The sharp knock on the door was quiet but deliberate. It was Storm’s signature. It was the way he spaced the knocks that gave it away.
Winter stirred. I pressed my lips to her hair before I moved to get out of bed.
“Give me twenty minutes,” I said towards the door.
“Make it fifteen,” Storm said, as his footsteps moved back down the hall. I could vaguely hear him knocking on other doors as I hauled my ass out of bed.
I looked down at Winter. She was gazing up at me, clearly pleased with her lot in life. She loved me. I knew it because she told me so.
“Sorry, something must have popped off overnight. Storm’s calling a meeting.”
“Go and take care of business,” she told me sleepily. “I’ll feed the cats and be down shortly.”
I made short work of showering and heading downstairs.
The three presidents were already seated when I walked into the chapel. I got a coffee, took my seat, and looked around the table. Each club president had all his club officers with him. I understood immediately that whatever was going on was big.
Storm was at the head of the table with Thunder on one side and Celt on the other. They looked like they had been up for hours already. Across from him was Siege from Savage Legion, with Tank and Rider flanking him.
At the far end of the table was a man I’d seen around but had never spoken with directly. Jasper was prez of the Sons of Rage. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. He had the relaxed expression of a man who enjoyed a little violence in the morning. His reputation preceded him. He was said to be a risk taker, an enjoyer of chaos, the kind of club president who made decisions with his gut and had the uncanny luck to be right most of the time.
If Storm was the strategist and Siege was the tactician, Jasper was the one who’d kick the door in just to see what was on the other side. His VP, Slate, sat beside him. They were brothers of course, as were most of the club officers, since their father, Rock, founded the club.
Three presidents and their seconds in the same room before eight in the morning probably meant someone had been attacked.
“Are we waiting on anyone else?” I asked.
“Not anymore,” Storm said glancing towards the door just as another man walked in. “Welcome Bran. Come in and close the door behind you.”
When he eased down into a chair beside the Sons of Rage brothers, Jasper spoke. “Bran is our man on the inside. Weplanted him as a prospect in one of the clubs Viper targeted to patch over.”
Bran was young and not wearing a cut. He was hollow-eyed and looked exhausted.
Jasper nodded at him. “Tell them what you told me.”
Bran looked around the table, making brief eye contact with each president in turn before speaking.
“The favors the Slayers were doing for Viper weren’t really favors,” he said.
“What in the hell does that mean?” Storm asked.
“Viper’s real plan from the beginning was to use the favors to bring the Dark Slayers down. The unity ride, the council vote, and your club standing down during a conflict weren’t about respect, territory or being allies.”
He paused. “He’s using each favor to dirty the Slayers’ reputation, to sow distrust and make sure no one trusts you or is willing to stick their necks out for you. The plan is for Stolen Oath to keep expanding to the point that no club has enough manpower to take ‘em out. The three biggest and most stable clubs also have the most weapons and ammo, so Viper knows he can’t go head to head with you. He wants to make sure the Slayers are isolated and alone because you won’t be a threat to him then.”
The room was very quiet.
Then Bran added, “Don’t worry, he has the same plan in mind for the Savage Legion and Sons of Rage. His plan is to take down one club after another until his club is the biggest, baddest club in the region.”
I looked at Storm. His expression was colder and more focused than I’d ever seen.
“I wondered if that’s what the fucker was up to, and you’ve just confirmed it.” Storm said. His voice was completely level, which somehow made it worse.
“Yes,” Bran replied. “And it looks like it’s working. There are clubs in the region that have already decided the Slayers were the architects of Vulture’s takedown. Viper’s been careful not to confirm it or deny it. He just lets people assume what they want and acts surprised when they tell him.”
Siege leaned forward. “What about my men? The ones Viper’s crew put in the hospital?”
Bran shifted his attention. “As you already know, the ambushes on the Savage Legion were Stolen Oath.” He held Siege’s gaze. “They’ve done it to three other clubs as well. Molten Horse lost two men to what they believed was a Sons of Rage splinter group. An independent club out of the valley thinks the Ironbound hit their fuel depot.”
