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CHAPTER1
MILO
Disapproval clung to Kellan, disapproval and maybe disappointment. But I’d been right to cut Mayhem loose. I needed to be here. She needed to be there…
Kellan pulled into the lot just in front of the auto body shop. Leaving the car running, he slid out. “I’ll just be a minute.”
“Need backup?” The alarm going off wasn’t unusual. It probably had a short. Could also be kids breaking in to make their bones—they’d learn pretty quickly it wasn’t a good idea.
“Probably not,” he said as he shook his head. “Just keep watch from out here.”
I didn’t smile, but the idea of kids cutting out of the back and trying to “escape” only to find me in the lot? Yeah, that image entertained me. I studied the shop, and despite the cracked pavement in front of it and the damaged curbs in the area—the shop itself was in great condition.
They’d repainted at some point, and there were hints of Rome reflected in the art on the building. We’d all lived a hard life, but the guys weren’t letting it stop them from wanting more, building more—and they didn’t change who they were to do it.
I really did see Ivy fitting in here. She fit all of them so damn well. Shoving the door open, I slid out. “Hey, Kel.”
He pivoted to face me, and I spread my hands. No weapons. Not physical ones or ones hidden in my words.
“I know I sound like an asshole talking about sending her somewhere she doesn’t want to go. I’m working on that.”
“I know you are,” he retorted with a grin. “You being an asshole is really not news to me.”
Laughing at his smart-ass response, I would have flipped him off, but a spark behind him attracted my attention. What the—
The thought didn’t finish as a conflagration ballooned outward in a wash of hot air. The force of it propelled Kellan forward, pitching him onto his face and slamming me back into the car.
Fuck. Sound had come with the blast that left nothing except silence in its wake. My chest hurt from the impact of the metal, but I shoved off the car as the heat rushed back. I hit Kel and rolled him, snuffing out the flames crackling along the back of his jacket.
Glass burst somewhere, followed by a high-pitched whistle shrieking. Covering Kel, I braced as a second explosion ripped through the darkness and the quiet. The roar punched through the silence, stuffing my ears. Heat scorched the air, making it almost too hot to breathe.
This had to be what it was like when a dragon breathed on you. Something popped and sizzled. The sting against my back had me rolling. I got the flames out on me then made sure Kel’s were still out before I flipped him over and dragged him backwards.
Another pop and fire jetted out from somewhere in the back. I checked Kel’s breathing. Blood coated his mouth, so I turned his head to keep it draining out and ensure his airway remained open.
He was gonna have a hell of a shiner. There was blood trickling from his forehead. I went for my phone. Hopefully, Doc was still at the clubhouse…
Blue and red lights flashed and sirens screeched, blotting out what noise I could hear as two patrol cars ripped around the corner. One bounced over the curb closest to us and stopped abruptly.
The patrolmen getting out both had their guns drawn. All I had was a phone in my hand as the guy’s lips were moving, but I couldn’t make out shit beyond the popping in my ears.
I stayed facing them, palms forward, showing the phone in my hand. The guy kept talking as he moved toward me even though I really couldn’t hear a fucking thing he said.
The sound of a cell door slamming echoed inside my head. Guards moved through the throng, ordering us back to our lines. The horn blasted as they rushed the yard to separate inmates locked in a brawl.
I knew the drill.
Kellan was still out of it. However, he was also still breathing, so I moved to my knees carefully, dropping the phone so I could interlock my hands behind my head.
Cold steel locked around my left wrist, then my arm was twisted down, followed by the right where it was secured to the left.
The pat down wasn’t gentle. They moved me away from Kel as an ambulance arrived along, with fire trucks and more flashing lights. Fortunately, I didn’t have a gun on me.
Kel did—but he also had a carry license. The cops secured his weapon and wallet as I watched from the curb, handcuffed and deafened.
Meanwhile, the shop kept fucking burning.
ROME
