Chapter Seven
Nadia
“Ew, gross.” Abby gags. I look to the dance floor to find what she’s talking about. Oh, well, yeah, that’s gross.
He would kill us if he knew we were here, not because we aren’t allowed to be at a club, but because he explicitly told us not to come tonight. That only made Deck, Isla, Abby, and me more curious, so we did come. We were sorely regretting that now.
“Relax.” Deck laughs.
“Isn’t Pop allowed to have some fun?” He teases.
“Yeah, but not in front of my face.” Abby retorts.
“Which is probably why he told us not to come.” Isla singsongs.
“Whatever. Let’s bounce.” Abby says.
We exit the club and into the cool night air.
We’re halfway down the block when my shoulders tense, and I automatically know someone’s following us.
I spin on my feet just in time to catch the bat that’s swinging towards my head.
I don’t stop to examine the situation or even who’s holding the goddamn bat.
All I know is that someone was trying to take me out and I can’t let that slide.
So, I do what I was trained to do. Retaliate.
I push the bat up while simultaneously throwing my right hook.
It’s only then that I take in my perpetrator’s face.
Two inches shorter than I am, wearing a black tee and leggings.
Combat boots and a long grey bandana hanging on her waist. A fucking Phantom.
She’s clutching her now broken nose, blood pouring from it profusely.
I snatch the bat away from her and kick her in the gut.
She goes toppling to the floor. I don’t bother with her any longer, pivoting to find my crew surrounded by other Phantoms. Instantly, I’m there, swinging the bat like a mad woman and hitting true every time.
When I turn again, I see Deck be shoved against the wall by a tall dude dressed in all black. He’s got a chain and a smaller grey bandana hanging out of his back pocket.
“I thought this would be more fun. Seeing you four walking alone down the street. It was almost too perfect.” Deck lands a punch to his jaw, but the brute doesn’t react. Just spits the blood from his mouth before pulling out a switchblade, pressing it to Deck’s jugular.
“But this got boring really fast.”
The guy speaks so apathetically, and it’s not just for show. He genuinely thinks that jumping us is boring. He doesn’t show signs of breathing hard or having a racing heartbeat. Not a single hair is out of place, no blood dripping from his hands, no adrenaline rush. This guy’s a machine.
I meet Deck’s eyes over his shoulder, and I don’t hesitate any longer.
I raise the bat over my head, arcing towards him, putting all my weight behind it.
The bat cracks him in his temple, causing him to drop the knife and lose his balance.
Deck gets away from the wall just as I swing the bat to the back of his knees. He collapses on the street, groaning.
Rolling around, he braces himself with one hand, the other clutching his temple. The fighting around us has stopped, the Phantoms ceasing their attack and positioning themselves closer to him.
Huh, so I guess this is the man in charge.
The Phantoms are a gang based on the west side of Stonebridge, and their leader is Delia Barrett.
She’s around Pop’s age, has been in power just as long too, and she and her gang have always been a pain in our asses.
No matter how much back-and-forth goes on between the gangs, neither Pop nor Delia has ever officially declared war on the other. And no one knows why.
“Why don’t you fuck off back to whatever hole you crawled out of ?” I glare. He raises his brow.
“Oh, sweetheart. You just made the biggest mistake of your life.” He gets to his feet and grabs my jaw.
“You made yourself interesting.” He smirks and, swifter than a bullet, grabs me by the throat.
Lifting me off the ground just an inch or two and clutches me, making breathing a tedious task.
Deck, Isla, and Abby can’t get to me. They’re surrounded on all sides by Phantoms. We’re outnumbered, but we are not outmatched. I still haven’t dropped the bat, but as I go to desecrate his family jewels with it, we’re interrupted.
“Riven, drop her!”
Riven doesn’t, though. He just squeezes me harder and narrows his phantom colored eyes.
“If you don’t wanna get battered by the bat she’s still got in her hands, put her the fuck down now.” The command is delivered coldly and clearly. He drops me unceremoniously, though it’s in his eyes that he doesn’t want to.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
“Shit.” Isla mumbles.
Looking over my shoulder, I see Pop standing there, arm thrown around the blonde he was dancing with at the club, glaring daggers at Riven and the Phantoms. One in particular. I observe Delia’s face as she takes in Pop, seizing him up. Huh.
“Clive.” She grits her teeth.
“Cordelia.” He tightens his grip on his woman’s shoulders.
“Is anyone gonna answer the goddamn question?” He pointedly looks at the four people he practically raised.
“We were just walking home, Pop. These Phantom scum decided to jump us.” Deck explains.
“Is that so?” Pop turns his gaze back to Delia.
“It wasn’t an authorized attack. I will deal-” She glares at every one of her Phantoms.
“-With these imbeciles later.”
Of course she has to. Because right now, we’re on neutral turf and any gang violence or attacks like this one tonight are inexcusable. If Pop really wanted to make her life hell, he could have her people arrested or worse. Deal with them himself.
“My ride’s just down the street. Why don’t you wait for me there, darlin’?” Pop sweet-talks his new friend. She complies, passing us all, and shoulder-checking Delia as she goes by.
“Fall back.” Delia orders, to which most of her crew does. All except Riven.
“This isn’t finished, sweetheart .” He tells me.
“I’m glad you know that, honeybunch .”
My saccharine smile accompanies my words as I shove the end of the bat into his chest, shoving him towards his master. Delia puts a hand on his shoulder and guides him away. When, and only when, they’re out of sight, do I turn my back and face my family.
“Does my word mean jackshit to you punks?” He raises his voice.
“When I tell you to do something or not, it isn’t a fucking suggestion. It’s a fucking order .”
He proceeds to berate us for the next ten minutes, but it’s well deserved.
Pop loves the hell out of the four of us, goes above and beyond to provide and take care of us, and puts his trust in us when he wouldn’t give it to anyone else.
All he asks in return, and he rarely asks us for anything of substance, is that we’re loyal to him, the gang, and the little family we’ve built.
For someone who once didn’t have any of that, it’s not a big ask. Tonight was a minor incident, a small insubordination that we could’ve handled ourselves, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve let him down. I never want to let Pop down.
So, when we go home, I make a vow. Well, two. One: I will never disappoint Clive Spencer ever again. And two: I will destroy Riven for almost making me break vow one.