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I look at them and jerk my head to the doorway. “Get out of here. Club business.”
“Sure thing, Bane,” they mutter practically in unison. A few of the brothers hang around the island, their expressions drawn tight.
“Jesus, fuck,” Nova swears. “You alright, man?”
Ace grimaces. “I'm alive.”
Silas stands in front of him and folds his arms across his face. “We'll get you taken care of, so don't worry about it, yeah?”
Ace nods, his movement jerky and broken. “Thanks, Prez.”
“What's the message and who is it from?” Silas asks.
“This is courtesy of the Savage Souls. They send their regards and condolences.”
“Condolences for what?” Nova asks.
I step forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Silas. “Was this before or after they killed Quince?”
“Before,” Ace says, his face scrunching up.
“Could've been shit-talking. Or foreshadowing since they knew they'd only keep one of them,” Nova murmurs.
“What else did they say?” Silas asks.
Ace licks his lip, sending fresh blood bubbling to the cut down the middle of his bottom lip. “Yeah. They said to start saying your goodbyes now while you still can.”
Well, that's not fucking good. My mind spins, too many different threads of possibilities. It's nearly impossible to know if they were intimidating Ace or talking out of pocket or actually giving us a warning.
I take a step forward. “Think, Ace. Did they say anything else? Even weird shit is worth mentioning. Did you actually see them kill Quince?”
He shakes his head, his face pale with pain. “I saw them take Quince out, man. They had us kneeling with our hands bound, and that motherfucker didn't even say anything before he shot him”
“Who?” I press. Urgency pricks my fingertips like it's a moving thing underneath my skin.
“Deran Masters.” Ace grunts and shifts in his seat.
“Motherfucker,” Silas swears. He turns around and sinks his hands into his hair and looks up.
Deran Masters grew up in Rosewood. Then he spent some time in Crestview before ultimately becoming a Savage Souls. They're an aptly named club. They don't adhere to the general rules, the unspoken code of conduct we all follow: no women, no children, no elderly.
Everyone is fair game to the Savage Souls, and those motherfuckers are twisted. There's a reason we ran them out of the area all those years ago. Why that decision was backed by all the surrounding clubs, not just us—including Hell Hounds.
“Makes me wonder what the fuck they're doing partnering with the Hell Hounds.” What kind of promises were made.
“What else?” I ask Ace, watching the pain creep across his features, tightening his muscles. His adrenaline is waning, and he's gonna crash soon.
He shakes his head, his hand holding one side of his ribs tightly. “I don't know, man. Something about the Summer Festival here, almost like they were planning on going. I—I don't know. I'm sorry.”
I lean over and rest my hand on his shoulder. “You did good, man. You did good.” I jerk my head to the brothers hanging back and say, “Make sure he gets patched up, yeah?”
Silas and Nova flank me as I stalk back down the hallway and into the howling wind. “Let's go home. We have some favors to call in.”
38
EVANGELINE
The front doorslams and heavy footfalls thunder through the house. I spring up from my perch on Hunter's floor by his bed and run to his door. He fell asleep in the basement, and I carried him up here when the tornado warning expired. Dixie offered to carry him, but the side-eye glare I sent her was so fierce—her words, not mine—she threw her hands up and laughed before she went home.
