Page 111 of Cold Bastard
“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer group of assholes.” Reaper chuckled.
“Fuck you, asshole.” Morpheus smirked, shaking his head.
“Is she alive?” Coeus asked, sitting up.
When no one replied, I looked up to find all eyes on me. Sighing, I muttered, “Barely.”
“What are we missing?” Zeus asked from his clubhouse in Athens, Texas.
“The Brotherhood acquired another old lady.” Cerberus chuckled as I growled. “Congratulate us!”
“Ah, fuck,” Zeus groaned, then asked, “You sure about this, Poseidon? Say the word and I will make a deal with Morpheus to get the brat home.”
Several of my brothers stiffened, and I growled as Poseidon looked my way and sneered at me. “No. Alex made her bed. It’s time my sister learned that actions have consequences.”
“She’s mine.”
“We know!” my brothers, along with Morpheus, groaned before he added, “Gonna have to excuse Nano. He’s still bitchy about the knife wound in his leg.”
Zeus laughed heartily as he asked, “She stabbed him?”
“No.” Scythe grinned, licking his blade. “I did.”
“This is all enlightening, and I’m happy for you, Nano, but I’ve got shit to take care of, so if we can hurry this meeting along,” King snarked as Cash and several of the Diamond Creek Chapter of the Silver Shadows snickered.
“What’s the hurry, old man? You got somewhere else you need to be?” Reaper challenged.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” King snapped as he sat forward, pointing at the screen. “You left fucknuts with me! Would you like to know what it’s like dealing with an injured Montana fucking Stone! He doesn’t listen to shit.”
“Put another cap in his leg. That will shut him up.” Reaper smirked.
“I fucking heard that, asshole,” the man in question sneered as his face appeared on the screen.
“HI-YA, buddy!” Reaper grinned from ear to ear. “You look like dog shit, fucknuts.”
“Fuck off, asshole,” Montana groaned. “What the hell is going on? Where the fuck is my granddaughter? And where the fuck—hey! Give me that back!”
The screen went black for a few seconds before Mercy, the former V.P. of the Soulless Sinners, appeared on the screen.“Sorry about that. Montana forgot to take his happy pills today. Reaper, letting you know the doc here is releasing Montana in the morning. Bane and Tessa have made arrangements to have him and Malice flown back to New York as soon as possible. We have a funeral to prepare for.”
“Understood,” Reaper said solemnly. “You guys need anything, you call me. Got it?”
Mercy nodded before disconnecting the call. The silence that followed was deafening before King spoke next. “Speaking of funerals. Nano, we are having Ghost’s funeral this coming Friday. We would like you to come.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
Ghost.
Travis.
My brother.
The only family I had left in this world, and he was dead. Killed in the Death Dogs’ attack on Diamond Creek. Shot to hell alongside Indigo and Eros while the Federation was still trying to keep their alliance hidden.
I had known. Of course I had known. Morpheus had told me the second he got confirmation. But there wasn’t time to process it. Hadn’t been time to mourn. Everything had been moving too fast. The attack, the aftermath, the missing money, the hunt for the thief, Alex’s capture, the basement, the confession, and now it was real.
Travis was dead. My older brother. The one who had tried to protect our mother from her shitty boyfriends. The one who had taken a beating from Carl and then disappeared without saying goodbye. The one I had spent years resenting for leaving me behind.
He was gone, and I was alone.
