Page 48 of Dark Side of the Cloth (The Righteous 1)
Morry gave Jeremy the once over, her eyes taking in everything about him, and Jeremy wasn’t the first guy to wilt under her intense stare. “What’s your drug of choice?”
Jeremy crossed his arms and looked down at the beat-up and dirty boots he was wearing. “What does it matter?”
“If you want to fucking stay here, it matters. Now answer the question or get back in the Hummer, and Dean here will bury your body in the desert on his way out of here.”
“Are you and all your friends this bitchy?” Jeremy asked, and Dean laughed as Morry picked Jeremy up by the front of his sweater with one arm and laid him out on the hood of the Hummer. Men always underestimated her, but they quickly realized that was a very big mistake.
“Respect, learn it, and fast, or you’re going to get on the unfriendly side of my personality. Trust me. You don’t want to go down that road.” Morry released Jeremy and took a step back. Pushing her chest out, she laced her fingers together behind her back, offering a cheap opportunity for Jeremy to take a swing at her.
Morry was born into this life, and she looked the part, and Dean respected her non-fanfare look of cargo pants with grease smeared on them and a short crop top. Her hair was cut short and mussed, and her dog tags were on, dangling around her neck. Come to think of it, Dean couldn’t remember her ever looking different.
And, Morry had defied all the expectations of the men around her and had earned every bit of the respect she held. She’d been in his graduating class to become a Delta, finished second right behind him. Unfortunately, their mutual path became the hell-laden road that saw them out the door. They no longer saw active duty inside the confines of any government agency, but that didn’t make any of The Righteous less deadly.
Jeremy didn’t make a move to retaliate, which was smart.
“Let’s try this again. What is your drug of choice?”
Jeremy cleared his throat and stood up tall. His eyes were scared, but he tried to mask it. “I don’t have one. I took whatever I could get my hands on, depending on how much money I could pull together. Flakka, liquid Ecstasy, China Girl, and Serial Killer if I was really desperate.”
“Fuck kid, you’re lucky to be alive,” Morry snorted. “You sure you want to back this pony?” Morry didn’t take her eyes off Jeremy, but Dean knew the question was directed at him.
“Too much of a challenge for you?” Dean asked and smiled as Morry glared at him.
“You always knew how to irritate me more than anyone else.”
“It’s my special charm.”
“Alright, Jeremy, if Dean here says you are worth the effort, I’ll take his word for it. I’ll get you checked in and have one of the other enrollees show you around. Dean, you staying the night?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, then let’s go.”
Dean and Morry fell into step, their boots hitting the ground in perfect rhythm like no time had passed. He glanced back at Jeremy and knew by the way the guy’s eyes were searching he was looking for an escape route. Knee jerk reaction, but the only problem was, with this place, once you were in, you either graduated or you became feed for the plants.
