“Like I said,” Bellamy rasps. “Fucking idiots. When was the last time you all faced off against him? All at once? You’re fucking mythical beasts bound to the manifestation of destiny. Why do you think he fucking let you go to the Outcast MC in the first place? Even though he must have known it would divide your loyalties? He wants you leashed but not too close, not close enough to try to take him. Make it fucking happen, give Zaya the inch she needs, and she’ll do the rest.”
“Every one of us is willing to die for her,” Rath snaps, clearly insulted. “We’ve all nearly died for her. We’d —”
Bellamy laughs sourly. “Try living for her first, you reckless fucks.”
Her rejoinder — the pure truth threaded through the sneered sarcasm — hits me like a physical blow to the chest, practically knocking the air from my lungs.
“Hello, twin,” Bellamy says mockingly, eyeing Reck malevolently. “Give us a kiss?”
Before any of us can snap back at her, Presh’s sweet voice cuts through that bullshit. “You said you wouldn’t do that anymore.”
Bellamy purses her lips, annoyed. “I said I’d try.”
“Was that trying?”
“You said you’d get me out of this cage. Legitimately.”
“I will,” Presh promises, earnest and true. “Help us get Zaya back, and I get you out even faster.”
Bellamy snorts. Then, clearly thinking, she slowly unwraps the second chocolate bar. She opens her mouth to speak.
I interrupt. “No more bargaining.”
“No more stupid metaphors,” Rath adds.
She smirks. “Just lay it all out, huh?”
“You want a family,” Presh says, desperately sweet. “Family. True family, they live and die for each other. Right?”
“Draw his attention,” Bellamy says with a shrug, though I can practically see the thoughts and calculations shifting behind those light-lavender eyes. “Hold it as long as you can. That’s how I survived. And that’s how Zaya will walk away from him.”
“We’ve been doing that,” Reck snaps.
“We?” Rath mocks, not looking at our eldest brother. I really can’t look at him either.
“Misdirection,” Bellamy muses. “The timing just has to be perfect, and I can —”
Coda’s voice interrupts whatever supposed gem of wisdom the former dire awry was about to impart. “I’ve got eyes on the Cataclysm.”
“What?” Rath snaps.
Since Zaya was taken, we haven’t been able to get anywhere near to seeing the Cataclysm. Not even a glimpse except for the face-to-face assault during which Rath lost an antler.
“Has he left the Federation?” Reck asks.
“Nope.” Coda pops the P hard, the sound of their fingers loud in the background as they fly over their keyboards. The tech must have had the call silenced before. “Hospital. Public fucking hospital in the middle of Fort Worth. Clear as fucking day. No idea why my face-rec software decided today was the day to pick him up. What’s that? About an hour’s drive from the main compound?”
“He’s got compounds all over the Federation,” Rath says, always having to correct everything even though we all know how much of the Federation our sperm donor controls.
“Manifestation of destiny,” Bellamy murmurs thoughtfully.
“He’s isolated there,” Reck says. “Or more isolated than usual, at least. If we all go … take the Outcast’s copter, get flyover privileges from the Navajo —”
“Don’t be fucking stupid,” Bellamy interjects. “Whatever is happening at the hospital, that’s the distraction. What’s the main event? Something bigger. Split his focus.”
Coda’s fingers are flying again. Then the tech says, “Three of the outposts along the border to the Navajo Nation are compromised. The UnBroken MC are holding them for now.”
The UnBroken MC. They liked to damage insignificant property and post rants on social media, all while masked. In the Federation, they’re actually a charter of the legit MC based in the eastern United States, calling themselves a freedom militia. But they’re more annoyances to the Cataclysm than an actual threat.
