The door then cracked open. I had never been more delighted to see my brother’s gormy fucking melon-shaped head.
All three men turned to face the interruption to their plans. Relief pooled in my gut.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Nix said, half stumbling through the door, a sliver of light bathing the alleyway. He threw that question directly to me for some strange reason. I felt like saying, ‘Knitting. What the fuck does it look like?”
“Err, a little help would be good,” I said instead, nodding towards my assailants, who were all staring at Nix with mixed expressions.
“Let me guess. You’ve never buggered a celebrity before?” Phoenix began, stepping further out into the yard and straightening his top. He then grabbed his crotch and muttered, “First dibs.”
I knew he only spoke those words to shock and temporarily distract them. My dumbass brother had weighed up the drama in a heartbeat. A slightly delayed heartbeat.
They say fools rush in, but there was nothing foolish about the way Phoenix waded toward me.
“I suggest you let him go, dipshit,” Nix growled, pretense at playing nice vanishing as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck from side to side.
The muscle released my arms and stepped around me, preparing himself for the beast that was my toughest brother. “You’re a big fucker, aren’t you?” Muscle chanted.
“Hud, we’ve got trouble,” Phoenix yelled over his shoulder, squaring up against the guy who had held me. They danced around each other, preparing to go at it as I rubbed the ache in my stomach and tried to recover.
The door shot opened again as Hudson stepped out into the yard, his expression fierce. As he appeared, the muscle froze mid-punch, momentarily distracted that there were two of them.
“Fucking take him out,” Toothless ordered.
“As you wish,” Nix answered him before his opponent could.
I watched as Phoenix grabbed the muscle's shoulder in one hand and lamped him in the face with the other. The guy fell back a step and then tried to headbutt Nix, who twisted out of range and then cracked the dude up the side of the head with his other hand. The big beefy fucker fell back against the wall, which spurred his co-thugs into action, and the other two turned on me.
I lunged forward and punched Toothless on the jaw; pain ricocheted up my arm. “Holy, fuck!” I watched as his legs betrayed him and he reeled backwards. He hit the old fridge freezer, his arm becoming lodged down the back.
A flash from my left had me sidestepping, the lookout’s fist, which missed me and caught Hudson in the face. Oh dear. Readying my paws, I twisted to the side to see that Nix had pinned the big guy against the side wall, his elbow on his throat. The muscle was clutching at my brother’s arms as his face went purple. And then Phoenix raised his knee and struck him in the stomach. A guttural spurt burst from his mouth, and Nix stepped back, releasing him. My brother spat blood on the floor beside his fallen victim. I was surprised as I hadn’t seen him take a hit.
Spinning back, after a barked, ‘look out’ from Hud, I dodged the smallest guy's fist as Hudson pushed me aside and round-housed the fucker, Runt’s nose splitting open.
The noise of bone hitting bone was a loud crunch, but my brother didn’t stop there. I was only half aware of what was going on as Hudson lunged forward, grabbed Runt by his shirtfront, and dragged his face forward. There was an ear-piercing scream from the victim, as I watched my brother draw back and spit something on the floor. Runt was clawing the side of his head as blood poured down his neck. I just caught a glimpse of Hudson’s mouth covered in blood.
Toothless was pushing to his feet; it all happened so quickly, and momentarily distracted, the asshole threw a left jab. My hands were not protecting my face, and he hit me on the jaw, making me teeter backwards. Rightening myself, I lungedforward and kicked him in the balls. The bastard dropped to his knees, coughing in pain.
Catching my breath, I saw Nix and the large guy facing off again; they were matched in size. My brother’s expression was blood thirsty now; I could see it in his eyes and that smirk he wore as he goaded his opponent. The muscle threw another punch, but Nix dropped his shoulder, dodging the move before slamming his fist into the guy’s face. He did that punch-drunk thing beaten boxers did in the ring before he went to grab Toothless, and they ran off together.
As I turned my head, Hudson had Runt on his knees and was standing behind him, holding him by the hair.
My stomach rolled at the amount of blood on his neck. What the hell did my brother do?
“Please, get him off me. This psycho bit my fucking ear off.” Ah. That made sense.
Dashing a hand down my face, I approached him. “Who sent you?” It suddenly felt like a more violent version of James Bond. The guy stuttered and shook his head. “I don’t know. I was just told to keep an eye out. They gave me fifty bucks.”
Striding closer, I grabbed him by the front of his tee and pulled him to his feet. “Tell me the truth, or my brother here will take another fucking body part.”
His face paled as Phoenix came to stand next to me, and then the smell of urine filled the air. We both looked down to see Runt pissing himself, yellow liquid staining the crotch of his pants before seeping out of his trouser leg.
“Fuck!” Hudson belted as we both stepped back, the fear of getting piss on his shoes written in every crease on his face.
Whilst we were distracted, the smaller guy ran off down the alley. “Shall I go after him?” Nix asked.
“No, let him go. He wasn’t lying. He’s clearly just a paid punk.” I answered.
We straightened our clothing and checked our injuries. I walked over to one of the chairs and plonked my ass into it.
