Page 71 of Crush's Fall

“Stop.” Lucifer slid off his stool and turned to face Bullet, who got to his feet, obviously feeling threatened. He had no intention of threatening Bullet, but he was done with the conversation. “Look. I know you don’t give two shits about my fucking opinion, but you’re getting it, anyway. I’ve watched the way the Howlers treat the Claws. You say you work together, and that you’re equals, but when push comes to shove, it’s expected that they take your lead… and that’s bullshit.”

“That’s not—”

Lucifer shook his head. “If you can’t see it from their fucking point of view, you’re being deliberately blind. If for no other reason than your sister, you need to open your fucking eyes. I’m fucking done.”

Before he ended up throwing hands with his brother-in-law, he walked away from Bullet and went to check on Halo. When Crush returned, he wanted to be able to give her good news. It was the only way he thought he could help her at that moment.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Crush

Afterparkingtheirbikesin the alley behind Patrick’s house, Crush stormed for the backdoor with seven of her sisters behind her — Kitty, Pumps, Ginger, Kisy, Nails, Pinky, and Lushess. Foxy and Shortcake were at one end of the street, watching for cops. Vixen and Minx were at the other end, doing the same thing. Nova and Raven stayed with their bikes, and Beretta and Goddess headed for the front of the house to keep watch.

If she were thinking straight, Crush would be grateful that the fuckwad lived in an area of town where houses were rundown and abandoned. Fewer witnesses to worry about.

Crush didn’t bother knocking. She just kicked the door in. It slammed against the wall, the noise jarring Patrick on the other side of the room, causing him to drop the mop. As it clattered to the floor, Crush advanced on him, stomping through the blood and water.Halo’s blood.

“Crush,” he breathed and held out his hands in front of him. “Wait! Hold on. You don’t understand. We had… there was a misunderstanding.”

Crush let out a humorless chuckle. “I don’t understand? You beat the fuck out of Halo, andIdon’t understand?” She shook her head, not giving one fuck that her eyes were glowing greenish-gold light. “What the fuck kind ofmisunderstandingleaves our sisterunconsciouson the floor?”

Being the first time he had seen any of them show their shifter abilities in person, his eyes widened in shock. Hell, Crush wasn’t even sure he believed that shifters actually existed. She tried to remember if he was at the town hall and didn’t recall seeing him in the audience, but that didn’t mean much.

“What the fuck?” Patrick started backing away from her, tripping over the discarded mop but catching himself before he hit the floor.

As he righted himself, her sisters surrounded him. Crush grabbed him by the throat with her left hand and pulled him close. “You like to beat on women, do ya?” She swung with her right hand and slapped him across the face like the bitch he was. “Come on, tough guy. Show me what you got.”

He stood there, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, Patrick, show us how Halo got that handprint bruise on her side,” Kitty said through gritted teeth.

“I… I caught her… kept her from falling. She said she was fine and that it didn’t hurt.” The man stuttered out his terrible lie as his eyes wildly scanned the room. He was probably looking for a way out. No fucking way in hell.

“Ooh, while you’re at it. Maybe you can show us how you bruised the side of her neck when it was definitelynota hickey,” Kisy added.

Crush, no longer giving a shit about hearing what he had to say, tightened her grip, unsurprised when he started pulling at her arm, trying to dislodge her hand. She unleashed her claws, but only let them break the skin a bit, letting him know of the danger.

His eyes widened even more as it registered in his brain that he wasn’t dealing with a group of women. He was dealing with a group of predators.

“You’re… mon… sters,” he choked out.

Crush gave him a full-tooth grin, letting her fangs elongate just the slightest bit, and answered, “Boo.” She loosened her grip, but not enough for him to get away or take a full breath.

“I th-thought… they… made it… up.”

Stepping up next to them, Pumps let her fangs slide down and hissed. The smell of urine permeated the air and made all of them curse out loud.

“We’resupposed to be the pussies, you fuckwad,” Kisy said through gags as she headed back toward the back door, no doubt to get some fresh air.

Patrick began to tremble and tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he pleaded. “I shouldn’t have hurt her. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean much, now does it? She’s hurting, and you should be, too,” Pinky taunted from behind him. “This is going to be fun.”

Pinky was usually the voice of reason. It was the main reason Crush had her as her VP. Her ability to keep Crush from killing folks was a very useful tool. If Pinky was in for torturing the piece of shit, there wasn’t much hope for Patrick.

From somewhere in the living room, Crush heard Nails begin hummingGunpowder and Leadby Miranda Lambert.

“Please,” he whimpered through his sobs.

---