by Dark, Raven
Hawk was in the middle of beating Steel in a game of chess. Apparently it was Steel’s turn to get his butt whipped.
Sitting with Setora curled in my lap, I shook my head at the two of them just as Hawk took Steel’s king.
I laughed. “See, Steel? Told you, he cheats. He always wins. No one always wins.”
Hawk ignored my remarks and waited for Steel to make his move. He watched the chessboard, his fingers steepled in front of his face.
Steel made an unintelligible grumble and looked over the board. If the vein in his head pulsed any harder, it would burst.
Setora let out a soft, contented sigh and curled her legs on my knees.
I had her sitting sideways, so that her good shoulder leaned against me, being careful of her other one. So that I wasn’t touching the sling, I sat with my hand resting on her hip, my other rubbing her leg. I’d be happier when that sling was gone. I hated seeing her in pain. Besides, the sooner she was healed, the sooner I could do a hell of a lot more for my Princess than hold her.
Setora made another one of those soft, mewling sighs. I loved that noise she made when she slept peacefully, like a tiny kitten. It made her sound so small and helpless, calling to all the protective instincts in me.
I tried not to think too deeply about all the revelations Doctor Olan had given us. Medical stuff had never been my thing, so most of that shit about viruses and medicines sounded like a lot of nonsense to me. I was a numbers guy, always had been. I hated math when it didn’t serve an immediate purpose, but give me figures that represented lots of coin in the club’s pocket, or mine, and I was in heaven. But when Doc started spouting off medical jargon, it might as well have been in another language. Doctor Olan, with all his superiority and medical research was even worse, to the point where I tuned most of it out, just like Steel.
Sheriff, Hawk, and Mayhem trusted him, and Doc and Stitch seemed to understand and agree with him. Being that he’d once been a medic, even Sinister had talked with him at length, interested in what he had to say, even though Devil’s Breath didn’t have a Violet. Sinister seemed to think he was onto something. Plus, I’d seen how much better Setora was looking after that tonic. Not to mention, she didn’t seem to be having any more nightmares, so that was enough for me for now. I’d wait and see how this antiviral medication worked out. It made me feel better just knowing we were making progress, especially learning that Julian wasn’t some formless thing none of us could do anything about. Anything that made my Princess well again was good in my book.
I held Setora closer and watched Hawk and Steel play.
“Check and mate,” Hawk said, taking another of Steel’s pieces and setting it in the box.
Steel blinked and looked from him to the board and then at him again, his expression almost comically stunned. “How? There’s still six pieces there.”
“You can’t move any more of them without my taking them.” Hawk stood and patted him on the shoulder in mock-consolation. “Good game, Brother. I’m going to get Beast up here for guard duty, since it looks like we’ll be putting Kitten to bed.” He cupped Setora’s chin and then headed for the doors.
“Wait a minute. That’s not checkmate. You…” He growled when Hawk ignored him and opened the doors to leave. “Aww, fuck. Pretty Boy, get over here and look at this. Tell me he didn’t win again.”
I yawned and stood with Setora in my arms. “I’m going to put her to bed, pal. Besides, I can see it from here. He won. Whether it was fair or not is another matter.”
“Traitor,” he grumbled and cleared off the board.
I laid Setora carefully across the bed. She looked so peaceful, like a lavender-haired queen in slumber. Part of me wanted to let her stay that way. She hadn’t slept like that enough lately. The other part of me wanted to wake her and feel those slender legs around my waist, watch her eyes glaze with passion as I fucked her into oblivion.
Two days or so and Setora would be good as new, at least as far as her shoulder and her concussion were concerned. To my dick, though, which jerked just from me looking at her, it might as well have been a year.
Instead, I pulled the blankets up around her and was about to slip into the bed with her when Steel spoke up.
“You’ve had her enough, PB. My turn.”
I smirked at him. “You sure you want to do that? She might kick your ass again.” Anything to keep her to myself.
“You’re hilarious, PB. Move.”
“I know I am.” I backed up from the bed and let him climb in with her.
I couldn’t sleep with her until we were sure those antiseizure meds would work anyway. Fuck, I’d never get used to the idea that Setora needed three men to guard her while she slept, or that she could kill me at any moment if she was out. It was a hell of a lot easier rearranging the situation in my head, thinking of it as Julian being the threat instead of her.
Stupid virus.
“How’s the hand?” I added seriously, nodding to the splints on Steel’s fingers.
“It doesn’t bother me much.” Careful not to disturb the sling, he put one arm across the pillow above her head and rested his other hand on her belly. “She feels so bad about it, that’s what pisses me off.”
“Well, if Olan is right about that antiviral shit, soon we won’t have to worry about Julian or us having to fight with her again.” I bent and kissed Setora on the forehead, smoothing her hair back. “I’ll be down in the clubhouse shooting the shit with the rest of Sinister’s guys before they leave tomorrow.”
He grunted in response, and I shook my head, smiling at the sight of my Brother being so delicate with our woman. Funny how a man as big as him could be so gentle with her.
I’d never get over how that woman had changed us, how she kept us together even with the whole Julian mess threatening everything we had. I hoped to hell things would be back to normal soon.
The doors behind me opened and Hawk stepped in, carrying Doc’s tranquilizer gun. “Brought this just in case. Beast is right outside the doors.”
I clapped Hawk on the back. “Take care of them.” I nodded to Setora and Steel.
“Always.” Hawk squeezed my arm and took up position at the doors as I closed them. I heard the lock click after me.
“How you doin’, Beast?”
Standing in front of the doors with his thick arms crossed, he made a so-so gesture with his hand, one of the few hand signals he used, unlike Savage.
“You guys must be happy to get back home to Devil’s Breath, huh? Enough of this crazy shit we keep dragging you into.”
He grinned and shrugged.
“Did the Grotto spoil you, and now you don’t want to go home?”
He pointed to the insignia of a flame on his arm, one of the symbols for Devil’s Breath, then made an explosive gesture with his hands and a throaty sound like a bomb going off.
“Yeah, you guys said Devil’s Breath was on its last legs. But it won’t be for long. Not now that you’re one of us.”
Beast nodded and set his hands, almost as big as Steel’s, on my shoulders. He made a fist and hit his chest with it, right at his heart.
“So now you’re gonna get mushy on me,” I teased.
He nodded in a way that suggested he was going to inflict as much oneness and brotherhood on me as I could stomach, whether I wanted it or not.
I smiled and clapped him on the arms. “I love you, too, man.” I hoped he realized how grateful I was to him and the other Brothers of Brimstone for what they’d done. If not for them, we would have lost Setora to Damien, and all of us might have been scattered in pieces, if not here, then at Lord Falnar’s castle.
Man, I was going to miss the hell out of those guys.
I left Beast on guard and found Sinister and Reaper sitting with Sheriff and T-Man in the clubhouse. Mugs filled with beer sat in front of them, a cloud of cigar smoke surrounding them in a haze. They were talking and laughing, and as soon as I came in, Sheriff waved me over. T-Man moved his chair to make
room for me.
“Everyone else turn in, Sheriff?” I pulled up an empty chair and turned it around, straddling the seat.
The General nodded and took out a cigar Mayhem must have given him. “We were waiting for you. T-Man’s too much of a chickenshit to play Bluff with us, so you’ll have to be our fourth.” He smirked at T-Man.
“I am not chicken.” T-Man took his pipe out of his mouth with a laugh. “I’m just smart enough not to want to lose my last few credits to you before I leave you, General.”
“Likely story.” Sheriff ran the cigar under his nose with a pleased hum. “I love these fucking cigars. I’m going to have to badger Mayhem into selling me some before we leave next week.” He lit up. “How’s our Little Spy doing?”
“She’s sleeping like a baby. For once,” I said. “Hawk and Steel are with her. Beast, too.”
“Good to hear. Now, someone deal, because if I do, you’ll all leave broke.”
We all laughed.
Despite the late hour, nearing midnight, none of us were tired, so we played game after game, smoked, talked, and shared pitchers of beer. By the time we were on our third pitcher, and we’d lost track of how many games we’d played, mine, Sinister’s, and T-Man’s purses were considerably lighter. Reaper’s and Sheriff’s were both bulging.
Sheriff set his cards down, and groans rose up around the table at his winning hand. He grinned and scooped the sizable jackpot of credits sitting in the middle of the table into his leather purse.
“If you girls are tired of getting your asses handed to you,” he said to all of us around the cigar between his teeth, “you can always give up.”
When I looked around, no one appeared to want to stop. I gathered the cards and slapped the deck on the table in front of him. “Are you gonna talk, or are you gonna deal, General?”
“Suit yourself, boys.” He started shuffling.
“I know you must be thrilled at having to stay here a whole other week, Sheriff,” I said, taking a swig of beer. I reached over and took a cigar out of the inside pocket of his cut. Ignoring his scowl, I lit up.
He sighed, dealing out the hand. “Well. As far as I’m concerned, if we have to stay here a year to get Setora better, then we stay.”
Reaper stretched his long arms, causing the sleeves of his black cloak to drop to his elbows and showing off sleeves of intricate tattoos. “Setora is an unusual slave, General.”
“Oh? How so?” But the glance Sheriff gave me told me he knew the answer.
“I can’t decide which is more surprising. That she doesn’t act like a slave, or that you don’t much treat her like one. She calls you men by your names sometimes. Or most of you. And you allow it.”
He didn’t sound disapproving, more intrigued.
Sheriff shrugged one shoulder and drank his beer, looking suddenly awkward.
“Setora would never last one day in Devil’s Breath,” Sinister said. “It’s too harsh. We’re too harsh. Out there, it’s not like in the Grotto.”
“Are you saying we’re soft, Sinister?” I half teased.
He shook his head and put down his card. “Not at all. All of us can see Setora is a special woman. I would hate to see someone like her living in a place so unforgiving.”
“Well, that’ll be good for Cherry,” Sheriff said. “She needs to toughen up.”
“Oh, we will see to that. She has a lot of fire, that one.” Reaper put his card down.
I snorted and toyed with the credits sitting in front of me. “That’s the understatement of the year. Good luck with that.”
Reaper raised a brow. “What do you mean, Pretty Boy?”
“Oh, nothing much. She’s just too hot to handle.”
Sinister coughed into his hand. “She’s hot all right.”
Reaper and T-Man both laughed.
Sheriff took a long puff of his cigar and waved his hand. “Yeah, Cherry will fit right in with you guys. And as for your earlier question, Pretty Boy, there are worse digs to stay than here. Look at this place. It’s like a fucking palace.”
“Yeah, it sure beats that South End place we got stuck in on the way to…” T-Man paused and looked around to make sure we were alone. “…to Delta. Speaking of which, where do you suppose we’ll be holding our meetings now that Lord Falnar is gone?”
“Not sure.” Sheriff blew out a puff of smoke. “We’ll keep tabs on Lord Bain, to see if he’s a good candidate for joining us later on, maybe after next year’s summit. If he is, we can hold it at Delta again. I’ve also been considering speaking to everyone about adding Mayhem as a member. I’d been thinking about nominating him before all this shit went down, anyway. If that works out, here would be a great place to hold the meetings.”
“It’s big enough, that’s for sure,” I said, puffing my cigar and putting down a card. “But the rest of the—”
The doors to the clubhouse banged open. I looked over my shoulder to see Sinister’s twin hurrying into the room.
“Savage?” Sinister’s chair scraped the floor as he stood up.
By the time Savage was standing at the table with us, his hands were already flying through signs so fast, there was no way I could have understood what he was saying even if I knew hand-sign.
“What’s he saying?” Sheriff asked, sounding concerned.
I slowly set my cigar in the ashtray, feeling every muscle tense at Savage’s unmistakable urgency.
Sinister went to him, and his twin ran through the same litany of signs.
“Shit.” Sinister glanced at us, then to Sheriff. “General, he says Doctor Olan took Setora. She’s gone.”
Chapter 11
Frantic
The words stabbed through my brain like a scalding hot blade.
Setora, gone.
I might have cursed, but with the hammering of my heart in my ears, it could’ve been someone else.
“What?” Sheriff’s voice was a terrible growl.
Savage gave a hasty nod, then a couple of hand signs.
Sinister looked between his brother and us, his eyes widening. “Guys, you’d better get Doc. Savage says to come now.”
Savage barely waited for us to head for the doors before he hurried back out of the clubhouse.
“T-Man, go get Doc,” Sheriff ordered, rushing after the twins, with Reaper and me behind him. “And check out wherever Olan’s carriage was. See if you can’t find something to tell us where he took her.”
T-Man nodded and ran down the hall while we headed the other way, the three of us sprinting after Savage toward Setora’s room.
“How the hell did this happen?” I demanded to no one in particular. “She had Steel, Hawk, and Beast with her. How did he get past them?”
No one was given a chance to answer, as we’d arrived at Setora’s room where there was plenty to focus on.
The four of us barreled in, the doors already open. In the room, Hawk was in the middle of helping a sluggish Steel into a chair at the table. Steel shook his head as if to clear a fog. Hawk was moving a little slowly, not unlike he had been after the incident with Setora last night.
When Doc had shot him.
In the bed where I’d left Setora, Beast was laying on his back, his eyes closed. The glass pitcher from the nightstand laid scattered in a million pieces across the carpet.
“What the fuck happened?” Sheriff looked at Savage who stood by the doors, indicating the question was meant for him, then pushed Hawk into the chair opposite Steel.
Hawk slumped into the seat as though he’d barely been able to keep on his feet. He waved Sheriff off while I checked on Steel and waited for Sinister to interpret.
“‘I came to keep Beast company and found him unconscious outside the door a few minutes ago. I busted in here and found your woman gone. Hawk and Steel were both out cold.’”
“I’m fine, PB.” Steel shook himself groggily. “When I get my hands on that fucker Olan, he won’t be.”
I turned my attention to Sheriff who looked at Hawk
for further explanation. Hawk handed the General what looked like a small metal dart. He slapped it heavily into Sheriff’s hand as though Hawk’s own hand weighed a ton.
“He shot us all with these. If I wasn’t Yantu, I’d still be out cold, and if Steel wasn’t as big as he is, he would be too.” His words were slurring. “Beast had two of those in him. I don’t know how Olan got Setora out of here without her making a hell of a lot of noise, so I figure he must have shot her up, too.”
Sheriff studied the dart in his hand, his face a dark cloud of anger. “Tranquilizer darts. How long ago did this happen?”
Steel glanced out the window at the moonlight. “Looks like about three hours ago, General.”
The dart in Sheriff’s hand snapped in two. “How the fuck did this happen again?” he growled.
My question exactly. This was the second time in three months that she’d been fucking kidnapped.
“I’m guessing this means Doctor Olan isn’t a real doctor then?” I bit out. “He didn’t come to help with Setora and D, he came to take her from us.” I barely kept from putting my fist through Mayhem’s fine walls. “We need to go after her right the fuck now.”
“Keep your head, Pretty Boy,” Sheriff said. “We can’t go after her yet. We don’t even know where he took her.”
I shook my head. “I should have seen this coming.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Hawk slurred. “All of us believed him. Even Doc.”
The urge to place blame on someone—anyone—leaped up in me. Before I could consider my actions, I was in Sheriff’s face. “How could you let this happen, General?”
Sheriff’s eyes blackened and flashed with fury. “Excuse me?” His voice was a low growl of warning.
“You let him near her. You gave the go ahead for all of this. Setora didn’t like him from the start. She knew something was off. Why didn’t you?”
“Pretty Boy, take it easy,” Hawk mumbled groggily.
“No, way, Hawk. Sheriff—”
“Back the fuck off, Pretty Boy,” Sheriff said with deadly calm, toe to toe with me.
