I swallowed.
Liberty glanced at me, then at Valkyrie.
“He’s your man,” she said. “We borrowed him. He’s saved a few of my girls. I trust him. Just one ask.”
“What’s that?” Blackjack said.
Liberty leaned back in her chair.
“He doesn’t ride alone,” she said. “Not for this. We’re partners now. You get your Devil back plus one Viper. Valkyrie.”
I blinked. So did Valkyrie.
“You sure you want to loan me your warlord?” Blackjack asked. “Thought you liked her where she was.”
“I do,” Liberty said. “Which is why I’m putting her where the next blows might land. She’s my eyes and my voice. She’s been watching him, watching this, since your man landed in our hospital. If anything shifts over there, I want her there to feel it first-hand. When she calls, I’ll know if you’re in the shit or standing next to it.”
Valkyrie smirked.
“And, Alice,” Liberty added, “if I sendher, that means I expect you to listen when she says something’s wrong.”
“My ears are open,” Blackjack replied.
“So, it’s settled,” Liberty said. She looked at me. “Pack your shit. You and Valkyrie leave for the Devil’s Aces clubhouse within the hour. You tell Blackjack everything you saw here, and make sure his security is up to par. No underestimating the enemy. No openings. We’ll lockdown here and get the gate fixed.”
“Yes, Prez,” Valkyrie said.
“Make sure she gets back in one piece Alice,” Liberty told the phone. “Or I’m going to be very pissy at your funeral.”
“Noted,” Blackjack said. “I’ll have men on the gate to welcome them in. War council as soon as they arrive. And Liberty?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t die before we get a chance to do a shot when this is all over,” he said. “Would be rude.”
“Watch your own chest,” she replied. “Mine’s covered.”
The call clicked off.
For a second, the room was just breathing.
Then Liberty stood.
“Go,” she said. “You both know how to ride. We got you this far. Time to see if your boys can keep up their end.”
After I cleaned up and watched the red run off me down the drain in the sink of the Viper’s bathroom, Imet with Valkyrie and we headed for the doors.
Outside, the compound was already stitching itself back together. Gate halfway welded. Fence braced with temporary supports. Anaconda on a folding chair, leg wrapped, bitching about being benched. Arizona taking more photos of the damage because of course she was. California sitting on the stoop with an ice pack on her throat, smoking like she could erase the last hour one drag at a time.
I went to grab my helmet from where it sat on the peg in Valkyrie’s room.
When I stepped back out into the hall, Valkyrie was waiting. Helmet in hand. Cut on. Key to the safe glinting against her collarbone.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “You?”
She huffed. “Been ready since the first asshole at the junkyard said Vincino.”
