He shot me a quick look, then shook his head. "Nah, they'll be fine. Steele is worth about six dudes, and it looked like Zane only brought Cass with him. Charon probably has his second, Skate, lurking in the shadows somewhere too. But I don't think they came here with the intent to spill blood."
That only made me more concerned. "You don't think? Well, I don't think either Zane or Ferryman thought their rival gang would be here, either. But they are, and I can't help feeling like we just tossed a bucket of liquid nitroglycerine into a room and are now crossing our fingers that it won't explode."
Kody grimaced, and I knew he agreed.
"Look," I continued, "I get that Cass thinks it's a bad idea to bring me in, and I'm inclined to agree. Archer needs you guys one hundred percent focused on keeping him alive, and I'd only be a distraction. But you're never going to forgive yourself if something happens because you were too busy babysitting me to watch his back." Not to mention the fact that I'd never forgive myself. The three of them had a bond unlike anything I'd experienced, and I couldn't be the weak link.
He wavered for a second, his gaze shifting in the direction of the back room where the boys had gone, and I knew he was tempted. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "I'm not leaving you alone out here. Did you forget that people are trying to kill you?"
I snorted. "Like I ever could. But also, what if Ferryman is behind all of that?" It wasn't something I'd considered before, but nothing was beyond the realm of possibility.
"Babe," Kody groaned. "Please don't make this harder than it needs to be. Arch and Steele trust me to keep you safe, so that's what I'm going to do. End of discussion."
I rolled my eyes, but the stubborn set to his jaw told me he wasn't going to be easily persuaded otherwise. We took our drinks and wandered a bit until we spotted Bree and Dallas, who'd very much made up from their fight.
"Geez guys," I teased as Kody and I joined them at a low table where Bree was straddling Dallas and trying to eat his face off, "get a room or something."
They both startled, Bree almost falling off Dallas's lap, but she quickly recovered to smooth her silky brown hair back and tug her short skirt back down to cover her panties.
"Oh, hey," she replied, acting like she hadn't been grinding all over Dallas a second ago. She casually slid into her own seat and sipped her drink. "Did, uh, are things all okay?" Her nervous gaze darted between Kody and me as we pulled up chairs of our own.
Dallas cleared his throat, leaning forward with a concerned frown. "Kody, man, I didn't know Ferryman was going to—"
"Forget it," Kody snapped, cutting him off. "It wouldn't have actually been so bad if Zane weren't here, too."
Dallas's eyes widened and he whispered a curse.
"Well, that sounds like a bad time," Bree muttered, swiping a hand through her hair. She was still drunk as hell, her cheeks pink and her eyes glazed. "Let's just hope tonight doesn't end up with my bestie locked up in a cell again, huh?"
I scowled. "Gee, thanks, Bree."
She gave me a drunken shrug. "What? It's true."
Kody just let out a frustrated sigh and sat back in his chair, his hand resting on my bare thigh. This time, though, it was a gesture of protection and safety rather than a teasing touch that might turn into more if I let him.
Dallas let out a groaning sound of frustration, his eyes going to a table not far from us where a group of people played a game of pool. One of them was Drew, which gave me a solid clue Dallas was groaning at the fact that she was accompanied by several other tattooed-up Reapers. How the fuck all these punks had gotten into the party, I didn't know. Probably paid someone off.
Still, there were cops stationed near the exits—looking bored, but present nonetheless—so I didn't think anyone was going to be dumb enough to start shit.
A couple of the guys playing pool with Drew, guys with prominent Reaper tattoos on the sides of their necks, spotted Dallas sitting with us, and Kody let out a sigh.
"Great, here we fucking go," he muttered under his breath, his grip on my thigh tightening and his chair subtly