Page 24 of Bloody Jack's Treat
I stood in the middle of the yard, chest heaving, surrounded by the bodies of fallen enemies.My brothers emerged from their positions, some wounded, all blood spattered.The compound was ours again.
I sought out Honey with my gaze and found her exiting the clubhouse, shotgun still in her hands.Her gaze locked on me.In that moment, as she walked across a battlefield littered with the aftermath of our violence, I saw something in her that hadn't been there before.
She belonged here now.Not because I'd claimed her, not because of the property patch on her back, but because she'd fought for her place.She'd killed to defend our home.
And God help me, I loved her for it.
Dawn broke fully, the rising sun casting long shadows across what remained of our compound.I stood in the center of the yard, blood drying on my skin, muscles screaming from exertion and the knife wounds.The metallic tang of gunpowder and blood hung heavy in the air.Around me, shell casings, broken glass, splintered wood littered the yard, evidence of the finished battle.
My brothers moved through the wreckage with grim purpose.Before the morning was half over, the grounds were spotless.Animal sat propped against a wall, his stomach bandaged with strips torn from his own shirt, face gray with pain but eyes alert.
Ghost materialized at my side, his normally immaculate appearance now marred by blood and soot."We lost two," I told him, voice flat.
He nodded once, his gray eyes taking in the scene with the same detached calculation I was forcing myself to maintain."Could have been worse."
"Got three more who'll need a hospital," I continued."Call Doc Simmons.She'll arrange transport, keep it quiet."
"What about the bodies?"Ghost asked, nodding toward the fallen Copperheads.
I considered this.Part of me wanted to string them up as a warning to demonstrate what happened when you fucked with Bound in Blood.But that would bring heat from law enforcement we didn't need right now.And it was only a matter of time before someone came out this way to see what the fuss was about.
"Dump them on Copperhead territory," I decided."Let Acid deal with his own dead.”
I turned to survey the rest of the compound.The main building had held, though its façade was riddled with bullet holes.Two vehicles still smoldered, black smoke curling into the morning sky.The fence would need rebuilding, the gate replacing.Work that would take weeks.
Ghost nodded to Honey.“Girl’s one of us now.”
“Yep.”
"I need to check the rest of the building," Ghost said, tactfully excusing himself even if he did give me an amused grin.
When he was gone, Honey reached for me."You got cut," she said, reaching up to touch my forehead.I hadn't even noticed.“Stopped bleeding.”She sounded kind of vacant as she spoke.
"It's nothing."I captured her hand, holding it against my face for a moment longer than necessary before bringing her fingers to my mouth and kissing them."You okay?"
She nodded, a small smile touching her lips."I killed a man today."
The words were simple, matter of fact.No hysteria, no breakdown.Just an acknowledgment of what had happened.
"I saw," I said."Clean shot."
"I thought I'd feel...I don't know.Different.Guilty, maybe?"She looked down at her hands, still holding the shotgun."But he was going to kill me.Would have killed you if he could.So I pulled the trigger."
I studied her face, searching for cracks in her composure, signs of the trauma that should follow taking a life for the first time.Instead, I found a calm acceptance that both surprised and concerned me.
"It changes you," I said quietly."Killing.Not always in ways you notice right away."
"I'm already changed, Jack."She met my gaze again."From the moment I walked into that party and you claimed me.There's no going back from that, is there?"
The question hung between us, loaded with implications neither of us was ready to fully examine.I thought about the life she'd had before.She’d said it was quiet and more than a little boring, untouched by the violence that defined my existence.She could have that again, in theory.Could walk away once the danger passed.But we both knew she wouldn't.Not now.Not after today.
"No," I answered honestly."There's no going back."
I reached for her, pulling her against my chest, uncaring of the blood and dirt that smeared between us.She came willingly, her body fitting against mine like it was designed to be there.The shotgun pressed awkwardly between us until I took it from her.
"I'm sorry," I murmured into her hair.
She pulled back slightly, looking up at me with confusion."For what?"
