“And you? How are you?” I asked.
She looked away from me, “I’m fine. I don’t let what he says get to me.”
She could say that until she was blue in the face, but that wouldn’t make it true. She wasn’t fine and what he was saying did hurt her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I had a strong suspicion something else was going on with her as well. Hopefully, most of my dust would settle soon so I could pay more attention to her.
“Why do you keep going up there if he is being so unpleasant?”
“I stopped going after the first time he was so ugly to me. I didn’t want to be there today, but Duke needed some of his things and no one else had time to bring it to him. I was just going to drop it off and leave, but Carbon texted me and told me to stay in his room until he said otherwise. Let me tell you how high that ranked on the suckage meter.”
“I bet it was up there with my day,” I giggled and then yawned. And yawned again. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I vaguely recalled was the feeling of being carried and the scent of Dash surrounding me.
CHAPTER 29
Dash
Ember fell asleep on the way back to the clubhouse. I was surprised she didn’t crash sooner, but my girl hung in there like a champ. I carried her to my room and tucked her into bed. Reese asked if she could stay in there with her and I let her because I had no idea when I would make it back to my room. “Just make sure you keep the door locked. I’ll use my key if I need to get in, but no one else needs to come in here, unless your brother comes by to check on you.”
“Got it. Thanks, Dash. Night.”
Once the girls were tucked in for the night, I made my way down to church, called by Copper and Badger. I stopped by the kitchen to grab a bite to eat and some coffee. I was fucking exhausted, but this had to be done and it was likely going to take a while.
I was the last one to enter. The moment my ass dropped into my chair, Badger banged the gavel and began. “We need to go over everything that has happened today. Not a one of us has been present for every single event that has taken place and we haven’t had the time to discuss much in between the fires we’ve been putting out. Copper and I have crudely put together a timeline of the series of events and will take turns sharing details as it pertains to us. Please hold any and all questions and comments until we have reached the end unless you are specifically called upon by one of us. Understood?”
Sounds of affirmation went up around the room. “Okay, let’s get to it.”
I knew most of what had happened up until the part where I had to leave for the hospital with Phoenix. Copper was sharing that portion of the story, “...so we told them to get him to the hospital and we would handle things there. I used Octavius’s phone to text his council members instructing them to meet him in their main office in 15 minutes. They made it easy for us, too. Not a door in sight was locked. We walked right into that office, positioned ourselves accordingly, and waited to capture our prey. There were 10 of them and 14 of us, so we took them down with ease. Much as I wanted to put a bullet between their eyes and make the world a better place, Badger and I thought it might be best to keep them breathing in case we need to extract more information from them. We borrowed some more of those fancy SUV’s Octavius has stockpiled at his place, loaded up the fuckwads, and tossed them downstairs in the cells. Ultimately, we have to decide if we want to handle them in house or if we want to turn them over to the police, when we’re done with them of course, but we’ll come back to that.”
The two of them continued on until everyone was brought up to speed. The next words out of Badger’s mouth were music to my ears, “I say we table everything for tonight. It’s late and it has been one hell of a day. Everybody can get some sleep and we’ll come back to the table with a clear head. Any objections?” Not a one. “All right. Night, brothers.” Badger banged the gavel and church was dismissed.
I fell face down on my bed, fully dressed, and passed the fuck out with Ember beside me and Reese on the other side of Ember.
***
I forgot to turn my fucking alarm off and I couldn’t find the right button to hit to make the shit stop squawking at me. Pissed as hell, I finally sat up only to realize it wasn’t my alarm clock, it was my phone ringing. Who would have the balls to call me at six o’fucking clock in the morning?
“This better be good,” I answered gruffly.
Goosebumps spread across my skin when he spoke, “I want to see my daughter.”
“Phoenix?”
“Who the fuck else would it be? Get your ass out of bed and get my daughter up here.” I heard the click of the call disconnecting. Oh hell, Phoenix was awake and he sounded pissed.
“Ember, baby, wake up.” She rolled away from me and pulled the blanket tighter around her. I gently shook her. “Ember. I need you to wake up. Your dad is awake and he’s asking for you.”
She shot straight up. “What?”
“You heard me. Get dressed so we can go.”
Thirty minutes later, we walked into Phoenix’s hospital room. “Dad,” she rasped. “How are you feeling?”
He gingerly held his hand out to her, “Been better, baby doll. Come here and give your old man a hug. I’ve been so worried about you.”
She went right to him and carefully wrapped her arms around him. “I’m fine. I’ve been worried about you. What happened?”
Phoenix patted her back and sighed, “You both should probably grab a chair and sit down. I have a lot to share. Has anyone called my grandparents?”
I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware of. You want me to call them?”
