Page 12 of Brightness

I get it. His Old Lady is on the line here too.

He’s angry at the situation, not just me.

“What if we don’t wait? Atomic is fucking smart. You can’t tell me our tech guru didn’t install cameras outside Trixie’s shop. If they’re at the right angle, it might have picked up the car?”

Nycto rubs his chin. “I fucking hope so. In the meantime, you and Eva are back on lockdown,” he says to Ivy. “No going outside the clubhouse gates. Inside the bunker is preferred. You understand me?”

“Yes, Pres,” Ivy relays, like a good little soldier.

I peek at her. Her eyes show strain, the concern etched across her features as she gnaws on her bottom lip so much I’m worried she might break her beautiful skin. I reach across and grab her hand to help calm her.

It doesn’t work.

“As for you, VP, you need to be on lockdown as well. We can’t be sure the photographer was after Ivy. To be safe, you need to stay put too.”

I groan. “I need to be out there trying to find this fucke—”

“No, you need to keep your head. Learn which fight to fight. You can provide insight and feedback, but only if you stay at the club. Plus, I’ll feel better if you’re here to protect my Old Lady when I leave. First step, Atomic—”

“You sayin’ I can’t even be a part of makin’ decisions?”

Nycto scrunches his face. “How have your decisions today gone?”

I scoff. “What the fuck? Not so long ago, you were the one making a hell of a lot of bad decisions around this club.”

“Yeah… exactly! Look what the fuck happened to me because of it. Maybe it worked out in the end, but we all had to go through a truckload of shit to get there. Good people died, Void. If your process is compromised, I need to step in and stop you before you end up hurting yourself or those around you.”

I stand, sending the chair skittering across the floor, then start pacing. I feel Ivy’s eyes on me, but fuck if Nycto isn’t making some version of sense right now. Even though I don’t want to, I get it. Crow and Spite died because of all the shit that went down when Nycto did everything he could for Eva. If I start throwing my weight around for Ivy and shit gets out of control, we could be facing the same damn situation all over again.

My focus is compromised.

Nycto needs to handle this.

“Fine. I’ll step back. But if anything, and I mean anything, comes to light, Nycto—”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

“Right.” With an exhale, I nod.

“Good.” She looks at Nycto. “Ivy, go tell Eva about lockdown. Void, grab Atomic, tell him I need him in here, then go have a fucking drink to take the edge off. Take a minute, yeah?”

My mouth goes dry, and an ache forms at the base of my skull. I breathe in loudly through my nose, trying to calm the nerves firing through me as Nycto’s cell buzzes on the table.

“Take a minute, Void,” Nycto reiterates, then gestures for the door with one hand while picking up his cell with the other.

I grab Ivy’s hand, and we walk for the door. She smiles weakly at me. “C’mon, let’s go to the bar.”

Chapter Four

VOID

The Next Day

Ivy seems okay. I spent most of the night with her, and I don’t think what happened yesterday has affected her in the same way it has me. Ivy doesn’t know this world like I do, so she doesn’t know what it could mean. Sure, we’ve explained it to her, but the depths it could go to and the sinister bullshit behind it could mean so much more.

I make my way over to Nycto. “Pres, can we chat? In the Chapel…”

Removing his lips from Eva’s neck, Nycto turns his head, and his eyes bore into me like glaciers. “Now?”

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