Page 56 of Rising from the Ashes

“She’s going to Raven’s.” I swiftly stand up. “That girl won’t last two seconds there.”

Shado walks over to the large black tool box, and opens the top drawer. Pulling his Glock out, he cocks it and shoves it quickly in the holster.

Turning to me, he says impatiently, “Well…what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

“Slow down, Turbo.” I motion to his gun, “Why are you bringing that?”

He lets out an amused chuckle, “I’m not going into Raven’s without protection, and you can’t bring your bow, Cupid.”

“What have I said about calling me that?” I snap. Grabbing my quiver off the desk, I walk over to the holder where my hand crafted arrows are delicately placed. Carefully, I grab ten arrows and individually place them inside.

“I can’t bring it inside Raven’s, but I’ll still have it. You never know when the need to play might arise.” I smirk as I pull on my leather jacket, strap my quiver to my back and grab my bow.

“You little psycho.” He laughs as he makes his way up the steps out of the bunker.

I follow behind him, grinning. “You love me.”

He sighs quietly. “I do.”

***

Pulling up to Raven’s, I scope out the clientele outside. The normal thugs, some members from Las Serpientes, one of the more boisterous street gangs in the city. They tend to push a lot of drugs through Raventown and are notorious for gang raping women in dark alleys. Their organization took a hit last year when four of them were killed by Drake, and then I killed their leader a few months later.

I don’t see any men from my father’s organization or what is left of them. Nor do I see anyone who is associated with Craye.

Maybe tonight will go off smoothly.

Tucking my bow and quiver into the back of the van, we make our exit and head toward the bar. Walking inside, Shado guides us to a booth in the darker corner of the bar.

“How often do you come here?” I ask him as I shuffle next to him in the seat. “It seems familiar to you.”

“Drake and I used to meet here fairly regularly. This is our booth.” He chuckles. “It’s like assigned seating here.”

The waitress saunters over and flashes a flirty smile at Shado, completely disregarding my presence. A wave of jealousy surges over me and I know if I did have an arrow within reach, I wouldn’t be held responsible for where it ended up.

That’s a new feeling.

I notice Shado’s face remains emotionless. When she starts to speak, he rolls his eyes.

“What can I get you tonight?” She croons, leaning on the table. “Your usual?”

Shado points at me, “Why don’t you ask my girl what she would like to order first?”

Flustered, she looks at me and stutters, “I-I’m sorry. What would you like?”

“For you to stop flaunting your breasts to him, and a whiskey on the rocks,” I say flatly.

Shado clears his throat and smirks, “I’ll have the same on both accounts.”

“I-I’ll have that right out,” she stammers and quickly walks off to the bar like a puppy with its tail between its legs.

Scanning the inside of the bar, I can see several Bratva members by the stage mingling with a few Las Serpientes. I notice Shado’s eyes locking with one of the Bratva members. He is unknown to me, but I can tell he is part of the Russian mob based on the tattoos on his knuckles. From the looks of it, he is in a decently respected position. For a moment, I almost feel like the two men are communicating silently.

Shaking my head, I laugh. “It amazes me. Shove boobs, pussy, and alcohol in men’s faces and you will all get along.”

Shado peels his stare away from the man by the stage and looks at me. “Yeah well, we’re easy to please,” he says jokingly, before taking on a serious tone. “They know it’s business here.”

He points over to the two women behind the bar, “Sandy, the manager, and Miranda the bartender, they don’t put up with shit going on within the walls of the bar. They don’t give a fuck what happens on the outside.”

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