Then he gestures to the chair next to where I’m standing. “Sit.”
“Sorry, man. I shouldn’t have said all that.” My body complies with his command before my brain catches up with the action. “But I’m going insane. I gotta get this aggression out before I hurt someone who doesn’t deserve to be hurt.”
Crow drags in a deep breath, his gaze lingering on my covered chest. “You survived all that, and you’re standing here today, arguing with me to get back to work?”
“You would be, too, if all you had to do was sit around with a brain full of memories of that place haunting you.”
He rests his palms on his desk. “No, Wraith, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t because most people wouldn’t have survived that dungeon. You want to get back to work? Fine. It’s done.”
Thank fucking God.
I resist the urge to run my fingers along the outline of my lips because I still freak the hell out when I think about Crane sewing my lips closed.
He leans back in the chair and scrolls through his phone. “I’m sending Malice and Jester on a job this Thursday. Perfect to get you back in the game. Axel’s been running his mouth. Routine beating. Flint gave the blessing.”
The hell?
“Berserker prez gave the okay to fuck up one of his own?”
Crow sets down his phone with a shrug. “It’s Axel, so, yes.”
No one likes that asshole, but still. For a president to hand over one of his men to a rival gang is harsh. Treasonous. Shit, if Crow did that to an Unholy, it’d cause a mutiny among the ranks. But whatever. Not my gang. Not my problem. All I care about is that it will allow me to get my hands bloody. “Thanks, man.”
“No worries. I’m just relived to have you home.”
I walk to the door, but I pause with my hand on the doorknob. “I want to hurt that sonofabitch.”
“We’re going to hurt him, Wraith,” Crow assures me. “I’m calling a meeting for next Monday. Upper members only.”
I give him a single nod, then leave to head back the way I came, down the endless corridor. Past the rows of bedrooms used for sex during parties and to crash when there’s trouble.
Sanctum is massive, the building large enough to accommodate every member and their families—not that many of us have those. When you live the lifestyle we do, there’s no room for wives and children. But here I am, thinking long term with Jamie because if anyone has earned a second chance, it’s us.
* * *
Nothing says normal like having my ass parked on the back of my Honda CRF450RWE.
Decked out in O’Neal gear, I whale on the throttle as I rip over the motocross track behind Sanctum. I extend my left leg for balance as I take the bermed corner. Ride up the first tabletop, then the step off. Fly around the flat corner. Glide over the rollers. Sail down the ski jump. Speed right into the double jump. Keep riding through the turns, bumps, valleys, and jumps, until my gloved fingers are practically fused with the grips.
By the time I’m ready to come off the track, I’m the last one riding, with Jester sitting on the edge of the track having a beer with Havoc. I roll up to them and pull off my helmet. Hang it from the clutch before tugging off my jersey. I tent the drenched wifebeater, but it sucks right back to me like a second skin.
“Sweat much?” Jester wrinkles his nose.
“Unlike you, I have six months to make up for,” I retort.
Jester throws up a hand, and when it comes down, he slaps his thigh. “Why do you have to go and say that shit?”
“To irritate you,” I drawl.
Havoc tosses me a beer and raises his in a toast. “Good to have you home, brother.”
“Thanks.” I crack open the can and tap his beer. “Good to be home.”
Havoc studies the scars on my face and arms, and his usual ornery expression turns deadly. Don’t blame him for staring, even if it is picking at my pride.
Havoc doesn’t say much—unlike his younger brother, Discord. That one is a wordy bastard. He’s always happy. Always smiling. I used to wonder if he joined the Unholy to follow in his big brother’s footsteps, but when Berserkers decided to get rowdy one night, Discord was the first to throw hands. He came out the bloodiest and smiling ear to fucking ear.
Was the creepiest shit I’ve ever seen—and that’s factoring in my time in the dungeon.
