Page 41 of Crow
“You okay?” I asked quietly.
“Fine,” he said shortly, not looking at me.
“Bit different when they’re coming to you, huh?” I huffed, giving him a wry smile.
“…yeah.”
“We’ve beat them before, and we’ll beat them again,” I told him. “We know the Tavern like the back of our hands. They’re going to regret giving us the home turf advantage, you get me?”
“Yeah.” Vegas nodded, his voice stronger now, and he smiled at me. “Thanks, Crow.” I nodded back and together we began building a stack of chairs. When we finished fortifying the Tavern, we hid ourselves behind corners and barricades so that the first round of Freeway bullets wouldn’t hit us.
Ripper and I were crouched behind one of the upturned tables, guns ready in our hands. I tried to keep my breathing as quiet as possible, and keep my heartbeat steady so my hand wouldn’t waver. I couldn’t afford to miss. It wasn’t long before the roar of engines ripped through the air.
The Freeways were here.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jade
I didn’t want to leave Michael. Being around all the bikers was making me nervous. I knew they weren’t Freeways, but a large part of me was still expecting to be hit. But he seemed to trust this woman, and she had a kind face, so I let her lead me away from him and the rest of the Rebels.
The room she took me to was full to bursting with other women. Most of them were in matching pink dresses, orbiting a woman in a massive white lace gown at the center of the room. She must be the bride. Makeup and hair ornaments were everywhere, clothes lying in heaps on the floor, and various floral perfumes were battling each other to be the most noticeable scent. Voices spoke over each other, compliments layering over demands of more of something or the other. It all made my head hurt and my chest clench, and all I wanted was to turn around and run back to Crow. But the woman still had a hold on my arm, and though it was gentle, I could feel the steel beneath her skin and knew that if she wanted, I would be trapped.
When we entered, there was a pause in the chaos as people turned to look at us, but the woman shook her head and they all continued with their tasks, ignoring us.
“Now, honey,” the woman said, pushing me to sit on the bed. “My name’s Evelyn. What’s yours?”
“Jade,” I said quietly. She smiled encouragingly.
“All righty then, Jade. Let me get you something to eat, you look pale. What would you like?”
“Um, I don’t… I mean… um.” I stared at her, still feeling very overwhelmed.
“Evelyn? Who’s this?” Suddenly, the bride was standing right next to us, leaning close to look curiously at me. I pulled away slightly, heart hammering in my chest. Now she was closer, I thought I could recognize her, but I wasn’t sure where from.
“This is Jade, Rose,” the woman—Evelyn—explained to her. “She’s here to tell us something about your wedding.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “What about my wedding?”
“Um, well, I…” My hands shook. Evelyn frowned disapprovingly at Rose.
“Now, really, dear,” she said. “Leave the poor thing alone, can’t you see she’s not well? Go ask the boys.”
“Right, sorry, Evelyn, Jade,” Rose said, biting her lip apologetically. Then she was gone, out of the room in a flurry of skirts. The other girls in the room all turned to me.
“Whatisgoing on, Evelyn?” asked a pretty blonde. Evelyn paused then looked at me and sighed.
“I’m going to make you a sandwich,” she said decidedly. “Would you mind telling them, Jade?” Then she too was gone, leaving me at the mercy of all the bridesmaids. All my limbs felt heavy. I had been through this so many times already today.
“The Freeways thought that attacking the wedding was the best way to send a message,” I said after a long pause. It was the simplest, quickest explanation, and it was all I had energy for. The blonde looked resigned and sat next to me on the bed while the other three panicked.
“I’m Samantha,” she said. “Those are Rose’s cousins. They aren’t used to the whole biker thing.”
“And you are?” I asked cautiously.
She smiled. “It’s not the first time I’ve tangled with the Freeways,” she told me. “They were a bit of a nuisance back when I first started dating Wrench, one of the Rebel’s officers, a couple years back, and then again when Rose and Archer got together.”
Guilt surged in my stomach. I remembered where I recognized Rose from now. There had been a picture of her in the house a while back. When I asked about it, Ray had said something about blackmail over a loan for a bakery. Fuck. I glanced around for an escape, not wanting to admit to this woman, who seemed perfectly nice, that I had been with the Freeways while they tormented her and her loved ones. Before I could, Evelyn appeared again, seemingly out of nowhere, and thrust a plate with a sandwich on it into my hands. Rose stood behind her, fixing her hair.
