Page 7 of Property of Quake

His smirk widens, and a memory slams into me with all the force of a freight train.

“Hold onto ‘em for me.”

“You sure?” I ask Lyric, hating how exhausted, angry, and heartbroken he is.

The accident that claimed the life of his father and the memories of his fiancée, Mellie, only happened a few days ago. He’s a shell of the man I know, and I hate that he’s asking this favor of me.

“I’m sure,” he says, setting his father’s weapons on the table between us in the armory. “I can’t think past the next ten minutes, let alone what to do with these.” His tone is somber, and I know he’s feeling lost. “At least here, with you, I know they’ll be taken care of, cleaned. You’ll do that, right?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

“Whenever you’re ready, you know where they’ll be.”

He nods solemnly. “I’ll get ‘em when I have someone to pass them down to.”

The memory fades as quickly as it appeared, and my mouth drops open. I stare at him until his smirk turns into a lopsided grin.

“No,” I say, shaking my head, and his grin gets bigger. “No way.” Still, Lyric says nothing, which tells me everything. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit is right,” he says with a laugh.

I launch out of my chair so fast it topples backward and crashes into the wall. Pres doubles over laughing, but I barely notice because all my brain does is repeat one thought: Mellie’s pregnant.

Finally, the queen of the club is knocked up. After years of watching those two love each other so hard it practically makes those around them sick with envy, after all they’ve been through, it’s happening.

The president of the KOAMC Washington chapter is going to be a dad.

I bolt past Lyric and out of the armory. He shouts my name, but I ignore him.

“Quake!” His footsteps echo behind me. “Dammit, Quake!”

When I reach the common area, I skid to a stop. The room is packed. Zombie’s at the bar, Trick and Copper are playing cards, Pilot is eating something that looks questionable at a table a few feet away from me, and Pastor and Whiz are sitting on one of the couches arguing about whatever is on the TV.

It’s a normal afternoon.

Well, it was until I came running in like a lunatic.

“Lyric got Mellie pregnant!” I shout.

Silence. Complete and utter silence is the only response as everyone stops what they’re doing to take me in.

I open my mouth to deliver the news again, concerned about the lack of response, but then all hell breaks loose, and the roar is deafening.

“What?!”

“No fucking way!”

“About damn time!”

“I knew it.”

“You didn’t know shit,” Copper snaps at Zombie, our VP.

“I had a feeling,” Zombie gripes.

As Lyric's best friend, I’m a little surprised that he didn’t know, but it doesn’t matter because now the world will know.