Nodding, I blow out a breath. “Sorry you had to see this.”
“I’m not.” Rue drags his teeth over his bottom lip again. “That was…” His words trail off as he shakes his head.
“I would never hurt you.”
“I know. You hurt bad guys.”
“They were gonna do things to him. Hurt him.”
Rue nods while Whisper and Specter walk by, their arms around the victim as they help him over to our car.
“We should go, Carn,” Specter says.
I go to walk past Rue, but he grabs my arm and loops his through it. We duck into the back seat quickly to avoid me being seen by the club staff and patrons while the rest of the guys join me. We sit the victim in the front seat next to Specter, while Whisper drives, and Rue and Colson sit in the back with me. We’ll drop the victim at the city hospital so he can get some help. No telling what those losers drugged him with.
He’s semi-coherent as Specter asks him if he knows what happened.
“Gang,” he mutters. “Initiation tonight.”
“You want to join the gang?” Whisper asks, clearly annoyed.
“Nooooo,” the man groans. “Grabbed me.” He coughs and leans forward. “Club. What… Gave me something.”
“We’re taking you to the hospital,” Whisper says. “They can help.”
The man just nods, leaning against the car door. “Thanks.”
“Do you know the name of the gang?” Specter asks.
“No. New here. Fight with Italians.”
Specter looks back at me and frowns. Lately, every time we’ve heard of more problems in this city, they sound less like a gang and more like a Mafia still in its early stages, which could cause us some trouble in the long run depending on what kinds of crime they like to run.
“Shamrock,” he mutters. “Tattoo.”
“They all have a shamrock tattoo?” I ask.
He nods, his eyes closing. “So tired.”
“We’re almost there,” Whisper says.
Ten minutes later, we deposit the victim in the ER and take off before anyone can ask questions. Rue takes my hands in his, checking for damage.
“You scraped your knuckles.”
“You should get used to that,” Specter says, now sitting next to Colson in the front seat. “He could use any number of weapons, but he’s more lethal than anything else I’ve ever seen.”
“Messier,” Whisper says with a slight chuckle. “But lethal.”
“I use a knife sometimes. Not guns. Too noisy and too efficient. I like them to know what’s happening to them.”
Rue gazes at me like I just invented the sun. “You’re so strong. You’re never afraid?”
“Not yet.”
“He’s like… I don’t fucking know. He turns into something else when he’s triggered,” Specter says. “It’s like he leaves his body and some kind of beast takes over that doesn’t go away again until he’s done what he set out to do.”
Rue studies my face. “But you don’t get mad at your brothers or other people?”
