Chapter 10 Palmer #4
"Who died and put you in charge?!" A voice rang out over the crowd, and the air suddenly became flooded with palpable energy and tension. A wave of silence and anticipation enveloped everybody.
I straightened my spine and looked out over the gang of people who I never thought I'd give a single shit about. I'd come into this with one purpose: to expose The Exiled for their crimes and serve justice in whatever form necessary.
"Who died and put me in charge?" I repeated, my voice carrying across the now-silent room. "Nobody died yet. That's what I'm trying to prevent. Your leaders aren’t here right now, and we've got a serious fucking problem on our hands."
I stalked forward, my boots clicking against the floor as I approached the source of the challenge—a burly guy with neck tattoos who probably thought his size made him intimidating. Please. I'd faced down Asrael in training fights, I fought Rhodes, hell, I'd literally just fought Scorpio.
"Let's cut the bullshit. Every single person in this room knows exactly who I am and what I mean to The Exiled.
Your five leaders?" I spun in a slow circle, making eye contact with as many people as possible.
"They chose me. And right now, they're dealing with something bigger than this club, bigger than all of us. "
Jasper's ghostly form nodded encouragingly from the corner. I drew strength from his presence.
"So yeah, I'm taking charge because I give a shit whether we all live or die.
We're going to come to an understanding right here, right now!
I'm going to help your leaders, so I need every last one of you to step up.
Scorpio isn't done. He's going to keep coming for us, and he's going to use mind control to turn us against each other unless we get our shit together right now. "
The crowd shifted uncomfortably at the mention of mind control. Good. They should be uncomfortable.
"I've seen what he can do firsthand. He'll make you hurt your friends, your family, and anyone you care about.
And you won't even know you're doing it until it's too late." I pulled up my sleeve, sending my power to my arms, reversing the healing I’d done to hide the scars. I revealed them so they’d know I knew what the fuck I was talking about.
"These? He gave these to me when I wasn’t able to fight back.
So, unless you want to be a mindless waste, you need to take this seriously.
This is the least of what he could do to you, or get you to do to anyone he chooses, but we can beat him if we work together. "
A woman near the front—one of the bartenders I recognized—stepped forward. Oh great, it’s Steph. The one I beat up on fight night. I braced myself for whatever challenge she was about to throw at me when she asked, "What's the plan then?"
"We fortify this place. We protect each other. And most importantly?" I smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. "We show that mind-controlling piece of shit exactly why The Exiled run this city."
Energy crackled through the crowd. I could feel the shift in the room, fear transforming into determination.
"I need teams at every exit. I want our best fighters up front.
Anyone with magical ability, spread out—we need early warning if he tries anything.
Listen up—if you see anything suspicious, you call it in.
If someone starts acting weird, you call it in.
If you so much as get a bad feeling, you fucking call it in.
We're not losing anyone! Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever! "
I could see it in their faces—they were with me. The chaos from earlier had transformed into focused energy.
"One more thing," I added, my voice dropping lower.
"I’m going to help your leaders with their mission, and when The Exiled get back, I want them to see that we handled our shit.
That we protected what's ours. Why?!" I scanned the room, taking in the expressions of determination and loyalty. "Because! With the fallen, I rise!"
Cheers rang out.
"With the broken, I cry! With the lost, I find my own!"
The very air seemed to vibrate from the intensity with which we were screaming the oath into the universe, meaning every single word, with every single ounce of our souls.
"With the outcasts, I am home! With the forgotten, I remember. With the chaos, I am centered. With the wrong, I find the right. With The Exiled, I WILL FIGHT! Now, move your asses and protect what's ours! Come find me to get your assignments and make it quick, I have somewhere important to be."
The room exploded into coordinated activity. Jasper drifted closer as I started assigning positions.
"That was quite the speech," he murmured.
I snorted, keeping my voice low. "Yeah, well, fake it till you make it, right?"
"There was nothing fake about that," he replied. "You're a natural leader, Palmer. They can sense it."
I didn't get the chance to respond before the big, burly asshole who called me out earlier was suddenly by my side with a tablet that showed all of the security camera feeds.
"I apologize for my comment earlier, Palmer.
It's no excuse, but I was just so wired from that fight with Scorpio.
Look, I have all systems working perfectly here.
We're going to lock down tighter than ever.
You can depend on us. Go help our boys, bring them back to where they fuckin' belong. "
I kept my face neutral. "This is excellent. Keep this up, and I'll make sure they know exactly who helped lead the defense. I do have to go, though. Seriously, be smart. Smarter than ever. Be prepared for anything and everything. I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Yes, ma'am, I will. Good luck." With that, he turned and started barking orders at lower members, and I smirked. I'd dealt with men like that my entire life. Sometimes you just had to know how to handle them in order to win them over.
"Flawless," Jasper whispered, sending a shiver down my spine. "Now come on, let's get you to Besmet."