“Good. That makes me feel better,” she tells me, picking up the strap of her medical bag and securing it over her shoulder. “After the officers get you up there, I’ll write you some PRN pain meds., but if you need something stronger, I’ll call the doctor.”
I nod. I’m not looking forward to walking down the hall to the elevator and then back into the medical unit to get to the infirmary feeling this sore, but I will do it. Who knows, maybe whatever the culprit is for my “attacks” may finally have an ounce of pity on me and let me get some rest tonight. Either that, or I might lose all control tonight. It really doesn’t matter to me, at this point I’m too tired to worry about it. The infirmary is one of the first places trays are delivered, so if I wake up tomorrow, at least my food may be warm.
CHAPTER 3
North
I bite the tip of my thumb and leave it between my teeth, listening to Two Face and Jekyll argue back and forth about who is taking the blame for scratching Ohm’s ride. Jekyll slugs Two Face in the shoulder, holding his fists in front of his face defensively as he shifts his weight from foot to foot. Two Face is off his stool with the lightning speed and moves so fast all I see is a blur as he zooms past me and knocks Jekyll’s feet clean out from under him. Jekyll lands on his ass hard. “That was a cheap trick, brother,” Jekyll complains, a sadistic smirk taking over his face. I laugh shaking my head fully aware of where fucking with Jekyll can get you—fucked in the head.
Two Face’s feet come to an abrupt stop, and he looks over to me with nothing but confusion behind his eyes. He drops to his knees and as if he is Jekyll’s marionette opens his mouth, releasing an ear-piercing wail. I huff, wondering how my life has come to this. We’re all getting soft. Instead of using their gifts for anything productive, this is what they choose to do—bicker with one another. I don’t care if they use their gifts for good or bad at this point, but this is just sad. I guess expecting much more out of Jekyll and Two Face really may be asking too much. Even before we were outcasts, they behaved like infants. So, I guess they’re being true to themselves. At least they’re lucky enough to have escaped the curse. They never chose love, saving them from eternal agony.
“It wasn’t a cheap trick, brother.” Two face clears his throat and dusts his ass off as he climbs off the floor and stands. “I was simply reminding you if I were the one to scratch Ohm’s bike then we’re all in hot water. I’m fast. I don’t make mistakes.”
I glare at him, arching an eyebrow. He is smug, we all know it, but we also all know none of us are perfect, including him.
“Ok. I rarely make mistakes. When I want something to fall, it falls. If I want something damaged, it’s intentional. So, there is no way I’m responsible for Ohm’s ride,” Two Face clarifies.
“You make plenty of mistakes, Two. Plenty,” Jekyll drawls out the last word. “You just don’t own your shit like the rest of us. You have a peanut for a memory anyway, so you would not know if you did it or not—which you did. If anyone is dying under his big bear paws tonight, it’s you. Not me.” Jekyll’s tongue glides over his lips, and he pretends to spit on the ground. We are all much older than we appear, but sometimes I wonder if our brains age differently, because some of the shit those two pulls remind me of teenagers.
“Whatever. If Ohm gets me, he gets you, too.” Two waggles his eyebrows in Jekyll’s general direction, heading to the back of our clubhouse. A door opens and slams a minute or so later, and then another.
“You know he probably put something in your room,” I say, shaking my head, and laugh once.
“Oh, no questioning it. He did. But his dreams are mine tonight.” Jekyll purses his lips together and nods. He’s smug and quick to correct anyone when they are wrong. He’s a thorn in my side, and has been all our lives, but he is a damn good brother.
“For every damned star in the sky, Jekyll, Ohm is already going to be on a warpath. Can we not add Two doing who knows what under your control to the mix?”
He opens his mouth to argue, but I am quicker. “Just for tonight? I don’t two hoots about any other night, but tonight, I just…I can’t. I’m too tired for your all’s shit.”
“You got it, Prez,” Jekyll mechanically brings his feet together, standing as straight as an arrow, and salutes me.
“Thank you.”
He nods, turning and walks off in the direction Two had gone. I will never get used to any of them calling me Prez. Any one of us could have been the President of our North Carolina chapter of the Kings of Anarchy MC, but it was me who they chose. It is true, I am the oldest, but not the fastest, that’s Two Face. Jekyll is the manipulator, and although he goofs off more than he is serious, his skills are always useful to have. My cousin, South Paw is the second oldest, and the second in our hierarchy. He’s our club’s VP. We keep each other in check, and honestly, I don’t know if there is anyone else who would be able to do that for us. South and I are more alike than the others. He can dream walk, which is incredibly close to what I am capable of doing inside someone’s mind. Draven’s ability is in the aviation department of sorts—if it flies, he is your guy. And then there’s Seven, Light Brite “LB”, and Fallout. Fallout doesn’t use his capabilities for anything, says they’re not for earth. LB is our power guy and Seven likes to blow shit up.
All of us are powerful and we are all outcasts from our kind. With our abilities, we could own this world, and everyone in it. But that would be exceptionally boring. We made a pact to live as the humans do, well mostly. We still use our abilities, we’re not fools. It may have taken us a few hundred years, to figure out our place, but the first time we stepped foot inside a KOAMC clubhouse there was nothing else for us. The gritty lifestyle and brotherhood fit us perfectly. Honestly, I think we may have been born to be bikers and were lost until we figured it out.
Actually, part of that is a lie. There is one thing that I hold above all else, and it is not a thing, it’s a who. She is the reason we’ve all fallen. The reason we walk amongst everyone, instead of ruling them. She’s the love of my life and I can’t have her. It’s my curse to bare, to have loved and lost the one soul who was meant for me is more than torture, it is straight hell. The light has faded from her eyes six times, and each time I found her right before it did. I was too late to save her. To save us. Not this life, though. In this life, She will know peace and love…at least that’s what I thought, but I can’t find her. I cannot feel her. She has to be alive, because otherwise, I don’t have a purpose. She is my purpose for everything.
I will never forget how I found her.
Innocent.
Young.
And full of life.
I should have never talked to her. I should have kept walking, but I couldn’t. From the first time we met, I was drawn to her, willing to give up everything to be with her, and I did. But I never could have imagined the consequences everyone I knew would suffer for the rest of time.
I tried to walk away, really I did, but I couldn’t. I had to have her.
CHAPTER 4
Leila
PAST
“It’s not what it looks like,” I say out of reflex, scrambling to get to my feet. I awkwardly stand and half-burnt crayons fly off me, my hand cupping the lighter goes behind my back. His eyes zero onto the paper with unfinished art and then slowly up to my face.
