Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
“It’s both chapters,” Clyde says to me and Prophet, who scowls, taking shelter behind the low wall around the porch. It’s made of concrete and looks like an ugly prosthetic on the old wooden building originating in the times this place was a summer camp. While many of the brothers hate how it spoiled the exterior of the clubhouse, the decision to include something to hide behind in the unlikely event of a standoff will finally pay off. It’s only taken fifteen years.
“I thought half of them just have forgettable faces,” Prophet says as Clyde and I join him, peeking beyond the barrier, at the swarm gathered on the other side of the wire fence. Stark white lights high above illuminate the intruders, and while it’s good we can see them, they only seem more menacing because of it.
I’m not afraid of the Butchers, but that doesn’t mean I’m suicidal and would run at them with a gun drawn. Even if Grizzly deserves a bullet in the forehead. This is mine and Clyde’s chance to prove ourselves. If we nail this, the issue of Isaac will dissolve like a drop of ink in a lake, I’m sure of it.
I peek out to spot Grizzly waving at us, and I swear the golden fang glints right into my eye when he does his imitation of a smile. When he throws something the size of a football over our fence, I yell “duck!” and pull on Clyde’s arm, just in case, but he’s already going down.
I brace myself for impact, for the wave of noise resulting in my ears ringing, chaos, and the smell of TNT. While this is not the same situation I was in at the warehouse a year ago, my bones ache in anticipatory pain. I can barely hear the laughter and jeers coming from the other side of the fence.
But nothing happens, and as time ticks away, seconds slogging in comparison to my racing heart, I dare look past the barrier and still, frozen like the head staring at me with lifeless eyes. It’s so stiff its cheek doesn’t flatten despite resting on the asphalt.
I meet Clyde’s gaze. “Your treasurer.”
His face is paler than usual, but his eyes glow with sharp focus when he gets up. “You wanna tell me something, uncle?” Clyde yells.
I squeeze my gun harder, but I can’t keep Clyde in a cocoon of safety. He’s his own man as much as he is mine.
Grizzly spits to the ground. “This is what we do to traitors. Bracer worked with you, trying to undermine me, and here he is. Did you suck his dick too? We didn’t bring that part of him, I’m afraid.”
Clyde shakes his head. “You got your traitor, so fuck off.”
“Did we?” calls out someone from the other side. The voice sounds vaguely familiar, but most of the Butchers are the same to me, not worthy of memorizing details. Now Clyde on the other hand... he was a standout from the first time I laid eyes on him, and while we’re in mortal danger, hiding in front of our own clubhouse, I still find a split second to appreciate the way his Adam’s apple bobs up and down his throat in profile. I swear he looks fucking regal.
“He did not betray you,” I shout back, because while every muscle in my body itches to power me all the way to Grizz, so I can slit his throat, we are at a disadvantage. “Told me nothing but what he likes in bed. Nothing here for you!”
A flush of color appears on Clyde’s neck and he spreads his arms with a smile I know is fake, because I’ve seen his real grin. “There you have it. Hate it all you want. I don’t give a shit. But I didn’t sell out any of you, even if I no longer wear the Butcher patches!”
“He shot Puck!” someone yells, and I recoil on the inside, because this is the crux they won’t let go of. And Clyde did that for me. He revealed himself as being on my side over his biker brother. That’s enough for the Butchers gathered to demand retribution.
“I won’t be talking about this to you, coward!” Grizzly says to Clyde and kicks the wire fence gate so hard it rattles. “Prophet! Give him up! Hand him over, and we’ll leave.”
Every tendon in my body turns to ice when I hear the absolute silence following that statement. My hand tightens on Clyde’s arm so hard he flinches, capturing my gaze with those incredible eyes. I try not to be too obvious about the way I monitor the behavior of my club, because I get it. While he’s under our protection, the guy was an enemy until very recently. Many of the Vultures have a personal grudge against him, most notably for that damn bomb he planted. Still, I call him mine, and if they betray him, it’s just as if they were betraying me. Creep lets out a sharp hiss, coiling his body, as if he’s struggling to restrain the aggression inside. Past him, Yeti and Rooster are eying us, their mouths open as if they were about to put forward an idea I wouldn’t like.