"Is that so?"
"Yes. Don't you see that there's more potential for infighting if you let us go? Trent is after me. If Ryker kills him, it creates a power vacuum in the Spades. If he kills us, same result. If you kill us, you've united the Spades in a charge against you. You see that it's stupid."
Calamity's eyes finally shift away from my face, that wry smile still on his face. "And do you have anything to say, Ryker? You're oddly silent."
"I'm thinking of ways to twist your head off," Ryker admits with a fierce baring of teeth. "Do us all a favor."
Calamity's laugh booms through the front room, making me jump. It's an oddly joyful sound that is incredibly at odds with our current situation.
"You have brass balls, I'll give you that. You won't make it even a foot before you're pumped full of lead. I commend your bravery though."
I couldn't help but stare at Calamity's profile, trying to puzzle him out. He was unusually well-spoken and educated. Most of his men looked like high school dropouts with thought for anything but fighting and fucking. Does he purposely surround himself with imbeciles? Surely he's smarter than that.
"So, what do you say?" I ask.
Calamity is silent for an unnerving amount of time. Just when I think he's decided to kill us, he gestures lazily to Axel.
"Show them to a room. McNeil will doubtless be patrolling tonight. Their best bet is to pass the line in the morning."
A murmur of outrage runs through the assembled crowd. Calamity cuts through it with a glare, staring at each man until they quiet to a grumble. It's like nothing I've ever seen. Calamity Gardel is less man than he is a force of nature. Even the muscled thugs he commands don't dare cross him.
"Don't think this is free," Calamity says, addressing Ryker. "You'll be paying me back for this."
"Oh I'll pay you back," Ryker mutters.
Calamity chuckled again. "Don't forget that I'm letting you and your woman live, Ryker. Try my patience and I'll start breaking things. Starting with her fingers."
"You won't lay a fucking hand on her."
"Ryker," I hiss, placing a restraining hand on his bicep. He has to see reason. This is our only chance. "Please."
He glances down at me, barely repressed fury blazing in his eyes. I urge him silently to stop, to see sense. And slowly, he does. His body relaxes bit by bit as he stares down at me and he lifts a hand to clutch mine.
"What is your price?" he asks finally.
"Remove Trent McNeil from power."
"Done. I'd do that part for free. He's a fucking dead man."
Gardel raises an eyebrow. "I'm not finished. There is the matter of the debt you owe."
"Debt?" I echo. "What debt?"
"You both owe me your lives. I expect two favors in return. To be collected whenever I ask, as soon as I ask."
Ryker looks as though he'd rather eat glass than capitulate, but he nods, flexing his jaw so hard that I'm afraid he'll break his teeth.
Gardel nods in return and then gestures for Axel to take us away. The moment he's dismissed us, he returns his attention to the stunning redhead crouching by his throne. She kneels before him and I look away as she undoes his fly. I don't want to see. I've had enough of Gardel for one day, and what I've already seen has terrified me. No need to watch him gag a hooker. I'm sure he's endowed, or he'd never whip it out in front of so many men. It's just another gesture of his power.
We're led to a sparse room. There's little in here but a bed and a lamp fixed to the wall. The sheets are rumpled and there's a questionable smell in the air. I suspect that this is the temporary abode of one or two working girls. It doesn't matter. I'll take it.
Ryker rounds on me the second the door latches behind us. The scrape of the key in a lock tells me we're prisoners until morning.
He gets a grip on me and almost shakes me in his frustration. I try not to be too alarmed. Ryker has proved he's not Damian. But a hint of fear still slips into my belly.
"What the hell was that back there?"
"Negotiation. You should try it some time."
