Page 32 of Eden's Joker

“Since you’re tight with Ice, you could put in a good word,” I add. “I thought. But seeing as you’re not…”

Ruin looks as surprised as everyone else at hearing this. Kinda hopeful too. I wonder why that would be…

“I’m not involved with any of that,” Ruin says. “It’d be weird if I suddenly came asking…”

“But you can put in a good word?” I ask, locking eyes with him. “The Lost Sons might be a bunch of pussies, but they accused me of shit I didn’t do and stripped my colors because of it.”

“So now what? You want revenge?”

“I want justice.”

Ruin leans back and takes a swig of his beer, the expression on his face poker straight. I can’t get a read off him.

“Why don’t you join Karma and the Forsaken Outlaws?” he suggests. “They’re also looking for justice.”

“They’re more aboutrunning fromjustice,” I say, which gets me a dark look from both Grim and Karma. But it’s not a lie. Every member of the Forsaken Outlaws is on some Most Wanted list or another. That’s why they never stick around in one place too long.

“No, I want the bloody kind of justice. The kind you Devils deliver,” I say and finish my beer without taking my eyes off his.

He doesn’t say anything. Meaning I shocked him. I suppose. I have no idea. Maybe it’s time to end this conversation.

I laugh and slam my beer bottle down on the table. “Relax, dude. I don’t need the answer right now. Just put the feelers out, OK?”

“I can do that,” he says. “But I’m not all that highup… my word doesn’t count for shit with the Devils these days.”

“I bet it counts for more than the word of your drunken, brawling friends.” Meaning Fossil, Archer, and Bane, who can’t seem to get to the toilet without also getting into a fight with someone. And they have to piss all the time.

“Not much more,” he says.

I stand up and stretch, yawning loudly. “Do what you can. Now I gotta get some shuteye. It’s been a long day.”

I don’t wait for any sort of reply, don’t hardly look at anyone’s reaction. I just clear out of there.

I’m sure Scorpio will have about a million questions for me about this, but I don’t wait for him to come after me to ask them. I don’t have the answers yet.

I had no plans to say any of that when I walked in here tonight. But some of my best ideas came from spur-of-the-moment bullshit.

Maybe infiltrating the Devils and fucking them over from the inside is a way to go too. Then I can have Eden all to myself and get my revenge another way.

What an idiotic thing to think!

I should’ve realized it was my cock doing the talking tonight. It’s still hard for her, even after all these hours. Not a good sign.

I gotta get my head back on straight and speed this shit along. Before my cock leads me too far astray and I fuck up the one thing that has any hope of giving mepeace—revenge on the Devils like they’ve never known. Revenge that will destroy them. Like they’ve destroyed my life. Only then will I have peace. Eden’s just the pawn that’ll give me that revenge.

I will have her. Just not to keep.

19

Eden

I got no sleep after Tyler rejected me. I tried, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Couldn’t stop fuming at the degradation. Couldn’t get him out of my mind where he belongs. I tried everything from rereading my favorite passages from my favorite books to imagining I’m floating in a big black void, which has been my favorite trick for falling asleep quickly ever since I read about it in some book ages ago.

His grinning face kept plastering itself against the serene blackness.

His smiling face, no less.

With his lips glistening from the one kiss he let me have before storming out the door like some deranged lunatic.

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