by Cora Brent
The elevator ride to the roof was silent. When the doors opened, Cord and Deck exited. I started to follow but noticed Chase was hanging back. He leaned against the back of the elevator and looked at me with sorrow.
“I hate this,” he said.
I put my arm around his shoulder. “I know, Chasyn.”
Gabe was standing there waiting. He grinned. I remembered what Declan had said about where Gabe’s bets were tonight and I wanted to remove every one of his fucking teeth.
“We’ve got the whole family here,” Gabe said and laughed. He held his hand out to my cousin. “I never knew you were a Gentry, Deck.”
Declan stared at the outstretched hand and promptly spat in it.
“Now you know,” he smiled.
A passing waiter handed Gabe a napkin and he wiped his hand clean. He wasn’t going to show any anger but his eyes were cold.
“Have a seat, gentlemen. Enjoy the refreshments. The action will begin shortly.”
“I hate that asshole,” Declan said.
Cord was confused. “How do you know him?”
“You forget, Cordero? I know everyone.”
Chase let out a low whistle. “Shit,” he whispered, looking around at the glitz and the beautiful bodies. “It’s like some kind of sick fucking dystopian country club.”
“What’s dystopian?” asked Declan.
Cord leaned over and jerked his head. “That’s him, ain’t it?”
I saw where Cord was looking. They were all there, the same nasty looking sons of bitches who had stood by Jester last time. They all had their shirts off to display the symbols on their chests, in case there was any confusion over what they were about. Declan let out an involuntary hiss and Chase cursed softly. There, at the center, was Jester. He stood still and silent as his friends jostled around him. These brawls didn’t always end in someone’s death but Jester had every intention of making sure this one did. There was nothing in his eyes but stone cold destruction.
Declan led us over to the opposite corner. I heard shrill laughter erupting from some of the suits and socialites who milled about. Some gazed at us with detached interest. Others sized us up coolly. I could tell those men were the ones who had real money on the line tonight.
“Hey Chase,” I called.
My brother was at my side in an instant. “Yeah, Big C?”
I looked up at the sky. In the city the stars weren’t as visible as they were out in the desert. Still, some of them managed to outshine the artificial lights. I suddenly wanted to know the names of them all. I asked my brother to tell me.
“Follow where I point,” he said. “That right there, is Ursa Minor. You’ll recognize the piece commonly called The Little Dipper. Over there is her big sister, Ursa Major.” Chase went on and on. He was always such a sarcastic clown. Sometimes I forgot how much else there was to him. Chase knew the stars like he knew so many things. He’d had a bottomless thirst for knowledge his whole life. He should have been born to a family who would have nurtured that brilliance.
Cord crossed his arms and I looked at the ink decorating his skin. Cordero, our rock, was finally in a good place. He was making his way using his natural talent and had managed to leave the pain of his past behind. He would be a husband. He would be a father. The name Gentry was going to mean something far different in the family he was building.
“You show them,” I said suddenly.
Chase stopped talking.
Cord stared at me curiously. “Who?”
“All of ‘em.” I grabbed my boys around their necks and pulled them to me, hugging them so hard it hurt.
In the background the bell was sounding. The announcer began gleefully howling about blood battles and rage. Then I heard him say the same thing he’d said the night Emilio died.
“Rules don’t live in this house.”
I couldn’t manage to let my brothers go yet. “I love you guys,” I whispered. It was something always known, but never spoken.
“I love you too,” they answered at the same time. I let them go.
Deck seized me. “Remember,” he growled. “Whatever means fucking necessary. You gotta break some shit on your own body to get there then so be it. But get there, Creedence.”
Jester was already in the ring. Every face was excitedly turned in our direction. I pulled my shirt off and touched the tattoo on my chest. Yield to no one. I needed those words tonight. Before I stepped into the ring I turned to Cord and Chase one last time.
“One more thing. Tell her she was it for me. I should have told her that myself.”
Chase couldn’t answer but Cord nodded. “I will.”
Jester was waiting for me. There was something worse than rage in his face. He was planning on enjoying this.
Everything I’d ever learned I brought with me into that ring. I brought the best ways to blunt Benton’s wrath and the strength I’d grown into. I brought the things Cordero had taught me about being the best fighter I could, the best man I could. I brought Declan’s blunt honesty and Chase’s grudging devotion. I even brought Saylor, the girl who’d somehow grown to love me like a sister. I brought the child I badly wanted to meet.
And Truly. I’d been wrong to believe for a second that Truly should be out of my thoughts. I needed her there in my head. I needed to remember what I might be losing.
Jester’s eyes narrowed. He’d expected me to make a move already.
“Don’t give out hints for free.”
Cord’s words came back to me and I didn’t budge. Jester moved in for a jab but it was a bluff and I knew it. If he thought I would cringe easily then he was dead fucking wrong. I had one advantage over him; I’d seen him in action before. But he hadn’t seen me.
It seemed like Jester was used to his opponents taking an early crack at him. He’d tire them out that way, get them nervous and unsure. I wasn’t moving in. I had to force him to attack first and then answer before he regained his balance. I heard the rustling of the crowd. We’d been staring each other down for at least a few minutes and nothing had happened yet. There was murmuring among the spectators. They hadn’t paid big money to wait around all night.
Jester stepped. I saw it as if it was happening in slow motion. His position told me that he was going to aim high. I’d always relied on brute strength but Cord had taught me a thing or two about the value of being quick. I jerked back and saw Jester’s fist fly past my nose. He grunted, trying to recover his stance, but I spun and got a crushing blow deep in his left kidney.
The man growled like an animal and stepped back a few paces. I could see in his face that he was beyond furious. Even in the best of circumstances that hit would make him piss blood for a week. It wasn’t enough though. Not nearly enough. I cursed myself for not pressing the brief advantage when I had it.
We eyed each other for a long anxious minute. Then suddenly Jester dropped his arms. He began walking my way as if he was planning on shaking my hand. I kept my body tense, knowing whatever he was heading over to do wasn’t going to be friendly. I braced for another jab. This time when he tried it I would go for his face. I had to rattle his head, aim for the soft dent in the temple. It was a tough shot to make but it would give me the best chance to leave him reeling.
Jester had other ideas. He got within two paces of where I stood and then swept a strong leg behind my knees. I wasn’t prepared. I went down hard and felt a shock of pain through my right knee. For a horrible second I believed I wouldn’t be able to rise again. My knee felt as if it had been glued to the concrete. I staggered to my feet and felt the agony shoot up my leg.
Fuck this is bad.
I couldn’t stand on two legs any longer. My knee swelled inside of my pants and I gritted my teeth as the joint buckled and nearly sent me back to the ground. Jester did what I wasn’t able to do earlier. He pressed his advantage. He moved in and got three quick hits to my face. I felt warmth falling over my left cheek. The son of a bitch had worn a ring and the damn thing had taken a slice of my f
ace off. I was still trying to stand up straight. I looked up and saw the terrible vision of that fucker grinning at me. He thought this shit was as good as won. He would make it last a few minutes before coming in for the kill. Maybe he would crush my head against the concrete too. Maybe he would end it a different way.
The boys were at my back but I didn’t need to turn around to know exactly how they looked. I knew they were in agony as they’d been so many times before as Benton had used us to hurt one another. If I laid down here on this rooftop with a hundred assholes rooting for my blood then Jester wouldn’t be the only winner. Benton would have finally won too.
Jester must have been told to give quite a show because he wasn’t ready to finish it yet. He pulled back for a hit that would have cleaned my clock again but that’s it. I grabbed his forearm, swiftly pinning it between my right arm and my body. I felt the blows raining down on my back as he punched me with his other fist. But he was in an awkward position and I knew when it came to pure strength he couldn’t outdo me. It was the only ammunition I had left and I needed to use it now. As Jester pounded on my ribs, desperately trying to bring his knee into my side and wrench away, I wrestled his extended arm over my bent knee.
“Whatever fucking means necessary.”
With one colossal chop I cracked his elbow in the wrong direction. Jester screamed. It was a beautiful sound. I stared at the gruesome way his arm hung over my knee. Then, without pausing, I seized his other arm and did the same thing.
There was no blood but the sight of the man’s ruined arms was every bit as grisly. Jester writhed on the ground, screaming and cursing incoherently. It was so loud the entire city of Phoenix must have heard it. I stood slowly, painfully. Then, with my undamaged leg, I stomped on Jester’s outstretched knee the same way he’d done to Emilio. He stopped screaming. He vomited and rolled to his back. In all likelihood he was going into shock. I closed my eyes. The fight was over.
Yet there was no bell. Nobody moved. I looked around at them, these people. I understood why there was no movement. They had paid to see a death and there was no death yet.
Blood still poured from the slice across my face and my knee was barely able to hold weight. I held my arms wide open and roared.
“FUCK YOU!”
A few of them jumped slightly. They made shocked faces at one another and retreated a little. I scanned the crowd and saw Gabe. He was pale. As our eyes met he dropped his champagne glass. If he needed a damn fatality then he would have to make that happen himself. I staggered over to where my brothers waited.
Chase caught me before I fell. He eased me down to the ground while Cord pressed a towel against my face.
I looked back at the ring. No one had done anything about Jester yet. He was lying there and issuing these gurgling little moans. I saw what I had done to him. He lived, but the injuries to his arms were severe. He would likely never be capable of fighting again. The thought was a relief.
The boys were looking me over. I flinched when Cord poked at my knee. I heard him turn to Chase and mutter something about the hospital.
Gabe Hernandez recovered his wits quickly. He came strolling over with a false grin a mile wide. “Knew you could get it done, Gentry.”
Declan stepped in front of him. His voice was low and deadly. “Did you now?”
Gabe blinked up at him. “Of course. This is the best partnership I could have asked for.” He withdrew a pile of cash and held it out to me. “Your cut. It’s not all there but I’ll get the rest to you next time we sit down to talk strategy.”
My cousin grabbed the cash. He counted it carefully. “Looks like there’s only about ten grand here.”
Gabe kept his smile plastered to his face. “Creedence will get the rest of it soon. I understand it’ll take him a few weeks to recover-“
“He’s done!” Cord stood. “Keep the rest of your fucking money. He is done.”
Chase immediately stood up too.
Gabe wasn’t impressed. “Like hell he is.”
Deck chuckled low and deep. It wasn’t humor. If Gabe had an ounce of sense he would back away quickly. Deck leaned in and grabbed Gabe’s shoulder. “I know what you’ve been up to,” he said in a murderous voice. “These boys are done with you. I don’t ever want to smell your stink around another Gentry again or I’ll have to have some conversations with people who don’t like being double crossed. You get me?”
“You don’t know a fucking thing,” Gabe growled, his smile gone, his plastic demeanor crumbling.
Deck shook his head. “Don’t fuck with me on this, Hernandez. Your shit will be laid bare.”
That scared Gabe Hernandez enough to back off. He didn’t even glance at me before disappearing behind the suits as they settled bets and resumed their party.
Cord and Chase went to either side of me and helped me to my feet.
“Can you walk?” Deck asked.
I limped, leaning heavily on my brothers. “Barely.”
Declan slapped my back. “You’re my new hero, Creedence Gentry. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Cord and Chase half carried me back to the parking garage. My face was bleeding like crazy and my knee throbbed a little more with every heartbeat but as we pulled out of the garage I opened the window, inhaling the smoky night air.
Declan pulled alongside the truck at the first light. “We better get out of here before Jester’s buddies come looking for payback.” He glanced behind him. “Let’s head for the freeway.”
Cord jerked his head in my direction. “We’re taking him to St. Luke’s.”
Declan revved his bike engine. “I’ll meet you there.”
Chase peered around the seat and looked at me. “Keep that towel against your face. It’ll take a mess of stitches to close that shit up. You hanging in there, Creed?”
“Yeah,” I said slowly, as I listened to Cord calling Saylor to let her know I was alive. “I’ve never felt better.”
The cloud over my head had evaporated. Impossibly, I was free.
I was free!
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Truly
Stephanie wasn’t a talker. I never minded droning on for a half hour or more but some people, like Steph and Creedence, didn’t have that natural tendency to unleash whatever was rolling around in their heads. After Steph had exhausted herself all evening trying to keep my mind off Creed’s fate, I let her off the hook.
“Really Steph, you can cut it out,” I said, interrupting her awkward descriptions of someplace called Coney Island. “I appreciate the effort but nothing is going to distract me from obsessing over whether my boyfriend’s going to be in a body bag by the end of the night.”
Steph checked the time on her phone. “You should know something soon, right?”
“Yes,” I grumbled miserably. “I’ll know something soon.”
“Chase wasn’t in class today. I actually looked for him although I didn’t know what the hell to say.”
“I didn’t realize you guys had formally met.”
She looked embarrassed. “Creed must have said something to him. He sat down next to me one day and started saying all this crap about how pretty I would look in a dress. Then he asked me if I had a dress. Then, before I could answer, he decided I would wear this fictional dress when he took me out to a dinner I’d never agreed to. He said he would buy me an entire basket of fried chicken.”
“What did you say?”
She grinned. “I told him to fuck off.” Then her smile fell away. “After class this afternoon I saw him outside, just sitting on a bench, ignoring all the girls who were always buzzing around. He looked so damned miserable that I sat down next to him for a while.”
“He say anything about Creed?”
“No. We didn’t talk. After about twenty minutes he stood up and said, ‘Thanks, Stephanie.’ Then he walked away.” She sighed. “I feel for the poor bastard. Hell, I’ve got a brother.”
“You have a brother? You never mentioned him.”
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Stephanie coughed and flung her long hair to the side. “Yeah. I used to have two of them.”
I knew her just well enough to understand when she was done with a subject. I pushed Dolly off my lap and stood up. “Shit Steph, I can’t just sit here and pet my damn cat all night.” I balled my fists up and rubbed my knuckles into my closed eyes, welcoming the explosion of bright spots. All evening I’d been having terrible flashes of Creedence lying in a pool of blood. “This is awful.” My voice was breaking. I was breaking. Stephanie hugged me clumsily and patted my back.
“Come on,” Steph said, pulling me to the door. “Let’s go see that chick.” I opened my eyes and looked at her blankly. She rolled her eyes. “You know, your friend.”
“Saylor?”
“Yeah, her. She’ll know something first. Anyway, misery loves company and all that jazz.”
Saylor hadn’t heard from Cord yet. She paced continuously, ignoring her cousin when he tried to get her to sit down. Stephanie sat at the kitchen table and stared at everyone mutely while I sank into the couch beside Millie. She squeezed my arm.
“You okay?” She winced. “Stupid question.”
Saylor stopped pacing and stared at her phone again, as if she could will it to ring.
“Say,” I called softly, “come here.”
She squeezed on the couch next to me and dropped her head. Brayden reached across all of us and tipped her chin up. She gave her cousin a weak smile. Then her phone buzzed in her lap and she practically vaulted off the furniture. I closed my eyes. Someone, I didn’t know who, grabbed my hand tightly. I knew my heart wouldn’t stop beating, not even if he was dead. But I also knew that for a while I might wish that it had.
I heard Saylor say Cord’s name. Then there was dead silence for the longest second I’d ever lived through. Saylor let out a cry I couldn’t identify as either grief or joy. I opened my eyes. She was looking at me. She was smiling. “He won!”
I didn’t scream or cry or dance around the room. I just sort of deflated as the terrible tension vanished. Until that moment I’d made myself believe I would never see him again. Saylor’s words reached me as if from far away and I struggled to pay attention. Creed was hurt. I heard her repeat the name of a hospital.