COGNAC
“Does it seem odd that no one is really making a big deal out of the fact that she just told them that she’s Two Tricks?” Sprocket asked as we leaned against the back wall of the warehouse.
I was far too transfixed on my loba to think that deeply into what Sprocket was saying.
There she was, leaning on the railing like the ruling queen of the Empire that she was.
The attitude that dripped from her as she surveyed her people made my heart swell as much as my cock did.
Her outfit sure didn’t help either, catching a glimpse of her toned stomach and the flash of something pink tucked into her jacket that was also cropped.
Some of her people started to get restless as she told them about the attack on her man, this was more of the reaction we’d all been watching out for, it just wasn’t when we’d expected it.
Her voice rang out through the space drawing me in even deeper, which was the opposite of what I should be doing.
At the sound of her whistle, I shook myself out of her spell and turned to the others. “I think we should spread out, if something goes down, we aren’t much help here stuck in the back.”
“He makes a good point, we are here to prove we’re on her side, it would be better to spread out in teams of two so we can spot any trouble,” Sprocket agreed.
“That won’t work, there’s five of us, idiot,” Picasso snapped.
Sprocket just glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “You’re forgetting someone.”
We all looked back up at the platform where Weston stood against the wall, arms crossed ready to burst into action if needed.
“Ah, I don’t think he’s going to come down and help,” I pointed out. “He likes that spot way too much to leave it.”
“Guys, Sprocket was talking about Brian, remember Wes told us to grab him if we needed to deal with something,” Eagle explained, thrusting his chin over at the base of the stairs.
“Void you’re with me, we’ll take the right side, Sprocket you take Cognac to the left, and Picasso head up the center to the front lines. ”
We all nodded in agreement and dispersed, wading into the crowd.
In the scheme of things, having the five of us against a room of well over a hundred people was pointless, but it was better than nothing.
Glancing up at Dax I saw she was now sitting on the railing one leg crossed over and let out a shrill whistle when everyone started to get wild.
The atmosphere in the room shifted and I couldn’t place my finger on it but as she was talking about how the Empire would live on as it has, not letting fear rule, I couldn’t help but be proud.
Then in a daring move she stood up, hands thrust into the air screaming her battle cry.
Then I heard it.
“No,” I shouted as I saw her starting to fall.
Wes shot forward to try and grab her, but more shots rang through the air, causing Wes to dodge for cover then dive for the railing but it was too late, Dax had fallen.
Sprocket elbowed me in the ribs, trying to get my attention and signaled that we needed to move low and fast. I drew my gun and headed to where I’d seen Dax fall.
The crowd didn’t know what to do, everyone had guns or knives drawn shooting at the hint of someone trying to attack them.
I couldn’t tell if it was only one person who started this chain reaction, but it was full-fledged panic.
It was then I noticed men dressed in black leather.
They didn’t have cuts that were marked with a club but I knew it had to be the Mad Dogs.
Did that mean Mastiff had given up on taking Dax alive?
“Sprocket, it’s the Mad Dogs,” I yelled and pointed over at one of the men in question.
Without hesitation, Sprocket aimed and took him out. “They knew the deal. Come back on our turf and you’re dead, no second chances.”
As we worked our way forward, we took out men left and right, but I didn’t take the shot unless I knew I could pull off a one shot kill.
I didn’t want to waste ammo or hit an ally.
Finally, we made it to the front just in time to see Dax save Eagle and take out a Dog, shooting until her clip was out, but not before the fucker got a shot off.
It hit her in the neck right below the ear, knocking her back to the ground.
I caught sight of two more Dogs trying to make a play for her and Eagle, but Picasso and Wes took them out as we all raced over to Dax.
Her eyes were open for a moment and a small smile was on her face as she took us all in before fainting.
“Dax!” Void roared at her, his shirt staunching the blood coming from her neck. “Someone better get a motherfucking ambulance here, now!”
“Already called for help, they should be here any second, I was worried something might happen so I had someone I could trust nearby,” Weston explained, as he kneeled by her head.
He opened her eyes and checked for something, but I didn’t have any medical background to even try and guess.
“Her lung got hit, she was coughing blood,” Void stated. “If we don’t get her some help right now, we are going to lose her. I’m going to lift her and carry her outside so they can get to her without dealing with all of this.”
The sound of gun fire kept going off behind us but I couldn’t pull my gaze from my loba.
I never thought I would find someone I would trust to even think about giving my heart to after losing my family.
That first time I laid eyes on her at Gabby’s party though, I knew she was something special.
She didn’t take my shit and somehow knew the moment I was being fake with her, drawing out the real me.
I hid behind flirting and my good looks because most women just took me at face value, but not Dax, no my loba demanded the truth.
Picasso grabbed me and pulled me to the left, breaking my line of sight to Dax.
“Pull it together man or we’re never going to get out of this,” he snapped. “What’s your ammo status?”
It took me more time than it should have to understand what he was asking me. I pulled out my gun, dropped the mag and found I had two bullets left out of sixteen. “Almost out, you got back up?”
“Dax does,” Weston answered, holding out a handful of mags. “She never carries without at least two extras per gun.”
“You sure they’ll work?” I asked as I grabbed one and slid it into place and it locked in.
Wes met my gaze, his eyes full of conflicting emotions. “She always makes sure they fit most guns. Glock is useful that way. Now we need to cover them and then end this before we can leave.”
“What do you mean, who’s gonna take her to the hospital?” I demanded, panic beginning to set in.
“Void is going with her, the rest of us are going to settle matters here. They will need to operate and there’s nothing we can do but wait. On the other hand, if she finds out we let things go to hell, she’ll shoot us,” Wes justified.
In my gut, I knew he was right, but I didn’t want to admit it, there was no way that we could just send her off and stay behind.
“We’ve got to go now,” Void bellowed. as he started to charge toward the back exit.
Sliding a round into the chamber, I was locked and loaded.
We burst out behind the warehouse and the ambulance was there, their door open, and two men waving us over frantically.
The sound of bike engines roared in the night, and I spotted the headlights as more Mad Dogs rolled up. We were so fucked.
Void leaped into the ambulance, and they slammed the doors closed, taking off like a bat out of hell, and leaving us to make sure they had a clean getaway.
I spotted a forklift, and I ran toward it while thanking whatever gods that were listening that the keys were in it.
I started her up, lifted the blades so they would be about the height of a motorcycle and took off, aiming right for the group of them.
Wes blew past me on his bike, gun at the ready, shots sounding off, sparks bursting into sight as he missed a few.
Then a bike blew up, and I had to wonder if he really did miss or learned that trick from Dax.
The forklift was nowhere near as fast, but it had a metal cage around it for safety, making it much harder for them to hit me.
When I crashed right into the first bike, it caused the whole thing to shudder, but it kept right on moving as the screech of metal grated on my ears.
I lifted the forks and raised the bike and rider that I’d speared until I could scrape it off into the dumpster.
Backing up, I swooped around and aimed for the next group—this time I took out three at once that were all side by side.
I lost track of how many riders there were or where the others of my crew had gone, but eventually the back lot was quiet.
I slowed to a halt and tossed open the door to look around.
The destruction and bodies that were laid out on the pavement was like something out of a war movie.
Slowly, I stepped out of the cab, pulling out my gun and making my way back to the warehouse.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement almost a second too late, but I dropped and rolled so I was facing my attacker and shot, hitting him twice in the chest. My heart pounded against my ribs as I flopped onto my back and looked up at the night sky.
It was harder to see the stars this close to LA, but it still was a sight to see, and one I wanted to share with Dax someday.
That thought alone spurred me back to my feet and had me walking toward the back entrance.
When I re-entered the place more dead bodies littered the floor.
Almost all of them were the Dogs, but there were a few of Dax’s people scattered throughout.
It hit me then what it meant to be at war, the tactics that were being used didn’t follow the guidelines, but neither would we when we planned our retaliation.
The Mad Dogs had now written themselves a death sentence, and I aimed to make sure it happened.
“We need to clear the bodies to make room for the medical staff coming to deal with the wounded,” Weston announced. “I’ll open the back garage door and we’ll dump them out there, I don’t give a rats ass what the cops have to say, we need them gone.”
Those unharmed got to work dragging bodies toward the large doors and I saw where the controls were, so I jogged over and hit the green button.
The doors rumbled up, and I kept my eyes peeled for anyone that I might have missed.
It didn’t take long for the warehouse to be cleared but I stood guard, nonetheless, wanting to be able to tell Dax that I’d looked out for her people.
I knew Eagle was looking through a tinted lens when he said she didn’t care about her people, she just didn’t do it the same way he did.
She might not call them family or want to have a cookout with everyone, having them all live in the same plot of land, but she would fight like hell to keep them safe in her own way.
This attack will have sealed the fate of who was truly behind all of this, because I firmly believe that the Mad Dogs were promised far more than just Dax and control over the West Coast.
“There you are, man, that was some crazy stunt you pulled using that forklift.” Sprocket grinned, walking up to me.
I noticed he had more damage to him than what happened between him and Eagle. “You good, man?”
“Yeah, just didn’t get out of the way of a bike fast enough.
I got clipped, but I also pulled that bastard right off his ride,” Sprocket assured me.
“There had to have been fifty of them, Cognac. How the fuck did no one notice that when they were gathering? I mean, the guy at the door clocked us right away.”
“That just proves that there’s someone on the inside that’s turned against her,” I muttered.
Seeing that everyone was back in, I closed the door and slid home the lock, wanting to make sure there were no more surprises coming in that way. Sprocket and I wandered our way back over to where cots were getting set up and I noticed Picasso sitting on one, his arm hanging in a funny direction.
“Fuck, bro, what happened to you?” I asked, face scrunching up at the pain I imagined him in.
With his working arm he flipped me off but groaned at the movement.
“I joined Wes on my bike and chased down some of the guys that went running after you went crazy on the forklift. No way we would have made it out of that alive if you didn’t pull that stunt.
Well, I didn’t see the trip wire they set up, and I got clotheslined right off my bike and hit a shipping container. ”
Sprocket and I both hissed at the sound of that. “Damn, that is just wrong. You waiting for someone to check you out?”
“No, I’m holding off until we get to the hospital they took Dax to.
I’m not in any life-threatening danger and the medics need to look after others.
Speaking of which, we need to go. I can’t take sitting here anymore, not knowing what’s going on.
Void’s not answering his phone either, it’s driving me fucking crazy.
” Picasso grunted as he got to his feet, clutching his arm to his body.
“Let’s grab Eagle and Wes then we’re out. ”
Seems they were on the same wavelength since an SUV was sitting outside with Eagle at the wheel and Wes walking toward us. “Let’s go, guys, our girl needs us.”
We put Picasso in the front seat to be safe and the rest of us climbed in. From the glance I got, Wes and Eagle both looked relatively unharmed, which was good because I can only imagine the hell on wheels that Dax is going to be when she wakes up.