Page 44 of Hallow’s Eve
Though weak, I obeyed her. I tried my best to keep them open.
Goliath easily maimed the rest of them, the guys that had been holding me, shooting them in the legs.
Kingpin picked up the landline and called the local police. “Four gunshot victims out at the Newberry place. Old lady shot here named Viv confessed to murdering Grady Foster Friday night.”
My brothers had saved me from a fate worse than death, watching Eve be raped and killed. Grabbing Eve’s keys, they got us into her car and out of there. Kingpin drove and Goliath followed on my President’s unmistakable motorcycle. As he explained why he followed me out to Eve’s, I thought about the man in a suit who’d left. Apparently, I asked Kingpin about him, though I forgot I had as soon as the words left my mouth.
“Mr. Noah Fond owns most of Nashville. You know, the devil wears a suit and tie.”
I passed out after that. When I woke, I was in Heaven, Eve Angel smiling down at me. Like the angel she was, she sang.
Chapter 11
EVE
Hallow about bled out on the way to the hospital, especially since Kingpin decided to drive ninety miles per hour to Nashville, claiming he’d get better care. Following the other biker, he used the shoulder to avoid the traffic and about wrecked my Gran’s car and killed us all. Meanwhile, this man who was so strong and virile knocked on death’s door. Once Hallow was in the ER it was déjà vu. The doctor told us Hallow had to have emergency surgery on his leg and arm. He’d spend a couple of nights in the hospital. Kingpin placed a guard outside his room in the ICU so no one would mess with him. After what we’d just been through, I was thankful. But that guard wouldn’t let me see him. I complained to Kingpin in the waiting room when he came from seeing Hallow.
“Why didn’t you tell Payday you’re Hallow’s girl?”
I grumbled.
“They’re taking him into surgery, anyhow. You should go wash up. The nurse has a change of clothes for you. Once he’s out you can come with us and stay at Royal Road until he recovers.”
“No way,” I hissed.
Kingpin put his hands on me, on my arms and started rubbing as to sooth me. “Not that Royal Road, where you were on Halloween. Up in the Eagle’s Nest. Ol’ ladies can make a space for you for a few nights.”
Not wanting him to touch me, I stepped away from him. “No thanks. I’ve got some loose ends to tie up,” I said and thought of Viv saying that when she was trying to kill me. I decided to retire the phrase.
Then Kingpin insisted I come back to take care of Hallow when he gets out of the hospital. “It’s the least you can do since he was saving your life,” he said, when I wavered. “Actually, I saved your life. I say you owe me. Take care of my brother Hallow and we’re square.”
It’s not that I didn’t want to nurse Hallow back to health. I did. There was nothing in the world I wanted more. Hallow had just saved my life. Maybe Kingpin and the other biker, too. But more than that, I had lost too many people to lose Hallow, also, whether it be from him dying or just moving on. How did this stranger I met just a few days ago occupy so much of heart now? I ached to see him. I just didn’t know if I felt safe at Royal Road after what had happened to me there.
“Maybe he can come to my place,” I suggested to the head biker.
“I need him at Royal Road,” Kingpin declared in a tone I couldn’t argue with.
Reluctantly, I agreed with a bow.
Kingpin took that as an invitation to touch me again. His hands landed on my shoulders. “Since Hallow’s out for the count, I have to warn you to keep quiet about Noah Fond. Tell anyone that he hired Viv to kill Wolf and you’ll have a bigger target on your back than my club.”
“I figured. And do I still have a target on my back?”
“Not as long as you’re one of us.”
I tried to tear loose of him, but Kingpin wouldn’t let go. “If I’m Hallow’s, why are you holding me?”
Kingpin released me. “I’m just teaching you a lesson, dear. Until you have a property patch, you’re fair game. Be best if you learn our rules.”
“Your rules?”
“Don’t worry. If Hallow doesn’t survive, I’ll make a spot for you on the floor beside my throne. You belong to the Royal Bastards now with or without him.”
Since I was covered in blood from bringing Hallow to the hospital, and I desperately wanted away from Kingpin, I took a shower in a bathroom the nurse showed me to. Once I was clean and dry, I put on a grey sweatsuit and non-skid socks. Seeing Hallow after his surgery about gutted me. Weak and groggy, he was barely awake, but he would survive, they said. After what had happened to Donette I didn’t trust it. As it was, I wouldn’t even lay on him. I didn’t want to put any pressure on his chest. I kissed his head and held his hand for the longest time. He fell asleep, but I stayed. When the nurses left, I sang to him. I started humming several songs but settled into Norah Jones’ “Come Away with Me”. As the words flowed, I wanted nothing for Hallow to recover so we could be together. I thought of all the adventures we could have, together. I thought of sharing a long life with him, a future, but all I really wanted was to be in his arms again just one more time. I prayed for it, begging God not to take someone else from me.
When visiting hours were over, I went to Gran’s to pack my things but stopped at Jennings’s farm on the way. Thankfully, old man Jennings agreed to keep Killer. Good thing, because I didn’t know if I could even have pets in Donette’s apartment. The cops had cleared more dead bodies from Gran’s property. This time with the action in the house, they’d left the crime scene tape all over. I was sure they wanted to talk to me. I hadn’t even given them a statement about what happened to Donette, Ford and Jasper. I took another shower and put on my own clothes for the first time in days. When I was about done packing, Donette’s aunt called wanting to know if I would be at her wake this evening. After I packed my car, I dug out a black dress. Not only had I packed my belongings but most of Gran’s as well since my brother had left the majority of her personal effects in the house. I drove to the funeral home with my car packed tight. I hugged everyone in Donette’s family feeling a bit less to blame for my best friend’s death now that I knew that the guy my dad hired to abduct me hadn’t killed Grady. Ford had killed Donette, but I’d never know if he meant to. Maybe she’d only been in the crossfire. I’d have to ask Hallow’s friend Thorn for clarity. Nevertheless, my best friend had been at Gran’s in the first place thinking she was saving me.
I joined Celie in the corner. “I heard Viv went to jail for killing Grady,” I said to her, my eyes red.
