Page 106 of Lost Lyrebird

Veno throws back two more shots in quick succession, gives a haughty laugh, and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What, ese?You gringos don’t know how to show a little fuckin’ hospitality?”he says, spreading his arms.“Figured if I came down in person to deliver this warning, you’d at least pretend to be happy to see me.”He lets out a low laugh, all teeth and no warmth.“No?”He shrugs and scans the room in a slow once-over.

When he sees me, he stops cold.His grin flatlines.

His happy mask slips.His smugness is replaced by a sharper, cold calculation.

Not a second later, his gaze cuts past me to the right, and his expression shifts again.One brow arches, and he mutters under his breath,“La puta madre…”

I turn.My fucking heart shoots up into my throat.Lily’s standing just off to my side, stone still, eyes locked on Veno.

Fuck.

Her eyes lift to mine.

I expect to see fear, guilt, maybe even regret.

But what I get instead is pure fire—fierce determination written across every inch of her face.

“I told you to get out.”

“I know.I couldn’t walk away.”

Veno says, “Well, look who it is… bienvenida a casa, ángel.”

I step in front of Lily and push her behind me, while cutting Veno off with a snarl, “What the fuck do you think you’re doin’ here?”

Cap’s already front and center, Dozer flanking his right, Griz on the left.My brothers form a wall in front of the civvies behind them.Taz is all twitchy violence—knife in one hand, pistol in the other—taunting the devil he’s staring down.Mav’s got a gun barrel pressed into his forehead, and he’s still glaring like he’s daring the fucker to pull the trigger.

We’re not outnumbered, but one wrong move and this will get ugly, because we were un-fucking-prepared.In this tight space, it’ll be a bloodbath if someone starts shooting.

Veno reaches behind him and takes a gun from behind his waist, casual but deliberate, and proceeds to wave it in the air like it’s punctuation.“Quería dejarlo bien claro, cabrón.”

I wanted to make it perfectly clear, asshole.

He lifts his chin.“You fuck with my business, fuck withme, I fuck with you and yours.”

“If you’re gonna—”

Veno glares Cap down.“Not speakin’ to you.Speakin’ to this motherfucker right here.”He raises his gun sideways and levels it on me.“No hay línea que no cruce pa’ devolver el favor.Eye for an eye, hijo de tu puta madre.”There’s no line I won’t cross to return the favor.Eye for an eye, son of a bitch.

I clock it, the gun.The theatrics.The posturing.The men.Their positions.How many firearms they have, and who Veno brought with him.

This ain’t about bullets.It’s about themessage.

“Message delivered.Now get the fuck out.”

“Nah, Cabrón.”

I stride forward to keep him focused on me.“You gonna shoot, shoot.”

The force he brought… the bullshit conversation… it’s not a bloodbath he wants.So I call him on it.I know what he wants, but it’s not something I’m prepared to back down on.“You gonna shoot.Shoot.”

“Goose!”The panic in Lily’s tone jacks up my adrenaline.I wave for her to stay behind me.She does.Her fingers wrap around the back of my cut, and her body presses against my back.Whether it’s to keep herself on her feet or to keep me close, I don’t know, but it brings me some comfort.

Taz echoes my statement.“Don’t fuck around and talk about shit.Get the party started, if that’s what you came here to do.”

Veno’s gaze circles the room and then snaps back to me.He jerks his chin toward a group of his Thirteen Devils, and suddenly they’re flipping tables and trashing the place like it’s routine.