Page 93 of Victorious: Part 3
“Welcome to our world, Doc,” I say grimly. “Hope you’re ready for one hell of a ride.”
As we prepare to leave, I can’t shake the feeling that everything is about to change.
One more mission.
One final flight.
And then Blue Jay willfinallybe set free.
Chapter Seventeen
ALPHA
The clubhouse feels different tonight. Victory has a taste, metallic and bitter, mixed with the copper scent of blood that still clings to our clothes. I lean against the desk, nursing a whiskey that burns less than the rage still coursing through my veins, watching my brothers from other chapters filter in from their respective missions through Loki’s monitors.
One by one, the clubs return home.
Chicago checks in first, but it’s not Torque who comes on screen. Raising my brow as his VP Trax’s dusty face lights his screen, I immediately know something went down in Chicago for Torque not to show up himself. Sitting taller, I clear my throat as Trax scrubs at his face. “You guys okay over there, Trax?” I simply ask.
He rolls his shoulders, tension clearly in them as he sinks back in his chair, bringing a drink to his lips. The delay in his response does nothing for my nerves while I wait for him to drink. He places his stein down, then swipes his face with the back of his hand and coughs once. “It was a shitshow… but we pulled it off, thanks mostly to Torque. He’s at the hospital now with a collapsed lung, and he took one in the shoulder, too, but we all know Foxy is gonna take good care of him. Sensei and Lift are also at the hospital with injuries, but they’ll be fine. But, ahh… we got the civilians out and destroyed their main warehouse. There’s nothing there for Javier to store anymore.”
Exhaling in relief, I sit back in my chair as Loki clips my shoulder. “Great job, glad you guys got through it. Send my regards to Torque and the others. If they need anything, let us know,” I reply as Six from Houston sits down at his monitor tocheck in.
He groans, holding a beer in his hand, his tone clipped, but professional, but fuck if he doesn’t look like he’s gone seventeen rounds with Mike Tyson. Trax and I both let out a whistle as we stare down at him. “Jesus, Six! You okay, brother?” I ask.
He blinks a few times like he’s fighting zoning in and out. The fucker probably has a concussion by the looks of it, but he tilts his head to the side, raising his beer to the screen. “What a fuckin’ ride that shit was. Remind me if you ask for a favor again, Alpha, to tell you to kiss my ass.”
I smirk, nodding my head. “I hear you. Hopefully, if we pulled this off, we won’t be needing any more favors from here on out.”
Six relaxes back in his chair, his expression falling to somber. “Good, because we had to wrangle a few firemen to get our way out, but the financial operations have been seized. Javier’s tech has been recovered, everythin’, his accounts, transactions, the whole fuckin’ digital footprint. Ya’ll better make this fucker pay, Alpha, because we lost Nickel in this damn fight. Chains is still holdin’ his best friend’s body in our clubroom. Chills is tryin’ to reason with him, but the two men have a complicated history. His loss cuts us deep. And I got multiple men wounded, myself included in that list. Who would have thought goin’ to a financial institution would have been such a fuckin’ warzone.”
I tilt my head, gritting my teeth. “Fuck… brother, I didn’t want to lose anyone in this fucking fight. I swear, when we’re done with Javier, he’ll feel the pain we’re all feeling,” I state as Nycto takes a seat in his darkened room, looking as pissed as ever.
“I came in on the end of that. You lose someone, Six?” Nycto asks
Six nods, scrubbing at his bruised and bloodied face. “Yeah, Nickel.”
Nycto shakes his head, grumbling. “We nearly all got blown to fucking pieces. We have multiple injuries, but we securedas many of Javier’s weapons as we could. The rest went up like the fucking Fourth of July. Surprised they didn’t hear it in New Orleans. Where is Hurricane anyway? That chaos demon is usually the first one to show up and announce how he swooped in, saved the day with the carnage he created.”
We all chuckle, nodding along, knowing that Hurricane is not only a force of nature by name, but also by nature. “You know, Hurricane, he likes to make an entrance. Will probably show up half drunk, and Kaia will have to come in and take over the meeting because she’s the only one who can control him,” I mock.
We all laugh as Loki tilts his head. “Not the only one who can control him. You forgot about Ingrid. But she’s here in LA, so, yeah… we probably need to rely on Kaia.”
We continue to laugh at Hurricane’s expense as Sin from Vegas finally decides to join us, coming into view on his screen. He slides into his seat, raising his brow, his arm in a sling. “Oh, I see you fuckers started this party without me.” He picks up his drink with his good arm, clinking it to the screen. “Well, hold up your drinks, assholes. We pulled off some grade-A crazy shit tonight. I had the fucking time of my life dismantling a fucking drug lab. We do have some injured, so I’m gonna send the medical expenses to you, Alpha,” he quips.
Snorting out a laugh, I wave him off. “Yeah, yeah. Least I can do.”
We all sit, casually chatting and drinking, waiting for New Orleans to enter the chat, but the longer we wait, the more a sinking feeling enters my gut that something has gone horribly wrong.
I turn to Bea while Loki is chatting with Sin and pull her aside. “Did NOLA check in?”
A somber expression crosses her face, and she nods. “They did, they said mission complete, but they also said they had acasualty. I’m just not sure who.”
My stomach falls through the floor as I turn back to the rest of the guys, an uneasy feeling rolling through me that something isvery, very wrongover in New Orleans. “Guys, I think something happened in NOLA.”
They quiet down as Loki turns to me, his brows furrowing. “Let me see if I can raise someone over there,” he states, moving to another computer just as the screen for New Orleans lights up.
“See, nothing to worry about. Hurricane’s just late to the—”
