Page 2 of Under an Endless Moon

“Want you to be careful,” he warned.

I rocked my massive frame back in the wooden chair. “When have I not been careful?”

Kane scoffed a mocking sound. “Says the guy who runs straight into danger like he’s looking for it.”

I shrugged with a smirk. “When duty calls.”

Everyone else was grinning, too.

All except for Cash who basically glared at me from across the table. Dude never said much, anyway, so it wasn’t like it set off any alarm bells for the rest of the crew, but I knew exactly what he was thinking.

I beat down the rash of unease and instead glanced around at the rest. “Are we good, then? This boy is ready to get back upstairs and have a little bit of fun.”

Theo chuckled. “Not surea little bitis in your vocabulary.”

“He’s going to have to play it cool tonight. He has a big job ahead of him tomorrow night,” River said like he was my mother telling me not to stay up too late because I had a test in the morning.

“I’ll be sure to be in bed by midnight, Mommy,” I razzed.

It was already twelve-thirty, but what the hell ever.

His annoyance couldn’t blot out the amusement, but then he was sobering as he said, “Be safe, brother.”

My head dipped, and I tried to beat back the guilt that wanted to surface. “Always.”

He gave a nod of acceptance before he stuck out his fist that was tattooed with the same stacked Ss as the rest of us, though his dagger was topped with a crown. Each of ours varied a bit, though the oath it represented remained the same.

We all stretched out our fists to meet in the middle of the table.

“Our oath to the afflicted. Our oath to the forsaken. Our oath to Sovereign Sanctum,” River chanted.

We all repeated it, the vow we had made years ago to stand for the abused and neglected. By any means necessary. Our good deeds were usually done dirty. All our hands were blood-stained and tainted, but it wasn’t like we didn’t start our lives out as criminals when we’d first met.

The five of us on the streets of LA.

None of us were related, but we were brothers. Through and through. And this oath? It ran deep.

Chair legs screeched as we all pushed out from the table, and in an instant, the mood changed to light as we started up the narrow staircase that led to the main floor.

I wasn’t the only one here who liked to have a good time.

All except for Cash who would slink right out and head to his cabin that was secluded in the mountains. Last place he’d want to be was in a packed club.

River was at the helm, moving faster than the rest of us since the sappy motherfucker couldn’t wait to get upstairs to Charleigh and his little sister Raven.

Raven.

I did my best to ignore the bolt of greed that slammed me at just the thought of her. That was not the place I needed to let my brain go.

We wound to the top, and River opened the door that led from the basement and into Kane’s office at the back of the building.

We all piled into the room, then he closed the door behind us, making sure it was secure and concealed behind the façade of bookshelves that covered the entire back wall. It made it impossible to locate if you didn’t already know it was there.

Everyone trudged for the main door of his office, and Kane unlocked it and let everyone out. The decibel of the music grew tenfold as we stepped into the dimly lit hall, my crew laughing and joking as we slipped through the swinging door at the end and out into the main area of the club.

In an instant, I was caught in the frenetic energy that seethed in the cavernous space.

The band had already played, and the DJ had taken over. A throng of people were crushed on the dance floor, writhing as they danced their cares away.

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