Page 5 of Selah's Wish

“They know each and every one of us by now,” Beast concludes. “They have a file on each and every one of us, whether we’re from Cedar Creek or Roanoke. All members have been documented and I’m sure our mugshots have been passed around to anyone guarding the premises.”

“What about asking Marcum and Xavier LeBlanc to do it for us? They aren’t technically patched in so I doubt they’re on anyone’s radar,” Animal suggests, causing a lot of moaning and groaning to pass through the room. Not from me, however. I have a smirk on my face. Those two are deadly and the three of us have had a lot of fun throughout the years. Some of those exploits are more scandalous than others. The three of us have a bloodlust that we have a hard time quenching when we get together. We feed on one another and it’s not always a good thing, but it’s a blast, nevertheless.

“Why did the mention of those two names cause everyone to let out those blubbering noises?” Brick asks, leaning back in his chair.

“Because they’re ruthless and they have zero damns to give,” Dragon answers, blowing out a breath. “Though I do have to admit that if anyone is capable of getting the job done, it’d be them.”

“Because—” Brick prompts, wanting a more thorough answer than what he received.

“I can meet—” I begin saying to a vocal round of no’s and absolutely not’s.

The men from Roanoke raise their eyebrows at that. They don’t know the man I become when I team up with the LeBlancs. They only know the guy I am since I’ve been here, and my thirst for blood hasn’t reared its ugly head. I’m sure that can be attributed to Selah and her girls coming into my life. They seem to satiate the monster residing within me.

“Do I even want to know?” Banshee asks, tilting his head in my direction.

“One night, when we’ve consumed an entire bottle of tequila, apiece, I’ll tell you all about some of the shit those three have gotten into in the past,” Saber says. “Trust me, I’ve treated them for things that should’ve killed them and it still gives me nightmares to this day.”

“You’ll need the cheap stuff,” I supply. “The more inebriated you are, the easier it’ll be to hear about and digest all the good times I’ve had with them.”

“Some of them are horror shows in the making,” Prowler says, smiling at me. “It’ll give you the shivers and the best kind of nightmares if you witness them in person.”

“Is it gory or freaky?” Scythe asks.

“It’s worse than thinking the boogeyman is under your bed,” Animal conveys. “Once you hear it you’ll never be able to forget it.”

“Sounds like I’m out,” Scythe pipes in.

“You couldn’t even handle hearing about the chop doll from China, you definitely couldn’t handle this,” I say, teasing him for being a wuss.

“Oh, come on!” Scythe yells in a dismayed tone. “Tell me those things don’t freak you the fuck out.”

“Dolls don’t scare me, people do,” Brick remarks. “I can rip a toy's head off and burn it in the pit.”

“You can do that to a person too,” I add. “Want to know how I have firsthand knowledge of that?” I ask with a smile that I’m sure comes across as more of a vicious snarl.

“You’re more than you appear, aren’t you?” Jingles inquires.

“I’m one of those ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ example. I can be your best friend or your worst nightmare come to life,” I explain.

“It just depends on what side of the bed he rolls out of,” Striker inputs, being a smartass.

“Any day I’m rolling away from my old lady is a fucked up day,” I counter, snapping my teeth at Striker.

“Well, that went off track fast,” Dragon says, sighing. “I need my men to get in touch with your contacts in Cedar Creek and ask them if they’re willing to make a log of anything they find suspicious back home.”

“I’ll get David and Brenda, the hardware store owners, to write down everything they’ve been texting me and have them start cataloging it instead,” I respond. “Do we want them to stop sending us the shit through text as well?”

Dragon grunts before saying, “Nah. I still want to know everything before the feds do. I want to censor things before it goes into writing and is filed as an official document. Let your contacts know that too.” We all nod our heads in understanding.

Whereas we’re working hand in hand with some of the officials, there’s some sensitive things that are shared between us and our homestead folks that are absolutely nobody’s business. We agreed to help serve and protect our community, and in return, they’ve consented to turn a blind eye to things they would normally report as suspicious activity to local law enforcement.

We may not be law-abiding citizens, but we’ve kept the town running like a well-oiled machine and have safeguarded the civilians of Cedar Creek, no matter what their walk in life is. We aren’t heroes in their eyes, and they aren’t inside of our immediate circle, but they understand us and so far, nobody’s passed judgment on us for our lifestyle.

FOUR

Selah

With permission from Dragon,Prowler, and the other knights of the round table, I took a quarter of our money I recovered from those who seized our clubhouse, and invested it into some of the larger corporations. It was a shocking surprise when I sat with Prowler the first time and witnessed what a wiz he is when it comes to numbers. He comes off as such a playboy and philanderer that I never saw that coming.

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