Page 8 of Vargan

Vargan

My head throbs like someone's using it as a war drum. The worn springs of the couch dig into my back, but I've slept on worse—prison floors, desert sands, burning cities at the edge of the Rift.

The farmhouse is quiet. Sunlight filters through faded curtains, highlighting dust motes in the air and casting shadows across a living room that's seen better days. Lived-in. Real. Not like the sterile dormitories and temporary bunks I've called home since crossing into this world twenty something years ago.

I sit up slowly, testing my ribs. The pain is there, but duller—a few days and I'll be back to fighting form. Orcs don't stay down long. We can't afford to.

My leather jacket hangs over the arm of the couch where I left it last night. I reach into the pocket and pull out my phone. Three missed calls—all from the same number.

Shit. The club's probably freaking out.

I haul myself off the couch, muscles protesting, and make my way to the kitchen. The house is empty—no sign of Savvy or thebrother she mentioned. The clock on the microwave reads 6:38. She's probably already at the diner.

I dial as I fill a glass with water from the tap, then fish a couple of pain pills from the bottle Savvy left. Hammer picks up on the second ring.

"Where the fuck have you been?" The gruff voice of my MC president fills the line. No greeting, no bullshit—that's why he leads.

"Got delayed," I say, swallowing the pills.

"Delayed how? You in a cell?"

"Not yet. Had some trouble with the locals in a little hole-in-the-wall in upstate Georgia. Place called Shadow Ridge."

"Georgia? What the hell are you doing in Georgia?"

I lean against the counter, feeling the ache in my side. "Getting as far away as I could. Since Canada doesn't allow orcs to cross the border without papers, south was my best bet."

I hear him exhale, probably lighting a cigarette. "Well, shit just got worse. That shit-for-brains human you tangled with? He just died. It's murder for sure now."

My grip tightens on the phone. "Fuck."

"Yeah. That bitch you saved from him is talking to anyone who'll listen."

My vision edges with red. My free hand slams down on the counter, the beast inside me roaring. "What's she saying?"

"What do you think? That big bad orc attacked her and her boyfriend out of nowhere. That you went savage."

The image of Savvy flashes into my mind—Royce's arm around her neck, fear in her eyes, nobody moving to help her. Just like that night in the alley.

"That's not what happened! He was beating her! He had her by the throat and—"

Hammer's voice cuts through my rage. "You don't have to convince me, brother. We know you saved that woman's life. Buthumans are fucked up creatures. She's crying to the cops that she loved him, and he'd never hurt her, and you attacked first."

"Fuck," I mutter, gripping the counter so hard I hear the laminate crack beneath my fingers. I force myself to let go. "What the fuck are we going to do about this?"

"We need to get you to the Mexican border. Mexico's a sanctuary country, doesn't extradite orcs—not since the Retaliation Treaty. As long as we can get you across, you'll live."

I rub a hand over my face, feeling the stubble that's grown over the past few days. "Yeah, about that. I ran into a little trouble last night, and now I don't have a ride."

"Fuck!" Hammer's voice echoes through the speaker. "What the hell happened, man?"

I explain about Victor and Royce, keeping it simple—some local bigshot and his lapdog tried to recruit me for their demolition crew, wanted me to railroad people off their farms. I turned them down, things got heated, they totaled my bike. Nothing I can't handle, but it'll take time to get back on the road.

"Could be a blessing," Hammer says after a moment. "Right now, the cops only know they're looking for a wounded orc. Every pig in three states is watching the main highways."

"You got a plan?"

"Working on it. I'm sending a crew down to the border to find a good crossing point. They'll scout it out, make some connections. You focus on getting your shit together and staying under the radar. Can you do that?"

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