Where the hell had Jesse gone?
Kellen’s inattention cost him, and Chen had him in a chokehold on his knees.
“Fucker.” Kellen coughed, roared, and let hisguerfill him. He grew in size and strength and reversed their positions, now choking out Tommy Chen on the mats.
The crowd went wild.
“Who are you talking about?” Kellen growled. “Why did you drag me into this, asshole?”
“M-mine,” Chen hissed, except the sound didn’t come from his mouth but his arms. Snakelike bands of neon green energy left his arms and twined around Kellen, fucking with hisguer.
Alarmed and knowing when to pull back, Kellen kicked out at Chen and sent him out of the ring. But Chen vaulted into a flip and landed on his feet, his arms outstretched, his tattoos now moving with a life of their own.
“Shit.” Dante jumped into the ring and yanked Kellen to his feet. “Time to go.”
Mei Lin hurried in front of him and glared down at Chen. “My turn.” She placed her palms together as if praying then extended her arms to point at Chen. “Die.”
The glowing green lightning bolt that shot from her hands met the snaking tattoos of energy and crackled with savage power, tangling and spitting at each other.
Everyone watched in stunned silence before someone yelled, “Incoming! Look out!”
The blast took Kellen off his feet and knocked him and Dante out of the ring all the way to the closest concrete wall.
Kellen stood, his ears ringing, and watched soldiers in black enter through a hole blown in a side wall. They started firing at the crowd, which immediately fought back.
Another explosion tried to destroy the club, but Dante’s Vulcani contained it, shooting the fiery blast at nearby soldiers.
They screeched as they caught fire but didn’t burn. Several of them went down while others remained standing, the flame going out as they opened fire.
“Be right back,” Dante said before darting to the Vulcani to save her from being torn apart by gunfire.
Letting his instincts take charge, Kellen added intent to hisguerand attacked the attackers. He mowed through several while his Ravagers brothers did the same, aiding those Voiders who couldn’t save themselves. Nearby, Chen’s men engaged with the soldiers while two Rocs crushed guns and threw bodies back through the hole from which they’d arrived.
The sound of more vehicles and sirens sounded close, and Kellen looked to see Jesse shoving the Lite out of the way when a soldier fired. Kellen reacted. He rushed over and killed the soldiers trying to get at his lover.
“I’m fine, damn it,” Jesse growled when Kellen tried to put himself between Jesse and danger. “Go help the others. We need to get—look out!” Jesse shoved Kellen out of the way and went down under fire.
Kellen quickly terminated the soldier with the weird weapon. It had spat ammunition that burst upon impact, something Prime would want to see. He strapped the gun around his body and hefted Jesse over his shoulder, looking for a way to safety.
“Damn it. Put me down!”
Thank the Voids, Jesse’s snarling set Kellen’s mind at ease, and he put the Ravager down and watched while Jesse tore into more of the enemy, who seemed to be coming at them from everywhere. But Voids love him, Jesse couldmove, his claws flashing as he destroyed the combatants.
The chaos all around them had turned into an organized battle, soldiers versus Rock Hall’s patrons—Voiders, Conduits, and Norms who liked hanging with Voiders. Chen’s men were brutal but effective as they plowed into the invaders.
The Voiders seemed to be winning, so Kellen felt better about sticking close to Jesse while he rallied the others to get the hell back to their territory. Once the last Ravager had left—Dante with a Vulcani clinging to him—Kellen once again lifted Jesse over his shoulder and tore down the alley.
Along the way he saw Tommy Chen racing after someone, probably Viper, and knew he couldn’t get in the middle of whatever that was. Not when he had an injured Jesse to protect.
It wasn’t until he got Jesse home under the watchful care of Kate and Logan that he realized he’d been treating Jesse like a packmate and not just a clanmate. He’d overstepped.
Kate blinked. “What the hell happened?”
“Jesse?” Logan hurried to his side, and Kellen put him down on their bed.
“I’m fine,” Jesse snapped though he sounded weak as he continued to swear, ending with, “Stupid Kellen. Be…more…careful…” He closed his eyes and went limp.
“Jesse?” Kellen knew fear as he hadn’t in a very long time. He met Kate’s eyes filled with worry and felt a ball of guilt for intruding where he didn’t belong. This wasn’t his pack, not his mates. And he bore the responsibility for Jesse getting shot, who’d pushed him out of the way and saved him from a similar fate.
