“That sure was nice of you,” I said suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”
Riordan sighed, “Because you’re family,lisichka.” As if that was enough of an explanation.
It wasn’t.
When Ivan pulled into the parking lot of Crow’s Landing, it was empty save for motorcycles and two large black SUVs. The sign was dark, and the Closed sign on the door was there to ward off anyone who wasn’t a Crow. Or me. Or the two mobsters and their fancy-pants lawyer I was dead set on winning over. Ratched turned into the lot after us, barely putting the vehicle into park before Lennon threw herself out and slammed the door behind her. Bones and Ratched exited the SUV a little more slowly. Bones, because his arm was now in a sling, and Ratched, probably because he was feeling awkward.
“Gatita…” Bones sighed at Lennon, like he was too exhausted to deal with my bestie.
“No! No me vengas a fregar! Pinche culero,” Lennon snapped at Bones, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stomping off toward the bar. Bones and an awkward-looking Ratched followed her in.
“Yikes,” Ivan muttered from the driver’s seat. He exited the vehicle and scanned the lot like he was the Terminator, assessing for threats. Ivan opened Riordan’s door before circling the car and opening Sutton’s door for her. She elegantly slid out of the vehicle, looking like she was about to head to a movie premiere instead of a biker bar. Riordan offered me a hand out of his door like I was just as fancy as Sutton was.
My weird wiggle across the back seat wasn’t nearly as poised as Sutton’s exit, but that was okay. Sutton and I didn’t have to be exactly the same type of gal to become friends. I couldn’t wait to introduce her to Sheila! Oh jeez…Sheila!Pyro better not have hurt my van, or angelswill weep when they see what I’ll do to him.There won’t be enough of Pyro left to form a puddle if he laid a finger on her fender, so help me Bob.
The door to the bar was manned by Tank and two rough-looking guys who appeared to be twins. They both dipped their heads with a “sir” in Riordan’s direction. One began to mutter Russian into an earpiece while the other opened the door for us. Tank clapped me on the back. “Glad you’re okay, Indi.”
“Thanks, big guy! Sorry to hear about Pyro stealing your Yoo-hoo. He was bragging and monologuing all about it in the evil Dairy Queen.” Tank’s chiseled features turned an adorable shade of magenta as Riordan gently ushered me inside, Ivan and Sutton following in our wake. Generally speaking, I don’t lie, and I loathe liars. However, when it came to dicking Pyro over, I would use any and every tool available in my arsenal to obliterate that shit stain. Pinning my Yoo-hoo larceny on him was no less than the dillweed deserved. I’d come clean to Tank… one day.
Crows and who I assumed were more of Riordan’s men peppered the space. Duke and Priest stood by the bar, having what seemed to be an intense conversation. In fact, the entire vibe in the bar tonight felt foreign and off. Cricket worked really hard to make sure Crow’s Landing was a fun, cool place to be. Today, the bar felt more like a war room than anything else. I scanned the room for my bestie but couldn’t find her.
Bones walked straight over to Duke and Priest, who pushed off the bar and pulled Bones into a back-slapping side-hug, careful not to bump his injured arm. Priest pulled back from his best friend and scanned the room, his eyes searching until they landed on me. I felt trapped in his gaze as he looked me over from head to toe, probably checking for damage. It felt like that was all I really was sometimes: a walking pile of damage. I couldn’t exactly read the expression on his face, but it wasn’t loathing like it used to be, so I’d take that as a win. I gave him a weary smile in return and waved a bit, suddenly feeling very tired.
“Indigo Regina Evans, you scared the bloody hell out of me!” Cricket charged around the bar and caught me up in a comforting embrace.
“My middle name isn’t Regina,” I muttered into his shoulder as I melted a bit into his hug.
“Regardless,” he said as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head and pulled back to look me over in brotherly concern, “never get abducted again. My heart can’t take it.” I smile up at my Cricket, my conscience, just in time for him to freeze in place. His eyes were wide in shock, like he’d seen a ghost.
“Sutton?” he said, face slightly paler than usual, and his normally playful demeanor gone. The woman in question, who stood just inside the bar next to Ivan, Riordan, and their men, looked our way at the sound of her name. Her eyes flicked dismissively over Cricket.
“Do I know you?” she asked coldly. Cricket jolted like he’d been struck, his face shutting down completely.
“Don’t worry, Cricket,” I said, patting his arm consolingly. “I’ll introduce you to my new pal, Sutton. She’s a friend of Riordan’s and a fancy-pants lawyer.”
Riordan waited until Priest and Duke had spoken to Bones before he made his way over to the leader of the Crows. Ivan put his arm around Sutton and led her to a nearby table, and I dragged Cricket over so we could join them. Bones and I had a story to tell, and it looked like the Petrovs and the Crows did too. Yay! I loved story time.
Turned out, we didn’t have to explain that Pyro betrayed Los Cuervos and led the bad guys into the heart of the Crow’s compound. Duke told us the entire fight was caught on the security cameras, so Bones and I only had to go over what happened in the evil DQ, including the conference call with Uncle Roark. Admitting to the Crows that I had gotten them on Uncle Roark’s radar filled me with a shame and self-loathing I tried to hide.
“Can you tell us anythin’ about the other men with Pyro?” Duke asked.
“Hmm…” I squinted hard so I could concentrate on the details, wanting to be as helpful as I could right now. “Well, there were three who survived. Baton Twirler guy, and Goons One & Two. Baton Twirler left after we were put into storage, and we didn’t see him again. The goons are no longer with us. They didn’t seem to like Pyro much, called him a traitor and whined about their boss. Some guy named Riot.”
Duke sat up straight in his chair, and Priest tensed at the name, while Bones just swore viciously under his breath.
“Who’s Riot?” I asked, looking at the Crows.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Priest finally said in a clipped tone. “At home.”
“Come now, Priest,” Riordan admonished in a friendly tone that didn’t match the look on his face. “If we’re going to be allies, surely you don’t intend to keep information about our enemies from us?”
“I don’t believe we’ve discussed any kind of formal agreement yet, Mr. Petrov,” Duke said firmly. “Don’t misunderstand our allowance of your presence here today as anything other than a kind gesture due to your relationship with Indigo.”
“Wait, what?” I was so confused, but I had barely started to phrase my question when Riordan interrupted me with a sharp tone.
“I can assure you, Duke, you don’tallowme to do anything in respect to my cousin. I have not and never will need your permission to do a goddamned thing.”
“Whoa, guys, hold on a—"
