Page 1 of Flint

Chapter 1 – Flint

“Y

ou coming out or just going to sulk all night?” Casper asks.

“I ain’t sulking,” I mumble.

“Right, what would you call it, then?” he says on a laugh.

Hiding. Which sounds fucking worse, so I keep my trap shut and let Casper think whatever the fuck he wants. I ain’t no pussy, but shit if I want to be out there celebrating right now. Okay, I do. But I fucked up. Big enough to know it, just don’t want to admit it out loud. I said my piece, and now I’m living with the consequences.

“You think you’ll ever get tied down?”

I move my eyes off the computers and side-glance Casper as he doesn’t take my earlier hint to get the fuck out. Instead, he sits his ass in the chair next to me. Really need to get rid of that chair. I brought it in here more to put my pizzas on and maybe prop my feet up since the desks are covered with surveillance stuff and there’s no empty space for snacks. It wasn’t intended as a welcome wagon, but fuck if the brothers don’t see it that way. Instead of enjoying the solitude of computers and beeps, I get random brothers who are tired of shooting the shit with other brothers out at the bar coming in here and yapping it up. Just ’cause I’m here doesn’t mean I ain’t working. I survey all the club’s goings-on and properties from this one room, and it’s not like I can farm this work out to just anyone.

When I got recruited by Hounds of the Reaper, it was because of my skills on the keyboard. Same reason I was in the military. Was even getting courted by a few alphabet groups too. That was before I said “fuck the man” and came out here to the literal middle of nowhere, Kansas. Now I get to do what I want, even have a say in what goes down, but still get to watch the screens. I have a few brothers who help occasionally, but with tonight being a subtle engagement party for a certain lucky couple, I took the shift.

“Nope.”

“Pretty sure Chains and Bulldog said the same things seconds before their old ladies wound up in their laps.”

“Whatever, man. You looking to get tied down?”

“Maybe.”

I fully turn my head and stare at the crazy bastard beside me. “Really?”

He shrugs as he stretches his legs out far in front of him. “Why not? Don’t know the future. And besides, seems like the safest bet.”

“For what?”

Casper shrugs as he folds his arms. “Say you want one, and the Reaper makes it clear you ain’t getting one. Say you don’t and see what happens. Not saying it’s foolproof, but it might explain a few things around here.”

I snort at his logic. “Pretty sure none of the brothers have ever been aiming to get an old lady.”

“Yeah, but plenty of vamps trying, and not one has been moved to that title.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re talking vamps. Dick suckers don’t really rank high on the Reapers give-a-shit list.”

He shrugs again. “I’ll take the chances I have based on the data presented to me.”

Fucking snipers. They can be given all the intel in the world, and they still come up with their own jacked-up way to see things, be it how they kill and still sleep at night or how they get laid. Then again, I’ve only known the snipers in the club, so maybe they ain’t all crazy like Casper. I ain’t planning on meeting any new ones anytime soon.

“Whatever, man.”

He only grunts at my attempt, once again, to annoy him enough to leave me the fuck alone. Can’t a man just get a bit of fucking solitude anymore? I like the brotherhood, when it’s on my terms. In a fucked-up way, I guess I forced this on my terms. If you consider me being a jackass and putting an old lady and a brother in danger, then keeping myself away from the rest of the club and forcing them to come find me my doing.

The alarm going off has both me and Casper leaning forward to assess the threat. At least he’s better than more than half the brothers. He ain’t asking me what’s going on but giving me the time to pull the feeds as I need to.

“Perimeter breach. South entrance.” I speak as I type.

“Numbers?”

“Infrared only shows one body signature.”

“I’ll go check it out.”

“Like hell. The boot on your foot doesn’t come off for another week. Sit tight, princess, watch me, and guide me and the boys through it. We got this.” I send the alert to the brothers, knowing full well each will check their phone instantly as the red strobe light starts blinking inside the compound.

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