Chapter 14
LEGION
B ound by a promise and pissed off by what transpired between Keegan and I last night, temptation taunts me more than ever now as I stare at the row of motorcycles behind Stogies.
I recall the night I worked dark magick on Keegan. It was before I broke into Vanna’s home for the first time.
Smoke snaked up toward the ceiling in a dark, a translucent stream from the piece of Palo Santo I held in the flame of my Zippo.
The end blackened and caught fire. Notes of pine, mint, and lemon mixed with the smoke from the cigarette dangling from my lips, and thickly permeated the atmosphere of my office in the Demons’ Den.
But naturally, revenge against Keegan isn’t what draws my mind back to that moment.
While working magick that night, a half-smile pulled at my mouth at the thought of Keegan’s woman, a dark lady, but a white witch.
She was fairly new to her craft, that much had been made abundantly evident in her response to my statement regarding the Holy Wood she sold in her little shop.
“I didn’t know it could be used for that…”
Such an innocent divulgence... Though it irked me to admit it, I found her response quite endearing. Especially with the way she had looked up at me with those inquisitive dark eyes. I’d wanted so badly to touch her. Instead, I’d merely placed my hand beside hers on the edge of the drawer.
I could have schooled her in that moment. Reminded her of the Hermetic Principles, the teachings of the Kybalion, the Law of Polarity.
Palo Santo has always been a favorite of mine.
The tree is native to South America and has been highly valued by Shamans since the Incan era.
Utilized mostly for the purposes of raising one’s vibration, cleansing negative energies, and restoring physical and energetic well-being.
Some believe it encourages feelings of mental and emotional clarity, peace, and tranquility, as well.
The inexperienced often fail to consider the Law of Polarity as it pertains to magick. The principle states that everything has two poles. Everything is dual. Good and Evil. Love and Hate. That which can be used as a tool to bring clarity , can in turn be used to obscure...
So yes, sweet one, I assure you… Palo Santo can indeed be utilized in workings to blind one’s enemy…
Lifting the photo of her lover, my enemy, I brought the smoldering, blackened point of the Palo Santo stick to Keegan’s face and used it to burn out his eyes.
With the residual black ash, I smeared darkness across his forehead, clouding over the third eye, and with the prick of my finger on my knife, I sealed my baneful intentions against him with a drop of blood.
Placing his photo on my desk, my eyes drifted to the photo of Vanna. I sucked at the bead of blood on my index finger and lifted the photo to stare at the curve of her figure in one of those witch shop dresses she seemed so fond of.
“What is it about you?” I’d growled with annoyance at the ever-present pull I felt toward her.
Physical attraction aside, there was something about her I couldn’t put my bloody finger on.
The feeling stirred an anger within me, and I was tempted to return the vexatious emotion with a spell of my own against her.
About to smear her face with the blood of my pricked finger in spite, a sharp jolt pierced at my heart, halting me. It was as if the moment the thought of committing an act against her crossed my mind, a burst of adrenaline pumped a short-lived feeling of dread throughout my entire being.
Blasphemous! A voice, not entirely my own, scolded from within the depths of my mind...
I had to know more about her.
There was no way around it.
She was significant in a way I couldn’t deny and had yet to uncover.
Fine… I sneered, utterly annoyed as I undid my belt and fly. There were other bodily fluids I could spill in her cursed honor!
“ D idn’t think you’d have the balls to show up.” The sound of Keegan’s voice rips me back to the present.
I drop my cigarette and crush it beneath my boot in the gravel lot behind Stogies, as Keegan and his Sergeant at Arms approach.
“There may be certain attributes I lack… However, I think you will come to appreciate the stock I own in this particular department. Testicular fortitude has never been an area I’ve come up short. ”
“Search him,” Keegan commands.
Viking steps to me, and I raise my arms in compliance. He roughly pats me down, relieving me of several knives, my Sig Sauer, and the small Glock holstered in my boot.
“It’s barely ten in the morning… Do you always wake up and choose violence?” Viking asks, dropping a final push-blade into the pile of weaponry around me. “Leave all this shit in the saddlebag on your bike.”
They watch me closely as I gather up the discarded blades and tuck them into my side bag.
“I’ll hold onto these for now,” Viking adds, tucking my Sig behind his belt and the Glock somewhere beneath his cut.
I follow them through the back door of the Saviors MC-owned cigar shop and into a small conference room.
“Start talking.” Keegan claims a seat at the head of the table, and the rest of his crew settles in.
“We have more in common than simply your wife , Keegan.” His glare deepens at my words. “Perhaps I should rephrase.”
“Probably a good idea,” Viking taunts.
“In a word… redemption . That is what your MC is about, isn’t it? Why you all do what you do ?” My reply is met with silence and stoic expressions. “I owe Vanna a debt. I owe you a debt… Had I known then, what I know now…”
“ Snowy would still be alive ,” the typically quiet, though deadly, one they call Viper growls.
I nod. “A lot of people would still be alive.” Not that I care. Still, it’s true. I shift my attention back to Keegan. “I haven’t been your enemy for a very long time… But I have made many enemies in the pursuit of righting my wrongs against you.”
“Sounds like a you problem.” Viking chuckles.
“I wouldn’t have returned yet if it were simply my problem.”
“What have you done?” Keegan asks.
“Have you not tuned into your local stations?”
“Oh, that’s right. You’re a hero now.” Keegan’s words are leaden with sarcasm.
“I’m not one to compare dick sizes, but I am well aware of your body count. I’ve got you beat .”
“I think he just implied his dick is bigger, bro.” Viking grins, looking me up and down in mock appraisal. “I heard skinny dudes are packing. That true?”
Choosing to ignore Viking’s adolescent needling, I turn my attention back to Keegan and his intensifying scowl.
“Truth be told, I was hoping you had met your end somewhere,” he says, as if confessing something I wasn’t already acutely aware of.
“Tough luck, I’m afraid.”
A hearty laugh erupts from Viking, though he’s the only one who seems amused by my reply. The others seated around the table continue to glower at me. I shift my focus back to their president, still wearing that trademark stoic stare of his.
“Three years I’ve spent spilling blood in your wife’s name, keeping my word to protect her by eliminating those who escaped that night. For whatever it’s worth, I have kept my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me. You should ride back to the desert. There’s nothing for you here.”
“You know that isn’t true.”
“ Vanna is mine .”
“I also vowed to protect her.”
“ From afar … Go back to wherever that was. There’s no reason for you to be here.”
I release an aggravated sigh. I knew the only way he’d ever tolerate my presence anywhere within range of her, would be if it were somehow to her benefit.
I could imply there’s still a specific threat to her…
His desire to keep her safe and utilize anything and everything at his disposal, including me, will overrule his urge to run me off.
I have but one potential enemy, and though I have my suspicions regarding his whereabouts, I doubt whether he would ever expect to find me among the Saviors MC.
Though, should this scenario happen to manifest, I am here to put an end to it as well…
Besides, I promised her I wouldn’t harm Keegan… Not that I wouldn’t manipulate him…
“And if there are demons at your gates again?” I demand.
“Is that what you were hinting at last night?”
I nod.
“Afraid to stand alone? To reap what you’ve sown?”
“I fear nothing but for the safety of your wife and child.” The statement seems to sober the room a bit.
“There’s always a chance some may eventually come after me, seeking revenge for that night.
For all I’ve done since that night… I doubt anyone would anticipate I’d come to you for anything.
Besides, I know who they are. Having me around, keeping an eye out , would be beneficial to everyone. ”
“Are you seeking asylum among the Saviors?” Viper genuinely seems astounded.
“We can help you fake your death and disappear.” Viking grins deviously. I’m well aware, there would be nothing fictitious about my death or disappearance.
“I’m afraid I must decline that particular offer,” I sneer back at him.
Keegan continues to silently glare at me, before his Vice President speaks again. “You cannot seriously be considering this!”
“ Keep your friends close and your enemies closer ,” Keegan replies.
“Yeah, I get that, but… What about everything he’s done? To our town! To our brothers! Snowy is dead because of him! We should take him to join his brother! Who he also killed! For fucks sake, Dean! The Devil walks up to our table, and you’re thinking about offering him a seat?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Keegan mutters.
“I’m not your enemy,” I interject. “As I’ve stated, I haven’t been your enemy for quite some time now.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t go that far either.” Keegan’s glare darkens. I imagine my words about being in love with his wife are echoing in his thoughts. “The night I spared you…she could have been killed.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Vanna was in the bar…your hail of bullets could have?—”