Page 10 of Badger
“You don’t mean that,” I said, backing up another step.“We’ve been friends for years.I like being your friend, Twister.You’re like a brother to me.”
He laughed, the sound cold and brittle, and I knew in that moment I was in trouble.No one knew he was here, except Badger.I didn’t feel very safe, and the crazy look in Twister’s eyes told me I had reason to worry.He was a biker, an outlaw, and I didn’t know what he was capable of.I never would have thought anyone in Devil’s Fury would hurt me, but I wasn’t so certain right now.
“Brother?”He sneered at me.“A brother doesn’t want to fuck his sister.”
The door still stood open.Would I make it if I ran?How far would I get before he caught me, and would I be even worse off then?I’d fought that night in the alley, and I knew I’d fight now if he attacked me.He was so much bigger than me, I doubted I would win, but I had to try.I darted to the right and ran for the front yard, leaping off the porch steps.Our homes were spaced enough that even if I screamed, there was no guarantee someone would come for me.
I heard his roar of fury behind me, then the pounding of his boots.I pushed myself harder and screamed for Scorpion, hoping he was home.I was close to his house, nearly to his yard, when Twister slammed into me from behind.I hit the ground, my chin slamming into the pavement of the road that ran through the compound.Twister flipped me over, then backhanded me, pain exploding through my cheek and eye.I cried out and beat against Twister with both fists.Then suddenly, he was gone, and I heard a roar of fury.
Tears blurred my vision as I struggled to sit up.Scorpion was trying to finish the job Badger started, his fists landing on Twister blow after blow.When there was no fight left in Twister, Scorpion staggered back, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs.He took a step back, then lurched forward and nailed Twister in the ribs with his booted foot.I winced, swearing I heard them crack.
Two more Devil’s Fury men came to see what was happening.There was a buzzing in my ears and I couldn’t make out what anyone was saying.Someone lifted me into their arms and I tried to focus.Everything started spinning and I knew I was about to be sick.Struggling, whoever held me finally set me on my feet, and I dropped to my knees, losing what little of my breakfast I’d managed to eat.I felt a hand rubbing my back, and that small bit of kindness was enough to make me break.I admit it, I ugly cried.
“Come on, honey,” Scorpion said, lifting me into his arms again.As his woodsy scent surrounded me, I started to calm a little.He was like an uncle to me, had always been there when I needed someone, and this time wasn’t any different.
He carried me into his house and eased me down onto his battered leather couch.His flavor of the month, Gina, handed me an ice pack.I pressed it to my cheek and wondered what would happen to Twister.He’d attacked me, and I knew he’d pay the price.The beating he’d received was nothing compared to what my dad would do to him once he found out.
It didn’t take long for Griz to arrive, and he looked beyond pissed once he saw my face.The biggest badass I’d ever met knelt at my feet, and gently checked my injuries, before cursing so long and loud I wondered if he was inventing some of those words.When he stopped, he sat beside me, taking my hand in his.
“Twister will be dealt with,” my dad promised.“What I want to know is where is Badger?I thought he was with you.”
“You knew?”I asked.
He smiled a little.“Yeah, I knew.Anyone who passed your house last night or early this morning knew he was there.Did he leave before or after Twister got there?”
“After,” I said.“Twister said some things, some horrible things.And then Badger started beating him.”
My dad frowned, his brow furrowing.“And he just left you there with Twister?”
“I made him stop,” I said softly.“I told him to stop hitting Twister.I didn’t realize what would happen, that Twister wasn’t the man I thought he was.I didn’t understand when he ran off, but I think… I think Badger believed I was choosing Twister over him.He took off without saying a word.”
My dad and Scorpion shared a look.Scorpion nodded and headed for the front door.A moment later, I heard his bike start up.It always amazed me when my dad could do that, talk to someone without using his voice.When I’d first witnessed him doing that, I’d asked Mom if he and the Devil’s Fury could read minds.She’d been amused.
“I’m taking you to the doctor,” Dad said.“Your chin is still bleeding, and I want to make sure that asshole didn’t fracture your cheekbone.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
“No arguments, Adalia.”
He led me outside, and we walked the short distance to his house.When I’d come to live with him and May, he’d bought an SUV.Even when I got older, and after May died, he’d kept it.Dad opened the passenger door and helped me inside, making sure I’d buckled up before he shut the door.The ride to Dr.Larkin’s office was short, and the minute we stepped inside, a nurse led me into the back.I’d always wondered why we never had to wait like everyone else, and as I’d gotten older, I’d come to realize that Dad paid Dr.Larkin to always be available to the club.
“I hope the other guy looks worse,” Dr.Larkin said as he checked me over.
“It was Twister,” I said.
Dr.Larkin shook his head sadly.“I’m sorry to hear that, Adalia.I know you considered him a friend.”
He pressed on my cheek and I cried out.Tears gathered in my eyes again, but I blinked them back.He also used a light to check my eyes.
“Not broken, but it’s going to look nasty for a while.You don’t need stitches in your chin.It’s going to be sore, and will scab over.Don’t pick at it.Just keep some triple antibiotic on it and make sure it stays clean.I think you have a slight concussion.The concussion should get better in the next few days, but you could feel the effects for a few months.”
He pulled a prescription pad from his pocket, then stopped.
“Any chance you could be pregnant?”he asked.“I know you have endometriosis, but is it at all possible?”
I started to say no, then thought about the shower this morning with Badger.
“Maybe?It’s too soon to know,” I said.“I had unprotected sex this morning.It wasn’t planned.”
