Page 26 of Judge's Justice

I throw the door open and step onto the porch.

"Stop!" I scream it as loud as I can. "Stop it! Leave him alone!"

All three Vipers turn to look at me.

The gray-bearded one smiles. It's the worst smile I've ever seen, cold, cruel, and delighted.

"Well, well," he calls out. "There she is. The reason we're here."

Judge lifts his head. His face is covered in blood, one eye already swelling shut. When he sees me standing on the porch, something flashes across his face.

Terror.

Pure, absolute terror.

"Get inside," he rasps. His voice is wrecked. "Nora, get inside now—"

"The VP gives orders even when he's getting his ass kicked," the bald Viper says. He laughs and kicks Judge again. "Admirable."

The Viper from last night, the one still recording, starts walking toward the porch. Toward me.

"Come on out, sweetheart," he calls. "Let me get a good look at you again. Let Demon see what the Iron Phoenix’s VP is willing to die for."

Chapter 6 - Judge

Everything hurts.

My ribs are screaming. My face feels like someone took a sledgehammer to it. Blood's streaming from my nose, filling my mouth with copper. My left eye is swelling shut so fast I can barely see out of it.

But I take it. I take every hit without fighting back more than necessary to stay conscious. Because twenty minutes ago, when these three pieces of shit rolled up, the gray-bearded one pulled out his phone and showed me a picture.

Security footage from the bus station. Grainy, time-stamped at 11:47 PM last night. Nora and Grace standing by the vending machine. Clear as day. The Viper from last night must have seen the camera, made sure to get them on it before I showed up.

"Pretty thing," the gray-bearded one said, his voice casual like we were discussing the weather. "Cute kid too. What is she, four? Five?"

I didn't answer. Couldn't trust my voice.

"Demon wants to know who they are. Why the Iron Phoenix VP would break his man's arm over random civilians." He stepped closer. "We checked every security camera at that station. Found this. Found them. Now we just need to know where they're staying." His smile was all teeth. "So, here's the deal, VP. You take your beating. You don't fight back. You let us record it and send it to Demon as proof that we handled business. And we don't go looking for them."

"They're not involved in this."

"Sure looked like it last night. Our boy said you protected them real good. Broke his arm, sent him running." The bald one cracked his knuckles. "Makes us wonder what they are to you."

"Nothing. Random civilians at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Then you won't mind taking a beating. Since they mean nothing." The gray-bearded one showed me the phone again. The picture of Nora and Grace. "You take it, we leave. We don't go asking around town about new arrivals. We don't check rental listings. We don't knock on doors." He leaned closer. "But if you fight back? Well, we'll make it our business to find out why."

What choice did I have?

Saint and Canvas were minutes out. If I could take a beating for a few minutes, if I could keep these bastards focused on me instead of searching for that house, then Nora and Grace would be safe.

So, I took it.

Took the first punch that split my lip. Took the kick that dropped me to my knees. Took the bald one's fist in my ribs that definitely cracked something. Took the gray-bearded one's boot in my stomach that made me taste blood.

The Viper from last night kept his phone up the whole time, recording, grinning with that broken face.

"Not so tough now, are you?" he taunted. "Where's all that VP energy? Where's that big man who broke my arm?"