Page 77 of Karma

“It can’t change the past,” she says.

“Yeah, I know that too.”

I leave the room and lock her inside. I can see why Joker likes her. She’s smart and she’s pretty and she’s innocent and pure. All the things Joker and I never got to be.

Nothing will change that. We’re never gonna get the kind of love I thought I’d found with Karma and Grim. Just not in the cards for us.

And what in my life so far made me think they were honestly into me? That they could be in love with me? Absolutely nothing. But like the naïve dumbass I am, I fell for it. Again.

There’ll be no more of that now. Only fighting. Only revenge. Only death. It’s about time for it anyway. I got nothing to show for my life anyway. Just a whole bunch of bad memories and regrets.

40

Karma

After we got back to the inn, we had just enough time to tell our guys waiting there-Toxic, Fatal, Zero, Indigo, and Rage—what had happened and how it all went wrong. We didn’t have time to answer any of their questions before the Devils came.

They rode in, at least a hundred strong, chased everyone out, including Eddie and the two guys who help him run this place, and locked the place down. They took everything from us, including our phones and our weapons, cleared the bar of all tables except the ones we’re sitting at. Twenty Devils are now watching us. Apart from my fast breathing, the occasional scuff of boots on wood, or creak of a chair, the room is deathly quiet. I feel like we’re facing a firing squad. We probably are.

The door flies open and a tall, black-haired man walks in, followed by Ruin and a couple of others. It’s Cross, their Prez. I don’t even have to read the patch on his cut to know that. You’d have to live a hermit’s life not to have heard at least some stories about this guy’s cold-blooded ruthlessness. It’s said he got his name because he single-handedly killed enough men to fill awhole cemetery. I’m sure he’s killed enough to fill three more since then. Maybe more.

And as his black eyes pierce me, I just know it’s true. And that we’re next if we don’t talk a good game now.

I squeeze Grim’s arm, and whisper, “I’ll talk.”

Thankfully, he nods. Grim is as cold and hard as they come when he wants to be. I don’t think that’s what’s needed here. Plus, the Devils are reputed to have quite a soft spot when it comes to their women and will go to war for them.

“Talk fast,” Cross says as he towers over me. “I’ll give you one chance to convince me not to kill all of you just to be on the safe side.”

I believe he’d do it without batting an eye. I’ve never feared for my life the way I do right now, and I’ve spent most of my life fearing I’m gonna lose it. I better get this right.

“Joker has a hundred and fifty guys in his MC,” I tell him. “At least as far as we’ve been able to count. They’re all totally loyal to him and their HQ is in the town of Roaring Brook on the Nevada border. It’s an old miner’s town that they’ve taken over and fortified. It’s in the desert, so they’ll see you coming from miles away.”

That’s not what Cross wanted to hear. I can see it in the way his eyes turn even harder. But he’s never gonna trust us if all I do is tell him things he wants to hear. From Scorpio’s reaction when I asked him if this town is where they’re taking Eden, I’m thinking we won’t find them there. And at this point, after our failed attempt to rescue her and the betrayal, that’s for the best. But I gotta give Cross something.

“I mean… a large enough army could—” I say.

“We’ll worry about the plans,” Cross interrupts. “What else do you know? Weapons? Tactical? How well trained are they?”

“Joker has them practicing daily,” Grim says. “Target training and fighting. Seeing that was when we first begansuspecting he’s not just some guy trying to capitalize on the fallout from this war you’re fighting.”

Grim can lie with the best of them and look totally legit doing it. We had wondered why Joker’s guys practiced so much, but this was a year ago now and we never put two and two together like this.

“How do you know all this?” Cross asks. “And why are you telling me?”

Cross is piercing him with his gaze, and Grim is holding eye-contact. I had trouble doing that.

“We’re not interested in entering any wars,” Grim says. “We take on jobs when the opportunity arises, and we helped Joker take over a few strip clubs and offload some drugs.”

“But we draw the line at the abduction of young women,” I say. “We heard he was planning on abducting one of yours and we tried to rescue her.”

“And that’s the only reason you’re still alive right now,” Cross says.

“I wish we hadn’t failed,” Grim says. “We’ll tell you everything we know, but we’d like to be on our way soon.”

Cross glares at him, making him look down while scratching his beard. A clear sign of nervousness. He’s not faking. He must know we’re about a breath from dying as well as I do.

“We’ve yet to see if your information is worth anything,” Cross says. “So, you won’t mind enjoying our hospitality a little longer.”

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