Page 107 of Lost Lyrebird

“Like I said.You fuck with what’s mine… I fuck with what’s yours.Cabrón.That’s how this is gonna work from now on, ¿comprendes?”

Grinder and Stone move to stop them.Cap calls them off, shouting, “Let them.”

Another Devil moves behind the bar, and using his gun, he sweeps bottles off the shelves and onto the floor.

Hodge tries to intervene, but Bethany grabs hold of him and yanks him back.The fire burning in Hodge’s eyes says it all.His body is locked up, and he’s ready to unleash hell if given the go-ahead.

Veno leisurely walks around the room.His gaze travels over Raven.“Such pretty little things you have.”He reaches out and touches her hair.She jerks back so his hand drops from her.This has him smiling wickedly and he gives another humorless laugh.“At least now I know when another one of my girls goes missing, where to find a replacement.”

My muscles jump with the need to act.It’s all I can do to stay still.

Then his gaze moves from me over each HOC he passes.He trades a long, loaded look with Cap before finally squaring up in front of me.

“No te creas que me olvidé de ti.Nos veremos pronto…”

Don’t think I forgot about you.We’ll see each other soon…

“Don’t understand a fuckin’ word you said.If you’re gonna threaten me, better be man enough to say the fuckin’ words so I can hear’um.”

He let’s loose and unhinged laugh at this, and a cocky smile splits across his face.He raises a gun and presses it to my temple.

“This clear enough for you, motherfucker?”he says, voice low and the words spit out from his gritted teeth.“Touch what’s mine again, Cabrón, and Iwillfucking end you.”

Lily’s grip tightens on the back of my cut.A soft, pained sound—half-whimper, half warning—slips from her.

He spins the gun, and it digs into my skin.Then moves it not so gently down my face.

I feel it before I see Lily move.She lets go of my cut, comes around me, and before I can push her behind me, Veno grabs her and yanks her forward.

He holds the gun under her chin and pushes her face up.His fingers are sinched around her arm so tightly that she cries out.

At the terror in her eyes, I freeze.Blackness clouds my vision.My heart fucking threatens to burst from my chest.Flashbacks from hundreds of dreams stand front and center like street signs in my mind, linking the past with the present.

Only it was Elle he’d been holding and do this exact same fucked up dance with.

My voice drops, as a warm, calm fills me.I punch him in his goddamn throat and disarm him before he can get his bearings.I flip the gun and shove it into his forehead.The men around me use this window of time in the same way.A few rounds pop off.By whom and where, I can’t tell.

The only thoughts I have are for the Devil in front of me and the woman I’m pushing to the side so she’s free of the fallout.

“Lay one more fuckin’ hand on her, on any woman here, and I’ll put so many bullets in you they’ll be little left for your mama to weep over.And I won’t stop comin’ until every one of you fuckers are six feet under.I will personally bury every goddamn Devil.I swear it.”I’ll kill him, and lay waste to his pitiful gang if need be.

A hand plants itself on my shoulder.Bodie stands to my right, cautioning me with a look.

Cap speaks up from the other side of the room.“This is done.Message received.You’ve had your fun.Now, get the fuck out of our bar.Tell Antonio, he’ll be hearin’ from me, because as far as I’m concerned, this truce is over.No business dealings until this is sorted.”

Veno lifts his chin at me.His jaw muscles twitch.He tries to hide the fear he has of his brother, but these small tells give him away.

Hodge fires his shotgun.Veno’s head snaps to the side to see one of his men go down.Slammin’ the hand with the gun into Veno’s temple is fucking satisfying.It takes two hits for his legs to go out from under him.When he’s out cold, he falls like a rock to the floor.Stepping over him, I point the weapon at his forehead and tell the rest of his crew, “He’s dead right here and now if you don’t drop the guns and get the fuck out.”

Most are disarmed by now, but the few remaining pause to consider me.

Cautiously, they begin to raise their hands and drop their guns.Hodge is standing behind the bar and has his shotgun aimed down.Whoever the fuck he shot is hollering and groaning in pain.

He growls, “This is what happens when you lay your hands on another man’s woman.”

Cap’s voice cuts through the room, sharp as a blade.He gestures toward Veno and barks at the closest Devil, “Get this piece of shit outta here.You got ten seconds or none of y’all are walkin’ out.”

Veno moans as his men haul him up.His eyes snap open, and that lethal glare on his bloodied face promises retribution.He spits more Spanish at me, fast and low, but I’m done with him.I turn and scan the bar, assessing the damage.