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"Then I'll have to come back to visit sometime," Rossi interrupts. "For a danceandto check up on you."
Eddy blanches, cowed by the more powerful man. "Fine."
Rossi's smile is like a razor. "Excellent. You're free to go."
I nod, slipping past the other two men. My heart is thundering in my chest as I walk, but I can't look back. I can't look back because I might see my future in the eyes of the most powerful man in Echo Beach.
I slip down the stairs and back into my room, sitting down on the edge of my bed with a sigh.
"What happened?" Ruby asks.
"It's taken care of," I mutter. "You can rest easy, Lark...we're all going to be safe."
But as the night goes on and the music continues to pound downstairs at Dreamland, I have a suspicion that we're not safe at all.
And that my problems are only beginning.
Chapter two
Gunnar
They're beating some sorryfuck to death outside Dreamland.
It's none of my business, of course. Echo Beach isn't Angels turf, and Dreamland is an Eclipse club. If I were to intervene, it would only cause problems for me and my friends, and that's not why we're here.
No...we're here to move product, and I'm just here as muscle.
But that doesn't mean I like it.
We pass the alley where they're taking care of business on our way into the club, the guy's pleas for mercy turning into a thick, bloody gurgle as we get into line. There's a single muscular dude doing most of the beating, and a man in a suit watches with a cigarette between his lips. The man in the suit looks up andmeets my eyes, and he flashes me a devilish grin before the bouncer steps in our way.
"You on the list?"
Our pusher--a guy named Rook that I consider one of my closest friends in the Angels--gives the bouncer a congenial grin.
"Your boss is expecting us," he says in that Irish accent that always manages to charm people into emptying their wallets for him. "Last nameRainier. My guests here are Finch and Petrov."
The bouncer peers down at his tablet, frowning. I'm sure he's noticed our tattoos--the angel wings over our pulse point, the mark of our gang, our family. "Rainier..."
Rook leans in, producing a hundred dollar bill between his fingers like magic. "You let us in, I'll give you a discount on some new shit that just came in from New Atlantis. This is just to sweeten the deal."
The bouncer grunts and takes the cash, then lifts the black velvet rope.
"Welcome to Dreamland," he says.
We step past the rope and in through the open door, which reveals a simple corridor to a silver elevator. Dreamland is named as such partially because of its location--up in the clouds, or at least above the dirty streets of Pacific City. The three of us get into the elevator and the doors slide shut, Luka glancingup at the security camera before locking eyes with us, his voice quiet.
"Did you see that?" he asks.
"See what?" Rook says.
"The guy getting his teeth kicked out in that alley?" I suggest.
"Exactly," Luka says. "The guy in the suit...that was Nero Rossi. You didn't notice?"
Rook gapes at him as I suck in a surprised breath. "You're kidding me."
"Would I joke about that?" Luka says. "I'd know him anywhere. Seems like we arrived on an auspicious evening."
