Loving Me, Trusting You(23)

“The f*ck is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish or somethin'?” Gaine whispers in my ear while we wait in tense anticipation for somebody to make the next move. Things have got to happen fast from this point on, before the cops get here. Nobody wants to deal with cops.

“Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, Gaine,” I growl at him, pausing my rant early to listen to the sound of a door swinging open. A couple pairs of boots move into my vision and a blonde girl with red eyes and wet cheeks falls to her knees not six feet from where we're crouching.

“Where the f*ck is Tray? We want honest answers this time.” My hands clench involuntarily, curling into fists so tight, I feel like the bones might burst from my skin and cut me open. Mack. Tray's other brother. Unfortunate isn't it that the world seems to breed idiots in excess.

I untangle myself from Gaine's arms, despite his protests and rise to my feet. They won't shoot me. Yet. They want to hear what I have to say. I need to keep it that way until I get the girl back. I may not know her personally, but I know what they'll do to her if they take her out of here. She will be doomed to a short, painful life of hell, and it'll be at least partially my fault. I hope that she's escaped my fate thus far.

I look down at the girl before I bother acknowledging Mack. She seems alright, a little roughed up maybe, but she doesn't have that vacant look in her eye like she's been betrayed. Got here just in time, I reckon.

My eyes move up a pair of dusty boots, past faded jeans, a red tee and onto a baby face that will never cross over into handsome. I imagine that Mack will always look like a kid, probably right up until the day he gets wrinkled up like a f*cking prune. Tray stole all the good genes in this family, the physical ones anyway. There wasn't much else worth having to be found in this lineup. I stare at Mack and try to reconcile what I use to think about him with what he did to me, and what he's doing now.

He looks over at his brother's crumpled form and wrinkles his nose. The three men behind him keep their eyes on Gaine when he stands up behind me. They just saw me smash Will's face in with a tire iron and they're not taking me seriously. Oh, well. Their ignorance is my bliss.

“If he's dead, you're done, Mireya.” I try not to laugh. Nobody else might've noticed, but I can hear the soft clink of chains behind the bar. Once Beck gets to the other side, these guys are all done for. They may as well kiss the world goodbye. I smile instead.

“I can only hope,” I say, and Mack's blue eyes flick up to mine and hold there with grim determination. Inside, he's a f*cking *. On the outside, he's playing a good game. I always thought he could be an actor if he wanted, would probably enjoy it, too. And I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I think he's gay as well. Not that it matters to me, but I wonder what his ignorant * buddies would say if they found out. “You want Tray back? You're going to have to do an awful lot of traveling to find his ass.”

Mack holds up his gun, points it straight at my face. I hold my hand out to keep Gaine from reacting in my defense. He's always been good in a fight before, always stood by my side, but I don't know if I've ever seen him so protective. I can't tell if I hate it or … No. No. I hate it. I can take care of my damn self.

“And what the f*ck is that supposed to mean?” Mack asks, stepping forward aggressively, his shaking shoulders the only indication that he's actually terrified by the situation.

“You don't owe them anything, Mireya,” Gaine whispers, voice so low that I'm probably the only one that can hear it. “Just keep quiet and wait 'em out. I think I hear sirens anyhow.”

I ignore him.

“I mean, if his pathetic, miserable, useless soul is still floating around somewhere, it's buried in the depths of hell. It's going to take an awful lot of good riding to find him down there.”

Beck explodes from behind the bar like a machine, muscles hard as rocks, joints like pistons. He pounds the space between the man closest to him in seconds, slamming his elbow into the blonde's temple and dropping him before any of the others can even turn to look.

I move forward, taking advantage of Beck's movements to cloak the iron in my hand until it's too late, swinging it hard and drawing blood from Mack's forehead as he crumples. Deep down, a monster stirs and kicks, begging me to keep swinging, to destroy this man and all the rest with a pounding beat of rage and violence. Take that vengeance and destroy them. There's a good chance that I'll get arrested then, or that I won't be able to stop. My arm draws back and all of a sudden, my hand's missing my weapon. I spin to find Gaine behind me and nearly kick him in the balls when he reaches out and grabs me around the waist, tossing me over his shoulder like a helpless heroine in a romance novel.

“Put me the f*ck down!” I scream, but he's already spinning us around, flashing me a quick look at Amy Cross, who's still alive, thankfully, and a panoramic view of the dazed Crows as we sprint towards the front door and burst out into the heat, trailing Beck behind us. He's got Amy's friend scooped up in his arms and is booking it with Amy at his heels.

I hear Austin's voice before I see him, and fortunately for him, Gaine chooses that moment to set me down. He's lucky. I was about three seconds away from tearing out a clump of his hair and then castrating him.

“What in the holy hell of f*ck is goin' on in there?”