Page 52 of Unmasked Anarchy
Oh, God.
This is bad.
He presses his forehead to mine, and for the first time, I see him scared.Not for himself, but for me, for all of us.The game just changed, and judging by the look in his eyes, nobody is going to sleep until there’s blood on the ground.Zane returns with everything Kael asked for, and they get to work cleaning me up.
Nia cleans my face as best she can, hands trembling, and Mera gives me painkillers and a shot of the most awful tasting whiskey.The boys don’t even look at the mess in the house.They are too busy trying to find out who the hell came in.I am slowly drifting into a drug-induced daze.
“Why only her?”I hear Kael ask as my eyelids grow heavy.
“She volunteered herself so we wouldn’t get hurt.She didn’t want to see us touched.I ...I’m so sorry, Kael.She is something else,” Mera whispers.
“Yeah,” he murmurs, stroking some hair off my forehead.“She is.”
Then everything goes black.
~*~*~*~*~
THE NEXT FEW DAYS AREa blur.
I am in and out, dosed up on pain meds.There is no damage to the outside of my body aside from a couple of bruises, but the inside is a whole other story.Every movement hurts, and with each passing hour, I feel like I’m getting stiffer and stiffer.
Kael is by my side every second.
Until he isn’t.
I don’t know when it changes, or why, I just know it does.
He is called for Church, where they need to discuss something serious.When he returns, something isn’t right.He’s distant and agitated, his eyes raking over me with something I haven’t seen before—distrust.Maybe it’s the drugs, or maybe I’m just being too sensitive, but something does not feel right.
“Get up,” he says, his voice isn’t hard, but it isn’t soft either.
He is standing in the doorway, arms crossed.I do ask he asks, confused.
“Is everything okay?”I whisper.
“Just get up.”
Something is wrong.
I move slowly.He waits until my feet hit the floor before turning and heading out, and I have no choice but to follow.I want to reach for his hand, but it hangs at his side, fisted so tightly I can see the veins straining under his skin.The clubhouse is full of men.Not regular faces.I can’t name most of them, these new shadows lurking in the doorways, but each one narrows in on me, their stares heavy, unblinking.
Kael leads me past the bar to the room they use for Church, the only space in the club that is out of bounds to anyone but the club.It consists of long, wooden table, mismatched chairs, and memorabilia all over the walls.Wolfe is at the head of the table, cigarette in hand, watching as we walk in.Around him, the table is full, a wall of men, silent.I try to sit, but Kael steers me to the single chair at the table’s end, then stands behind me with his arms folded.
I am shaking but I try not to let it show.
I don’t know what the hell is going on.
Wolfe meets my gaze.“You know why you’re here?”
I shake my head.
Wolfe narrows his eyes.“You sure about that?”
My teeth hurt from clenching.“Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?”
He leans in, elbows on the table.“We had no problems, then you came in and the cops find out our location, we get raided, the warehouse blows, and men enter our club while we aren’t here.Ain’t never had anything like that happen.Care to tell me how you fit into all of that?”
I feel it now, a sick heaviness in my belly.“You think I’m a rat.”I manage to keep my voice steady, even though the ground under me is crumbling.
