Chapter 6
SIX
KILLIAN
My men kept glancing at each other like they weren’t sure the order I gave was real.
“Sir, did we understand you correctly?”
“You did.” I smiled at Orson.
The freshly pledged member rubbed at the back of his neck.
“Sir, I’ve never been a Santa before.”
Orson wasn’t even the best pick, but he’d recently pissed Harrison off well enough that I stuck him with this task. I knew it was going to push him out of his comfort zone and truly test how loyal he was.
“First time for everything, Orson. Now, Harrison went and found you a suit to wear and everything. All you need to do is dress up and show up.”
A few of the other members laughed, while Orson’s brown eyes scanned the backyard.
We were standing a few feet away from the house because my beautiful wife decided she wanted to take the kids to go tree hunting.
I informed her that she would not be doing that, but instead, said that one of my men would go and chop down the biggest one he could find on the property.
Laura argued, and then suggested we just bring the tree from our living room over.
I argued back, which led to us taking a fifteen-minute break where we locked ourselves inside of a bathroom, and I fucked her against the wall.
I won. Yeti was out locating an acceptable tree to bring back for the kids.
The rest of us were on watch. Wes was behind me somewhere, silently being the vice president of our club, just like he always was.
He was my biggest support system, but the man didn’t say shit about shit unless it was absolutely required of him.
Giles had explained what had prompted his phone call this morning, but my mind was still trying to piece together exactly what it all meant.
Since the Chaos Kings were currently our only ally, I was careful not to grill my friend too harshly.
He’d arrived just in time to intervene for his cousin, Jameson and their family.
I was grateful to him, but I still didn’t understand how he knew about the threat before we did.
Or where the fuck Silas was.
“I know Callie is going to ask for specifics.” Wes locked his eyes on me while talking to Giles. He was doing it for my benefit, and mine only. He knew I couldn’t ask a million questions without it seeming like I didn’t trust the information Giles had given us.
“Anyway you can go back through it, Giles?”
Giles still had that stocky look to him, with lighter hair, and a softer, almost innocent expression about him that typically put people at ease. He’d transitioned through a few vice presidents over the years, but whoever held the helm currently was still in Richland.
“Look, I get it. The holes in the story were only going to hold things off for so long, I get that. I knew you’d need more. The truth is, if I tell you, you have to promise not to get pissed off at me.”
My eyes flew to Wesley’s, who was silently communicating with me to tread carefully.
Yeah, fuck that. My family was inside, and we were now essentially fish in a fucking barrel.
“Start talking, Giles.”
With a heavy sigh, the president of the Chaos Kings took a seat on the retaining wall. His breath clouded in front of him, which had me looking up at the sky. Snowflakes swirled around our heads and then landed gently on the stone holding up the grass and mud.
“I have an alliance with the Death Raiders.”
Fucking hell. I wasn’t expecting that…
Wes crossed his arms. “Since when?”
“Two months ago…I met with Lance…and…” He paused, wincing the smallest bit, which had Wes staring at me. I knew what he was thinking because I was thinking the same thing.
“And who?”
Giles kicked at the frozen dirt while my men walked around, checking the perimeter. Yeti was still looking for a tree. My walkie and cell rested next to me on the top of the wall while I waited for the next shoe to drop.
“Silas.” Giles exhaled, then added quickly, “But it’s not what you think…he hasn’t turned or anything.”
Wes dropped his chin to his chest while I scoffed. “Hard to turn when you never pledged or committed to begin with.”
Suddenly Jameson stepped outside, his leather jacket covering his shoulders.
It had on his colors for our club, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still sympathetic to what his old club dealt with.
I had to assume Silas felt the same way.
The difference was Jameson had pledged to the Stone Riders and wore his loyalty on his chest and back.
Silas never had, except to prove his loyalty to his wife.
But Natty was loyal to Silas in a way that surpassed her loyalty to the club. Even more so now that they had two children together. Laura told me she’d already questioned Natty earlier, but she wasn’t giving anything away.
“Keep going, Giles. Tell us about this meeting with Lance and Silas.” I nodded toward Jameson to join us. He rubbed his hands together and took a seat on the retaining wall.
“Kids are okay in there?” I lifted an eyebrow, and he nodded.
“Natty started baking cookies in the kitchen with them.”
Giles checked his phone, which had me on edge.
“I made an alliance with Lance because about two months ago, we had something happen up in Richland that caused a stir.”
Wes kicked his foot out, crossing one ankle over the other. “What sort of stir?”
“The kind that hit the Death Raiders first. Ten of their members were killed in a way that sent a message. It was out of the blue. It shook Lance, so much so that he brought Silas into it.”
Jameson was the one who asked, “Why would Silas need to be brought into it?”
Giles rubbed his hand over his head then exhaled once more. “Because the calling card left behind was the same one left with mine. They took seven of my members, and those men all had families.”
“Who is they?” Wes asked, glancing around our little group.
Giles looked each of us in the eye when he said the one word that had me going back in time ten years, the last time I thought we might lose everything. The only other time I honestly felt like we might not make it out alive.
“The Destroyers.”