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“Silas and I . . .” she trails off, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
“It's alright, Evangeline. We can talk it out later if you need to, but as long as you're good, I'm good, yeah?” I squeeze her hand reassuringly.
She nods, but she doesn't look that relieved. Her gaze flicks inside the house before coming back to me. “What happened at the gate?”
I tug her inside next to me. As soon as we step through the door, I close it with the toe of my boot. “Club business, sugar. I don't have all the facts yet, anyway. But we gotta go down and check it out. You can stay here and look after Hunter and Aunt Dixie, right?”
The storm is raging outside now, rain pounding against the windows and thunder rumbling with menace in the distance.
“I don't think Dixie needs a babysitter, but yeah.” Evangeline shivers a little, and I pull her toward the bathroom down the hallway.
I pull a flashlight from my pocket, flick it on, and set it on the counter in the bathroom. “Wait here. I'll go grab you some warmer clothes.” Silas keeps it cold as hell in here, and I don't want her freezing in the basement.
She nods and I pull the bathroom door closed. I jog up the stairs, ignoring the way the wind beats against the siding, and hoping I don't lose too many shingles during this storm. My house needed a new roof a few years ago, but I pushed my luck and put a third layer on.
I push thoughts of home repair out of my mind and try to get my head in the game.
* * *
“Walk me through what happened exactly,”Silas says from behind the wheel.
The three of us piled into his truck for the usually-short drive down to the clubhouse. But the rain and lack of light makes visibility less than zero, so we're practically crawling down the road. My internal clock ticks like it's a timer or a countdown, and I have to remind myself that for now, everything is fine.
“Came down to check the gate like I said I would, and the prospect was huddled in the guard booth, trying to call me. He said someone drove up fast, opened the door, and pushed someone out on the sidewalk.”
“And it was Ace?” Silas asks. “You're sure?”
I incline my head. “Saw him myself.”
“How'd he look?” Nova asks from the backseat.
I glance over my shoulder at him. “Someone fucked him up, man. So get your head straight before you see him, yeah?”
Nova squints, his mouth settling into a line. “Don't worry about me, I'm fine.”
I nod a few times before I face forward again.
“What'd he say?” Silas asks.
“Did the prospect see who it was? What kind of car? Anything useful?” Nova asks at the same time.
I shake my head, running my fingers over the scruff on my chin. “Nah, the power went out, our generator didn't kick in. We're fucking lucky they didn't try to storm the gates. Without power, it could've gone much worse.”
“Not for Ace,” Nova murmurs.
“Better than Quince.”
“Fuck,” Silas grunts. “You sure?”
“Goddammit,” Nova snarls.
“Ace wouldn't talk until we're all there, but he did say he and Quince were snatched. And they sent Ace back to us to deliver the message.”
The low bubbling brook of rage that sits largely untouched starts to move, sluggish but still as potent. I wasn't especially close with those guys, but it doesn't matter. We're a fucking family. A hit against one of us is a hit felt by all.
We pull around to the back entrance of the clubhouse, the tires squealing at the sharp turn. The three of us jump out of the truck and duck inside. It's dark as hell in here, only the track lighting along either side of the floor offers any light in the hallway.
We find Ace in the kitchen with a battery-operated industrial light on either side of him. A few bunnies are tending to him, cleaning his cuts and applying some bandages.
