Page 19 of Beast

“I’m no match for you,” he admits.

I smirk. “No. You’re not. Just remember that.”

Hate is bright in his expression, and the silence between us is tight.

When I don’t say anything, he turns and disappears down the tunnel leading out to the cliff face.

Minutes later, his haunting voice echoes back through the tunnel.

“Goodbye…brother.”

But we both know this isn’t goodbye.

Not by a long shot.

CHAPTER 8

BEAST

“It’s done,”I say to the thirteen men sitting around the carved wooden table in Church. “A warning has been sent to anyone who thinks trafficking girls and women in St. Boniface is a sensible business decision.”

A murmur of agreement ripples around the table.

I think of the piece of shit I left dead and carved up on the railway tracks.

The Knights don’t take kindly to anyone coming into our town and ruining the lives of the town folk.

Even though the opinion of the town folk may be divided about us—some fear us, some revere us, while some outright hate us. But regardless of our haters, the Knights have always been the caretakers of this town and always will be.

Much to the disgust of our mayor. He’s one of our biggest haters. An ambitious suit who wants to bring more money into St. Boniface via development.

Unfortunately for him, we block any development where we can.

St. Boniface doesn’t need the kind of changes developments will bring to a town that has been famous for its quiet historic streets and sleepy coastal vibe for more than a hundred years.

“We’ll keep an eye on the situation, but I think we made our point,” I say.

“You think those fuckers have anything to do with Dodger’s death?” Axe asks.

“Disappearance,” Viking reminds him with a dark growl. “We don’t know he’s dead.”

Lars looks at his father. “His bike was found at the bottom of the cliffs. His cut has washed up. He’s dead.”

Viking looks unconvinced. He’s the only man in this room who thinks there is still a chance Dodger will show up one day. He folds his big arms across his chest. “I still don’t believe it.”

“Because you don’t want to. But this club was Dodger’s life, old man. He wouldn’t stay away by choice.”

Viking’s fist meets the table beneath it with a bang. “Then why don’t we know what happened to him? Bram has hacked into every damn street camera from the night he disappeared, and we still don’t know a goddamn thing.”

“Viking has a point,” Gambit says. “In light of what has just happened with Gaston, is it possible he had something to do with Dodger’s death?”

“Disappearance,” Viking rumbles.

It’s very possible. Because my brother is as unpredictable as my father was, and everyone in this room knows it.

“There is nothing to suggest he was even with him the night Dodger disappeared,” I say. “Law enforcement believes he rode off the cliff. Perhaps it’s time we do too.”

“Fuck the cops.” Viking crosses his arms again, his face twisted into a scowl. “Someone knows what happened that night.”

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