She slumped against the stairs, rubbing her throat, but her raspy voice asked, “Is he going to be okay?”
Dino stood behind her, watching me pick Rabid’s huge ass up, and moved towards the house. “Yeah,” he said, “he’s going to be a little pissed tomorrow, but he will be fine.” I heard him mumble over some other words before he scolded her, “Now, go get some sleep, maybe some salt water, too.” Celine croaked out a laugh as she said okay.
As I put Rabid to bed, I looked down at him and thought about everything Celine had done. How she couldn't be more perfect for all of us in this house, even Rabid. No one had ever been able to do that with him,no one.
Maybe she wasn't as broken as she thought. Maybe she just hadn’t sung to her right mates, but she was now, and we were all listening.
Chapter 20
Weshould’vetakentwocars. It was cramped as fuck with Bricks, Rabid, Duce, and Celine all in the same SUV. Especially Celine, since, for some reason, I couldn't get her scent out of my head. The whole car was filling up with the ocean breeze with a slight hint of honeysuckle, and I was fighting in between gagging and never wanting to leave the vehicle.
When Rabid finally woke up in the morning, he came into the living room, head down, and apologized several times. He kept going on and on about how he was going to work harder to keep his wolf at bay when Duce spoke up, saying that it wasn't much work once Celine came to the rescue. It was funny to see this big, muscular, tattooed man who I have respected above all for years, turn wholly red and bashful as he thanked Celine.
She shrugged it off, acting as if it wasn’t a big deal that it was. Her exact words were, “No biggie, Boss Man. We all lose it a time or two.” I don’t think she realized how much work it was when Rabid wolfed out. He had only done it a handful of times since I’d known him, and some of those times, we did it on purpose to get the point across to others that wanted to test our strength. It usually took Bricks taking the brunt of his blows as a wolf while the rest of us worked out a way to knock him out and bring him home before he woke up.
In true Celine fashion, she did point a question at Rabid. “Has Killian contacted you for the drop yet?”
All of a sudden, the bashful, apologetic Rabid was wiped off his face, and he turned into the fierce and stern Rabid, leader of the Moon Raiders. “Yes. While I was out, he texted a location and time for tonight.”
Celine clapped and rubbed her hands together, her eyes glowing with a brutal excitement that reminded me of what she did for a living. “So, it's planning time!” Rabid laid out a plan that we mostly agreed with, Celine making a few tweaks in order to play her part, and we got ready.
And now, here we were, on this bumpy car ride, with Celine’s thigh rubbing up against mine, mercilessly reminding me of what her body felt like. I was rough and angry, and I fucking loved it. All brutal bruising hands instead of soft caresses, teeth that bit instead of nibbled, our bodies fucking so hard we saw stars. I knew that I would be that way, not able to keep my rage at her at bay, and I prepared myself to get the blow black after, sealing that door shut for good. The part I didn't realize, what freaked me out the most, was that she liked it, too. With that little admission, she made a crack in my armor, and I couldn't take it, so I bolted.
I thought if I pushed her enough, she would back off, keep her distance just to get the job done. In the span of a few days, I had seen her calm Gears, bring life back into Brick’s eyes, reel Duce in, and tame Rabid’s beast. I'm beginning to realize that I was the one who didn't know who I was dealing with.
“Well, I guess it's time to mic up and get ready.” Duce shoved his hand into the backpack that Gears gave him before we left, pulling out little Bluetooth mics and handing them to each of us.
Celine examined it for a second, pushing some of the buttons to figure out what all the settings were. The plan was that Rabid would stay with the car and be the lookout on the street. Bricks was going to go around the perimeter and take care of anyone he found. Duce, Celine, and I were going to go into the warehouse. We would take care of the guys inside guarding the drugs and set up the explosives. Once we set them off, we would tell everyone, and we’d all meet at the car to jet off.
Celine’s plan was to make sure a few of the dead bodies had an S carved into the back of their necks, her calling card, so that they would think someone hired her to do this, and Rabid would call Killian to complain that the building was on fire when we got there. Effectively getting rid of the drugs and our problem at the same time.
Duce put his hand up to his ear as he covered his mouth, “One, two, one, two. Do you hear me? Rodger.”
The rest of us rolled our eyes at him until we heard that sweet feminine voice respond, “Rodger that, Pumpkin. You looked especially plump and orange today. Rodger.”
Duce smiled wide as he replied, “Is that you, Cupcake? That glass filled humor is starting to show. Rodger.” Bricks turned around from the front seat and signed,Oh, don’t start this up. Duce signed back,shut up, and kept going.
They went back and forth a few times, making other digs at each other until Rabid called out, “Shhh. GPS says we are almost there.”
We all grew still, watching out the blacked-out windows for any kind of security that they had on the premises.
There was a regular chain link fence that surrounded the property with only one guy waving us towards him. I thought that this wasn't enough until I saw him holding an AR as we slowed up next to him. So, it looked like they were going for more firepower than manpower. Interesting. It made me think that this place wasn't a money-maker. This was probably just the first stop. This was the distribution warehouse.
This macabre-looking Fanger stepped up to the window. “Name?” Celine tapped on my leg, and I looked up as she motioned for me to change seats with her. The dead-eyed look she gave me after I took a beat to think about it made me change my mind real quick. She easily slid over my lap, her ass cheeks grazing my dick. and I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep me sane.
“Rabid with the Moon Raiders.” Rabid’s voice rang clear, but I watched in horror as Celine rolled down her window. The Fanger jumped, yanking his gun up, and putting it in her face. I heard a growl, but I realized it was me who growled when his eyes flicked to mine for a second.
“Hi. Don’t worry about me. Just listen to me. I have something very important to tell you.” As soon as she said the first syllable, I felt the magic in the air. I heard the slight melody of her words as she used her magic, calling anyone to fall into her voice just to hear more.
I saw his eyes glaze over, and his hands dropped from the AR, letting it dangle off him as he looked at her with lovesick eyes. It was gross. I wanted to hurl as well as punch this fucker in the face.
She then very cheerfully said, “Take out the silver knife in your pocket and stab yourself in the chest.”
“Celine-,” Rabid warned before the guy dug around in the pocket of his pants, pulled out a silver knife, and stabbed himself right through the heart with a smile on his lips. He toppled over and was completely still on the ground.
Rabid stepped out, checked his pulse, then turned around and pointed to the body, looking all kinds of furious. “That was not the plan, Celine. We made a very-”
Celine climbed out, put her gloves on as she casually removed the knife, turned his head, and started to carve into his neck an S, her Songbird calling card. All of this was done leisurely before she stood straight and waved her hands in the air. “Yes. Yes. I know the plans. But, really, did you want to worry about this fucker all the way out here while we start chaos in there?” She pointed to a large, red-brick building, looking like it was built a hundred years ago, as she laughed. “Yeah, No. I think I would rather get rid of the guy now. It will make for an easier way out, a better risk ratio, and, plus, I enjoyed him saying I was weird.”
