26
Mercy
When I rejoinedthe guys in the hospital waiting room, their grim expressions swept away any lingering peace from my interlude with Rowan. “What?” I said, hurrying the rest of the way to them.
They were already getting up from their chairs. “We’ve received another report from the men who’ve been tracking Xavier’s movements,” Gideon said, keeping his voice low so the people around us wouldn’t overhear. “He and the Storm’s lackeys who’ve stuck with him have set up explosives around a building where there are a couple of families and some other civilians hiding out in the upstairs apartments. He’s threatening to blow them all up if anyone comes close to him.”
My pulse stuttered. Somehow I didn’t think Xavier would hold back on the blowing up part no matter what anyone else did, if he got testy enough. He’d probably wanted this news to get to me so I’d feel even more horrible about running away.
But could I really believe that he’d stop his rampage even if I gave myself up? No, not for a second. He was reveling in the destruction, using his anger as an excuse, just like Kaige had said. Once he’d killed me, he’d start blaming all of Paradise Bend for stealing Josey too, and the Bend would be without a queen to defend it.
Wylder looked as if he’d gone through the same thought process. “You can’t give in, no matter what he demands. We’ll find a way to take him out that doesn’t end with him getting his hands on you.”
I inhaled deeply. “I’m all for that. But we’re going to need help. Should we call together all our men—the ones we can count on, anyway—and see what we’re working with?”
Wylder nodded. He turned to Gideon. “Contact all the Noble underlings who stuck with us at the waterfront property and survived. I don’t trust anyone who’s in tight with my dad to have our backs. Tell them to gather on the front lawn at the mansion—we need room for a larger group—and we’ll be there in half an hour.” He glanced at me. “If you’re okay with bringing the Claws to my house, that is. I think it’s best if we talk to them all at once.”
“Agreed.” I took out my phone. “I’ll have Jenner assemble everyone.”
“Tell him to bring the kid too. I’m not sending Beckett in to fight, but he’s been instrumental in bringing down the Storm. He might know something about Xavier that’ll help.”
I added that note to my text message and sent it off as we hustled out of the hospital to the car.
We reached the Noble mansion just ahead of the Claws forces. A couple dozen men were already milling around on the lawn, Anthea in their midst looking like she’d had a hand in corralling them, but the atmosphere was tense. She caught my eye as we passed with a tight smile that was closer to a grimace.
As we wove through them to the front steps, Wylder catching people’s eyes and nodding here and there, I picked up a few snippets of hushed conversation, things like: “bomb” and “psycho.” It seemed that word about Xavier’s current gambit had spread widely already.
Several of the men didn’t quite meet Wylder’s gaze. Apprehension prickled down my spine. When we reached the steps, we stopped at the base and looked over the crowd, including the few cars of Claws men that were just arriving to join the bunch. The men stirred restlessly on their feet, looking like they wanted to be someplace else.
“What the hell’s wrong with them?” Kaige muttered.
“They’re probably nervous,” Wylder said. “Xavier’s acting like a maniac, and they’ve got my dad breathing down their necks in a not-much-better state too.” His jaw clenched. “But Nobles don’t back down, not when our city is on the line. We’ll get them sorted out.”
I grasped his hand, tugging him a little apart from the others for a second, closer to the house. “You know you’re twice the leader your dad is, right?” I said quietly, searching his eyes. “Ten times, even.”
The slightest hint of a smile curled the corner of Wylder’s mouth, even though his eyes stayed dark. “If you say so, then it must be true. Now we’ve just got to get them to believe it.”
I glanced at the unsettled men who’d nonetheless turned up to hear what the Noble heir had to say. “I think they already do. You just need to remind them of why.”
Wylder didn’t say anything for a moment. His fingers tightened around mine. Abruptly, he leaned in to kiss me. I swayed into his touch, his intoxicating musk washing over me. Then he pulled back to meet my eyes again. “How do you do it?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Do what?”
“Always make sure I see reason while keeping me on my toes.”
I tapped his chest teasingly. “I’m your queen, remember.”
“You’re my equal in every possible way. Maybe my better in a few, but we won’t talk about that in front of company.” He managed a small grin, looking a little more relaxed than before, and tugged my arm. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
He dropped my hand as we climbed onto the front steps together, but we stood shoulder to shoulder—equals, like he’d said. Wylder clapped his hands, and the uneasy murmurs died down. Everyone turned to face us.
“I think you know why you’re here,” Wylder said, slipping effortlessly into his role as leader. His commanding presence had been impossible to ignore even when I’d first staggered into the Noble mansion months ago, and now he wore it with total assurance. Watching him stoked the flames of my love for him. “The menace that calls himself Xavier is tearing up our city’s streets and threatening our people, and it’s time we dealt with him once and for all.”
“How the hell are we going to do that without us getting blown up?” someone asked from the crowd.
“That’s what we’re here to figure out,” I said. “He’s lost most of his allies. With all of us working together, we should be able to end his reign of terror.”