“What? Like you fucked with ours?” I chimed in, but Slither ignored me and continued to keep Granite’s stare.
“That ballerina girl of yours is safe back at the compound because of me.”
“Talk about her again, and I’ll cut out that motherfucking tongue of yours.” Granite stepped up, and I was sure he got taller within two seconds.
Slither licked his lips, the two tentacles of his tongue slipping in and out of his mouth. “Just remember how easy it was for me to get to not only one, but three of your women. I could do it again.” He lifted a shoulder. “That’s if you don’t keep to your end of the bargain.”
I stepped up, halfway forcing myself between Granite and him. “Let’s go.”
Granite’s jaw ticked, his eyes dark orbs of malice. He was frozen to the spot, and it cost me a slight nudge against his chest to get him moving.
“Make no mistake, Slither,” I started as I continued to walk back, “you’re on borrowed time.”
He smirked, the evil he reeked of spreading for miles.
Dutch pulled up behind us, and I never took my eyes off Slither as I got in the back.Never turn your back on the devil. Never.
Manic closed the doors, and only then did I relax against the paneling of the van. I closed my eyes, leaning my head back, focusing on trying to get my rage under control—trying to get the adrenaline to slow the fuck down.
“You should have let me kill him.” Ink slammed his fist into the side panel. “You should have let me kill that son of a bitch!”
“Not today.” Granite pinned him with a warning stare. “Not today, Ink.”
“Why the fuck not? That was the perfect opportunity to fucking take them out, and you let them get away.”
“You’re too angry,” I said without looking at him. “If you fight Slither with that amount of anger pumping through your veins, you’ll lose.”
“Like fuck I will.”
Dutch swerved sharply to the right, and I had to steady myself as I looked over to Granite. The confidence that always clung to him like a second skin was gone, his face no longer as hardened as it used to be. With his fingers weaved through his hair, his gaze cut from Ink to the floor. I already knew what thoughts ran through his mind, what it was that had him looking so despondent and pale.
“He won’t hurt anyone else.”
Granite looked up at me, the green in his eyes now a sullen gray.
“Slither will never hurt anyone else we care about. I promise.” I sat up straight and looked at each of the guys. “Not while I’m president.”
7
Wraith
The Hanged Manwasn’t your typical American dive bar. From the outside, it didn’t look like much. If you didn’t know it was a bar, you wouldn’t have been able to guess it. Not by looking at the black tinted windows and the steel door that seemed like it had been bolted shut. But I knew what went on behind that door, how wild MC parties could get. It was usually nothing short of barbaric, a bunch of savages drinking their weight in alcohol, getting high, and fucking whores until dawn. That was all it was about. Alcohol. Drugs. Whores. And plenty of it.
Word on the street was the Kings had been laying low on their wild parties, being picky on who they let in without a proper invitation. Apparently, it had to do with the big bad wolf, Granite, being a little overprotective when it came to his old lady. And everyone knew about the war on these streets, so my guess was the once savage president had turned into a an overprotective beast.
Goodbye, wild parties. Hello, snore-fest.
It was almost ten p.m., but traffic lights and car engines filled the night with life. New York. The city that never sleeps.
As I reached out to the door, I took a deep breath. Odds were, they would either welcome me as a potential patchwhore, or toss my ass to the curb the second I put my boots in that bar. But I had to try. I knew he’d be here. In fact, I counted on it. He admitted to following me the other night; it was only fair if I did the same.
The door creaked open, and I walked in, only to have an entire bar full of people turn my way, staring at me like I was fucking lost. Clearly, the locals didn’t take well to new people.
Shifting from one leg to the other, I glanced around, painfully aware of every stare pinned on me. I suppressed the need to fidget, pretending to be confident enough to think I belonged in here as much as everyone else did.
Heavy rock music boomed from the speakers, but it didn’t smother the whispers. Everyone was thinking it. I could feel it in the way eyes leered my way.
Patchwhore.