Page 4 of Hell on Wheels

Beatrice Janssen, also known as Holly Go Bite Me on the boards, is the captain of the Silver City Sickos. She’s a certified sociopath and her nails-on-chalkboard laugh is unmistakable. I can only assume that Mina’s ‘jumping in’ for the Sickos involves helping them give their rival captain a bloody beat down in the parking lot of the most popular bar in town.

Unfortunately for them, Mina is a lowly witch with only minor powers, and BJ is a selkie. While they might be brawlers on wheels, neither of them can take me on in a fight. That’s why they came with their entire team—it will take all of them to subdue me. If I get even the tiniest opening, I’ll rain hell down on these stupid bitches.

Fae are not forgiving and succubi don’t play fair.

“I know it’s you, Mina. If you think I won’t come for all of you after this, you never really knew me at all.”

That only makes them laugh harder, and I know I’m in trouble. Mob mentality is dangerous during matches, but outside of it, it can be lethal. If they get me somewhere secluded, I’ll end up in the hospital for sure. Closing my eyes, I do the one thing I absolutely donotwant to do… I call for Rebel in the way only our kind can.

~Rebel. It’s Mina. She and the Sickos are dragging me outside for a pile up. They might be high; I don’t know. ~

A flood of emotion hits me as his rage channels over the mental link that allowed me to speak in his mind.~I’m going to fucking destroy that bitch.~

~Hurry. Someone just opened a door. They’re taking me to the alley, I think.~

“Hey, Mina! What’s black, purple, and blue all over?” BJ cracks.

Mina giggles like a hyena as she stands with in a tough girl pose, backlit by the car’s headlights. “A loser on crutches?”

They laugh like they are absolutely hilarious and their teammates slowly join in like good little asskissers. I squint at the bright light, barely making out the outline of another girl handing them a baseball bat. She leans in and kisses Mina, making my eyes widen. My friend has never expressed even the slightest interest in anything but dick, but I guess this is getting her something. That’s the only thing Mina seems to care about at this point—what people can do for her.

That’s the last thought that goes through my head as the bat comes racing toward me.

Start a Riot

I don’t give a flyingfuckwhat the High Council’s rules are—I’m going to hunt every one of those bitches down and make them beg me to kill them.

We were nearby, but crowds on the floor move in weird ways—and this time, it felt choreographed. By the time Archie and I tore through the crowd at Rogue’s call, they were gone and she was lying in a pool of blood. Knowing her, I realized it probably wasn’tallhers, but she also wasn’t moving. One arm was bent atan impossible angle and her face was a mess I couldn’t even look at without almost losing control of my powers. The connection between our kind verified that she was alive, but she got hurt badly and clearly power sapped. Dust from her wings was everywhere, which meant she gave in and pulled out her biggest guns.

Fae from various family lineages have wildly unique powers and wings, so their ‘dust’ has unpredictable capabilities if you don’t know who you’re dealing with. Mine are more like bird wings and they sprinkle a paralytic—which would have been helpful if I’d fucking gotten here in time. Some royals have opiate-like fairy dust; others have sleeping powder.

Rogue, however, rarely unsheathes hers because, with her filmy dragonfly wings, she unleashes death. The blood of Dark Unseelie in her line gave her the power to poison, and if ingested without intervention, it can kill other species within hours. Another Fae could hold the effects with their own magic, but neither Mina nor any of the Sickos are our kind.

For to let her wings loose means she was sure they were going to kill her.

And they might have if we hadn’t pounded through that door with Archer’s strength and my magic.

They must have realized too late how dangerous her powers were because outside of her face, her poor wings are the most mangled.

I growl under my breath, infuriated that I let my irritation with my best friend distract me from watching her six in the inebriated crowd of supes. Turning to look at her lying on the healer’s table, I run an angry hand through my hair, tugging on itas I mentally berate myself for the things I shouldn’t have done as much as the ones I should have.

“Man, you gotta relax.” Archie yawns, stretching his long frame out in the chair he’s been snoozing in. “You couldn’t have known those chicks were going to kidnap Wheels and damn near kill her.”

Easy for him to say. It’s nothisjob to protect her. Rogue and are partner Guardians—meant to be watching over a pair of supes—and it’salwaysmy job to keep her safe. That’s why we’re at a healer, not a hospital, so our little snafu doesn’t get reported to the Council and the Society.

Shrugging, I walk over and brush her hair out of her face gently. The wounds there are superficial and not worth using up favors for—that’s what she’d tell me if she were awake. Her arm and her wings are much more important, so that’s what I focused on. But the ugly bruises and stitched cuts are making the fire in my heart rage with impotence.

That jealous bitch fucked up her face on purpose; I know it.

“Starbucks Witches are bitches, man. Mina’s bullshit is because she’s lost touch with reality. Don’t get twisted; the Bombers will wipe the floor with them in two weeks and Rogue will lead the attack.”

I clench my fists in rage as I turn. “Then what happens when those fucking sociopaths target her again? Broken legs? A concussion? They’ll be sneaky but lethal on the boards now that she’s injured one of theirs.”

The lion shifter stands and walks across the room, cracking his neck as he comes closer. “How do you know she took one out?”

“The wings. One of them got severely hurt or is dying—more if she also used her magic. Rogue doesn’t have to bother with hand-to-hand combat, dude. Between the lust fog, the poison dust, and her mental shit, she can take people out without touching them. It’s why she trains so hard at the Council sessions, and why they had to take her as a group. One of them had to be a Seelie to help neutralize her.”

Archer scratches his jaw, giving me an amused look. “She’s not your sister, man. It’s okay.”

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