Page 70 of The Souls We Claim
“Fuck off, Niro,” we both say in unison.
Bates hides his grin behind his hand.
“Halo will lead the front entry,” King says. “I’ll lead the back.”
“Why the fuck are you letting him lead?” Spark asks.
King turns to face him. “Because Little Chick needs you in one piece.”
And there it is. The tight relationship between my brother and the woman who brought him back from the brink. The two of them need each other. It feels like five minutes since he threatened to go ballistic on an ATF agent who shoved Iris. It’s thanks to Clutch, who took an elbow to the face while restraining Spark, that Spark isn’t in prison as we speak. If anything happens to Iris during this whole process, I worry we’ll lose him.
We all do.
But King is smart. He’s found the one way to get Spark to capitulate.
“Halo’s got Lola,” Spark says, but I can tell the weight is gone from his words.
And the idea I have a dependent is something I’m coming to terms with. But I do have an out. “Lola has Arianne, her aunt, if anything happens to me.”
“Fuck.” Spark rubs a hand over his face. “I’m gonna have to think about this shit. But Bates has Avery, and Vi’s pregnant too.”
“I’ve got Vi if anything happens to him,” Niro says.
Bates looks at his best friend. “I get the gist of what you’re trying to say, but could you please not say you’ve got my old lady.”
After a moment of awkwardness, everyone laughs. This breaks the tension in the van, which I’m sure was Bates’s intention.
“And I’ve got Vi if anything happens to Niro,” Cat adds.
“Fuck me,” King grumbles. “If we end up in a situation where we’ve lost both Bates and Niro, we’ve got bigger problems than who has Vi.”
“Cat and Vi and Avery can come live with me. I’ll open a commune. All free love and sharing,” Vex offers. “You know I’ll treat your old ladies right.”
Cat throws her arm over Vex’s shoulder. “That’s so nice of you.”
“Like fuck she will,” Niro says.
“You hold him down, I’ll hit him,” Bates says with a huge grin that says he knows it’s all teasing.
One of the things I love about being a part of a motorcycle club is the camaraderie. It’s like being on a SEAL team twenty-four seven. We fight hard, play hard, and work hard. But at the end of the day, we know we have each other’s backs.
“Fine,” Spark says finally. “Halo leads. But we need to stick with the plan we discussed at the clubhouse.”
We agreed. Efficient and economical movement. Close quarters. Clearing sector by sector with balanced turns around closed corners.
“Done,” I say.
The house looks more like a squat when we pull up to it. The leaders of the Brotherhood had over eleven million in various bank accounts, and yet some of their members live like this.
I should be surprised, but I guess it’s no different to those Evangelical ministers and their mega-churches and flashy lifestyles when all those sinners Jesus encourages them to get comfortable with sleep in tent cities around the US.
“Ready?” King asks.
I nod and tug my neck warmer up over my nose to hide my face. My hair is braided so it doesn’t obstruct my vision. When we come to a stop, I scramble to the back of the van to lead out first. Niro pushes the van doors open so I can step out with my weapon raised. Landing on the balls of my feet, I study the area.
Only one streetlight out of seven actually works, and thankfully it’s too far down the street to be of much use.
Silently, my brothers fall out behind me. Switch stays in the van, engine running, but he kills the lights.
