Page 83 of Painless
“I heard you, Jandro,” I snapped, dragging my fingers through my hair. “But where?”
He couldn’t shrug because of that fucking burn on his back, so he lifted his hands, palms up. “We might have to do the nomadic thing for a while. We’ve done it before.”
“Not with this many people,” I argued. “Not with a zoo of animals and a newborn baby, for fuck’s sake. We need a place to settle.”
“And what’s stopping Tash from finding that place, too?” he countered. “Reaper, our people are not safe anywhere. The safest place we’ll be is on the road. Because then we can see the general coming.”
“Everyone here understands the risks of rolling with an MC,” I said. “Safety is never guaranteed. But we’re not simple thugs on wheels anymore. We can’t just drag everyone behind us constantly. We have a responsibility to those we’re protecting. ”
“Believe me, I know.” Jandro raised a palm to placate me. “We have somethingworthprotecting now. But settling can happen later. Who knows, maybe we can move back here after we’re done with Tash. But not before then, it’s too risky, man. The next attack could end you or me, or one of the kids. We don’t wantanymore losses if we can help it.”
But Death will come anyway.
Did I think that? Or did Hades say it to me?
My dog rested his chin on my knee, staring up at me with those big dark eyes. Wherever that thought came from, I felt deep in my bones that we hadn’t encountered all of our losses yet. We could make all the right moves, but we were still gnats that the general swatted at. No true threat, just pests he had to clean out.
“I get what you’re saying ‘Dro,” I rubbed my forehead, “but how are we supposed to coordinate an attack on Tash when we’re constantly on the run?”
“Depends on where we ride and who we meet along the way.” He lifted his chin, swiveling from side to side in his chair. “How’d the talk with the Odin guys go?”
“Fucking peachy. They’re going to be three more mouths to feed from the sounds of it. Three more bodies fucking using up our resources.”
“So you trust them?” he pressed. “You’re letting them stay?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” I admitted.
He nodded in the direction of Shadow and Gunner. “What was y’all’s take on ‘em?”
“I don’t see any reason to treat them like prisoners,” Gunner shrugged. “It’s not their fault Tash and my uncle fucked them over. We don’t have to be all buddy-buddy, but us and the Sons are on the same side as far as I’m concerned.”
“Shadow?”
“They’ve suffered a great loss at the hands of our mutual enemy.” The usually silent man voiced his opinion without much prodding, which was noticed by everyone in the room. “Now we’ve lost a brother too, and risk losing everything as they did. I think they’re the best allies we have right now.”
I lifted my weary eyes to the room. Sleep hadn’t come easily lately. “Any objections?”
No one said a word.
“Settled.” I smacked my gavel on the table, but my heart wasn’t in it. “I’ll let ‘em out after church. Now how the fuck do we plan a move?”
The discussion was primarily between me, Jandro, and Gunner, with the occasional comment from another one of the guys. Gunner knew the surrounding territories best, all their trade routes, conflict areas, and most attractive places to settle. An hour later, the conference table was covered in maps with a dozen of us leaning over it, and no agreement reached.
It all felt pointless, anyway. Even with the most recent maps only a few months old, borders could have been redrawn since then and areas of peace turned into war zones. We might as well just ride out to wherever the horizon took us. A tempting proposition, to be honest.
“Fuck this shit.” I threw my hands up, storming out of the room after going around in circles.
We’d have time to squeeze in one more Fight Night before getting the hell out of dodge, but I wanted to spill blood right fucking then. I wanted to call Dallas back from the grave and shove my fist straight through his jaw. I wanted to yell all the grief in my lungs into his face, and tell him never to die on me again.
I almost went home. If I couldn’t fight, I’d drink, smoke, and fuck my woman. But I almost forgot I had prisoners to release.
Turning in the hall, I found Hades already heading toward the Sons’ room. He sat by the locked door, waiting for me with wide, expectant eyes.
“Still ain’t saying shit to me, huh?” I withdrew the ring of keys from my pocket and unlocked the door.
He only licked his lips and grinned as we stepped into the room together.
T-Bone was doing push-ups on his knuckles in the middle of the floor. Grudge did squats nearby, carrying Dyno on his shoulders.
