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Voodoo was resting with his arm wrapped and elevated. A bag of some kind of frozen vegetables was on his bicep where the knife had been. I cocked a brow at his and Rooster’s makeshift icepacks. Not exactly what I was expecting to find when we came in, but it worked.
“My ice maker is broken, and my landlord is a dick,” Niara offered with a shrug, reading my expression.
“I hate to break up the family reunion, but we need to load everyone up,” I prompted Sloane, getting back to the matter at hand. “Now.”
“What’s going on?” Voodoo asked, gaze locking on mine.
“No clue,” I ground out through my clenched teeth. The image of her tied to the floor replayed in my head. I may not know exactly what they had planned, but it wasn’t hard to guess it wasn’t good.
“Can you travel?” Sloane asked Voodoo as she held an arm around her ribs.
“Yeah,” he replied, grunting and wincing as he sat up. “You?”
Sloane nodded.
Niara was frantically rummaging through her purse. A curse preceded her holding it upside down and letting everything fall to the floor.
“There!” she exclaimed, seconds before she scooped up a small leather pouch.
We heard the front door slam open, and I regretted not taking the time to lock it as we barreled in.
“Goddammit!” I growled. “I knew it was a mistake to come back here. We should’ve gone straight to the clubhouse.”
“It’s just us!” I heard Evan call out. Raptor’s jaw jumped, and his fists clenched. Studying him, I frowned at his response to his cousin’s voice.
When he came in, the tension between him and Raptor was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
“Do you need one of us to ride the bikes?” he asked.
Raptor glared. “No.”
My gaze darted between them before I looked at Niara. “Can you drive?” She had a head injury, so I wasn’t sure.
“I’m good,” she assured.
“Rooster? Are you okay to ride?” Raptor asked him. He nodded.
“Then we’ll get Voodoo into the rental car with Sloane and Niara. We’ll leave Niara’s car here and we need to get the rental back to Stone anyway. I’m hoping if they survived the fire, they won’t be looking for the rental like they would Niara’s car. Phoenix, Rooster, and I will ride the bikes, following you at a safe distance,” Raptor instructed before casting a scathing glance at Evan. “They can follow us.”
The last seemed to be spoken with much reluctance.
When we gathered everyone up and prepared to leave, I noticed the watchful hawks perched on the light poles. We also scanned the area carefully. Sloane was preparing to get in the front seat with her friend as I held the door for her when I snaked out my hand and wrapped it around her neck. Emotions clogged my throat, and I knew my fingertips dug into her skin as I fought for control.
“If anything had happened to you,” I quietly choked out. Not gonna lie. I felt like a pussy for a minute. At least until she pressed her fingertips to my lips to silence me. Her clear blue eyes searched mine.
“I’m okay,” she assured me, despite the pain I knew she had in her side. Neither of us added the “for now” that we were both thinking. Instead, she lowered her hand and leaned in until her soft lips brushed mine. My grip tightened, and I held her close as my tongue sought entrance, and I tried to relay the feelings swirling within my chest.
A throat clearing pulled me out of the trance her kiss induced. Still, I pressed one last kiss to her now swollen lips as I rested my forehead to hers for the briefest moment. I cast a glance at Voodoo, who watched us with a cocked brow and an impatient glare.
With a grin, I kissed the tip of her nose and released her. “Get your ass in the car,” I murmured. Voodoo shook his head.
Raptor got on Voodoo’s bike. Before Voodoo climbed in the car, he smirked and said, “Take care of my bike, dammit. Don’t fuckin’ ride it like you do yours.”
Raptor gave him the finger.
Thoughtful, I cast a glance at my VP, looking around for his ride. “How did you get here, anyway?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said before starting Voodoo’s bike. I was pretty sure I knew, and while I was a little stunned, I couldn’t say I was actually surprised. In fact, it made a lot of things make sense.
