by Dark, Raven
“Pretty Boy, understand this,” I said slowly. “There are no words to describe how thrilled I would have been if that bottle had the cure Sheriff needs. It’s killing me just as much as anyone else to see him hurting. And for the record, yes, I know exactly what it means if he stays blind. I know what it means for him, for this club. I see what it’s doing to us, to Setora. I hate that Master Leif won’t help him. But nothing, I repeat, nothing, can justify what you and Steel have done.”
“Damn it, Hawk!” Pretty Boy bellowed. “We’re fucking pirates! We are the Legion! We take what we want, what we need, and we do what needs doing for the good of the club! Or have you forgotten that? Have you become so wrapped up in your loyalty to the Yantu that we don’t matter? Maybe that’s it, huh? You aren’t one of us anymore!”
“Pretty Boy, calm down,” Doc said, intervening again. “Everyone understands—”
“Stay out of this, Doc. I want to hear Hawk say it right here and now.” He crossed his arms.
“Say what?” I rasped.
“Maybe that’s it? You don’t want him to get better. You want him to stay blind, because it means you get to be the big man now.”
“I’m not going through that again with you.” I shook my head. “The entire Yantu Order already thinks we’re nothing but savage pirates who flout the law, who care only for ourselves, and nothing for those we hurt, as long as we get what we want. And now you two fucking assclowns have gone and proven them all right! You’ve made a mockery of me.”
“Hey!” Pretty Boy shouted. “Let’s not forget one thing here, General. If your master had chosen to help Sheriff in the first place instead of sitting on his ass and looking down his dick nose at us, we wouldn’t have had to steal that stuff.”
I leaned on the table toward him. “Do you have any idea what could happen now, Pretty Boy?” I asked, deadly soft. “I could be excommunicated.”
“So? Why do you even care? After what Steel said they made you do to Setora, after the way he’s treated us, like demons on his doorstep, all you care about is your honor, and whether you get to call yourself a Yantu.”
I slammed my palms on the table so hard it shook and everyone jumped. “Pretty Boy, if you have a single brain cell left in that head of yours…” I huffed a calming breath. “This isn’t just about me. Trust between the Yantu and the Legion is essential here, as is my position in the Order. There was still a chance, however small, that I could have convinced them to help Sheriff. How likely do you think it is that they’d agree now, after what you’ve done? To say nothing of the risk you have posed to Setora.”
Pretty Boy’s face lost some of its color. “Setora? How?”
“How do you think? What if they refuse to help her now?”
“Hawk, they can’t,” Steel said reasonably. “Listen, neither of us would have done anything to put Petal in danger, you know that.”
“Of course we wouldn’t,” Pretty Boy said. “And they can’t refuse anyway. You heard what Leif said about her, about Julian. That fuck places the whole world at risk. The stakes are too high.”
“No. You’ve complicated matters, Pretty Boy. You’ve violated his people, and his Order. You’re thieves now. The Legion are nothing more than criminals.”
“Big fucking deal! I don’t care what they think of us! Setora had nothing to do with this—”
“Setora is Legion!” I roared. “She is one of us, she belongs to us. What one individual does reflects us all!”
“And how do you think Setora became Legion, oh high and mighty Hawk? She just walked her fine ass into the Grotto one day? Fuck no, I took her, and I’ll never regret it. Ever. Do I have to say it again, Hawk? We’re pirates. It’s what we do.”
“No! We steal when we have to or from those who deserve it. We do not steal from each other, and you do not steal from me, ever!”
Pretty Boy made an angry sound and threw his arms up in the air. “Stop saying that shit! I didn’t steal from you. I would never take from the Legion. Never.”
“Me neither,” Steel said.
“Hawk, come on,” Doc cut in smoothly. “Pretty Boy and Steel weren’t trying to hurt you. They were just trying to help Sheriff the only way they knew how. We were out of options.” When I looked at him, he heaved a sigh. “Besides, they weren’t exactly alone in this.”
“Doc,” I drew out slowly. “Don’t tell me.”
He spread his hands, helpless. “Yeah. If you’re going to hang them from the rafters, you might as well hang me, too.”
“Fuck.” I dropped my shoulders. “I don’t believe this. Doc?”
“Sorry, man. I wasn’t there with them, but I might as well have been.”
“How?” I glanced at each of them.
“He distracted Leif while I mapped out the temple,” Steel said. “Before we left, that day Leif did his ooga booga shit with Setora.”
I let out a half amused laugh, then covered it with a rumble. “Was anyone else in on this?”
Doc shook his head. “Just us three.”
It pissed me off that, as angry as I was with the three of them, I also loved them a little for what they’d been willing to do for Sheriff, for their club. And that made me madder. With them, with myself. With myself, for not having seen this coming and stopped it.
I shook my head at the ceiling. “I don’t believe this, Doc. I’d should have expected Steel and Pretty Boy to pull something like this, but you. I’d have expected better from you, Doc.”
“I’m sorry man, but Sheriff... we’ve run out of options.” He shrugged. At least he looked a little repentant. So did Steel, surprisingly, unlike Pretty Boy.
I fixed Pretty Boy and Steel with a level look. “Believe me, I want Sheriff to see again as much as you three. And I do understand why you did this. I do. I even appreciate it on some level. But in this case, the ends cannot justify the means.”
“But that’s just it,” Pretty Boy said. “They do. Doc just said it, we’re out of options.”
I shook my head, refusing to let him shirk responsibility for this. “You’ve put me—you’ve put all of us—in a hell of a position, Pretty Boy. Steel. Doc, you too.” I closed my eyes one last time, hating that I had to do what came next. Then I picked up the gavel and lay the butt end of it on the table, making sure they all saw it, and who held it. “I can not let this go, boys.”
“What the hell are you going to do, Hawk? Have us all carted through the village and publicly horsewhipped?” Pretty Boy mocked. His eyes dared me. Dared me to deal with them and measure up to Sheriff.
I let his words slide off me. None of the men, especially Pretty Boy, believed I could lead this club properly. Sheriff’s leadership was the only command they knew, and I’d spent more than enough years happily enforcing his orders, standing by while he remained in command. I was an untested ruler, the young king suddenly given more than he knew what to do with. Their doubts were natural, normal, and I couldn’t hold that against them. But those doubts only made it more imperative that I assert my authority here and now. If I didn’t—if I went easy on anyone who challenged me—they’d never respect me. And then the club really would fall apart.
Not to mention, I recognized that Pretty Boy and Steel’s actions were a symptom of another problem. They probably wouldn’t have done what they did if they recognized my authority. Not when the stakes were this high.
Once more, I fixed Pretty Boy with a level look, him because he was the one challenging me most. “Your actions have consequences, Pretty Boy. It’s time you and Steel both learned that.”
Pretty Boy’s eyes widened. For the first time, I saw uncertainty in his eyes. “Fine. Bring it on, Yantu. Show us what a big man you are.” He made a ‘come hither’ gesture with his fingers.
Okay, that was it. He’d never learn. He’d always challenge me, always upset the fucking status quo. Unless I showed him the one thing Pretty Boy respected and did the one thing Sheriff would have done—showed him who was fucking boss.
Perf
ectly calm, I leaped up onto the table, then jumped down in front of him. His brows shot up and he backed up a pace, but I didn’t give him a chance to put anymore distance between us. In an instant, I grabbed the front of his cut, and ignoring his startled yell, I rushed him across the room and slammed him against the wall.
“Hey!” He tried to shove me away from him, his face twisted with fury.
With exactly the right force, I set my forearm across his throat, pinning him to the wall.
“Hawk—” D0c called out behind me.
I heard shuffling and glanced over my shoulder, shocked to see what had happened. Doc had obviously tried to cross the room to pull me away from Pretty Boy, but Steel had gotten in behind him and was holding him back. Doc deflated. I could see it on both their faces. I had the gavel, and it was time Pretty Boy grew the fuck up. I knew what I was doing, and the men needed this.
I turned my focus on Pretty Boy who struggled, trying to get my arm off his neck. Fighting for dominance. I applied pressure to his neck, just enough that he choked and went still, head back. His teeth were bared, but he didn’t fight me. I let up just a little, enough to let him breathe without giving him an inch.
“I will not say this again, Pretty Boy. You and Steel have reduced yourselves to thieves, criminals and traitors to this club.”
I saw it then—real hurt and shame flickered in his eyes. He looked at me like nothing so much as a wounded wolf who knew his alpha had had it with his bullshit. He hated that he’d hurt the club, hurt me. There was anger, too though. He would still fight me if I gave him the slightest leeway.
“What are you gonna do?”
“For your insubordination, if you were not one of the Four, if you were not Setora’s master and my friend, you would be stripped of your rank. After I punished Steel and Doc, I would have Steel strip off your cut and burn it, and then you would be banished from the Legion.”
“You can’t,” Pretty Boy snarled.
I slammed him against the wall, rattling him and silencing him. “Yes, I can,” I growled. “But I will not destroy this club, and I will not hurt Setora that way. I know most of your angst is coming a place of pain, and I am taking that into account. Like it or not, the Legion needs you. Setora needs you. Sheriff needs all of us, in a united front.”
Pretty Boy deflated and looked away. The fight went out of him, and only when it did, I lowered my arm from his throat. Then I cupped his nape and pulled him in. “You leave me one choice, Brother.”
He stood frozen in front of me, face mutinous, waiting. Waiting for my hammer to fall.
I released him and turned away, refusing to let any of the men see how much it hurt me to take the next step. “There are three ways the Legion deals with traitors and thieves in its ranks, in addition for those who go against orders. Excommunication, death, or…”
“Oh hell no.” Pretty Boy hissed. “You wouldn’t.”
“Hawk, come on, man.” Steel, behind me, close to Pretty Boy now.
“Fuck,” Doc breathed.
I seized my Fortress and schooled my face, then turned to them, hands clasped behind my back. “It’s an old custom, but it will allow the club, and the Four, to remain intact. And it will see that you and Steel think twice before you pull a stunt like this again.”
“Hawk, no way.” Pretty Boy was shaking with rage. “You’ve gone off the fucking deep end if you think I’ll let you do that.”
I shoved aside the hurt and betrayal in his voice, then laid down the law. “Tomorrow, at dawn, after the Order has finished its morning prayer, you, Doc, and Steel will go to the temple. You will present yourselves to Master Leif—”
“Not gonna happen,” Pretty Boy snapped.
“You will present yourselves to Master Leif,” I boomed, “and apologize to him for your actions. Then you will return to me. You and Steel will present yourselves to the whipping post.”
Doc’ eyes widened, but he didn’t interfere. Instead, his eyes fixated on me, his expression frozen in a look of stunned silence.
“Hawk,” Steel said with irritating rationality, “we don’t have a whipping post.”
“We will tomorrow. And Steel, since you were the one who led the mission, you’re going to erect it yourself.”
Steel’s eyes narrowed, lethal. “You’re fucking kidding me. You’d do that shit? You’d tie PB and me to a whipping post and crack five across our backs like we’re a couple of sissy whipping boys?”
I gave a helpless shrug. “What else would you have me do, Steel? I can’t execute you, I can’t excommunicate you, and something tells me cleaning the temple’s latrines wouldn’t teach you to toe the line.”
“Hawk, that’s a fucking slave’s punishment,” Pretty Boy hissed.
“It wasn’t always reserved for slaves. It used to be the way thieves were handled. Unless you want me to cut off your hands?” I added half seriously. “That’s what they do in Crite.”
Pretty Boy shook his head, furious. “I don’t believe this.”
“Believe it. The two of you have to learn to grow the fuck up. We have to be a untied front and stop acting like a bunch of addlebrained school boys. Since the two of you insist on behaving like children, I will treat you as such.”
“This is horseshit, Hawk,” Pretty Boy bit out.
“PB.” Steel dropped his shoulders and shook his head at him, silently communicating something to his sidekick I couldn’t hear. “He’s not going to budge on this. And he’s… right. It’s time for us to shape up.”
“So you’re on his side now?”
“No. I’m on the same side as you. The Legion’s side. This club’s falling apart, Brother. If we don’t get it together now, we’ll lose it all.”
I couldn’t help staring at Steel as if I’d never seen him before. He’d never sounded so reasonable, so together. So…logical. I was surprised as hell. And a little proud of him.
Pretty Boy let out a long growl, but something in my tone or my expression must have made him realize he wasn’t getting out of this. He shot a betrayed look at Steel. Then he turned on his heal, pushed the table over violently, and stomped out.
Doc started after him, as did Steel.
“No.” I grabbed both their shoulders. “Let him cool off. There’s nothing left to discuss.”
“Actually, there is.” Doc gave an awkward cough when I glanced at him. “I had a part to play in this too, Hawk.”
“Yes, I know,” I rumbled irritably. I heaved a breath, knowing what he was asking.
He straightened up, unusually tall, refusing to look me in the eye. I could see him all but visibly trying to hold on to the masculinity he thought he was about to lose. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, I would have laughed.
“I’m not going to whip you, Doc. For one thing, your offense was a lot less severe. And for another, you’ve never violated club law and gone against your General’s authority, so this was a first offense. You’ve always treated everyone with nothing but respect. Pretty Boy and Steel make it their life’s work to challenge anyone above them.”
Doc still wouldn’t look at me. He gave a sharp nod and made a big deal out of collecting his medical kit from the table.
I couldn’t resist adding something more. “You’re not getting off with nothing, though, Doc.”
He turned to me. “Oh?”
I crossed the space to him and put on a deliberately formal air. “Doc, I hereby sentence you to Sheriff duty from now until Sheriff no longer needs care.”
Doc cocked his head at me, a flat sort of smile on his lips.
“No more handing the duties off to anyone else when Sheriff turns into the patient from hell. From now until he no longer needs it, you and you alone will be responsible for tending to all of Sheriff’s needs. The only exception is Setora, if and when he ever lets her get close enough.”
He let out a broken laugh and shook his head at me. “Fine. Done. Asshole.”
I nodded and banged the gavel on the table leg twice. “
Church is concluded.”
Doc went to the door of the hut, then stopped with a look over his shoulder at me. “You went easy on me, Hawk …uh… General. I know this. But just so you know. If you had chosen to whip me bloody, I would have taken it like a man.” He smirked.
I suppressed a laugh. I had no doubt of that. “Get out of here, Doc, before I change my mind.”
He left and Steel followed him without a look back at me. The door closed, and I was left alone with my thoughts. With the doubts and worries I shut down fast before they could eat me alive.
The club had made it through its first official day with me as General. Shaking with adrenaline and shellshock, I righted the table, and dropped into a chair, burying my head in my hands.
Fuck, Sheriff, you better get your sight back soon.
Chapter 14
Unrecognizable
“You’re going to what?”
I stepped further into the living room toward Hawk, the blood leaving my face at what he’d just told me. “You have to be joking, Master.”
Shortly after Hawk had left for church, I’d fallen back to sleep, and when I woke up again, I’d found him sitting in the living room, a bottle of whiskey on the table beside him. It was open and half empty.
I couldn’t be seeing what I was seeing. Hawk rarely drank. I rubbed my eyes, but when I blinked at the table, the bottle was still there.
Hawk sat slouched in a chair, looking shaken. I’d asked what had happened in the meeting, and when he’d told me what Pretty Boy and Steel had done, I was filled with something between irritation, love for the two of them, and enough amusement to laugh behind my hand.
It was just so…them, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Until Hawk glared daggers at me and told me what was in the bottle they’d stolen. Hearing about that—and hearing about Master Leif’s taunting note—I’d been angry with Hawk’s tai dan, but Hawk had quickly muted that anger when he explained what the ramifications of Pretty Boy and Steel’s actions could be. His possible excommunication from the Order, our banishment, and the slight possibility that the Yantu would refuse to help me.