Like this was just another night for them.
The back door banged open a second later, and I jumped, spinning to see Maniac, Ender, Oliver, and Brinks filing in from the kitchen.
Just like that, we were surrounded.
Not by danger.
By them.
Wrecker’s eyes dropped immediately to the floor.His expression didn’t change much, but something in his posture hardened.“What the hell happened?”he asked.
Everyone looked at me.
Why was everyone looking at me?
I slowly raised my hand like I was back in school.
“Uh…” I started.“I accidentally kicked an ice cream scoop to Jesse… Jester.”
Even saying his name felt weird now.
Like I’d been talking about one person and suddenly it was someone else entirely.
Maniac tipped his head to the side, brows pulling together.“What?”
Lark stepped forward before I could even try to explain myself better.“Bad dude tried to smash Jude’s knee with it,” she said, gesturing wildly, “then they had a kerfuffle, and then Jude pew-pewed him.”
I blinked.That was… one way to put it.
Wrecker turned his head slowly toward her.“Who are you?”
Lark smiled like she’d just been introduced at a dinner party.“I am Lark.”
There was a pause.A long one.Then Wrecker looked back at Jude.“You did this shit with witnesses?”
Jude didn’t even flinch.“Like I had a fucking choice,” he said.“He was going to kill all of us.”
That shut down any further questioning real quick.
Junior stepped in through the front door, slowing when he saw Jester on the floor.“Hell,” he muttered.“I guess this makes shit easier for me.”
Wrecker dragged a hand through his beard, thinking.“You manage to get any info from him before you killed him?”
Jude nodded once.“He’s Northbound.One of the four nomads we got names of.Yogi, Sheen, and Crank are still out there.”
A ripple moved through the guys.
Not panic.
Not fear.
Something colder.
Something focused.
“And they are coming for you all,” Lark added helpfully.Every single one of them turned to look at her.She froze.“…you forgot to say that,” she added, like that made it better.
“I was getting there,” Jude said dryly.
