Page 341 of Hunters and Prey

Chapter 2

Bloody, bruised, and euphoric, we stumbled out of the Tap.

“And stay out!” Henry, the owner, yelled.

Once things had kicked off, everyone had jumped in. It had been the classic snowball effect, and we probably wouldn’t be welcome at the Tap for a while. Neither would the mercs. They staggered out behind us now, their laughter drifting up like smoke into the night air—three hulking Skins with swollen eyes, busted lips, and crazy-ass grins on their faces.

Man it felt good to blow off some steam. It was the Skin way. Aggression ran in our veins, and although most of the time we could be pretty chill, our flip switch was always to hand.

The mercs fell into step beside us. “You have a killer right hook,” scale face said.

I side-eyed him. “Yeah? Well, that uppercut you threw almost knocked me out.”

He chuckled, hawked, and spat blood. “Ever thought about going into the merc business?”

Yeah, I’d considered it. But being a merc meant being constantly on the move. It would mean leaving Dad behind. As much as the thought thrilled me, it wasn’t an option. “Not for me, thanks.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind ...” He left the sentence hanging and gave me a split-lipped grin. “A pleasure rumbling with you.”

I wiped at my bloody nose. “You too.”

“If you see that fucker Dunstan, you tell him we won’t forget this, and if we didn’t have another job lined up, we’d be gunning for his traitorous arse.”

“What did he take?” Helgi asked.

“The loot from the last job. Some old rusted key. Looks useless, but it’s worth a pretty penny. The bastard snuck off with it while we were asleep.”

Sounded like Dunstan, which was why we’d never actually worked with him. Dunstan wasn’t a team player. It was all about him, both when it came to work and when it came to play. The man only did what served him best.

“Don’t worry. If I see Dunstan again he’ll be kissing my fist with his teeth.”

The merc gave a wet laugh and spat out more blood onto the dusty ground. “See you around, ladies.” He offered us a salute and then headed east with his men, their tight butts vanishing into the night.

We ambled toward Juniper.

“We shouldn’t have intervened,” Helgi said softly.

For a moment I was lost as to what she was talking about, but then the penny dropped. We were back to Rae, but there was no way I’d have Helgi feeling guilty about trying to save a woman from domestic violence.

I climbed up onto Juniper. “Fuck that. We did the right thing. She’ll see that one day. Let’s get out of here.”

My fingers were on the ignition when the Tap door slammed open and a female came running out.

“Helgi! Wait.” The female jogged toward us, tits jiggling in the moonlight.

Helgi plastered a smirk on her face. “Just what the doctor ordered.”

Yeah, it really was. She’d talk about Rae when she was ready, or not at all, whatever. But right now she needed a distraction, because that was how my friend dealt with pain—diversion and distraction.

I turned away. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

“Yeah ...”

But she was already gone, her mind probably focused on the pleasures she could ring from the pliable body desperate to be played. I fingered the paper in my pocket. Barret’s hush-hush reaction and his hasty exit told me this job was going to be big, and my gut told me it was going to change our lives. Juniper purred to life and the flatlands beckoned me home.

The house was shrouded in darkness. It was a solid building, better than most in this part of Dust Town. The third floor was in ruins, but we’d boarded it off and made it water-tight using sheets of plastic and corrugated metal. It had been home for the better part of my life but had never completely felt like roots.

I’d left the back door unlocked, so I snuck in that way now. The kitchen was in shadow, but my feet knew exactly where to step to avoid the creaks and groans. My bed was calling, and my body ached to be free of leather and rough cotton. I was almost at the steps when the room was suddenly bathed in light.

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