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There’s screaming, and in the chaos I can see that the two guys in the ring are trying to get their bearings and get out too.
I glance around quickly, trying to keep Levi, Sloan, and Rory in my sight, but there are too many people moving too fast. I’m forcefully shoved from either side as people rush past me, and I almost get knocked over when someone wraps an arm around my waist.
My hackles go up, and I’m immediately reminded of the last time I was here when I was lifted bodily out of the fight to defend my dad and carried off to a car.
I’m ready to elbow someone in the throat for trying any shit, but as I suck in a deep breath, I recognize Sloan’s scent even in this madness. My body relaxes slightly, and I pull my punch.
“Come on,” he mutters in my ear, and I nod, letting him protect me with his body as the three guys force their way through the crowd, not shy about pushing people out of the way to get to the exit.
We make it outside in on
e piece, and the fresh air is a relief after being packed into the warehouse for so long. People are running to their cars, trying to get away from the scene, and it’s easy to pick out who’s involved in this and who’s just an innocent onlooker.
Levi and Rory take me off to the side, keeping an eye on things, and Sloan pushes through the remaining crowd to go over to a guy who’s clutching his shoulder as blood wells between his fingers.
“What the fuck are they trying to do?” Rory mutters under his breath, and Levi shakes his head.
From where we’re standing I can’t hear everything that’s happening with Sloan and the other guy, but I can pick up enough to put the pieces together.
The wounded guy was a part of an altercation with the Jackals, and Sloan seems about ready to shoot him himself with how angry he looks.
Even from here, I can tell his eyes are flashing with stormy rage, and his posture is tense and rigid.
“They’ve been taunting us for weeks!” The guy Sloan is talking to raises his voice insistently, gesturing with his free hand and then wincing when even that movement is too much. When he moves his hand, I can see more of the blood soaking into his shirt from his shoulder. “They want—”
He cuts off and drops his voice lower, and Sloan says something in a low, intense voice that I can’t hear either.
He doesn’t seem to be arguing with the guy, but trying to get his point across on no uncertain terms.
Whether because Sloan is an intimidating force when he wants to be, or because he’s the son of their leader, the guy eventually lowers his eyes and nods, giving in to whatever it is Sloan is trying to tell him.
Even without all the details, the picture is pretty clear. The Jackals are pushing things even more than they were before. The truce they had in place isn’t going to hold, and violence like this is probably about to become the norm.
The guys have been noticing it for weeks, of course, and it just seems to keep getting worse. The Jackals want to push the Black Roses into retaliating, and they did tonight, almost hurting other people in the process.
A shiver runs down my spine. Fuck. A stray bullet could’ve hit someone who isn’t even involved in this mess. Someone could have gotten trampled in the crowd when they all started rushing for the door. Anything could have happened, and it would’ve been because of the rising tensions between these two gangs.
Other members of the Black Roses were talking about it when I went to the warehouse with the guys that one time. Levi has talked about it too, and now it’s more plain to see than ever. The Jackals are done with the truce, and they’re clearly trying to start some shit.
I glance at Sloan once more, and he seems tired under all that anger.
He can probably see the storm on the horizon better than anyone.
20
“It wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place,” Sloan says, and even though he’s trying to keep his voice down, anger and frustration make it loud enough that I can hear it from where I’m sitting in the living room.
I have headphones on, but nothing playing in them, and my eyes are trained on the textbook in my lap, even though I’m paying attention to the conversation Sloan and Levi are having in the kitchen with much more focus than I’ve given my school work over the last few weeks.
“I know that, but we can’t be sure—” Levi says, cutting off in the middle of his sentence. He makes an inarticulate noise. “It was supposed to be neutral.”
“Nothing is ever neutral with those fuckers. They know what they did.”
“They’re saying he shot first.”
“They’re fucking lying!” Sloan snaps. “Damon swears he didn’t. No one from our side would go to that fight looking to start shit. They’ve been baiting us for the last few weeks, and it’s getting out of control.”
“I know, Sloan. Rory talked to some of the others who were right there when it happened. They’re all pretty sure the Jackals lashed out first, but pretty sure isn’t good enough. No one saw anything until it was already happening. It was too crowded in there.”
