Page 264 of Forged in the Fire
“Does your heart know?”
There was so much hope embedded in her words that it made me ache.
I glanced at Kai who was babbling away in his highchair, while I did my best not to reach for Silas again.
But instead, he was the one who was reaching for me, sliding his arm around my waist and drawing me to his side as he murmured, “Yeah, Elena, my heart knows.”
Frustration infiltrated his voice. “But this isn’t something we can go shouting about right now. Not in the middle of this mess. Situation is delicate enough.”
Elena’s head barely shook. “Love isn’t something you should be ashamed of, Silas.”
“I’m not ashamed.”
“But you all treat it like it’s something that should be. Hedge it up behind rules and ultimatums. It needs to change if any of us are ever going to truly be free.”
And I thought maybe Elena was the smartest one of all of us.
FIFTY-FIVE
SILAS
“Tomorrow night this goes down.”
I looked around at all my patched-in members who filled the dimly-lit room.
Church packed shoulder to shoulder with every one of them.
The single chandelier cast an eerie light over their faces where it hung in the middle of the old, rustic table, the images Madman had painted crawling across the walls and ceiling as if they’d come alive.
Monsters bred for a night like this.
Ansty, my crew shifted in their chairs and on their feet. Like maybe I was delivering a death sentence.
My guts fisted at the dread that for some it likely would be. It made me sick to think about losing any one of them.
But they were in this as deep as me.
I met their unwavering gazes.
Trevan’s.
Phoenix’s.
Slowly making a path over the rest of the men.
I could feel their loyalty and their devotion radiating from their marrow.
Clearing my throat, I leaned back in the high-backed chair at the head of the table.
Their leader. The one who brought them into battle and the one charged with getting them out on the other side.
“You were patched in as a Crimson Crow knowing our mission,” I said, voice rough. “Knowing we weren’t just here to wreak havoc. Weren’t here to proliferate crime and injustice. You knew you weren’t going to be running drugs or arms for the sake of greed. You knew we were infiltrating the filth in this world and doing your best to help eradicate its stain.”
Volatility curled through the tension.
“You made an oath to take the violence each one of us already possessed and turn it toward something good. And this job? Crimson Crows was born from it. It was the thing that turned the direction of my purpose and set it on a different course.”
I paused, letting my words sink deep. “I have been after this motherfucker since I was sixteen years old, and he’s always remained just out of reach. Spreading his vileness on the land.”
