“Or Mr. Lewis brought him to Bedlam. Almost every Bedlam farmer has sold up and moved. Lewis decided to give his old friend and his failing company a bone, and the miserable greedy shit looked next door, saw us still standing, and promised he’d get our farm too.”
“Just as likely,” he said. “That’s all I have for now, Rainey. I’ll call when I know more.”
We said our goodbyes.
I put my phone away as Cairo climbed the stairs. I texted him I was studying in the library, and his possessive self told me not to go anywhere. He was coming to get me.
We were off for another bath where I’d melt my beast with massaged temples, then he’d remind me he couldn’t be tamed. Any luck, he’d wear himself out too much to leave me alone in bed while he disappeared into the night.
BULLER’S DEN SOUNDED like the name of a bar with a hidden sex room in the back. What you got in reality was a wide-open clearing in the forest boasting tree stumps, a few boulders, and firepit. All the makings of a good party spot, and the empty red cups scattered around proved I wasn’t the first to have that thought.
Zara, Elise, Presley, Amy, Paris, and I found spots to sit on a felled log. We talked while people filed out of the dark, filling the clearing.
“Did you see Dante’s poll?” Presley held up her phone. “The write-ins are getting a lot of love. Right now, rack the Crows and use them as target practice are top one and two choices for punishments.”
“I also saw that eighty-six percent believe the Crows did it. Ten blame the Bedlam Boys and four don’t know. Eighty-six isn’t the unanimous vote it should be. The Crows still have people believing their lies.”
Paris hardened. “Just tie them up in a room with me and walk away. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Yep. She’s Cairo’s blood.
“I take back all that stuff I said about the town and splitting it up,” Amy said, rubbing Paris’s arm. “Bedlam might be a boring little town with residents as crazy as the name, but we look out for each other. We know what it means to protect our home and our own. If Bedlam is going to change, it’ll happen because it’s what we all want, and we’ll do it on our terms.”
Nods went through the group.
“We will also together, as a family, stomp the Crows into dust.”
“I love you guys.” Paris squeezed me and Amy tight.
Buller’s Den was filling up fast. I recognized faces from my classes and around campus.
I wonder if the Letter Man is blending in among these people.
The firepit was lit. It cast undulating light and shadows on the shuffling crowd.
I knew he had to be here. Someone who watched me as closely as I was realizing he did wouldn’t miss this chance to delight in my ignorance. Him so near and my gaze skimming right past him. There was also the little matter of Dante’s determination to bring me justice. The den was the right place to be to see that happen.
A sharp whistle cut through the chatter, bringing silence through the den.
“Sit.”
That short, gruff command could only be from one person.
The listeners took up seats on the logs, stumps, rocks, ground, and around the pit. It cleared the way for all to see five cruel princes coming out of the darkness. Arsenio, Legend, Roan, Cairo, and Jacques were larger than normal standing before us.
Cairo caught my eye and jerked his chin. A simple gesture but I knew how to read his grunts, shifts, and tells. You’re always on alert for a shift in mood when you live with wolves.
“I’ll be back, guys.”
I skirted the edge of the den and made for Cairo’s side. He tucked me under his arm, casual as can be.
“You know why you’re here,” Jacques began. “These guys calling themselves the Crows, blew into our town and came for us immediately. It was amusing at first. It isn’t now.”
“Anyone who isn’t a sad sack of shriveled balls would come at us head-on,” Cairo continued. “They want a fight, they’d have the decency to take it to us. But they’re not looking for a fight. What they want is surrender before the war.”
“What does that mean?” someone asked.
“Jeremy and Micah’s old man funds a company that’s looking to buy up Bedlam and raze it to the ground.”
The blowback was immediate.
“What?”
“No!”
“They can’t do that.”
“They’re already doing it,” Roan said. “Any of your folks receive a call from a company called Foundry? Checking if they’re happy with their home, or would they like it better living in a South Florida condo?
“The first step was getting their hands on the property legitimately. The next was sending in the gangbanger brothers to sell you the dream of a brand-new town... where they own everything.”