Page 10 of King's Reckoning
"Oh my God," Beasley breathed. "The whole area...it's not just a graveyard. It's built on top of something much older. Look at these structures, these patterns. This is pre-colonial. Maybe even—"
The lab door burst open. Two men in Devils cuts entered, weapons drawn. Behind them came a man in an expensive suit, his silver hair immaculate.
"Dr. Beasley," he said smoothly. "I believe you have some data that belongs to Blackwood Archaeological Services."
Reed moved faster than Rowan would have believed possible, shoving her behind a desk as bullets started flying. She drew her own weapon, remembering too late that she'd given up her shotgun.
"Back door!" Beasley shouted, already moving. "Through the storage room!"
They ran, bullets chewing up equipment behind them. Rowan's arm burned where the earlier graze wound pulled, but adrenaline kept her moving.They burst out into morning sunlight, Beasley already on her phone.
"King! They're here! Blackwood's men—" A shot rang out and the phone went flying.
More Devils were waiting in the alley. Rowan counted four, plus the two from inside, plus the suit. Bad odds, getting worse.
"Any ideas?" she asked Reed as they backed toward the wall.
"Usually this is where I do something stupid and heroic," he replied, gun trained on the nearest Devil.
"And if that doesn't work?"
His grim smile made her heart skip. "Then I hope the backup I called when we first got here shows up soon."
The silver-haired man stepped forward. "No need for heroics. We just want the data. Dr. Beasley’s research has uncovered something quite valuable. Something that predates both our clubs. Something worth a great deal to the right people."
"Those graves were sacred ground," Reed growled. "You violated our dead."
"Your dead were buried on top of something far more important," the man said. "Now, Dr. Beasley, if you'd be so kind as to transfer your files—"
The rumble of motorcycles cut him off. Lots of motorcycles.
"That'll be our backup," Reed said pleasantly. "Now, about those odds..."
King led the charge into the alley, brothers falling into formation behind him. In seconds, the Devils were surrounded and outgunned.
"Mr. Blackwood," King said, his voice deadly quiet. "I believe you're trespassing."
The silver-haired man's composure cracked slightly. "This is bigger than your little club, King. There are forces at work here that—"
"That what?" Rowan stepped forward, her mother's warnings suddenly making horrible sense. "That have been waiting twenty-five years to surface? That sent you looking for proof of something that should have stayed buried?"
Blackwood's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
"She's my daughter," King said, and Rowan's heart stuttered at the pride in his voice. "And whatever you're looking for, whatever sent the Devils digging up our dead...it stops now."
"You can't stop progress," Blackwood said. "Development is coming to this territory, whether you like it or not. The artifacts under your club will be excavated, the land will be cleared—"
"Over my dead body." King's voice was like ice.
"That can be arranged." Blackwood smiled thinly. "Ask your daughter about her mother. Ask her what Elena Matthews knew about the real history of this land. Ask her why she really came back."
Rowan felt all eyes turn to her. Reed's expression was unreadable, but she could feel the weight of his gaze.
"My mother told me a lot of things," she said carefully. "But the most important thing she taught me was loyalty." She met King's eyes. "To family. To club. To the things worth protecting."
For a moment, father and daughter stared at each other, twenty-five years of absence hanging between them. Then King nodded slightly.
"Take them," he ordered, and the brothers moved in.
