Page 85 of The Gathering
“Ohyouknow,” he said, sensing that he did. He looked at all of them. “Every hand is going to be needed for what’s coming. You understand?”
He waited till he got all of their agreement then nodded. “I’m going to need to equip each of you.”
“Fuck yeah,” Nitro whispered, his excitement riding Bishop’s cock.
“What kind of equip?” Bullets wondered. “Live rounds in my dick?”
The silent hallway cracked with laughter and Bishop quickly silenced them. “I’ll need to bite each of you to knowexactlywhat you need,” he whispered, eyeing Seer. “Nothing more, nothing less. Oui?”
Seer held his stare for a few moments then put his hand on Bishop’s neck. “I trust you, brother.”
Tension left him at hearing it. “Thank you,” he said, meeting his brother’s eager stares. “It won’t be permanent.”
“Hell, I don’t mind if the upgrade—”
“I mind,” Bishop said, cutting Bacon off. He looked at all of them. “I don’t like it,” he said to them. “All this power, it’snotgood, mon freres. We’re not made for this.”
Seer grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. “For such a time as this, son,” he reminded him.
“Oui,” Bishop said. “But the second that time is over?” He looked at all of them. “I want our fucking lives back.Exactlythe way they were. We understand?”
He got a round of oui’s, and his stomach loosened as he nodded.
“When we doing this bite?” Nitro asked.
“Problem student right there,” Hurricane predicted.
“Nah,” Nitro chuckled. “Just wanna have fun while I can for as long as I can.”
“What, you a fuckin’ power whore now, bruh?” Hurricane asked.
“You want some of my dirty side?” Nitro offered.
“Here wego,” Traps muttered.
“Hey, I’ll take some of that,” Bacon said to Nitro.
Bullets chuckled, “You wanna be Count Spatula?”
The stifled laughter erupted again and Spook asked, “What about the Creole Kings? They’re still not done recovering from the first bite.”
“Don’t worry, my bite won’t just give you power. It’ll give you perfect power. Tailored specifically to your DNA.”
“Shoooowee,” Bullets said, eagerly. “Lock me load me and launch me.”
“I have a question,” Spar said. “What the exact hell are these Dead Kings and what kind of army are they commanding?”
“That’s the first order of business,” Bishop said. “I need to find a way to touch one.”
“Who we touching?”
Everybody turned to find Handy strolling up.
“Just the man I need,” Bishop said. “Come meet my brothers.”
“Met most of them already,” Handy said, entering their circle. “In another body.”
Right.
