Page 56 of Demons in My Bed
“Kukola,” Misha warned, narrowing his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I just—” I wiped the tears away and held my midsection, which was now aching from the laughing fit. “Why are you riding in there?”
Talon fired up the bike before responding to my question. “Mishy can’t see the best at night, Bun-Bun. Also, what’s wrong with him riding in the seat that allows him to do what he does best?”
I looked back at Misha, who was now spinning a few blades between his fingers. “What’s he going to do with those?”
The bike roared, and we shot forward out of the underground garage. “We’re doing a drive-by on the way out of town! Stinky Pete needs a reminder about who runs this shit!”
My arms wrapped around Tal’s waist as we cruised through the city. I hadn’t heard of a Stinky Pete before in my research, but there was a Peter Baleman. A fifty-something-year-old water mage who had never taken up with The Exiled. He had an old, car repair shop on the edge of town and basically had to pay a tax to the gang in order to stay and do business there. Word on the street was he was a real asshole and liked to walk a fine line, pushing boundaries when only men who had a death wish would do such a thing.
I tried not to look over at Misha, because I had to choke down my giggles every time. Unfortunately, when we arrived at our destination, I had to look to my right to see where we were pulling into. A car shop. So Stinky Pete was Peter Baleman. As I looked, I caught a glimpse of Misha and realized he was wearing huge goggles. Fucking massive, bug-eyed...
Gunshots pulled my attention away before I lost my shit laughing again, and I saw that two men had just come out of the garage, firing semi-automatic weapons at us.
“Talon! Fucking go!” I screeched, panicking because he was doing the exact opposite of going anywhere. In fact, he slammed on the brakes.
Misha sent a handful of daggers flying through the air, the momentum from the braking giving the deadly accurate weapons even more power. I didn’t think that should be allowed. Like, for the sake of humanity. It just wasn’t safe. That dude was lethal with blades; he didn’t need any power ups.
One of the men firing at us was struck in the neck, blood spraying instantly from his throat as he dropped the gun to grab his neck. The other one, well, he died immediately when one of Misha’s daggers stabbed him right through the eye.
“Don’t be a little bitch, Pete! Get your ass out here! We just want to have a little chat!” Talon shouted, remaining in his seat. Neither he nor Misha bothered getting up. Either they were incredibly confident in the outcome of whatever this was... or they were cocky fuckboys who were about to get me killed.
One of the garage doors opened fast—someone had raised it manually, and that someone walked out a moment later with his hands in the air. “Apologies. Didn’t know it was you guys. Been having some trouble with thieves.”
Pete had gray hair and a big belly. His greasy jeans were held up by a pair of equally greasy suspenders. He had the kind of face that could have been seen as approachable at some point in his life, but not now. The wrinkles that had formed in the shape of a scowl told that story easily enough.
Talon tsked. “See, I just don’t know if I believe ya, Pete. If you’ve been having so much trouble, why didn’t you let us know so we could help you out? That’s exactly why you pay tax. You get to operate a business, remain an unattached entity in our city, and you get our protection. Doesn’t add up, does it, Misha?”
Misha didn’t answer, he just unsheathed another dagger and began spinning it slowly, eyeing Pete like a cat watching a mouse. Pete’s face paled as he suddenly realized he was in trouble.
“See, Pete, word on the street is that you’ve been skimping on reporting your income.” Pete opened his mouth to argue, and Talon held up a hand. “Yourfullincome. It’s not that hard, Pete. You know we get our cut, no matter what.”
“I–I d–don’t know who you’ve been getting your intel from—”
A woman walked out of the garage, much younger than Pete but clearly a mechanic. Her blonde hair was braided in two long rows and she wore a backwards snapback hat that had seen better days.
Pete glanced over at the woman, who crossed her fully tatted arms and leaned casually against the side of the building. Understanding dawned on me about ten seconds before it did for poor Stinky Pete. His employee had sold him out. Tal and Mish were still as statues as they waited for the man to piece it all together.
“You! You fuckin’ b—”Thwack.His voice was cut off, along with the spray of water from his palms that never got beyond a sprinkle.
Pete stumbled back from the force of the hit. A dagger protruded out of his chest as he fell to his knees, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
“Yeah, me. You’re such a pathetic piece of shit, Pete.” The woman approached the dying man, circling him with a sneer. “How long have I worked here and put up with your sexist fucking bullshit?” She moved like a rattlesnake, punching him right in the nose. “You shoulda known, you thieving cocksore. Port Black belongs to The Exiled. So do I.”
Pete’s eyes nearly bugged out at that little nugget of information. The woman waved her hand, and a wrench that was on the hood of a car zipped through the air, landing right in her open palm. My mouth dropped as she whacked him over the head with it hard enough to make my own head hurt.
“Fuck yeah, Lucille! Fuck him up!” Talon cheered, and Lucille definitely did. By the time she was done smashing Pete to smithereens, she was sweating and panting like she’d run a marathon.
“What’s her affinity?” I whispered to Misha.
He smirked. “Selective magnetism.”
Interesting.Lucille was busy wiping the sweat and blood from her brow as she walked over to us, laughing. It didn’t strike me really as an appropriate time for laughter, but it seemed like everyone in this city just did whatever they wanted, social expectations be damned.
“Can’t tell you boys how long I’ve wanted to do that. Fuck me, it felt good. I’ll drop off the money owed tomorrow?”
“Sure thing, Luce. Feel free to change whatever you want around here. Exiled property now. Good work.” Talon shifted on his seat, giving Lucille a clear view of me for the first time.
