Page 46 of Thunder's Reckoning
The room went still.
“Jesus,” Chain muttered.
“You believe all this?” Devil’s face was more curious than combative. “Sure this isn’t some story she’s feeding you?”
I met his stare. Didn’t blink. “I believe her. I’ve seen the scars, some you don’t see on skin. The way she walks. The way she don’t close her eyes all the way at night. That ain’t somethin’ you make up. I know the look of someone runnin’ from hell.”
Mystic tilted his head, unreadable. “And you’re standin’ behind her? If this turns into war, you ready for that?”
“I already am.”
That answer settled heavy over the table, like smoke that wouldn’t clear.
Devil’s eyes narrowed. “You claiming her in the eyes of this club?”
The weight of it hit. Claimin’ wasn’t about sex or romance. It was law. It meant she was under my patch. My responsibility. My blood, if it came to that.
Chain leaned in, his face dead serious. “If we’re gonna put The Devil’s House against a cartel and a cult, it sure as hell ain’t for somebody halfway in.”
I didn’t waver. “I am. I claim her.”
Devil studied me, long and cold, then gave a slow nod. The kind that carried judgment and mercy all at once.
“Alright. If Gabrial comes, he’s gonna find steel, not fear. But we don’t risk this club without a plan. She stays in that house. Off the radar. Quiet.”
“Understood,” I said.
He turned to Gatsby. “Dig up everything on Gabrial Lopez. His fronts, his movements, this Children of the Flame. I want to know what we’re facing before it gets here.”
“Already on it,” Gatsby said, scratchin’ notes in that leather journal he never let go of.
Devil’s eyes cut back to me. “You brought her in. That makes her yours to protect.”
“She already was,” I said.
Mystic grunted. “Guess you’re bleedin’ for this one.”
“Damn right I am.”
Chain smirked. “Shit, I gotta see her. Must be one hell of a woman to tie down your whorin’ ass.”
I flipped him off. “Talkin’ big for a man who can’t remember half the names he’s fucked.”
“You jealous, sweetheart?”
“Both of you shut it,” Devil snapped, standing. “This isn’t a joke. We’re in deep, and we don’t know how far this goes.”
I straightened. “I’ll keep her outta sight.”
“You make damn sure you do,” Devil said. “We’re not handing her back. But we aren’t giving Gabrial a reason to come knocking either.”
He walked out first, the rest followin’. Boots hittin’ the floor like drumbeats.
I sat there a beat longer, feelin’ the weight settle heavier on my shoulders. Didn’t second-guess it though. I was all in.
The first time I saw her standin’ by that broke-down car, I knew. Fate wasn’t somethin’ I believed in—but if it was, it looked a hell of a lot like Sable.
I pushed back from the table and grabbed my keys. Figured I’d hit the store, stock the place, maybe grab some toys for Zara and a TV for Malik. Somethin’ to make that upstairs room feel less like a safehouse, and more like a home.
