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My dad nudges me to leave once more and the last thing I see before I do is the man in the chair, all bloodied and dirty watching me intently before smirking briefly at me as I walk out and mouthing three words when the others are too busy ushering me out to notice.
He'll get you.
The heavy metal door slams shut behind me. So I wait. Thinking over the mans words.He’ll get you. The man is a member of a band of men that attacked the Club not so long ago. They call themselves The Enforcers. Even the name sounds ridiculous. The enforcers of what exactly? No one’s going to get me. I continue to wait. And wait. What if he knows something about the marking? I anxiously wait a while more, unable to hear a thing going on inside the room behind me because of these stupid soundproof walls.
And then, as if nothing has happened and no time has passed, they're back and closing the door behind them.
“Son, I’m proud of what-”
I interrupted my dad, “Of what?”
“He’s a part of us, now more than ever, Charlie, but we may need to swap him round with one of the other guys to watch you for a while.” My dad eyes me dubiously, knowing just as well as I do what’s about to come out of my mouth.
“I’m not having anyone follow me around, Dad – well, not unless it’s Crow. Considering I’m currently marked, up for sale, Gray’s gone, and we have The Enforcers and The Devil's Dealers around trying to constantly find a reason for a war, the safest thing is for me to be with someone I trust, Dad, and that person is Crow. Please, please don’t have someone else do it,” I beg him.
“Char, it’s only one day a week. That’s all and I promise you, no one will get to you. Not the Enforcers or the Dealers,” Dad tells me.
Crow says nothing, but he nods, slightly, only slightly at my dad who eyes him cautiously.
“What’s going on? What don’t I know now?” I ask in frustration.
I don’t move beside Crow. I watch as he once again eyes my father, waiting for him to speak.
“Charlie darlin’, there’s no way you’re able to go to the city next weekend to see Nina. It’s too dangerous at the moment,” my dad tells me.
In all the chaos and unrest that’s been happening the last few days, I had completely forgotten about going to see Nina.
Nina has been my best friend throughout high school and when she went off to University in Cardiff, I had promised to go and stay with her once a month for the weekend which up until now I have done, but I understand that my dad is right. Between Gray’s disappearance, the mark on me, and the rival gangs gaining on us, it is too much of a risk. Not just to me, but to Nina as well if anyone catches me with her and uses her as leverage.
“OK. I get it, I’ll have the new guard one day a week, I won’t go to Nina’s, but I need you to tell me what’s going on. I feel like my head is going to explode, Dad,” I tell him, feeling exhausted from the constant mismatch of thoughts going on in my head.
“Charlie, I’m sorry, but the less you know the better. You know this.”
“No, I don't, Dad. This is about me! And Gray, and no matter how much you don’t want me involved, I already am just by being your daughter.” He winces at my words, knowing that no matter how hard it is to hear that it’s the truth.
“It’s not as simple as you think it is, darlin’. Look, I’ve got to go. There’s a meeting here tomorrow, one that you should be here for, as you well know, and I need to make sure everything is ready. I’ll see you at home,” he tells me just as Tin walks up to us.
“Me and Crow are going to finish our food now,” I declare as I take Crow’s hand to leave.
“Is it bad? I mean, really that bad?” I ask quietly as we walk away from my dad and Tin.
“I’ll protect you, I swear I will.” Crows words affect me more than I’d like to admit. Not only because him saying that means that it really is that bad but because if it is that bad then I’m just as worried about him as I am about myself.
And then I have an idea.
“What did you have to do earlier? That you couldn’t do before, what is it you had to do?” I ask him.
“You know I can’t tell you that, Char. I wish you’d stop asking me to tell you things you know I can’t. I don’t want to hide things from you but I can’t not,” he tells me, looking as defeated as I felt only moments ago.
“But what if you could tell me? What if I was a Dark Cobra? You could then, right?” I ask eagerly.
Crow stops me, looks both ways to be sure there’s no one around and then looks me dead in the eyes. He doesn’t move for a moment, looking at me so intently I’m sure he’s either in shock or thinks I’m delusional. Or maybe both.
“Do not ever let your dad hear you say that. In fact, just don’t ever say that again. You are not now, nor ever will you become, a Cobra.”
“Why? It makes sense. I’ve been around the Dark Cobras my whole life, my dad is a Cobra, my brother was a recruit. Why can’t I be one?”
“Women aren’t Cobras, Char,” he says as he drops his head.
