Page 73 of The Gentleness of Rage

“Shut it,” Magic retorted as he braced himself and tugged the handle again. It loosened, and Inglorious snickered.

“You might need to Hulkout, as Calamity says,” he offered unhelpfully.

Magic sent him a dirty look and braced a third time, and the handle came free. “Booyah!” Magic boomed happily. He yanked the doors open and froze. “Fuckin’ heaven.”

“Shit!” Inglorious exclaimed.

In front of them, the barn was filled with crates. They exchanged glances as they saw a rocket launcher lying on top of a box.

“These contain guns,” Inglorious announced, looking inside a few boxes.

“We’ve found a Venomous Fangs stash,” Magic said, holding up a lid with the Fangs patch on.

“Fuck,” Inglorious hissed.

“Losing this will hurt them.” Magic smirked.

“We’re gonna need a shit load of trucks to remove this.”

Magic looked at Inglorious and laughed. He began removing stuff from boxes, and Inglorious suddenly got worried.

“Magic…”

“Nope, brother. This is my show. You’re the spectator,” Magic cut him off and sent him a dire look. Inglorious wisely shut his mouth. “I’m sending that punk Fury a message. You don’t screw with my town.”

Magic finished what he was doing and armed himself. He deserved a few treats, he thought as he picked up a remote. “Boom, boom, shake the room. This is my fuck you, Fury,” he said, looking at the cameras.

Inglorious got on his bike and rode out with Magic behind him.

Once they were a safe distance away, Magic hit the button.

???

“You’re fuckin’ crazy,” Inglorious cursed Magic out.

“You’re riding with me,” Magic pointed out reasonably.

Inglorious shook his head. He couldn’t refute that. He’d been at Magic’s bar when the call came about Slate being missing. It had been agreed that nobody rode alone anymore, so Magic had partnered with Inglorious. Magic did actually like the Unwanted Bastards President; he was one of the more fun ones. Onyx of the Riders of Vengeance was all doom and gloom. Jailbait, President of the Devil’s Damned Disciples, had been driven insane by the antics of his club. Inglorious was tolerable.

Behind them was a mushroom cloud of fire and smoke. The explosion had to have been seen and felt for miles. Magic was cackling his enjoyment as they rode away. They hit the road, and Magic was still laughing as he passed a vehicle. Magic glanced inside and stiffened.

He pulled over and let the car pass him.

Inglorious stopped beside him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“That’s Slate’s woman. She matched the picture Drake sent out, although she looked a bit battered,” Magic said, nodding at the cage. Before Inglorious could comment, Magic rushed out after her.

“Why me?!” he heard Inglorious howl and chuckled as he followed Slate’s old lady at a distance.

Jaelynn

As soon as I was home, I grabbed the cell I’d been using and dialled the number I’d known to be Damien’s, hoping it was the same. As I did, I headed out to my car and climbed in. The call rung out, and I backed out of my drive and recalled him.

It rang out a second time, and I began to panic.

I hit redial, and Damien answered, sounding irate.

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