Page 90 of Hunter

“Maybe so. But I know what you’re like. And believe me; you’re a cold bastard. Still, you’re a force that your fledglings can’t take out. We’ve been meaning to have this showdown for a while. Our history, and all that.” He shrugged, casually walking closer to where Spider stood. They faced each other down, Mallory looking so tiny in the middle.

All I wanted to do was rush out there and drag her from between them. Spider and Charon were the two major players on the West Coast, so getting caught in the middle couldn’t end well for her.

Coming up against the Hell’s Runners was something we could have handled. Now with Charon appearing, who knew how many of his boys were lurking in the shadows. We had never dealt with the Grim Reapers, had no relations. If Hell’s Runners were the king of the dark side, then the Grim Reapers were God. But on their own, both Charon and Spider were on even ground.

Were they alone, or was this a grandstand for them both? If both of their men were here, then we should expect a three-way war.

How the fuck did our small-town club get caught in the fucking center of the boss battle?

“Does the boy know our history? Did you tell him?” Spider’s face twisted into an unnatural smile. “Does he know how you really won that patch?”

“Fair and square, if I remember correctly,” Charon mocked. “But that’s a story for another time.”

“I don’t think so,” Spider hissed, pressing his gun harder to Mallory’s temple. “This ends now.”

“What you gonna do, Spider?” Charon shrugged. “Kill the traitor?” He gestured to the blond-haired man. “Kill your way through the Black Angels and my boys? You gonna escape with your tail between your legs?” He gestured to the whole warehouse. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Charon. Despite that fool, I have a hold on my men. They could never escape me. They betray me, and everything they ever cherished dies.”

“You’re right; they won’t betray you. Not with the hold you have on them,” Charon replied. “Good thing that doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What?” Spider hissed.

It was the first real emotion on Spider’s face that I had seen. He had been controlled and rational. Now I could hear true surprise in his voice.

Charon smiled. “They’re dead.”

A cold chill cut through the air.

I could see the truth in Charon’s eyes, and in Spider’s. They were all dead. Killed in absolute silence. Every. Single. One.

I had heard the rumors, the stories, but never could I have imagined they were so true. They lived up to their name.

Grim Reapers—the silent killers.

“What?” The blond man turned, shoulder’s stiffening with anger. “You killed all of them?”

Charon ignored him, looking at Spider and his mask of stone.

“Now, it’s your turn.”

In the blink of an eye, Charon’s gun was at Spider’s forehead, the distance between them gone within a second.

“Ready to have your soul reaped, Spider?”

Spider looked up at Charon. I expected fear, panic, or even calm before death. I hadn’t expected a smile.

“You’re not my end, Charon.”

Bang.

Glass shattered, causing chaos in all directions as gunfire rained down from the ceiling. Lights beamed through the bullet holes as a helicopter obliterated the thin metal ceiling.

Gunfire began as men dressed in black came running in from all sides.

I fired at three, taking one down, and then another as I dropped behind the crate. Then I ducked out and shot two more as they retreated toward a door, only to see the first two bodies I had taken out gone.

It was over in seconds. The men in black disappeared out the door and gunfire came to a halt.

---