It wouldn’t slice him, but the pressure could fucking hurt.
He made a move to snatch the knife, but he was still dazed, and his movements were slow and sluggish. Taking advantage of that, I grabbed that hand, slipped another blade out, and slammed it right through the meat of his palm.
The scream that escaped him made my heart pound. The rush of adrenaline was like no other, and it was both terrifying and haunting.
This was not something I did for fun.
I wasn’t like Nyx.
But this motherfucker was stealing from us.
That came at a price.
A message needed to be rammed home, and while some of the OGs, my father’s crowd who’d retired and who had nothing better to do than talk smack about me behind my back, might think I was a pussy, I figured it was time I showed them I wasn’t.
Inked was going to be made an example out of.
Rex: Clean up needed in the Fridge.
Cruz: I’ll deal with it.
Rex: Appreciate that.
Cruz: This my Christmas gift?
Rex: Tell me after you’ve cleaned the place up.
Cruz: Will do. Heard about Bear, Rex. I’m sorry, man.
Cruz: Want me to tell the council about Inked?
Cruz: I’ll tell them you need some space. Be safe, man.
PART 2
“HOPE IS BEING ABLE TO SEE THAT THERE IS LIGHT DESPITE ALL OF THE DARKNESS.”
- DESMOND TUTU
EIGHTEEN
RAIN
“Who the fuck are you?”
The guy froze like I’d shot him then twisted around to stare at me. There was a strange stillness about his expression that had me wanting to run off, but he raised his hands and murmured, “I’m Harlow.”
I blinked. “Harlow? The guy I’ve heard Rachel talking about?”
“I assume I’m one and the same. I wouldn’t like to make assumptions though.”
Oddly soft spoken, I questioned, “What are you doing out here? It’s fucking freezing.”
“The same could be said for you,” was his retort.
My brow furrowed. “I’m in training.”
“What for?”
“I’m going to enlist after graduation.”
Wow.
That felt good to say out loud.
I’d never admitted it to anyone before, but the way he stared at me… it made me want to tell him the truth. It was like he'd know I was lying if I gave him some BS.
What the hell?
His head tipped to the side. “Which branch?”
“Army.”
“You want to fight wars?”
“I want to fight for people’s freedom.”
“Freedom’s relative.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“It shouldn't be, but it’s definitely relative. What you and I consider a breach of our civil rights is so far from a woman who’s not allowed to drive anymore because Afghanistan has changed governments.”
“I want to fight for women like her.”
“By killing people?”
I scowled. “What is this? A philosophical debate? I wanna know why the fuck you’re sleeping in a tent in my backyard?”
“This is your backyard?” He exhaled. “I didn’t realize. I thought it was just state land.”
“Well, it isn’t. Why aren’t you staying at the clubhouse?”
“Because I haven’t been invited to stay there yet. When Rex left… I don’t think he told anyone I was thinking about becoming a Prospect.”
My scowl darkened. “It was below freezing last night.”
“Of this I’m aware,” Harlow muttered before he popped a squat and started rearranging some logs on the ground.
It was only then that I saw he’d made a proper hearth for a campfire. It had stones around it and everything. I was an Eagle Scout, so I recognized someone who’d had the safety shit drilled into them.
And I wasn't just talking about Smokey Bear either.
“You were a scout?” I asked carefully as I stepped over to him, watching as he built a fire then set it to blazing.
All without us uttering a word.
Like I hadn’t told him he was trespassing, and like he didn’t know he was camping in my backyard.
“I was a scout, yeah,” he rumbled, shadows flickering on his face thanks to the flames.
I crouched down in front of it, feeling the heat seep into my frozen limbs.
I’d researched SEAL training, knew it went down in subzero temperatures, and had decided I could start preparing myself for that day.
Didn’t matter it was years in the future, preparation was everything.
Rach had taught me that.
“How are you staying warm? This fire won’t do dick.”
“Paper.”
“Paper?”
He nodded. “Shoved into my coat then down around my legs into my sleeping bag. It works well.”
I huffed. “It’s going to be colder tonight.”
“Maybe. It’s all good.”
Was it?
“If the brothers knew you didn’t have anywhere to go, they’d let you stay at the clubhouse.”
“I’m not forcing myself on them.”
Hesitantly, I said, “My sister, Rachel, mentioned there was going to be a new Prospect.”
“She mentioned that? To you?”
I grunted as the desire to stay quiet morphed and I admitted, “No. I heard her talking on the phone to someone in the Sinners. Are you the new Prospect?”
“Potentially.”
Getting pissed at the non-answers, I grumbled, “Is that a yes or a no?”
“It’s a ‘Rex told me that was the only way I could get what I want.’” He cast me a look, and something in his eyes…
He didn’t need the fire in front of him to look like he was burning in the flames.
There was something reminiscent about those eyes of his. Not the color, not even the Arctic frigidity in them that didn’t invite conversation.
Nyx.
That was it.
Nyx.
He looked the same kind of tormented.
Like he’d been damned and sent to hell, but this was earth. Not the devil’s playground. This was reality.
People shouldn’t look like that. They wore masks that got them through daily strife and locked shit down with red wine after work. Rach did that. She didn’t think I saw her pain, the anguish she endured, but I knew.
I’d caught her on Christmas Day, puking beyond the gates as Rex rode off. She’d looked like she was dying. I knew she grieved Bear, I did too, but there was no way that look was for Bear.
Sometimes, I thought she believed I was an idiot.
I knew how she looked at him; I just didn’t understand what held her back.
“There are worse things than being a Sinner.”
“There are?” He laughed. “Like what? If they’re so great, why don’t you want to be one?”
“I’ll Prospect eventually with them. Rach won’t like it, but I’ll do it.”
“She’s your sister?”
I hummed. “I think she wants me to be a cop, but I’m not going to be one of those corrupt bastards.”