8. Theo #2
Should have been concerned when relief hit me in the chest like my entire life had been riding on this verdict, but I ignored it, shoved it down to simmer in the pot that Piper Whittman had set to brew.
“Any other items that need to be addressed?” River asked, attention jumping between each of us.
Everyone shook their heads.
“All right then, say we bring this to a close so we can get back to our nights.”
Could feel the man itching to get out of here and head back to his fiancée and their son. Same way as he’d basically done since they’d come into his life.
Same as Otto and Kane who were all too eager to agree, “Yeah. Let’s wrap this shit up.”
We all put our fists back into the middle of the table as River muttered the promise we had made to society, each of us repeating it after him, “Our oath to the afflicted. Our oath to the forsaken. Our oath to Sovereign Sanctum.”
Chair legs screeched on the rough concrete floor as everyone pushed back from the table and stood.
The mood immediately shifted to light as everyone moved for the narrow, winding staircase that led back up to Kane’s office.
“Now about Friday,” Kane enthused, drawing attention to the plans he was making for Emery as he began up the stairs.
“Everyone be here about seven. Will give us time to lock up and get over here. She’s going to think we’re just heading home to a quiet dinner, and everyone is going to be here waiting.
Charleigh and Raven have the decorations and organization handled.
Only thing you fuckers have to do is practice your best ‘Surprise!’”
Dude spun around, giving us jazzy hands and shooting us all grins as he climbed backward.
“Know how to say surprise,” River grumbled.
“But are you actually going to shout it with enthusiasm?” Kane turned his hand over, lifting it as he drew all his fingers together to emphasize the point.
Could feel Cash shaking his head behind me. “What the hell did I sign up for?”
“Don’t you worry, Cash. This is going to be such a rager that even your surly ass is going to have a blast,” Kane told him.
Pretty sure Cash hadn’t had a blast a day in his life. Dude was likely to be miserable the whole time, but he also was loyal to the bone, so if this gathering was important to Kane and Emery, he was going to be there.
“And tomorrow?” Otto asked.
Our family always got together on Sundays. It was our thing, even though Cash usually skated out on those.
“My place at five for dinner,” River said. “Too cold to be outside.”
“Thank fuck. Last thing I need to do is freeze my balls off when my boys still have plenty of work to do.” Otto rocked his hips.
He was lucky River didn’t push him back down the stairs and the only thing he got was a scowl filled with daggers.
Otto cracked up. “Seriously, though, excited to see my Nolan and Maci. Been missing them like crazy. Can’t believe we’re going to have a new little to add to the mix soon.”
It was going to be wild, having a tiny baby be a part of this family.
River might have been trying to fight it, but I could see the smile itching at the edge of his mouth. “Yeah. It’s going to be cool.”
We hit the top landing and stepped through the hidden opening and into Kane’s office.
He kept it decorated in dark, carved woods and rich leathers, like the goof thought he was some kind of reigning king from long ago.
Once we’d all piled out, Kane pushed the false bookcase in front of the passage, making sure it was locked up tight.
We all grabbed our coats, slinging into them as River unlocked the main office door.
“Anyone sticking around?” Kane asked as he stepped out into the hallway, the long, dank corridor leading into the fray.
River shook his head. “Nah, gonna get home to Charleigh.”
“Yeah, my girl is likely snuggled up in bed reading one of those romances, so she’s going to be in need of me.” Otto wagged his brows.
“Was thinking I’d head straight home, too. Em said she was going to wait up.” Kane gave a nod of agreement.
A year and a half ago, all of us—minus Cash, of course—would have stuck around. Threw back a few drinks while we prowled through the crowd, hunting for someone who was game for a good time.
Now, if Charleigh, Raven, and Emery weren’t here? The guys almost always bailed.
Even though they ditched me, I usually stayed.
Needing the breather.
The reprieve.
I’d seek out someone who wanted to be touched the way I needed to be.
A surface connection that would last for a few hours before we parted and went our separate ways.
Easy.
Detached.
Didn’t know what it was that didn’t sit right about that tonight, and I scratched my fingers through my beard as I followed my crew out into the long hall that led to the raving crowd beyond. “Think I’m going to call it, too. Been a long day.”
Otto’s attention whipped toward me like I’d grown a fucking tail, though his expression turned smug. “Ah, I see.”
“You don’t see anything, brother,” I muttered as we hit the end of the hallway and stepped out into the melee of Kane’s, emerging at the far back corner of the club.
My gaze wandered over the crowd that was packed shoulder to shoulder.
Lights flashed and strobed over the crush, and laughter and voices attempted to rise over the roar of the music that blared from the speakers. The heavy bass thudded through the club, the old, worn wooden floors vibrating with the lawless beat.
You could feel the energy in the air. The barely fettered chaos that rippled through the mass.
People pushed up against the long bar that ran nearly the full length of the wall to my right, and the dance floor that sat below the elevated stage on the far back wall was packed with writhing bodies.
The bands had finished their sets, and now the DJ was set up in that prime spot as he incited a riot on the floor.
All five of us began to make our way through, the crowd parting as if they felt us coming, eyes sweeping over us as we passed.
Never was a time when we were all together that we didn’t garner the attention of those around us. Those who were attracted to the tumult we exuded and those who were repelled by it.
Instinct telling them to keep far away.
We cut through until we made it to the massive double doors at the front, and Ty who was manning the entrance opened one side to let us out.
“You need anything, sir?” he asked as Kane went to slip out.
“Just keep an eye out and don’t hesitate to call if anything goes awry.”
“Always.”
“Good,” he said with a clipped nod before he ducked out into the cold.
Ty dipped his head at each of us, the guy not fully in the know but discerning enough to recognize our crew wasn’t exactly on the up and up.
Long stairs ran the entire front of Kane’s, and we ambled down them, stuffing our hands into our pockets as we were slapped in the face with the cold. The five of us rounded the side of the old brick building to the big parking lot on the side.
Our bikes were parked along the wall, each facing out, all gleaming metal and anarchy.
“Hells bells, it’s cold,” Otto complained as he smacked his hands together before he threw his leg over his bike. “This shit was just fine back in LA in the winter, but I’m beginning to question it here.”
“You gone soft?” I asked, sending him a smirk as I climbed onto mine.
“Hell yeah, man, and I’ve got no shame about it. Good to see you’re going soft, too.” Dude grinned at me, all teeth, not giving me time to dispute it before he kicked over his bike.
It roared to life, that grumbling, powerful sound only amplified as each of us did the same.
River jutted his chin in parting before he lifted his boot and pulled out. Otto and Cash rode out behind him, River going left at Culberry Street, and Otto and Cash going right since they both lived in cabins on the opposite side of town up high in the mountains.
Kane slowly rode his bike across the lot and went left on the long dirt drive that led toward his house that was hidden about half a mile to the back of the club.
Blowing out a heavy sigh, I kicked my bike into gear and pulled out the same direction River had gone, though the guy hadn’t been fucking around when he implied he was anxious to get back to his girl since I couldn’t even see his taillight.
I took to the road, hands stretched out to grip the handlebars, relishing the cold that stung my cheeks and whipped my hair into disarray.
Hadn’t been lying to Piper, what I’d told her this morning.
There was no time that I felt freer than when I was at the helm of my bike. Here, where my ghosts couldn’t catch up to me. The wails and cries of regret not loud enough to be heard over the howl of the engine.
I inched back on the throttle and increased my speed as I blazed through the sleeping town, every business except for the bars locked up tight for the night.
Though it was the buzz in my chest that warned that I was far too eager to get back to The Sanctuary.
So fucked up.
Maybe Otto had pegged it.
Maybe I was actually going soft.
Getting reckless and greedy in a way that I couldn’t.
Because I hadn’t been interested for one damn second about sticking back and finding a warm body to bury myself in.
A warm body to rid myself of the lust that twisted my guts and hummed through my veins.
A way to rid myself of whatever insanity Piper Whittman elicited in me.
But there I was, a prisoner to the burn in my body as I flew along the lake, The Sanctuary neon sign glowing like a beacon in the distance where my motel sat at the far end of the shore.
That anticipation only amped as I made the left onto the long drive and wound my bike through the thick woods, then took to the paved private drive that led to my house.
I dug my phone out and pushed the button for the garage door and pulled my bike into its spot.
Didn’t take the time to go inside my house.
I grabbed a flashlight and pushed out into the night.
Walking the perimeter of the motel the way I always did. Ensuring it was clear of the fiends and beasts that would forever hunt for innocent prey.
Wondering if I was just as sick as them.
Because I stood in the shadows staring up at the haze of light that glowed from the big upper window on the second floor of Unit B.
Wondering how this stranger could make me feel like I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere else.