Page 123 of Enemy
“Works for me. You’ll be easy to handle.” I can’t help myself and delve in for another deep kiss, playing with his tongue, enjoying his heat.
I don’t know how much time passes while we make out like two horny teens, but a sound of the door unlocking makes me pull away and stagger to my feet.
Road picks himself up with less hurry, and I don’t know if he’s just less wary of his friends’ reactions to what they might find here, or if he’s so set on owning every bit of our relationship now that he doesn’t care what they think. Regardless, when he winks at me, I’m ready to go again. Or, I would be if the footsteps weren’t ever closer.
My face falls when I see Prophet’s grim expression and the machine gun in his hands.
Chapter 46
Road
Iswallowandopenmy drying mouth to speak. My friend of fifteen years wouldn’t possibly off me on a vote… would he? I step in front of Clyde regardless.
“He had nothing to do with it,” I say even though Clyde hadeverythingto do with my actions in the past few months.
Prophet shakes his head and opens the cell. “I don’t have time for this drama. We’re fucking surrounded and realized too late. If you two don’t prove yourself tonight, we might all be dead by the end of this night.” He pushes the machine gun into my hands while I’m still processing what he’s said, and a sense of peace sets in immediately.
If this is not a false alarm, and armed men have snuck into Vulture Hollow, we’re still in danger. But it’s a danger as familiar as breathing. This, I know how to deal with, and I’ll prove to Prophet and my entire club that despite all the bullshit I threw at them lately, I am still loyal.
“What about Clyde?” I ask, now actually hearing the muted noise of the shootout happening somewhere above. We did a decent job on the soundproofing of the cellar.
Prophet eyes him, then pulls out a handgun and passes it to Clyde. “Don’t make me regret this. We need all hands on deck. Show me you’re not loyal to those bastards anymore.”
Clyde nods and checks the ammo in the gun. “I will. They showed me they’re not my family.”
Maybe this is not the time or place for it, but I’m overcome by an itch deep at the pit of my stomach, and it only eases when I squeeze Clyde’s shoulder. It’s a brief touch, but it’s firm, reassuring, and when our gazes meet, we both know he has a new family now.
“Don’t die.”
Clyde smirks and shoves me with his shoulder to follow Prophet first. I love that attitude in him.
Prophet slips, but Clyde grabs his arm, saving him from a fall. “The fuck?” he mutters, looking at the floor, and I can only hope he doesn’t realize cum is what almost made him fall over.
I ignore the stain and run up the stairs first. The machine gun is loaded, so in case our enemies infiltrated the clubhouse already, I’ll greet them with a long series of surprises straight from its muzzle. There’s no time to ask Prophet what the exact situation is and whether the civilians are safe at least.
The hidden door slams open, and it’s as if the air changed its consistency around me, growing dense and heavy with noise. Some of the guys are throwing us expectant looks eying Clyde as if he’s a grenade about to explode in their faces, but most of them are rushing outside, so we follow.
I spot many of our civilians running toward the entrance to the caves right behind the clubhouse, but it’s mostly women and children. The stream of people is a blur, yet I do notice many of them watching me as ifI’mthe danger. I have no doubt I look menacing with Isaac’s blood on me and the machine gun in my hands. I’ll protect them anyway.
The wire fence around the clubhouse allows us to see the swarm of motorcycles and their riders, many of them in helmets covering their faces. They’re like hornets chasing the man who kicked their nest, held back by a curtain. Their stings, just like their bullets, might still kill.
“It’s both chapters,” Clyde says to me and Prophet, who scowls, taking shelter behind the low wall around the porch. It’s made of concrete and looks like an ugly prosthetic on the old wooden building originating in the times this place was a summer camp. While many of the brothers hate how it spoiled the exterior of the clubhouse, the decision to include something to hide behind in the unlikely event of a standoff will finally pay off. It’s only taken fifteen years.
“I thought half of them just have forgettable faces,” Prophet says as Clyde and I join him, peeking beyond the barrier, at the swarm gathered on the other side of the wire fence.Stark white lights high above illuminate the intruders, and while it’s good we can see them, they only seem more menacing because of it.
I’m not afraid of the Butchers, but that doesn’t mean I’m suicidal and would run at them with a gun drawn. Even if Grizzly deserves a bullet in the forehead. This is mine and Clyde’s chance to prove ourselves. If we nail this, the issue of Isaac will dissolve like a drop of ink in a lake, I’m sure of it.
I peek out to spot Grizzly waving at us, and I swear the golden fang glints right into my eye when he does his imitation of a smile. When he throws something the size of a football over our fence, I yell “duck!” and pull on Clyde’s arm, just in case, but he’s already going down.
I brace myself for impact, for the wave of noise resulting in my ears ringing, chaos, and the smell of TNT. While this is not the same situation I was in at the warehouse a year ago, my bones ache in anticipatory pain. I can barely hear the laughter and jeers coming from the other side of the fence.
But nothing happens, and as time ticks away, seconds slogging in comparison to my racing heart, I dare look past the barrier and still, frozen like the head staring at me with lifeless eyes. It’s so stiff its cheek doesn’t flatten despite resting on the asphalt.
I meet Clyde’s gaze. “Your treasurer.”
His face is paler than usual, but his eyes glow with sharp focus when he gets up. “You wanna tell me something, uncle?” Clyde yells.
I squeeze my gun harder, but I can’t keep Clyde in a cocoon of safety. He’s his own man as much as he is mine.
