then back at my face. “Keep her locked down at the clubhouse. This guy is escalating and he is taking risks hoping to draw Reign out. Get her out of here,” he tells me, making me go on alert.
“Trav,” she implores.
“Please, Reign, for me.”
She drops her head in defeat before nodding. “Okay, Trav.” She leans down and places a kiss on his forehead. “I love you.”
“Right back at ya, Raindrop. Hey, pass me my things.” He nods to the pile of stuff on one of the chairs in the corner.
“You’re not going to try and get dressed, are you?” she asks him warily.
“Erm, no. Even if I wanted to, I don’t have it in me. I just want this.” He reaches into the pocket of his folded pants and pulls out a silver cross.
“Mom gave this to me on my birthday the year before she died. I’m convinced it’s kept me safe all this time.”
“I hate to state the obvious here, Trav, but you were shot and nearly died,” Reign reminds him softly, making my lips twitch.
“The catch came loose and it fell off. I bent to pick it up and the bullet that was meant for my head missed. He fired a second shot, as you know, but I’m only here now talking to you because of this. Take it. Let it keep you safe for a while.”
“Trav,” Reign whispers, clearly touched by the gesture.
“Mom would want you to have it. I want you to have it. Now take it and send my knucklehead brothers in. And, Reign? Try and cut them some slack, yeah? They’re used to being the only men in your life and now they have to share you with him.”
“Yeah, about that…” She trails off, looking at me with a grin.
“What?” he asks, looking warily between the two of us.
“Bates is my old man,” she says.
He nods slowly, as if he expected that.
“But so are Priest and Saint. Okay, love you, bye,” she yells, walking out of the room, leaving me to deal with the fallout. Oh, she is so getting spanked for that.
“So, are we going straight home tonight now?” Reign asks as I help her off the back of my bike.
Priest and Saint walk over after dismounting from their bikes before I can answer.
“What is it?” Saint asks, looking from Reign to me.
“Reign wants to know if we are heading back tonight, given Trav’s insistence on us leaving.”
“Nah, I think we’ll wait until first light and then leave when the roads are still quiet. I want to make a few calls while we’re here anyway and see what’s been going on,” Priest answers.
We’ve had a couple of prospects watching her brothers as much as we could. That one of them got shot doesn’t sit right with any of us. It’s why Halo is pissed at Jarvis. For a smart kid, he dropped the ball somewhere. Being a Carnage prospect means following orders no matter what they are. When Jarvis was questioned, he admitted he had gone home to catch some sleep, thinking Travis had retired for the night, without calling someone else in to take over from him.
Cops get called in throughout the night, especially when there seems to be a serial killer on the loose.
“Come on, let’s get you inside,” Priest says, slinging his arm over Reign’s shoulder and kissing her temple.
We head inside to the low thrum of AC/DC playing in the background. From what I can see, most of the members are here but there’s no party, which is just as well. I don’t think any of us, Reign in particular, is in the mood for that.
“Hey, Trouble.” We look over when Luna calls, drawing everyone’s attention to us.
Reign laughs. “I take it someone told you my middle name.”
She grins. “It’s like you were born to be an old lady.”
Reign looks up at me and smiles. “Yeah, fate has a warped sense of humor for sure.”
Thirty minutes later, with the girls camped out in Luna’s room with enough junk food to sink a ship, the guys and I gather in Orion’s office.
“So, what have you found out?” I start, kicking back on the sofa.
Orion is sitting behind his desk, Halo is perched on the other end of the couch, and Gage is leaning against the wall behind Orion. Priest and Saint sit in the two chairs facing Orion’s desk. Saint’s posture is slouched, making him look relaxed, but I know he could be up and throwing a knife into someone’s