in my ears.
“You gonna put it on or sit there staring at it?” Venom murmured.
Honestly, I was stunned. I knew this day could possibly come, but I’d seen several prospects get cut loose when the chapter realized they weren’t going to make it as members. After my failure with the women and consequent refusal to talk, I’d been justifiably nervous.