Page 21 of Lawless
Noelle watched me passively, perched on the edge of the tub as I shed my clothing and sank into the warm water. A soft gasp escaped my mouth at the gentle, kneading pressure of the jets on my exhausted muscles. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back to rest it on the cool, porcelain tile. For the first time in hours, I allowed myself to relax. I might still get killed, but at least I got this bath first.
"So why did my brother bring you home?" Noelle's tone was curious over the soft rumbling of the jets.
"I have no idea," I kept my eyes closed as I answered her, not yet willing to face the reality of where I was. "We've barely spoken a word to each other."
"Where did he find you?"
"At a service center in Old Phoenix."
"Did he fuck you?"
"No." I lifted my head and opened my eyes to look at her. "I don't deal in sex. I'm a trained medic. I had just gotten to that center myself and was helping in the kitchen, too. That's how I had the pleasure of meeting him." I couldn't keep the disdain out of my voice.
Noelle's tattooed eyebrows lifted as she leaned back, her face softening like my admission made perfect sense.
"I see. That explains a lot," she mused.
"I'm glad it does to you. Why not explain it to me since I'm still in the fucking dark?"
She chewed her lips slowly, now taking apparent care to watch what she said.
"Reaper and I lost someone very dear to us," she said softly. "The whole club did, really. That person would still be alive if they had gotten medical attention in time."
"So, what? I'm the new walking, talking first aid kit?" I demanded. "I can refuse to treat people, you know. You can't force me to perform my services."
"Yeah? " Noelle arched a brow with an amused smile. "You'd let people with treatable conditions just get worse and die? Somehow I doubt that, miss medic."
"He could have just asked me!" My anger was returning along with my strength. "He didn't have to kill two people, tie me up, and throw me on the back of a bike like a fucking pirate!"
"But wearepirates," Noelle grinned. "We don't ask, we take. It's our way of life."
"I'm a person. You can't just force me to do something against my will."
"Here's where you’re forgetting something, Mariposa." Noelle leaned over the tub, bringing her face closer to mine. "There was a little event that happened six years ago called the Collapse."
"I know—“
"No, you really don't," she cut me off. "You were lucky. You were privileged enough to get your fancy medic training, but most of us weren't. So let me spell this out for you."
She grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her.
"No one has rights anymore. Not to their body, their skills, nothing. If you want to be treated like a person, you have to fight for that. If you don't want to be forced into something, you gotta be stronger than the ones forcing you. Do you understand? Most of the time, it's easier just to go along without a fight. If you value your life, that's what I suggest you do."
She pulled back, pinning me with a green-eyed stare. "If I'm being honest, you're lucky you got picked up by my brother's crew over someone else's."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because in times like these," she rose to her feet, "things can't get much better. But they can always be much, much worse."
Eight
GUNNER
Idrained the rest of my coffee and brought the cup down heavily on the table. Six hours of sleep after riding all night was nowhere near enough. Jandro yawned next to me in agreement. The others around the table looked just as worse for wear, but they knew better than to skip official SDMC meetings, otherwise known as church.
Only Reaper and Shadow looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as far as those two scowling bastards could anyway.
"If you’re all done nodding off at my table," Reaper growled. "We can begin the meeting." He struck his gavel down on the block and brought up the first and most pressing order of business.
