Page 70

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

Jingles

We leave Belle in the room where Moira’s staying and head to the common room. “Want a beer?” I question as we breach the doorway.

“Hell yeah, need to clear out the road,” Sleeper replies, smirking at me. “Swear to God, I swallowed at least a dozen bugs.”

“You’ve got a full helmet, Brother, how is that possible?” I ask.

“Who the fuck knows?” he retorts as we make it to the bar and sit on two stools. I motion for the prospect to grab us a couple of beers, and soon, we’re sitting there, just shooting the shit.

“So, your sister told me she had a major crush on me when she was a teenager,” I confess.

He chuckles while nodding. “Yeah, she thought she was being slick whenever she’d ask about you after one of your trips to us, but I wasn’t fooled. What did you tell her?” he asks, motioning for another two beers.

“That the feeling was mutual,” I admit. “Thing is, Sleep, I’m not good enough for her. She’s almost done with her degree, and well, you know what I’ve got.”

He slaps the back of my head causing me to grunt. “Fuck that noise, Jingles. All I want is for her to be happy, and if that’s with you, I don’t care if you stopped school in the fifth grade. I know you, you’d walk through a field of glass to ensure she was safe and happy.”

I nod because he’s not wrong; I’d do anything within my power to ensure that she doesn’t regret choosing me. “Yeah, you’re right. Just old insecurities trying to rear their ugly head is all.”

Brick walks over and grabs the stool next to me, motioning for his own beer. “Sleeper, glad to see y’all made it safe and sound.”

“Who else came with you?” I question.

“Ghoul and Wiley, of course,” he replies, smirking at me. “I think you and Wiley have a bromance thing going on, because when he heard where I was headed, he told his ol’ lady he had a run, packed his shit, and was waiting for me when I made it to the parking lot.”

I chuckle as I picture Wiley running around getting all his ducks in a row; we may never be best friends, but our high school rivalry has evolved into a mutual friendship. Plus, we’re both Bastards, so knowing he came to have Sleeper’s back, as well as my own, makes me happy.

“Do you think she’s going to want to come home?” Sleeper suddenly asks me.

“I honestly have no clue,” I say. “I’m sure she’s got stuff she needs to take care of in Cleveland, but based on our earlier discussion, us living in two different states is going to make it a bit challenging to have a relationship.”

Sleeper sighs, long and loud before tipping his bottle up and draining it of the last of the beer. Slamming it on the bar top, he motions for another round. Once he takes a long pull from that bottle, he says, “She does have things there to sort out, including her last semester of college. That being said, it’s not like you don’t know your way to our clubhouse, Brother. Because I suspect once it’s all said and done, she’ll be happy to come south to Roanoke.”

My heart soars at his words; I wasn’t lying when I said I’d ask for a transfer, but even though the Cleveland chapter has a piece of me based on what they did for me as a teen, Roanoke has my complete loyalty because they saved me, then gave me a home and the family I never knew I needed.

“So, basically, bide my time and be patient,” I murmur.

“Story of our lives, Brothers, when women become part of them,” Brick adds. “Sleeper, we’re going to have church later today and I want you, Ghoul, and Wiley in there while we discuss what we’re going to do with those two pieces of shit that Banshee and Phantom caught and brought back. Personally, I have no problem at all dragging their torture out for a while. They had those girls for what, almost two months? Maybe a bit longer? It would be a great Christmas gift to give both women if you catch my drift.”

“I like it,” Sleeper replies. “We can put them through the wringer then, and when we’re done, I’m sure Grim’s Reapers would be happy to dispose of the evidence.”

I snicker because having seen them in action, I’m positive they’d be thrilled to be a part of the motherfuckers’ demise.

“Wasn’t Rael on his way with his ol’ lady?” I suddenly ask.

“He’s sleeping right now, and Nylah is with Moira,” Brick replies.

“Is she any better?” I question, worry over my woman’s best friend consuming me.

“No. Angel did what he was able to do, but most of her injuries are mental, if that makes sense. I’ve got a call out to Dragon to see if he thinks Wrecker can help or not. Waiting to hear back,” Brick says.

Sleeper, who's been looking around while Brick and I talk, pops up and asks, “What’s with all the spooky decor?”

Brick chuckles before he replies, “Ry and Rory, as well as my dad, decided to decorate for each of the major holidays, and the first one up is Halloween.”

“Gotcha. Definitely different,” he mutters, looking at the strand of spider garland that’s been woven along all the shelves where the alcohol sits. A giant cobweb has been put up in one of the corners complete with a freaky looking, huge spider that has blood dripping from its fangs. It’s the stuff nightmares are made from, that’s for sure.

“Soon, it’s gonna puke turkeys and reindeer,” Brick retorts.

“Glad to see my girl is coming into her own,” Rael says, joining us at the bar. “So, what are we doing with the fuckers downstairs?”

“Well, we’re going to discuss it in church, first of all,” Brick advises, shooting the Reaper a glare, “so the women don’t overhear anything. But my thoughts were to keep them alive, barely of course, for the length of time the women were in their clutches, then take them out.”

“Oooo, I like it!” Rael replies, cackling. “So, close to Christmas? We can come back and celebrate with you guys. Oh, and thanks for giving us our own suite of rooms.”

“Thank my ol’ lady,” Brick says. “She figured since y’all visited so frequently, it was probably easier for you to have things you could leave here or some shit.”

“Makes sense to me,” Rael states. “Hopefully, the others won’t be jealous.”

I can’t help the chuckle that escapes because Rael is definitely a pot stirrer, and he manages to push Brick’s buttons all the time.

“Now, you want to tell me why my sister was curled in your arms?” Sleeper questions, throwing me under the bus.

“She was having a panic attack when I walked into her room,” I tell him. “Then, when she told me what happened that day, she started crying and clung to me, Brother.”

He smirks at me while bumping his shoulder into mine. “Figured it was something like that, Jingles.”

I watch Kracken walk in from the back, his shoulders down, and a contemplative expression on his face. “Kracken, you alright?” Brick asks when he sits at the bar and motions for a beer without saying a word.

“Been better, Pres. I know Angel said he did all he could, but Moira still hasn’t said a word to anyone. Hell, I was in there when Belle walked in and expected to see something, but she didn’t so much as crack a smile.” Looking at me, he says, “Your ol’ lady started crying, Brother, so not gonna lie, I beat feet.”

“She’s not my ol’ lady,” I reply, although my protest is somewhat lacking.

“She’s gonna be his ol’ lady,” Sleeper adds. “They just gotta figure out some logistics is all.”

“What kind of logistics?” Brick asks.

“Well, she lives in Cleveland, while your boy here lives in Roanoke. Not sure if she’d be willing to relocate or not,” Sleeper says. “I know she needs to come home and wrap up school, but not sure if she’ll want to leave Moira who doesn’t seem to be in any kind of condition to travel. The last thing we need is her deciding to take a header off one of our bikes while we’re flying down the highway.”

“What if Belle stays until Dragon and Wrecker get here? Then both girls can return to Cleveland to finish shit up?” Brick suggests. “I’m sure Belle would benefit from what those two can do.”

“What do you mean, what those two can do?” Sleeper asks, his voice now hard.

“Surely, you know by now, some of our brothers have special talents,” Brick mockingly advises. “It’s why you didn’t see your sister looking like she’d been beaten to Hell and back, Brother. Angel healed her, leaving just a small bruise on her face as an indication anything had even happened. Took out all the infection her body had from the untreated wounds, closed those up as well, fixed her shattered jaw. That’s why he’s still asleep, because when he got back, he said he felt well enough to work on Moira, only he wasn’t. Completely wiped him out and scared the fuck out of me. Called Venom, who told me to let him sleep it off.”

“So, what can Dragon and Wrecker do?” Sleeper questions.

“Manipulate time when needed, and go into a person’s memories and either remove them, dull them so they no longer cause a person pain, or help them understand they weren’t remembering them correctly,” Brick replies.

“Fuck, do you really think Belle needs something like that?” Sleeper asks.

“Even if she wasn’t treated like Moira, I’m sure she suffered some emotional trauma,” Brick says. “It couldn’t hurt.”

Sleep resignedly sighs before stating, “Fine, fine, as long as they know I’ll kill them if they hurt a hair on her head.”

Brick huffs out a laugh, then looks at Kracken and says, “Send out a mass text for church in an hour. I want to bring my plan to the brothers.”

“Shut the fuck up, we got shit to discuss!” Brick bellows, slamming the gavel down on the table, while glaring at everyone who hasn’t shut up since they walked into our meeting room.

Soon, it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. “Alright, so Banshee and Phantom were able to catch the two fuckers who fled the compound we invaded yesterday. Three more women were found, and they were dropped off at the local hospital with the promise that our name wouldn’t be mentioned. We brought Belle and Moira here after Angel worked on Belle at the site, and he’s also done some physical healing on Moira. Sleeper is Belle’s brother, and Wiley and Ghoul are from the Cleveland chapter. Y’all know Rael, who brought his ol’ lady down to help since she’s a nurse.”

“Do we have a plan yet for those fuckers?” Banshee asks.

“As a matter of fact, we do,” Brick replies. “I think they need to suffer a day for every day the girls were in captivity. A quick death might make us feel good momentarily, but I know Sleeper and Jingles want their pound of flesh.”

“And I’m gonna want to reap their filthy souls and send them straight to Hell,” Rael adds.

“Of course, you will,” Brick retorts. “All in favor?”

“Aye” rings throughout the room, causing sinister smiles to appear on many of my brothers’ faces.

“Since that’s settled, Jingles plans to make Belle his ol’ lady, but she’s got shit to take care of at home, so he’s going to be traveling back and forth until she decides if she prefers to stay there or move here.”

“We can’t lose our Road Captain, we just got him,” Rainman points out, tossing a patch in my direction. I grin when I see what it says, still shocked that I’m now an officer. Looking at me, he continues, “I’ll have the rest of the stuff updated for you, so keep an eye on your bank account.”

Startled, I look at Brick who smirks at me. “We made it retroactive, Brother, so there’s more money coming your way.”

“Appreciate it, Brothers,” I murmur, a grin crossing my face. Since I live at the clubhouse, my expenses are minimal, so whatever I get will just pad my savings account.

“You earned it, Jingles,” Brick says. “Now, we’ll likely have more brothers from other chapters coming in, so let’s make sure we don’t give the club girls extra work. Also, no killing any of the decorations.” At this, he glares at each of us around the table since several brothers made the mistake of snickering. “Ry and Rory worked hard to decorate the clubhouse, and they plan to do it for Thanksgiving and Christmas as well.”

“I helped,” RiffRaff adds, chuckling. “Since we now have a club princess, and because Ryleigh’s Christmas memories until last year are sucky, I think we need to do this.”

“It looks good to me,” Phantom says. “Growing up, Christmas wasn’t all that big a deal, but last year was fun, and with our little princess around now, I imagine it’s only going to get better.”

“We had good Christmases until Ry was taken,” Banshee murmurs. “After that, it was kind of another day for the most part.”

“Alright, let’s get back on track. We’re going to do a Secret Santa, although I suspect my woman and Rory will likely buy for everyone because that’s just who they are,” Brick advises. “We’ll draw names on Thanksgiving, and everyone is supposed to put a few things they’d like on their piece of paper below their name. Gift cards are not off the table, but do your best to buy a physical gift because my woman feels that it makes it more personal.”

“Got it, Pres,” everyone choruses.

“So, let’s go down and acquaint ourselves with our guests, shall we?” Brick asks. When we all nod, he slams the gavel down again and yells, “Church dismissed!”