Chapter 40
40
Karma
After we got back to the inn, we had just enough time to tell our guys waiting there-Toxic, Fatal, Zero, Indigo, and Rage—what had happened and how it all went wrong. We didn’t have time to answer any of their questions before the Devils came.
They rode in, at least a hundred strong, chased everyone out, including Eddie and the two guys who help him run this place, and locked the place down. They took everything from us, including our phones and our weapons, cleared the bar of all tables except the ones we’re sitting at. Twenty Devils are now watching us. Apart from my fast breathing, the occasional scuff of boots on wood, or creak of a chair, the room is deathly quiet. I feel like we’re facing a firing squad. We probably are.
The door flies open and a tall, black-haired man walks in, followed by Ruin and a couple of others. It’s Cross, their Prez. I don’t even have to read the patch on his cut to know that. You’d have to live a hermit’s life not to have heard at least some stories about this guy’s cold-blooded ruthlessness. It’s said he got his name because he single-handedly killed enough men to fill a whole cemetery. I’m sure he’s killed enough to fill three more since then. Maybe more.
And as his black eyes pierce me, I just know it’s true. And that we’re next if we don’t talk a good game now.
I squeeze Grim’s arm, and whisper, “I’ll talk.”
Thankfully, he nods. Grim is as cold and hard as they come when he wants to be. I don’t think that’s what’s needed here. Plus, the Devils are reputed to have quite a soft spot when it comes to their women and will go to war for them.
“Talk fast,” Cross says as he towers over me. “I’ll give you one chance to convince me not to kill all of you just to be on the safe side.”
I believe he’d do it without batting an eye. I’ve never feared for my life the way I do right now, and I’ve spent most of my life fearing I’m gonna lose it. I better get this right.
“Joker has a hundred and fifty guys in his MC,” I tell him. “At least as far as we’ve been able to count. They’re all totally loyal to him and their HQ is in the town of Roaring Brook on the Nevada border. It’s an old miner’s town that they’ve taken over and fortified. It’s in the desert, so they’ll see you coming from miles away.”
That’s not what Cross wanted to hear. I can see it in the way his eyes turn even harder. But he’s never gonna trust us if all I do is tell him things he wants to hear. From Scorpio’s reaction when I asked him if this town is where they’re taking Eden, I’m thinking we won’t find them there. And at this point, after our failed attempt to rescue her and the betrayal, that’s for the best. But I gotta give Cross something.
“I mean… a large enough army could—” I say.
“We’ll worry about the plans,” Cross interrupts. “What else do you know? Weapons? Tactical? How well trained are they?”
“Joker has them practicing daily,” Grim says. “Target training and fighting. Seeing that was when we first began suspecting he’s not just some guy trying to capitalize on the fallout from this war you’re fighting.”
Grim can lie with the best of them and look totally legit doing it. We had wondered why Joker’s guys practiced so much, but this was a year ago now and we never put two and two together like this.
“How do you know all this?” Cross asks. “And why are you telling me?”
Cross is piercing him with his gaze, and Grim is holding eye-contact. I had trouble doing that.
“We’re not interested in entering any wars,” Grim says. “We take on jobs when the opportunity arises, and we helped Joker take over a few strip clubs and offload some drugs.”
“But we draw the line at the abduction of young women,” I say. “We heard he was planning on abducting one of yours and we tried to rescue her.”
“And that’s the only reason you’re still alive right now,” Cross says.
“I wish we hadn’t failed,” Grim says. “We’ll tell you everything we know, but we’d like to be on our way soon.”
Cross glares at him, making him look down while scratching his beard. A clear sign of nervousness. He’s not faking. He must know we’re about a breath from dying as well as I do.
“We’ve yet to see if your information is worth anything,” Cross says. “So, you won’t mind enjoying our hospitality a little longer.”
He motions for some of the brothers hanging back to come closer. “Take them to the bunker.”
“What? No!” I say and leap to my feet. One of the Devils steps forward and has my arms in a lock before I can blink. I have a feeling it could’ve just as easily been his knife that had stopped me.
“That wasn’t a request,” Cross says and I nod automatically.
“If your information is solid, you’ll be free to go,” Cross adds then marches out of the room.
The guy holding me releases my arms and I sit back down, wishing we had something strong to drink on the table in front of us. My heart’s racing so hard the room is spinning slightly before my eyes.
We can’t talk yet, because the Devils are still watching us. But as soon as we’re alone, I’ll tell them that we have to play this one safely, go along with everything, convince Cross that we’re on their side. It’s the only way we’re gonna get out of this alive. It won’t be hard, since I’d like to kill Joker myself for this situation he’s put all of us in.
By now, Scorpio knows we’ve betrayed him. It’s a very cold thought. Like a blanket of snow and ice over what was once a lush, flowering meadow full of promise and warmth. I still feel his pull like we’re attached by a strong fisherman’s rope that’s being stretched very tight now. But it hasn’t broken yet. That gives me some hope. A fool’s hope, probably. Even if there’s a chance he’ll forgive us, he probably won’t live long enough to do it now that the Devils are coming for them.
Just from what I’ve seen today, they’re like a well-oiled machine, moving as one to get things done. They don’t even have to talk for everyone to know exactly what has to be done and do it effectively and efficiently.
But if that’s how it’s gotta be, so be it. I’ll gladly die by Scorpio’s side in this war. Even fighting on opposite sides.
He’s given me back something I thought I lost forever. Hope. For a future. For a better life. But it’s even more than that. He’s given me my heart back. It had grown cold and hard like a stone in my chest, but he’s shown me it still beats, still flutters, still can love.
And if that’s not a thing worth dying for, nothing is. I just have to tell him I’m sorry first.