by Raven Dark
Setora let out a long breath and closed her eyes, burying her face in my neck. Her shoulders shook. She sniffled.
“Kitten?” I clenched her close and put my mouth to her ear. “Are you crying?”
She nodded. Something that sounded like a small laugh shook out of her.
“Why are you sad? That wasn’t supposed to make you sad.”
Her shoulders shook harder. She sniffed again and pulled back. I wiped her tears. “I’m not sad, Master. I’m happy. So happy.”
“Why?”
“Because. I thought…” She shook her head. “I was so sure if you knew how I felt, I’d lose you.”
So this was relief. I pressed her head against my heart.
“You’re letting me love you, and that makes me love you more.” She looked up at me. “You’ll get tired of hearing it, you know. I’ll tell you every day, like you said, and it’ll get old, Master.”
“Never.”
She smiled through her tears. “Yes, it will.” She snuggled closer and framed my cheek with her palm. “Master. I want you to know. I don’t expect you to love me back. You don’t have to. I get it.”
“I know you do, Kitten.” I caressed her mouth with mine.
“I won’t try to change you. As long as I can love you with all my heart, and you are with me, it’s enough.”
“I am with you. Always.”
She pulled my head down and meshed her lips with mine, a deep, all consuming kiss that held enough love for both of us. Oh, she deserved my heart, all of it, without reservation. I loved that she gave me the freedom to keep my faith without expectation, gave of her heart without asking for more than what I could offer. It also hurt a little, knowing the limitations of my faith forced me to hold back what should have been hers.
I groaned into the kiss, letting the warmth and need in it envelop me, pull me in and drive away the dark shadows that hid within my soul. I rolled her onto her back and sheathed myself in her heat and wetness, loving the way she opened her body to me, wrapped herself around me, and rocked her hips upward to take every inch I had.
I bit her shoulder. She clawed at my back. I ate at her mouth, and she met me thrust for thrust. We didn’t leave my bed for a long, long time.
Someday soon, I would have to choose between what I could, even now, feel unfurling in my heart for her and the need to protect her in a way only an ascension in the order could give her. But not today. Today, we belonged to each other. Today, I’d let my heart live with hers for as long as I could.
* * *
“Hawk. Glad you could get your dick out of our woman long enough to join us.”
I raised my brow at Sheriff’s words and sat on the sectional with the rest of the men in the back of the clubhouse where we usually held church. Church every week, and, for the last three days, a long string of meetings over the merger with the Brothers of Brimstone.
Seated in his high-backed chair, gavel resting in his lap, the hint of a smile on Sheriff’s face said he was playing, but I didn’t miss the touch of irritation in his eyes. I’d showed up only a few minutes after the others, but I was never late, so for me, it might as well have been an hour.
“Good morning to you, too, General. Jealous?”
Seated with us, the Brothers of Brimstone chuckled along with the rest of us.
“Not at all. I’ll have my turn tonight.”
More chuckles.
“All right, all.” Sheriff banged his gavel on the wooden arm of his chair and everyone went quiet. “Where did we leave off in the last meeting?”
Yesterday, due to the funeral, we’d skipped the meeting.
“We’d started to talk percentages,” Steel said, rubbing his tired eyes, looking bored the way he always did when negotiations went on too long.
“Right.” Pretty Boy picked up four leather-bound ledgers from the table between us and handed one each to the Brothers of Brimstone. “I crunched the numbers this morning and wrote up the figures for all of you to see.”
Everyone opened the ledgers, including Beast, who put a necklace he’d been holding in the inside pocket of his cut.
For an instant, that necklace had caught my attention. I’d seen a rounded clear crystal on the end of it. Curious. It had looked like a hypnotist’s crystal, one that members of certain orders used to relax the mind while they meditated. It was also used by both the Yantu and the men who belonged to the even more secretive order Reaper belonged to as a warrior. A few old school doctors still used them for hypnosis, usually to help with flash terrors.
I snuck a look at Reaper who was reading his ledger beside me. Reaper must have started working with Beast to help deal with the horrors that haunted him, using the crystal as part of whatever therapy Reaper was trying with him.
“What am I looking at?” Sinister asked, taking my focus as he glanced at Sheriff. He whistled. “Is that your annual revenue from all your operations?”
Sheriff shook his head. “Monthly. And it’s only from the gems.”
Reaper, who’d been taking a drink of beer from a mug, almost did a spit take and wiped his mouth, choking. “You’re joking.”
Sheriff and Pretty Boy grinned.
“That’s insane.”
“That’s why we’d be willing to give you ten percent of the gem sales for three months on a trial basis, until Ash gets you guys on your feet again. All we ask is that you add your men to our membership and allow us the rights and privileges that come with calling your land ours. The Wolves will become as much our problem as yours. We’ll take care of you.”
Sinister shook his head, staring at the percentage of income on the page. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d think it was too good to be true, Sheriff. This is like a gift from the Maker.”
“That’ll give us the money we need to rebuild the clubhouse after the last few attacks, buy a few women, and after a month, probably buy back our mining operation from the Wolves.” Reaper shook his head in awe.
“I still say you let us send a crew of men with you to take it back from them,” Sheriff said. “You don’t have the men to fight for it, but we do. Men like us don’t buy what is ours. And you are one of us, as soon as Ash gives the nod.”
“No.” Sinister looked at each of his men until he saw Savage, Beast, and Reaper doing the same. “You lost enough already. The Iron Wolves are animals, I’m telling you. And if we die in the fight, it’s the end of us.”
Beast had set the ledger down and had taken the crystal out. He didn’t seem to realize he was letting it swing back and forth on its chain. I knew enough about how that thing worked to know he was mentally following the swinging crystal, counting its passes like a pendulum.
Talk of the Wolves must have been agitating him, though I couldn’t tell by looking at his face, which was neutral.
“Sin, how many of these Wolves are there?” I asked. “How many in their crew?”
He drew a deep breath, paused in thought and looked at Reaper.
“It’s hard to tell,” Reaper said. “We believe they have two hideouts, and they never send all their men anywhere at once, but I’d guess a hundred strong in each hold.”
“Two hundred men?” Steel asked. “Hawk, how many men would we need for that?”
“Hard to say. Twenty men hitting each stronghold simultaneously, if we do it right. Silent incursion. I’d take Steel and four of the strongest men as well. And Reaper, you’re as good as I am in a fight. It would be risky, but it can be done.”
Sinister leaned forward. “We won’t let you do that.”
Beast growled in what I thought was agreement. The crystal swung a little faster, the light from it flashing, casting rainbows on the walls.
“Well, we’ll talk about that more after we hear from Ash.” Sheriff’s tone made it clear he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Sinister relaxed back in his seat. “Which we should by later today or tomorrow.”
“Good. I’d also like to send at least one of our men with you wh
en you leave, if you patch in before you go. Someone who can offer advice on how to get you up and running quickly and keep us up to date on how things are going.”
“We brought the subject up to T-Man last night.”
“And?” Sheriff sipped his whiskey.
Sinister shrugged. “He’s ambivalent. He wants to go, but I think he doesn’t feel right about leaving you guys after everything that’s happened.”
“If you want him, I’ll talk to him. Crash’s death hit him hard. He could use the change of scenery. Helping you rebuild would give him a greater sense of purpose than he feels here. It would give him time to clear his head.”
Sinister nodded.
We talked for some time. By the time we were done, all of us were ready to take a break, to stretch, eat and relax before we met for another couple of hours, wrapping the negotiations up for the day. After today, all that would be left was to get Ash’s approval.
“I’ll send the notes about everything we’ve discussed over the last few days to Ash now,” Sinister said when we were through. “How do I do that here?”
“That’s too big of a package for any of the birds we have here. I’ll have a prospect take the package out to where we receive our mail. We can forward it to Ash from there.”
“Perfect.”
Sheriff banged his gavel. “Let’s break for an hour and reconvene after. Get something to eat, boys.” He whistled over to Sid behind the bar. “You can send a slave in to clean now, Sid.”
Sid called over to Setora and Tanya who were waiting at the entrance with T-Man and Doc. The two men joined us for break while Sid directed the women to dust, sweep and polish every piece of wood in the place. Pretty Boy and Steel ordered food from Sid’s cook.
Since we’d returned, T-Man and Doc had spent a lot more time with the Four. Until recently, they’d preferred to hang out with their own friends in the Grotto, but the journey had changed everything, drawing them closer to us until it felt as if they—Doc especially—were one of the Four. Sometimes it had begun to feel the same with T-Man, but since Crash’s death, he’d drawn inward, alternating between isolating himself and spending long hours with us and the Brothers of Brimstone. Today, he looked tired, his face drawn.
I knew too much about how a man’s pain could tear him up, robbing him of sleep. I clasped his shoulders on my way over to where Setora was wiping up the bar.
He patted me on the back, seeming to appreciate the gesture, and went over to talk with Sinister and Savage.
Setora looked up at me from behind the bar where she was polishing glasses.
“Barkeep,” I teased, leaning over the bar. “A kiss. No ice.”
She giggled and took my face, laying a long one on my lips, then put on a business-like face. “Shall I put that on your tab?”
I took her chin and claimed her mouth again.
“How did the meeting go, Master?” she asked when I released her.
“Long. Come out of there and sit with your masters while they eat.”
She looked at Tanya until the other woman indicated she had a handle on the cleaning for now, then took my hand and followed me over to the sectional where Steel, Pretty Boy, and the four Brothers of Brimstone were gathered, all of them with plates of food. Sid brought over a plate of ribs and chicken for me. Sheriff said a few words to the men and then left, probably intending to take care of some business elsewhere until the meeting reconvened after lunch.
As soon as I was seated, I pulled Setora onto the couch beside me, and Sid handed her a plate of her favorite salad and a bowl of binacca on a tray.
I stole a piece of the binacca and put the succulent pink wedge in my mouth. Her cheeks heated watching me eat it, and I had a feeling she was remembering our little knife play incident with the binacca the first night we’d been together.
I took another wedge and let her eat it from between my teeth.
“If you two are done playing kissy face?” Steel grumbled. Setora looked at him, and he gave her a smile.
“Go sit with Steel now, before he tries to take you from me, Kitten.”
She stood, and I swatted her ass.
While Steel ate, she curled up on the couch beside him with her plate on her lap and dug into her salad.
Sitting in a chair across from us, Beast’s eyes locked on her. He had the crystal in his hand again, and it started swinging, slowly at first, then faster. Agitation pounded off him. Why?
Setora sat up slowly, watching him. Watching the crystal.
Steel’s arm went around her. “Something bothering you, Beast?” Steel growled.
Beast shook himself and sat back. Talking to Sinister beside him and looking at anything but her.
What was that about? I glanced at Reaper, who lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
Setora relaxed against Steel and finished her meal while we joked and talked. He set her empty plate down for her and put his arm around her again.
Her eyes focused on the crystal still swinging in Beast’s hand. The rounded bauble caught the light from the entrance to the cave, throwing little rainbows across the walls.
T-Man and Doc played a game of darts nearby. When T-Man missed the board entirely, Pretty Boy laughed.
“You’ll have to bring your A game if you want to beat Doc at darts, T-Man.”
T-Man shrugged and tossed another dart. It hit the other side of the board.
“What kind of an assassin are you with an aim like that?” Reaper teased.
“I’ve never been good at darts. I can hit a target from twenty feet with a gun or an arrow, but with darts? I can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Go figure.” He chuckled.
Beast’s eyes were on the game, watching Doc take his turn. The crystal’s chain swung idly around his finger, making the gem spin, creating wild flashes of light.
Doc hit the bull’s eye and gave T-Man a look as if to tell him to beat it. The men cheered Doc on.
“Show off,” T-Man grumbled.
“Light. Pretty Light.”
I looked at Setora. She was sitting pressed into Steel’s side, her legs now curled under her, a mug Sid had brought for her in her hand. Her eyes were riveted to the crystal spinning around and around Beast’s finger.
“Kitten likes the pretty light,” I teased.
“Someone should get her ball of string,” Pretty Boy added.
Doc must have hit another good shot, because the others whooped and T-Man cursed.
The crystal sped up, but Beast wasn’t paying any attention to it.
“Light. Such a pretty light. Bringer of Light.”
I glanced at her again. Her eyes were getting droopy. I almost laughed. The food must have made her sleepy.
I turned to say something to one of the others but stopped. The crystal was going so fast now, it was barely visible, a blur of flashing light.
“Light. I am the Light they cannot see.”
My eyes snapped to Setora. Her voice sounded strangled, the pitch wrong. Her eyes were drooping even more. The crystal made a soft whirring sound.
Her eyes froze and her body stilled. The mug in her hand dropped to the floor with a tinkle of breaking glass and a splash of wine across the pale hardwood floor. Her face was completely blank, and slowly, very slowly, she stood.
“Petal?” Steel reached for her. She pulled her arm neatly out of his hold.
“Beast!” I waved at him, holding my hand out toward the crystal. “Beast, stop.”
Beast dropped the crystal as though it had suddenly become hot, looking between me and Setora with confusion and alarm. She stood frighteningly still, unnaturally so, like one of those mannequins merchants sometimes put clothes on.
I’d stood almost as slowly while a quiet sense of alarm shot through me. “Setora.” I went to her and took her shoulders, shaking her gently.
She didn’t so much as blink, seeming to stare straight through me.
“Doc!” I called out. “Doc, something’s wrong.”
Doc rushed over
to us, looking closely at her. He snapped his fingers in her face.
Nothing. “What in the world…”
“Fuck…” Pretty Boy breathed. I thought I heard recognition in his tone.
Beast’s eyes went wide, and he shot out of his seat, his chair clattering to the floor. Sinister and Savage were both on their feet, each one gripping his shoulders, trying to calm him down with their eyes on a still motionless Setora.
“Setora.” Doc snapped his fingers in her ears, in front of her eyes. “Setora, can you hear me?”
Still nothing.
Beast growled low in his throat. I snatched a look back at him. He was baring his teeth, ignoring Sinister who was whispering to him soothingly.
“Sinister, get him out of here,” I ordered. “All of you, leave.” I looked at each of the Brimstone members, then turned back to my woman while T-Man led them, as well as Tanya and Sid from the clubhouse.
I didn’t want anyone who wasn’t close to her witnessing whatever was happening to her now.
“What’s happening, Doc?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. It seems like she’s in some kind of—”
“Revolution.”
The single word dropped from her lips, but it was a register or two too low.
“What the…” Doc took his hands from her slowly, blinking at her.
“Revolution.” She said the same word, in the same too deep voice, darkly monotone.
“Revolution. Revolution. Revolution.”
Each word had a half a second pause between, making the words sound strangely mechanical.
Everyone looked at each other, as lost as me.
