With his hand on the door, he was ready to leave the room first. He said, “Viper and Dice have plans this weekend and need a babysitter.”
I brightened. “So, you don’t have any plans on coming home?” That was an easier way to ask whether he planned to pledge or not.
“No. I plan to stay with sis until I can get a better job and my own place. Maybe in the city. You know.” He shrugged, his thumbs going into the pockets of his leatherpants. “You..” He started but clammed up. Looking away, he shook his head and his long black hair swayed.
“What?”
His dark eyes met mine, fire behind them. “You’re not theirs, Dad and LuAnn’s. You weren’t Diablo’s kid either. They have no legal claim to you,” he argued, his pale brow creasing.
His tone made no sense. It’s not like I didn’t know. They’d taken me in out of the goodness of their hearts. I wasn’t sure what he was getting so worked up about, but I could tell he wanted to say more.
Before I could press him, he changed his tune, smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. “When I leave, you can come live with me.”
I returned his smile but made no promises, even though that moment had been the happiest of my life.
Back out in the open, I was out of breath from all that’d happened, not to mention hornier than ever.
The strong wind still sounded outside, but I wanted to leave and find a way to see Snakebite, alone, before this weekend. Sitting back down, resting my chin on my fist, I stared at the door. I wished the storm would end.
The door blowing open didn’t surprise anyone.
But what came in was deadlier than any desert winds or wildfires. It’d kill with less regard, too. Without warning, the Den crawled with the enemy. At least fifteen of them barged in like they owned the place. All of us were taken by surprise. No one had gotten the memo, the Asphalt God’s MC breathed down our necks. They showed off their guns and knives. One wielded a machete, another an ax. More women and children than members in here tonight, we were no match for them.
I dropped under the table, but a man grabbed me by my hair and yanked me out.
“Another fucking blonde,” he said, as he threw me to the floor at his feet. He wrenched my head back and pushed his gun to my temple, demanding we turn over someone named Halley.
The name seemed so familiar, but there was no one named Halley here. One by one members swore they didn’t know any Halley either. Though some of the men laughed while denying it.
Hell. What was going on now? Always some trouble, that was why I wanted away.
“I’ll kill her,” the God threatened, talking about me.
Dice said, “Go ahead.”
“Alright.” The God shoved my nose down to the cold and grimy wood floor and stuck his gun on the back of my head. I about threw up. Gritting my teeth and clamping my eyes shut tight, I waited. There was silence as I counted a good ten seconds. The bullet never came. The man released me for some reason.
All hell broke loose after that. Shots fired. Bottles and chairs were smashed. Most importantly, there wasn’t a gun to my head anymore. I crawled across the floor with my elbows, military style and squeezed myself between the jukebox and the wall. Being short and skinny was good for something. From there I instantly worried for Snakebite, for LuAnn, for everyone, but only for a bit. Too soon, there was silence again.
One more gun shot rang out before chaos ensued.
Dice heaved me out from behind the jukebox.
Judging by everyone, recovering, and the mess, I gathered Serpentine and others had showed up and run the Gods off. But why did Dice have another gun to my head?
A terrible wail came from the corner. My eyes found the blood, a red halo around little Betty and her mom, Viper, clinging to her lifeless body. I sputtered as rage and sadness filled me. Tears flowed hot down my cheeks. I blubbered loudly as I cried for her.
LuAnn whimpered, “Don’t do it. She doesn’t even know.”
At her words, somewhere it registered, he planned to shoot me dead. I dunked down, breaking away from the barrel of his gun and tried to run to LuAnn, but Dice caught me. He held onto me tighter this time. His gun stuck in my ribs now.
“A life for a life,” he grumbled out.
Serpentine calmly walked toward us.
Dice went on, “She’s trouble and you know it.”
Serpentine held up one hand and offered to take me with his other. “Hold your horses. If anyone is going to kill her, let me.”
