Page 17 of Blade's Angel

“So I should probably tell you they started building the house today; apparently it should be finished in two months. Think you can last that long at The Clubhouse?”

“I hope so.”

“Come on, let's get out of here; I need to go pick up Cam's gift. Have you got him anything yet?”

“Yeah, I picked it up last week; hopefully he likes it.”

I stand up and slide my feet into my boots before fastening them, grabbing my kutte off the back of one of the chairs, sliding it on, and following Shadow out of the office. As we pass the stockroom, a shock of purple hair pops out.

“What are you two doing here?” Megan, one of our bar staff, asks, her voice full of attitude.

“Considering we own the place, we don’t really have to explain ourselves to you, Megan. Now why don’t you get back to work?” I reply, not fucking happy at all.

Megan has worked for us for about a year now, but in recent months she’s been getting a little too big for her boots as far as her attitude is concerned. If this continues, she’s going to be out of a job. The disrespect won’t be stood for.

Shadow grabs my arm and starts pulling me away before I can lay into her about her attitude. His eyes are filled with worry that I don’t understand. Why would he be worried about what I say to Megan? Unless there’s something going on there, I don’t know about, and if that’s the case, Shadow has some explaining to do.

“Shadow.” I say, pulling out of his grip once we’re outside.

Before he can reply, his phone buzzes. I watch as he pulls it out and checks his messages. As he reads whatever is on the screen, his eyes fill with what I can only describe as worry and dread. What the hell has he just read to get that reaction?

“Everything okay?” I can’t help but ask.

Shadow quickly wipes the look from his eyes, smiling at me. Though I can tell it’s fake as fuck.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Come on, let's get outta here.”

He’s walking toward his bike before I can say anything else. It’s obvious he doesn’t want to talk about it, which worries me because Shadow and secrets do not fucking mix. He might think he’s off the hook, but he’s not. I’m going to keep an eye on him, and I will figure out what’s going on.

Once we've picked up Shadow's gift for Cam, we ride back to The Compound. When we pull up, we see Flame standing there with all the Prospects except Jake, who is still recovering. Oh fuck! He’s starting their hand-to-hand combat training, and I almost missed it. This was supposed to happen months ago, but with all the injuries Flame got during the Claire problem, he had to postpone it. Which is why I was still training with them the other day; I couldn’t have them slacking off.

I can't believe I almost missed this; now that would have been terrible. Watching them all try to get the best of Flame is always entertaining and well worth watching. I hop off my bike, leaving Shadow to go and do whatever. I make my way over to where someone has put loads of folding chairs out so people can sit and watch. Most members come and watch when Flame does this. I sit down to watch the show; the only thing I'm missing is popcorn.

Flame is just standing there, waiting for one of them to step up and try to take him down. He always starts the same way when he does this. He never picks who starts; he wants to see who has the guts to try and take him on. From the corner of my eye, I see Sera walking towards where I'm sitting, looking intrigued by what's happening.

“What's going on?” She asks as she takes a seat next to me.

“Flame is doing the Prospects first hand-to-hand combat training session.” I tell her while rubbing my hands together.

“And that warrants an audience and seating?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, yeah, it does; your brother-in-law is a lethal weapon. Watching the Prospects try to take him down is fucking entertaining. It usually ends up being a right good laugh because some of them are fucking overconfident little shits who soon find out they're in over their heads.” I tell her with a laugh.

"Oh, this I have got to see.” She looks really excited now. I love that about her; most women wouldn't be interested in watching the show that's about to happen, but not her. Not my Angel.

We both look over when we catch movement over by Flame and see the first Prospect step towards Flame. It's Eric; now this I have got to fucking see. Eric’s attitude is not going to help him at all. Not against Flame. I have a feeling he’s about to get knocked on his ass quicker than anyone who has ever gone up against Flame.

“I can't wait to show everyone you're not as great as you make out.” Eric tries to taunt Flame.

It's never going to work. Flame isn't overconfident or cocky; he is literally just that fucking good and knows it. I know for a fact that, since he trained himself in every style of fighting he could, he's never been beaten. He's an unstoppable force.

Flame doesn't say a word; he just stands there waiting with his arms folded over his chest. I have to smirk at Flame; he seriously doesn't give a shit about any sort of threat Eric could potentially pose. Not that I actually think he poses a threat to Flame. Eric’s face starts to go red with annoyance at Flame’s attitude. Obviously, he is not happy that Flame doesn’t see him as the threat he believes he is. Any second now, he's going to lose his shit.

“You are fucking nothing, Flame! You're only in your position because, for some reason, our fucking President has decided he's goddamn gay all of a sudden and is fucking you! Fucking disgusting, the pair of you! You shouldn't be part of this MC, tainting us all with your sick presence.” He shouts as he takes a swing at Flame.

Is this kid stupid? Why in the world would he think that saying something about Flame and Wrath would actually get him anywhere? Other than on everyone’s shit list. With no effort, Flame uses some fancy footwork that I still can't fucking match, even after training with him for years, to dodge out of the way of Eric's swing and get behind him. Wrapping his arm around his throat in the process.

Flame is not just holding him for show; he's squeezing, and we can all see Eric trying to pull Flame's arm away as his face starts to go purple. Flame releases him at the last second and lets him fall before crouching over him. Everyone has gone deadly silent. Waiting to see what Flame will do next. Somehow, Flame hasn’t killed Eric yet. I’m not sure I’d have been able to restrain myself in his shoes.

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