Chapter 40
“How the fuck did this happen?” Zeus growls, pacing back and forth among the blood and carnage.
We’re on high alert after the shit that just went down. Brothers are already scouring the streets and surrounding counties for any signs of Disciples.
Jigsaw leans against the wall, his lip split and knuckles bloodied. “They caught us sleeping,” he says, his voice hard. “That can’t happen again.”
After taking a piss, I went out back for a smoke break and to get away from the noise. I needed to get away from Zilphia too, before I snatched her little ass up for being disobedient. I was heading back inside when I heard the explosion. Those fuckers hit us when they knew our guard would be down.
The blame is on us, though. We got too cocky… thought we were untouchable. This is the price. We suffered heavy losses—brothers and civilians. Naomi and Hawk, who’s an ex-military medic, are in the basement, patching up the wounded.
The Disciples took heavy losses too, but that means nothing. They still got in. They breached our sanctuary. That shouldn’t have happened.
Once word gets out, it’s highly probable every criminal syndicate in the surrounding area will try their hand. We have to save face and quick. The only way to do that is to kill every last Disciple.
I coil one of Zilphia’s long braids around my index finger. She’s still unconscious, head resting on my lap. I’ve showered and dressed in clean clothes, though five minutes under the water didn’t remove all the blood from my hair and body.
I almost lost her and our baby today. My heart is still racing. When that fucker had the gun on her… The image materializes in my mind, twisting my stomach into knots. I had never been so scared in my life. If anything ever happens to them, I’ll make this world bleed.
“No, it can’t.” Zeus stops in his tracks and aims his gaze at Butch. “Contact all the chapters. Tell them what happened here and to send any available brothers our way.”
He nods, cell phone already at his ear.
“Where the fuck are Draco and Snake?” Zeus barks. “I want them here now.”
He’s trying not to show it, but he’s worried. I am too. They could be dead or being held hostage. Draco and me, we have our differences, but he’s still blood.
“Neither answered when I called,” Smokey says, digging his phone out of his back pocket. “I’ll try them again.”
“We can’t sit on this.” I push to my feet and gently place Zilphia’s head on the sofa. “We need to go after them now before they run.”
Zeus shakes his head. “They’re not going to run. Spider won this battle, so now he’ll figure he can win the war.”
“Those bastard Disciples might not run, but they’ll go underground,” Tank adds, a scowl on his dark-brown face. “They won’t be easy to find.”
Tank walks up beside me and drops a heavy hand on my shoulder. “I know what they tried to take from you today, but don’t get reckless. We can’t lose any more brothers.”
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” I snarl. My hands are itching to spill Disciple blood.
“Keep a cool head,” Zeus tells me. “They’re going to pay, son. You have my word.”
I dip my head, though every fiber of my being demands that I prowl the streets and get every Disciple I can find.
“Snake is en route,” Smokey announces, stuffing his cell phone back into his pocket. “Still no word from Draco.”
“Shit, I forgot,” Cricket says, pausing with his beer a hairbreadth from his lips. “He’s at Tulip’s.”
“Fucking boy is always thinking with his cock when it comes to that girl.” Zeus sighs and drops into an armchair.
“I’ll get her number from Meela,” Jigsaw offers, then disappears into the hallway.
After the bullets stopped flying, Meela wound herself around him and wouldn’t let go. He tried to force her to leave with the women and children, but she only held on tighter. He could’ve shaken her off easy, but I think her tears did him in. Instead, he took her to his room.
Tank strides across the room and whispers something to Zeus.
He gives a clipped nod and stands. “We have a lead on a Disciple safehouse.”
Looks like a club informant came through for us.
“Let’s go,” I say, lifting Zilphia in my arms.
I’ll leave her in my room and post a couple brothers on the door. Naomi checked her out, said she’s fine, just in shock.
“Burn these pieces of shit and put our fallen on ice,” Zeus tells the prospects.
I’m driving one of three SUVs to the safehouse. We just crossed into Wicomico County, a little over an hour from Kent.
Snake pounds a fist on the dashboard. “I still can’t believe this shit, man.” He and Draco arrived at The Sanctuary within minutes of each other. Zeus tore into them for not answering their phones.
“We’ll get them back,” Cricket comments from behind me.
“Where the hell were you, Snake?” Smokey asks.
“Nowhere,” Snake answers, shrugging a shoulder. “Just hanging around. You my mother or something?”
Smokey scoffs. “By hanging around, do you mean stalking Leah?”
“Stay the fuck out my business,” he growls, throwing a punch back at him.
“Chill, man.” Smokey laughs, dodging the fist that was meant for his face. “I won’t bring up your girlfriend again.”
“Stop fucking around,” I order them, parking behind the SUV in front of me. “We’re here.”
We exit the vehicles and gather on the sidewalk. We’re twenty deep and roaring to fuck some shit up.
Jigsaw points out a dilapidated house about three blocks up the street. “That’s it.”
The house is big but unassuming, nothing out of the ordinary to indicate a Disciple safehouse. It’s a good place to hide in plain sight. The lights are on, so somebody’s home.
“Basement?” Tank asks him.
“Yeah, an attic too,” Jigsaw confirms, gaze scouting the rundown neighborhood. “Lots of places to hide. I’ll do some recon, make sure the coast is clear. Be back in five.”
“Watch your six, brother,” Butch states gravely.
“Always,” he replies and saunters across the street before disappearing behind a house.
You can take the man out of the military, but you can’t take the military out of the man.
“We go in hot and heavy.” Zeus drops an open duffel bag full of MAC-10s at his feet. “The bullets keep flying until every last Disciple in that house is dead.”
“Fuck yeah.” Snake grins, arming himself with one of the machine guns. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
The other brothers follow suit, echoing his excitement.
I grab a weapon too, relishing the feel of it in my hands. “What about the rest of them? We need to kill them all.”
I won’t rest until every last Disciple is ash.
“We will,” Zeus states with grim determination. “No matter how long it takes.”
“Clear,” Jigsaw announces, rejoining the group. “Thirteen bikes are parked in the alley out back. We can assume there’s at least that many of those fuckers inside.”
“Let’s show these bastards you don’t fuck with the Gods,” Draco growls.
“At my whistle, we go in and light ’em up,” Zeus says.
We split up to cover both entry points into the house. I lick my lips in anticipation, the prospect of killing Disciples lighting a fire in my blood.
Zeus lets out a sharp whistle, then kicks the front door open with one booted foot. We bound into the house behind him, our weapons drawn and ready. It’s a fucking pigsty in here.
“Motherfucker!” a man roars, reaching for a gun on the coffee table.
Zeus pumps him and the man beside him on the sofa full of lead. The rat fucks sitting at a table in the back corner scatter. Two run for an alcove to the left and the other three bolt for a doorway to the right.
Shouts and rapid gunfire rip through the house. The brothers fan out, taking cover wherever they can. I dive in front of the sofa with Cricket and Smokey, bullets flying all around us.
I shoot at the men sheltered in the alcove, ducking every few seconds to avoid their return fire.
“Fuck!” Cricket yells. “The stairs! Shoot those motherfuckers!”
He’s hit. Blood pours from a gaping hole in his shoulder. I flip the coffee table, using it as a shield between us and the deadly projectiles. We unleash a hail of ammunition toward our targets, dropping two. The rest haul ass back upstairs.
“Shit,” Cricket hisses through gritted teeth. “Hurts like a son of a bitch.”
“Want me to kiss it and make it better?” I quip, digging a clip out of my cut pocket and reloading my MAC-10.
“Gee, would you, Mom?” he deadpans.
“Later. I got some Disciples to kill first.” I make a run for the stairs, squeezing off rounds along the way.
I reach the landing intact and scan my surroundings for immediate danger. Five doors—two open, three closed. Fuck. My thirst for vengeance clouded my common sense. I can’t cover this floor alone. I’d take my chances if I didn’t have Zilphia and a baby on the way.
“You got a death wish, asshole?” Cricket grumbles from behind me.
I smirk and glance over my shoulder. My day one, Snake, and Smokey creep up the stairs, locked and loaded.
“Glad you could join me.”
He flips me the bird, and I chuckle. They mimic my position, crouching beside me on the landing, gazes sweeping over the cluttered hallway.
“And where the fuck you been, little brother? Out back smelling the daisies while we were in here doing all the killing?”
Snake scoffs and, following my best friend’s lead, extends his middle finger at me. “Whatever. The back of the house was thick with Disciples. Definitely way more than thirteen of those fucks in the house,” he adds. “How many up here?”
“Not sure. Three, maybe four,” I answer him. “We check every room and dead any Disciples we see.”
We clear the first room, then the second, searching closets and looking under beds. The third door leads to a bathroom, so we continue down the hallway with measured steps.
The organ in my chest beats a mile a minute, but it’s not because I’m afraid. I live for this shit. It’s the thrill of hunting my enemies. I tighten my grip on the sleek metal in my hands as we reach the fourth door.