Page 10 of Powerless
"Nothing that'll help," I said before taking another drag. "I'm just worried, Reap. Our whole community depends on me for goods. Now I have to scramble to take care of our people." I hissed a breath through my teeth as a fresh surge of anger hit me. "I know what it looks like since I've had the most contact with Tash out of all of us, but fuck, man."
Reaper watched me silently, pale smoke swirling around him.
"You know I'm loyal, Reap," I said. "I've bled for this club. I'm a Steel Demon to my core. I would never, ever fuck us over."
"I believe you, Gun." Reaper turned and leaned his forearms over the balcony. "But someone within ushasfucked us over.” He glanced down at Hades guarding us faithfully before asking in a low voice, "Have you seen anything suspicious through Horus?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary since we got here,” I answered with the same low tone. "I'll keep looking, though."
"Make sure you watcheveryone," Reaper ordered under his breath. "Even Jandro, Mariposa. Hell, even me."
"Narcing on yourself, President?" I asked with a dry laugh.
"It's like how those old mysteries used to go," he chuckled as he tossed his cigarette butt over the balcony. "Everyone's a suspect. Especially the one who seems the most innocent."
Four
MARIPOSA
With the guys wrapped up in their business and now Hades abandoning me to be with his master, I ran out of things to do.
My belly was full of food and my latest patient had been treated for her dog bite. I could keep wandering the empty halls of this place, hide out in my room, or relax by the pool.
Or you could strip down and wait in Reaper's bed for him, like he wanted you to.
I huffed to myself as I dug out a clean swimsuit and stripped out of my normal clothes. Not that the idea wasn't tempting, especially after what he did in the kitchen. But I still didn't want to make myselfthatavailable to him.
A man like him got bored if women offered themselves too easily. His confrontation with Heather showed me that. He'd just jump to the next girl if I came to his every beck and call. I already figured he'd discard me for something new and shiny eventually. He all but promised me that with the whole, "I don't do traditional relationships" pitch.
But I had to admit I was enjoying my tryst with the Steel Demons president and wanted to make it last. And if I remained a career medic with the club, I had to accept the doggish behavior of its members. At least they didn't coerce women into bed with them and generally seemed trustworthy.
After getting into my suit, my pulse sped up as I walked out onto the pool deck. This was where everything happened. The explosion. Guards swarming in. Gunner looking like he was having a seizure.
I dragged a deck chair over to the sun and sank into it, keeping the doors in my peripheral vision. I had nothing to fear now but still felt the need to check my exits.
The hot, dry desert air parched my throat. I closed my eyes and imagined a margarita. Texas had several dry counties even before the Collapse, but the teetotalers wasted no time in coming out of the woodwork afterward. Nearly half of the former state of Texas forbade alcohol by the time I graduated school, which only created a black market for it. Beer was easy enough to make and no one cared much about how it tasted, but distilling liquor was more difficult. Especially on a large scale. Authentic tequila from Mexico cost a small fortune.
My dad had a bottle stashed away that we hoarded like gold. The last time I tasted tequila was when we took shots on my twenty-first birthday.
"There's three rules—lick, swallow, suck, but no one tells you the fourth one," Dad warned me.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Don't tell your mom," he laughed, pinching my cheek. "She'll kill me."
A splash pulled me out of my memories, prompting me to crack one eye open. I was greeted by the sight of Gunner cutting elegantly through the pool. He did several laps back and forth of a sleek butterfly stroke. It looked absolutely beautiful, but exhausting as hell.
His long arm swept through the water, every muscle flexed. He wore the Steel Demons horned skull tattoo on his upper back, the edges of the design stretching out to the backs of his arms. With the way he moved, it almost looked like demonic black wings spread across his back.
A demonic angel. How fitting.
Powerful kicks of his legs drove him up before crashing down. I lost count of how many laps he did, but he didn't stop until he looked ready to slip beneath the surface.
He held onto the edge of the pool with one hand, chest expanding with hard, ragged breaths. I startled when he punched the pool wall with his other hand, muttering curses to himself.
It wasn't until then that I realized the sunniest, most cheerful of the demons was seriously pissed off.
I lowered my feet to the ground and stood, walking tentatively toward the pool's edge. He flashed a smile as soon as he saw me, but I saw the grimace underneath.
