Page 85 of Kings & Carnage

I'd initially protested coming at all — it seemed like a bad idea given the whole crowd and no weapons thing — but Neo was wound tight after two months with no fights.

He needed to let loose on somebody's face.

Plus, he'd rendered any argument I had null and void when he’d pointed out that if I was allowed to go into Blackwell Falls to get my pussy waxed and have lunch with Claire, he was allowed to fight at the Orpheum.

"Busy tonight," I shouted up at Oscar.

"Always this time of year," Oscar said. "Not much else to do.”

I remembered what Daisy had said about the falls, about how townies liked to party there when the weather was good. It made sense they would need another way to let off steam when they couldn’t congregate outside.

Oscar's gaze snagged on someone in the crowd and he leaned down to speak against my ear.

"I'll be right back," he said. "Don't move. I'll have my eyes on you the whole time.”

He moved through the crowd toward a skinny guy in a leather jacket with the Blades’ logo emblazoned on the back, then positioned himself so that he could see me.

I kept my back against the wall and nodded along to the music, starting to relax. It felt like any other night at the Orpheum and I took comfort in the fact that while we didn’t have weapons, no one else did either.

I didn't know who owned the Orpheum or who made the rules, but whoever it was must've had a lot of power because everyone seemed willing to behave.

I watched a couple minutes of the movie playing out silently on the big screen, then returned my focus to the crowd. I’d just scanned past Oscar, his eyes on me like he’d promised even though he was still talking to leather-jacket guy, when I spotted a familiar head of thick brown hair standing at the edge of the crowd on the opposite side of the room.

Alexa Petrov.

What was she doing at the Orpheum? It didn't seem at all like her scene. Even Claire avoided the Orpheum.

Alexa wasn't alone. She was looking up at a giant blond guy that I recognized as one of the Knights.

And they weren’t having a casual conversation.

They were arguing. It was obvious from their body language even though I couldn't hear a word.

Alexa wore an unfamiliar expression. Not the disdain or dismissal I was used to but a storm of anger and something I was sure was fear.

The giant blond — I couldn't remember his name — pointed at her, his expression wrathful as his lips moved in what appeared to be a serious smackdown.

Usually I would've been more than happy to watch Alexa take some shit, but after our weird encounter in the bathroom at Chasen’s, I couldn't help feeling like maybe she needed help.

Okay, it was a bit of a leap. But it was definitely weird combined with her argument with one of the Russians — someone from her own crime family — and at the Orpheum no less.

I was debating whether or not to push off the wall and brave the crowd to check on her, knowing Oscar would be right behind me, when she turned to walk away from the blond giant.

He grabbed her arm, forcing her to spin and look at him.

Alarm bells rang in my head and I pushed off the wall and took a step forward, but a second later she shook him off with a glare and a couple words I couldn't hear.

Then she was marching toward the exit, the blond guy staring after her.

"Huckleberry Twist for the lady," Rock said, returning with my drink.

He was juggling it with a beer and Oscar's whiskey so I took my drink out of his hand.

"What's up?" he shouted, following my gaze to the empty spot where Alexa had stood with the Russian.

There was no point explaining what I’d seen with Alexa. Not now anyway. It would be impossible to convey with so much noise.

I shook my head.

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