Page 125 of Chaos

I dig in my duffel and find my last pair of clean pants. Damn.

Raking my fingers through my disheveled hair, I pad back into the living room, still damp.

Nikolai wrinkles his nose and shakes his head.

“You need to wake up, Jax. The world is passing you by.” He opens the door and gestures me through, then climbs behind the wheel of his hellcat.

How do I do that? Maybe this is all a dream.

Would pinching myself work?

Throw myself off of the roof?

They say, if you die in your nightmare, you wake up.

A horn blaring snaps me back.

Nikolai is glaring at me through the passenger window.

“Sorry.” I must have been standing there for a little while by how far out that vein is bulging in his forehead.

His teeth grit, but he doesn’t say a word the entire drive to pick up Alexei and then to Vox.

He walks ahead of me through the Vegas heat until he pulls the door open to the club and steps through.

“What did you do to piss him off?” Alexei finally asks. He’s stayed quiet the whole time, too. Except for an errant comment about something dying in the seat where I was sitting.

The owner gives us a grateful smile and just points towards the back.

I can hear the yelling from here.

“Remember, if Knox is here, we need him alive.” Nikolai tells me over his shoulder before striding through the crowd.

He’s a full head taller than anyone else in here, and they part ways to let us through.

The music thumping is making my brain swell in rhythm to it.

I almost want to ask if we can stop for a drink, but I might wait until after we’re done.

Two Reapers are standing over what looks to be a group of frat boys partying. The thugs are knocking them around and stealing their drinks.

Pushing past Nikolai, I don’t say a word before swinging and connecting to the back of the first’s head.

He falls instantly without a sound.

“You shouldn’t be here. This is our bar now.” Brody’s voice cuts through the fog and leaves an icy chill down my spine.

Glancing up, he’s holding a pistol, pointed directly at me.

He saunters closer and waves me away from the other Reaper with the barrel of his weapon.

Wide eyed college kids scurry away from us, abandoning their drinks.

“You look like shit, brother. I heard that you’re single again. Hmm.” He taps the tip of his gun against his lips. “She might need a shoulder to cry on.”

Nikolai grabs me just as I’m about to leap forward.

“You stay the fuck away from my girls,” I snarl.

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