Page 6 of Eden's Joker

“You got a dark mind, I’ll give you that,” Scorpio says. “But that’s nothing new.”

He sounds like his mood might be improving. Ifully intend to share Eden with the rest of them once I’m done with her and they all know it.

“So the plan’s simple,” I say. “I’ll relocate to that dump, the Fire & Heart Inn, tomorrow. I want ten guys with me at all times just in case, but they’re not to reveal that we know each other.”

Sarge nods, since he’ll be in charge of that. “I’ll make sure they understand that.”

I turn to Razor. “I’ll need to know as much as you can tell me about the Devils’ movements while I’m out in the open.”

He nods. “Consider it done.”

“And me?” Scorpio asks when I don’t give him a task right away.

“You’ll be with me at the Inn,” I say. “I expect to be fully in the wind, so I don’t blow my cover with Eden. You’ll be making sure nothing goes wrong.”

“How about I run the place here?” he asks sullenly.

I don’t often relinquish full control to him. In fact, he often complains that he’s just my arm candy around here. He’s kind of right. Except thatarm candyin his case means a one-man personal hit squad and bodyguard. I trust him to have my back unconditionally, come what may. And he knows this.

“The Inn’s where I need you,” I say, willing him to not argue the point.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he says. “You don’t do well on your own. You need me to be your conscience, for one thing.”

I hate this added proof that he’s not fully on board with my plan. Maybe he’s just mad that I’m not leaving him in charge here. I’ll have words with him about that later, when we’re alone.

We go over the whole plan one more time and then I let them go. Night has fallen outside, pitch black the way it can only get in an out-of-the-way forest. I was never a huge fan of the dark, probably because I have too much of it inside me. But it’s fitting now. Because the dawn is always brightest after the darkest night. And in a few days’ time, my dawn will come. Along with the revenge I’ve lived for.

The Devils really should’ve killed me along with my parents that day. Their mistake.

5

Eden

With the war on, I couldn’t have Tyler just ride into town, pick me up in front of my bookshop to drive me off into the sunset. I’m sure my dad’s MC brothers, the ones I’m sure he has watching me at all times, would swoop in on him in a matter of seconds. If they let him ride into town at all. I also heard them discussing that all the ways in and out of Pleasantville are watched more closely than Fort Knox these days.

So I asked him to meet me in the town of Starling about ten miles west of my hometown. It’s a quiet little hippie village with lots of arts and crafts shops, a quaint, old-timey town center, and a very relaxed vibe.

Everything here is painted either white, yellow, or light blue, including all the shops lining their main street, which they call Sunnyside. A very apt name,especially since a lot of the houses here are adorned with actual suns or clouds and even one that has books painted all over its facade. That’s my favorite one. If I had any art skills to speak of, this is what my bookshop would look like. Maybe I should hire someone to paint it for me. Why not? I already got all my other decorating inspiration from the places around here.

I’d hoped the relaxed, sunny vibe of this place would finally slow my racing heart, but I was dead wrong. Between frenzied packing and shipping of books, and anticipating finally meeting Tyler, my heart rate’s been in overdrive for the past two days. If this goes on any longer, I might not survive it.

I arrived half an hour early, because I couldn’t sit still for a minute longer. And because I had to do all sorts of maneuvers to make sure I wasn’t followed by any MC bodyguards. Including stopping at two malls along the way, then sneaking out the back. The guys from the MC would stick out at both those places and I didn’t see a single one. Maybe I’m wrong about being watched at all times. They are very busy with the war, after all.

But no, I won’t think about that.

Today is about me and Tyler getting to know each other on this sunny street.

I’m sitting in the garden of a small tea shop, surrounded by late blooming jasmine, its gentle scent rising heavily around me. I ordered a chamomile teaand its scent is only adding to the calming aroma. But doing nothing to actually calm me.

I hear a Harley approaching, first as a faint thunder-like sound rising on the horizon and then as loud as an avalanche as it draws near. It cuts off right in front of the garden and when I look up, he already has his bright, glacier-colored eyes fixed on me. I knew his eyes would be piercing from the videos and the pictures, but I didn’t expect this intensity.

He weaves his way among the white metal tables to get to me and I rise, as though pulled to my feet by his gaze.

A smile is playing on his lips as he reaches me. The bushy dark beard he’s sporting has no hope of hiding it.

“So this is Eden in real life?” he says, checking me out from head to toe. The feel of his gaze is like the aftermath of touching ice. Prickling heat. Only it’s everywhere.

“And this is Tyler,” I say in a cracked sort of voice, and finally break eye contact so I can check him out too.

---