“Not the last I heard.But, Lukey, I toldthem I wasn’t going to be part of it.They got a bit pissed, sothey aren’t telling me much.”
“Yeah.Okay.Fuck.”Lucas’s mind was racing.“Thanks.I’ve got to go.”He hit the hang up button on the phoneand tossed it toward Chris.“Call Father Mark.Tell him not to goto his apartment.”He grabbed his jeans from the chair where he’dleft them.
Chris was already dialing, but he looked upto say, “You’ve got a curfew, Lucas.You can’t go out.”
“I’m notallowedto go out.But Ican.”He looked at the phone pressed to Chris’s ear.“Is hepicking up?”
“No.Should I call the cops?”
The cops.Lucas hadn’t even considered thepossibility, but it made sense.Father Mark was an upstandingcitizen—the police would look after him.“Yeah.Call them, tellthem some guys are going to be waiting for Father Mark outside hisapartment.”He pulled his boots on, but there was no time forsocks.
“So the cops will handle it, Lucas.Respectyour curfew.”At least Chris was good at dialing while hetalked.
But Lucas wasn’t willing to take that chance.Thinking of Father Mark, innocent and unsuspecting, walking intoMikey and Tinker…No.“I’ll keep an eye until they getthere, make sure he’s safe inside, and then I’ll come back.”Hegrabbed his keys from the dresser.
“Lucas—” Chris started, but he stoppedtalking as Lucas brushed past him and headed down the stairs.
It was good that they lived in a smalltown—Lucas was at the apartment in under five minutes.And goodthat Father Mark had mentioned the building he lived in earlierwhen he was telling Lucas about the vandalism.And good that Lucascould see the plywood-covered window on the second floor facing thestreet, with dark windows on both sides.Looked like Father Markwasn’t home yet.Lucas scanned the street for loiterers, or forcops, and saw neither.Damn it.Where were the cops?
He didn’t pull over.If the police ever didarrive, he didn’t need them thinking that he was the one lying inwait.A slow cruise down the block, his eyes roaming, and then hedid a U-turn in the intersection and headed back down the road.Notsubtle—if anyone was watching for him, they’d see that move.Butthat was fine.He wasn’t looking to hide.
That was when he saw Father Mark, walkingwith his head down, heading for the front door of his building.He’d parked down the block, for some reason.Lucas remembered himsaying that there were a lot of elderly people in the building, andgroaned.Were there really that many old folks coming home late atnight?Did they need five empty spots in front of the building?
He stopped thinking about that when he sawthe shadows move in the alley next to the building.Shit.
He pulled into one of the empty spaces andjumped out of the car.Four big steps and he was on the sidewalk.“Hey!”he yelled, and Father Mark finally looked up.“Get inside,now!”He stepped forward, between the priest and the shadows, butof course it wasn’t that easy.
“Lucas?What’s going on?”
But Lucas didn’t have time for conversation.He was staring at the mouth of the alley and he could feel the hairon the back of his neck standing up, like an animal sensing anintruder.He felt feral, and more alive than he’d been inyears.
Tinker was the first to step out of thedarkness, with Mikey and some other guy right behind him.“Lukey.We heard you were looking for more.”Tinker’s smile showed the samefierce glee Lucas was feeling.
“Get inside,” Lucas said quietly to FatherMark, but he didn’t look away from Tinker.Louder, he said, “I’mnot looking for anything.But if you are, I can help you out.”
The three men had been moving forwardsteadily and now they formed a loose semi-circle just out ofLucas’s range.Apparently they’d decided to ignore their originaltarget, at least for the time being.Mikey snorted and looked atTinker.He had his mouth open to say something, but he never gotthe chance.
Lucas rocketed forward, all his weight andstrength and rage powering his fist into Mikey’s jaw.As Mikeyfell, Lucas caught his shoulders and guided him in just the rightdirection for his face to connect with Lucas’s upswinging knee.Thepain in his hand was a symphony, the contact with his knee analmost orgasmic explosion.He kept his body in motion, spun so hiselbow found Tinker’s temple, and tried to keep his balance as thethird guy tackled him.But he fell.He’d known he’d fall.He’dknown he couldn’t take on three fit men, even with surprise on hisside.This hadn’t been about winning, just about buying Father Marktime to get away.
He turned his head as the first blow came andtook the hit on his skull instead of his eye.He heard the thirdman’s howl of pain—broken hand.Even in defeat, Lucas would do asmuch damage as he could.
Tinker was leaning dizzily against the wallbut Mikey had staggered to his feet, ignoring the blood all overhis face, and he was clearly getting ready to start kicking.Thethird guy was cradling his broken hand but he was still on top ofLucas, pinning him to the hard concrete.Lucas tried to twistaround and get loose because he wasn’t ready to give up, but heknew it was over.Still, he’d given Father Mark enough time to getinside.
Which made it pretty hard to understand whythere was a sudden blur of motion and the guy straddling Lucas wastoppling to the side, freeing Lucas.Father Mark sprawled over topof the guy, punching enthusiastically if ineffectively at thehunched shoulders beneath him.Fuck.He wasn’t inside, so Lucas’sfight wasn’t over.He rolled to his feet just as Mikey sent a kickin his direction.Mikey’s foot found empty air instead of Lucas’sribs and the big man lost his balance as his leg kept swinging.Perfect.Lucas grabbed the waving foot and heaved Mikey over ontohis back.Then he seized Mark’s shoulder and pulled him away.“Let’s go!Get your ass inside!”
Finally the priest was moving, but he had afirm grip on Lucas’s wrist, dragging him up the stairs and awayfrom the recovering attackers.He let go of Lucas to fumble withhis keys and Lucas kept his eyes on the men below.Mikey was thefirst to approach, but he was cautious, standing with one foot onthe bottom step but not coming any closer.
Mark had the door open now and was tugging onthe back of Lucas’s shirt.God, Lucas wanted to push him away,wanted to charge back into the fight.He wasn’t afraid of losing,wasn’t afraid of pain.He wasn’t even afraid of dying, not rightthen.He just wanted to keep feeling alive, wanted the adrenalinerush and fierce joy of battle.
“Lucas, come on,” Mark tugged at his wrist.“The door will lock behind us.We’ll call the police.Come on.”
It was the voice of reason, and Lucas forcedhimself to listen to it.He let Mark drag him into the building,his gaze locked on Mikey’s as the glass door swung shut betweenthem.The lock clicked and finally Lucas took a few steps backwardbefore letting Mark turn him around and drag him up the stairs.Theenergy flowing through his body was so intense he was almosttrembling and his attention was skittering from one stimuli to thenext, focusing like a laser for the split second it took to decidewhether something was a risk, then moving on.The sensation wasperfect.Addictive.Deadly.
But Mark didn’t seem to be enjoying thesituation.His fingers were shaking so much he struggled to get thekey into the lock.His voice was almost a shout as he demanded,“Lucas, what was that?What just happened?”
No.Lucas didn’t want to talk about it.Hedidn’t want to muddy it with words, didn’t want to think about whatit meant that he’d fallen into his old ways so easily.When thedoor finally opened, he pushed Mark inside, and it was only thenthat he realized how close their bodies were.Mark didn’t help,turning without moving away and running his hands gently overLucas’s ribs.“He kicked you.Are you okay?”
Lucas was more than okay.He was alive.Hehad conquered, or at least survived.He’d fought his battle, andnow it was time to claim his prize.Mark gasped as Lucas surgedforward, spinning their bodies and wedging his knee between Mark’sthighs.Mark was surprised, but he didn’t push Lucas away, or evensay anything.He just stared, his eyes as wide as Lucas knew hisown must be.
