Page 3 of More Tricks

“Oh, my sweet, sweet, summer child,” I teased. “Don’t you know the guiltier you act, the easier it is for them to believe you are? One of the biggest reasons I haven’t ended up in jail for the rest of my life is purely because I have zero guilt about what I’ve done.”

Void just smiled and continued to shovel his face full of food, understanding what I was saying far more than the others. We paused when the front door opened, and Cam walked in with Agent Egger, who did not look any more thrilled to see me than when we first met. At least this time, I wasn’t covered in blood. That should count for something.

“Hello, agent,” I greeted, waving my fork at her. “We have more left if you’re hungry.”

She just looked at me like I’d lost my mind. With a shrug, I went back to my meal, not remembering the last thing I ate. Feeling the gnaw of hunger in my belly wasn’t something I enjoyed. It reminded me of days I’d rather forget.

“How can you all just be sitting there eating like nothing happened today?” Egger blurted. “There is a wasteland of dead bodies out there that you created.”

Setting my fork down, I turned in my chair to face her. “Do you know what would have happened if we hadn’t killed them?”

“I don’t care. You should have waited for the authorities to handle this matter,” she argued.

Crossing one leg over the other, I cocked my head at her. “So it's fine with you if the cops kill them all, just not us? What about the women and children they would have slaughtered while we waited for said authorities to arrive? Were we just supposed to tell the people that call this home to cut their losses and run? If that’s that case, then arrest me because I will never regret doing what was necessary to keep them safe,” I dared, holding out my wrist, ready for her to cuff me.

Cam charged over to me and batted my hands down. “Would you please stop being so dramatic? She isn’t going to arrest you because everything we did was in self-defense. There is even video to prove that everything that was done is justified.”

Shoving to my feet, I brushed past Cam and stood right in front of Agent Egger. “I still want to know your answer. Would you, in their position, wait for the police to come or stand your ground to protect your home and family?”

Egger looked me dead in the eye, but I watched as when she truly thought about it, she wasn’t so sure. “I… I am an FBI agent. I swore an oath to uphold the law—”

“Err,” I yelled, cutting her off. “You swore an oath to uphold the constitution, and within that archaic document is the right to bear arms, and since you brought up the law, then there's something called the Castle Doctrine, which states I can defend my home and the people within it without fear of prosecution. They came on our land, breached our fences, and attacked us. Damn, Egger, you’re one hell of an agent if you would tell me I’m wrong.”

Knowing that I was too pissed off to talk to this woman reasonably, I stormed out of the house. Footsteps quickly followed, telling me they really weren’t going to let me go off on my own.

“Loba,” Cognac called after me. “Damn, you are fast for someone with such short legs,” he said as he jogged up next to me.

“It’s all a fucking joke.” I snarled.

Cognac grabbed my arm and pulled me to his chest. “I know, loba, fucking hell do I know how true that is.”

“They come here acting like we are the bad guys when if we didn’t fight, so many innocents would have been lost,” I fumed. “How can they see what happened and only see the black and white of it all?”

“Because that is how they were trained. The world is a set of rules, good and evil, while we live in a world of gray. Things are never cut and dry when you look under the surface, but they don’t have the autonomy to do that,” Cognac shared, running his fingers soothingly through my hair that was getting far too long for my liking.

“How the fuck did Cam make it through their training? He is the most gray person I know,” I rambled, trying to keep from getting too emotional. I’d cried once today after finding out Eagle was alive. I didn’t need to do that shit again because of some stupid FBI agent.

“Do any of us really want to know the answer to that? I feel like out of anything we know that could get us arrested or thrown in jail,” Cognac said with a chuckle. “Come on. I have an idea of what might make you feel better.”

“Is there someone you have tied to a chair I can stab?” I mumbled, letting him lead me by the hand into the darkness behind a garage.

Cognac let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, I suppose that would make you feel better, but this idea is a little less… messy.”

“If you say so.” I sighed.

We didn’t have to go far before I spotted what he wanted to show me. It reminded me of when I’d first arrived and found out they had a pool. A smile grew on my lips and as the soft light from within the water glowed invitingly, begging me to jump in.

“I’m not skinny dipping,” I warned as I shoved my shorts down.

Cognac’s face turned serious for a second. “Damn straight you’re not showing off that hot little body of yours to anyone but us. Fuck, if the others found out, I’m not sure what would happen.”

“And we’ll never find out because I’m in enough trouble with them as it is,” I pointed out and dove into the water.

Chapter two

Cognac

Watching Dax glide through the water wearing a T-shirt and underwear was mouth-watering and tortuous in the best way possible. My loba was so full of passion, and she didn’t even realize it. As she bitched out that agent, all I could think about was how proud I was that she was our woman. Dax, the fierce queen that she was, submitted to no man, woman, government, or evil that stood in her way from keeping her people safe. It was mesmerizing to watch, and I wanted to see it for the rest of my life.