Page 111 of Deacon

Ink’s confusion disappeared as the pieces started fitting together. His attention shifted past us toward the front doors, his body going unnaturally still.

Ink went still as the meaning landed. His eyes flicked toward the kitchen, then to Vixen behind him, and something hard twisted across his face.

“Shit.”

He dug his keys from his pocket and turned for the doors.

Vixen reached for his arm. “Ink, wait—”

He brushed her off without slowing, every trace of that careless detachment gone. Whatever had happened in that kitchen had just become secondary to the fact that Evan had seen enough to walk out hurt.

A second later the clubhouse doors slammed behind him.

No one on the couches needed an explanation. We all knew what Evan had seen and why Ink had gone after him.

Priest exhaled and pressed his mouth near Blue’s temple, soothing her automatically. “They’ll work it out.”

Blue turned on him with the precise fury of a surgeon choosing where to cut. “In the meantime,” she said, “I want to slice Ink’s testicles off slowly with a scalpel for obviously hurting my friend.”

Tessa choked on a laugh. Raina covered her mouth, but the battle was already lost.

“Priest,” Raina said, still grinning, “you better stay on your best behavior with that one.”

Priest smirked against Blue’s hair. “Always.”

30

Jade

Jade was halfway through geometry and already considering arson a reasonable response to math when her phone buzzed against the kitchen table.

The workbook sat open beneath the warm overhead light, formulas blurring after too long staring at them. Garlic and onion drifted from the stove while her mom moved through the familiar rhythm of making dinner, steady enough that the apartment should have felt safe. It almost did. Then Jade looked at the screen.

Unknown Number

Unknown: You looked real happy today.

Her chest tightened. She flipped the phone facedown too quickly, nearly clipping her water glass, and the sharp little noise brought her mother’s attention over from the stove. “You okay?”

Jade picked up her pencil even though she had no idea which problem she had been working. “Yeah.”

Lila watched her for another beat, concern already sharpening. “You sure?”

“Just tired.” The lie came easier than Jade liked. Her mom turned back to dinner, but Jade could still see the tension in her shoulders. Lately there had been too much of it. Grandpa furious about Deacon. Uncle Matty making everything worse. The move. Family day. Whatever weird emotional weather moved through the apartment whenever Deacon and her mom occupied the same room. Jade had no desire to add creepy texts to the pile.

The phone buzzed again. She waited until Lila’s attention returned to the stove, then checked the screen beneath the edge of the table.

Unknown: Thought your biker daddy was gonna make everything better?

Her mouth went dry. That wasn’t random anymore. Whoever sent it knew about Deacon, and lately the messages had been getting sharper, meaner, more personal. Jade locked the screen and shoved the phone into her lap, but when she looked up, her mother had stopped pretending not to notice.

By the time Lila spoke again, concern had sharpened into certainty. “Jade.”

She looked up too fast. “What?” The speed of it gave her away more than she wanted.

Her mother’s expression softened around the worry. “Baby, are you sure you’re alright?”

For one second, Jade almost handed over the phone. That would have been the smart thing. It would also pile one more disaster onto a woman who already looked one bad day away from breaking something. “Yeah. Just school stuff.”