The heavy sound of fists hitting flesh, accompanied by the cries of pain from Skunk, made me want to look. I started to turn my face, but Archer shifted his grip and held my chin firm.
"I said, look at me." His tone was sharp and unyielding. It did all kinds of confusing things to my fucked up emotions, but regardless of whether I was scared or turned on or both... I did what he said.
For what felt like an eternity, Kody and Steele beat the shit out of Skunk until no more noises came.
I breathed a small breath of relief when the sounds stopped, but I relaxed too soon.
"Break his legs," Archer ordered, not losing eye contact with me for even a second. His fingers still gripped my chin tight enough to hurt, but I let him. Maybe it was weak of me, but I didn't want to see. It was enough that I heard and knew.
Seconds later, the sickening crush of breaking bones echoed through the still night, and my stomach rolled dangerously.
"Turn around," Archer ordered me in a quiet, no-arguments voice. "Go back to the car and get in. Do not turn back. Understood?"
Fear and anxiety choked me, but I didn't argue. I tried to nod, but he hadn't let go of my chin and a fucked up part of me didn't want him to.
"Tell me," he ordered, his voice rough.
I licked my lips, wetting them before replying. "I understand."
Archer gave me a tight nod, then fucking kissed me.
It was a quick kiss, almost like a reflex gesture, but the sheer dominance and possession in that one kiss made my heart damn near fucking stop beating.
"Go," he told me when he released me, and I stumbled over to his car, feeling like I'd just taken a shot of pure adrenaline.
I popped the door handle of the passenger side, sliding into the front seat without a second glance over my shoulder. But after I closed the door, my curiosity won. I looked in the side mirror.
It was dark, the only light coming from the bright moon, but I was still able to see enough. I watched as Archer walked over to Kody and Steele, peering down at the crumpled heap of unconscious gangster on the gravel at their feet. He crouched down, pulling a butterfly knife from his back pocket and flicking it open with way too much ease. The blade glinted a vibrant, bloody red in the moonlight, then he leaned over Skunk to do... something. His broad body blocked Skunk from my view, but when he stood up again, the tip of his blade dripped crimson onto the gravel.
Holy shit. Did he just stab him? Am I an accessory to murder?
Cold shock washed over me, and I swallowed a couple of times, my gaze locked on the mirror as Archer wiped his knife off with Skunk’s bandana and tucked the blade back in his pocket. He stood there a moment, talking to Kody and Steele and I just... watched.
Shouldn't I have been more worried? More disgusted and horrified and... scared?
But I wasn't. The fear was there, no doubt about it, but stronger than any other emotion in me... I was fucking excited.
Adrenaline burned through my veins in the same way my hatred used to. These boys were turning out to be much, much more than I'd given them credit for, and I was craving the depths of their darkness like a drug.
It was a shame they'd tried to screw me so hard a year ago because I might have just found my soulmates.
31
No one spoke the whole way home. Steele and Kody were coated in blood, and Archer's right hand, resting on the steering wheel, held unmistakable rust-brown marks.
When we pulled into the garage, I made no moves to get out of the car straight away. I had so many questions I couldn't even think where to begin.
"Go and wash up," Archer told the other two, looking at them in the rear view mirror. His voice still held that cutting edge of authority, and it wasn't one that encouraged arguments or disagreement.
Kody let out a long sigh, then hopped out of the back seat and slammed the door behind him, no doubt hurrying to get to their shared bathroom first—such a brat.
Steele popped his door open, and I spoke before he got out.
"You can use my shower," I said in a soft voice. "If you don't want to wait." I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder and internalized my flinch at just how much blood coated him. His hands and arms were the worst, but splatters coated his face and neck too. His dark T-shirt hid any blood there, but it was a safe bet to say it was probably messy. "We both know Kody will need to shampoo his hair about sixteen times to stop it from staining pink."
I was joking—blood didn't stain hair that quickly—but he'd want to get onto it soon, considering he'd bleached it and opened the hair cuticle up.
Steele shot me a quick grin. "Thanks, Hellcat." He climbed out of the car and closed the door somewhat softer than Kody had before heading into the house.
And that left me and Archer alone in the silent car.
"You handled that well, Princess Danvers," he said after a long, tense silence. He wasn't looking at me, but at his hands on the steering wheel.
I made an annoyed grunt in my throat. "You can stop calling me that any day now."
A half smile tugged at his lips, and he shifted his gaze toward me. "Never."
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so... am I allowed to ask questions now?"
He turned slightly in his seat, facing more toward me and bracing his elbow on the steering wheel. "You can ask anything you want, Princess."
I narrowed my eyes in a glare. "Subtext being that I can ask, but you won't necessarily answer. Prick."
A brief, amused look flashed across his face, and he inclined his head in agreement. Secretive fucking bastard. I quickly wondered if I might have an easier time getting answers from Steele or Kody, but quickly dismissed the idea. Archer was the one in charge, and if he wasn't talking, no one was.
I considered everything that had happened that night, from Dallas's guys showing up, all the way to Kody, Steele, and Archer coming home coated in blood.
"Who was he?" I asked, referring to Skunk.
Archer's eyes didn't change. No remorse or guilt even flickered, and I bit my lip. Something about that hard-ass attitude drove me wild. It spoke to a seriously damaged history, and it drew me in like a magnetic field.
"No one," he replied, cold and detached. "He was a means to an end. Nothing more."
I nodded slowly, having sort of drawn that conclusion already myself. "He was a message," I clarified. "To your brother?"
"He was a warning," Archer corrected, "to the leader of the Shadow Grove Reapers."
"And what were you warning him about?" I was burning with curiosity, and it was all I could do to keep my tone calm, my voice even. Archer wasn't going to respond to screaming, hysterical demands for answers.
He tilted his head to the side, his gaze assessing as he answered me. "To respect the terms of our agreement," he responded, cryptically. "He broke the rules by sending Skunk to Bree's party tonight."
Interesting.
"And Drew? How does she factor into this?"
A small smile played at his lips again. "She's a Reaper."
My brows shot up. I hadn't expected that answer.
"She's also a loose end that Kody has been needing to cut off for far too long, so thank you for helping in that regard tonight." Something flashed in his eyes, and an arrogant part of me imagined it to be jealousy.