Caught in the Aftermath

by Jami Gray

  With his arms full of buzzed females, the man led them away, giving Vex a leer that he shared with Math. ‘If you’re feeling wild, find us later.’

  Thanks, but no. Math didn’t waste breath responding since the only kind of wild he was interested in pursuing lay with the woman currently blowing the stumbling trio a kiss.

  ‘When you’re done hooking up, you might want to catch up.’ The warning came from Jack, who waited a few feet away, a sneer on his face, hands on his hips.

  ‘Jealous,’ Vex shot back as they caught up with Ori.

  Swirling chatter filled the overly large room as they crossed the last bit of distance to the one who waited at the end. The din of voices slowly died away creating a wave of silence, broken only by Milt’s muffled protests and the high-pitched, nervous giggles of their watchers which were quickly shushed. Used to drifting on the edges and sticking to the shadows, the weight of attention made Math edgy. Especially when he clocked specific individuals who paid a little too much attention, like the dark-haired man sticking close to the far wall and staring at Vex as he stalked their progress. Too many damn threats in a confined space.

  Math’s focus snapped back to the immediate when Ori slowed. Trip sat on a makeshift throne padded in black with an ornately carved back and arms. It perched on a collection of wooden crates arranged to create a trio of steps under a faded blue flag sporting a yellow seal and the still readable words STATE OF IDAHO.

  Curled in his lap was a slender female, her head resting against his shoulder, her face shadowed by his hold. All Math could make out was her rainbow coloured hair. In stark contrast, Trip’s long brown dreadlocks were pulled back from a rough-hewn face. The intricate inked design covered half his face. It did little to disguise the precise scars marring his visage. Those scars continued down his thick arms. Math guessed Trip had spent some time at the mercy of someone’s knife.

  The facial tattoo connected with a neatly trimmed moustache paired with goat patch, the strip of hair under his lower pierced lip that met the goatee shadowing his square chin. A bottle of brew in one hand, while the other gestured as he talked to a person sprawled on a nearby couch, Trip had one leg thrown over the chair’s arm while the other bounced in a restless beat. He broke off his conversation and watched them approach.

  Off to the side sat a metal kennel, and with a person huddled inside. The smell indicated whoever it was, had been there for some time. The tatters that passed for clothes did jack shit to conceal the bruises and blood testifying to prolonged torture. Unfortunate fuck.

  Trip waited until the group stood below him before nudging the slender, but by no means fragile, woman from his lap and swinging his leg from the chair’s arm. She slid to the side of the chair. Purple and yellow ran from her temple to chin, the bruising indicating someone had a vicious backhand. Not Trip, though, because there was too much arrogance in that jutting chin and fierce gaze. An arrogance that wouldn’t be tolerated by whoever thought raising his fist to her was acceptable.

  Trip leaned forward in his seat, bracing his elbows on his knees, as he shot them a crazy-assed grin. Math’s worry they caught him after sampling some of the drugs being passed around was shot to hell when those mismatched eyes hit his. The only thing looking back from those crystal-clear depths was speculation. Trip’s attention switched back to Ori. ‘Well, well, well.’ He lifted his drink, threw some back, then wiped his chin with the back of his hand. ‘I see you brought me visitors!’

  Ori didn’t beat around the bush. ‘Found them in the Green mixing it up with Tribble’s crew.’

  ‘The Green?’ Trip pushed out of his seat, stood and stretched, his gaze centred on Vex. Recognition tightened his smile and hardened his gaze. Trip waved a hand and Ori and Jack stepped aside, giving him plenty of space to move by. It also gave Trip a clear line of sight to Vex. He took his time coming down the three steps. ‘What is a Vulture doing in my Green?’

  Not liking the vibe coming from Trip, Math braced. He knew Vex had no sense of self-preservation. A fact she proved when she answered, ‘Giving your boys a lesson in manners.’

  The unexpected answer put a hitch in Trip’s step and he blinked. ‘Who the hell needs manners?’

  Vex didn’t get a chance to answer because as soon as Trip’s foot hit the floor, a furious shriek erupted from behind him. He barely caught Rainbow as she rushed by him, snagging her around the waist with one arm.

  Undeterred, Rainbow’s attention focused on the quivering form of Milt half hidden behind Vex and Math. ‘You mother fucking son of a traitorous bitch!’ She clawed at Trip’s restraining arm

  ‘What the fuck, Lily?’ Trip barely managed to keep her contained, but did a hell of a job salvaging his bottle of brew.

  The pissed off female might be slender, but she was determined. ‘That’s the fucker, Trip.’ She kept trying to pry his arm from her waist. ‘That’s the piece of shit who sold me to the tourist.’ Her lips peeled back as she glared at the cringing Milt.

  Math didn’t miss Vex’s lightning quick flinch or the way her lips tightened and her eyes narrowed as the scene played out. Something there, something he’d need to get at later, much later.

  All lazy humour fled Trip’s face, replaced by a hard-eyed calculation. ‘That so?’ He eyed Milt and tucked his chin on her shoulder. ‘Not to worry, sweets, we’ll make sure he apologises.’ He whispered something more in her ear, whatever he said knocked her death glare down to feral satisfaction.

  She went from struggling to calm and patted Trip’s arm. ‘Okay, babe. I can wait for that.’ She shot a vicious grin at Milt. ‘This will be so much fun.’ She pressed a quick kiss to Trip’s inked cheek, then skipped out of his hold and joined the man sprawled on the couch.

  Trip turned to Ori. ‘Where’d you find him?’

  ‘Hand delivered, courtesy of Bon.’ Ori shot Milt a disgusted look. ‘His name is Milt.’

  ‘Milt, uh?’ Trip took another drink from his bottle, strode past Math and went to crouch in front of a clearly terrified Milt. ‘Milt, buddy, you have some explaining to do.’ He tapped his bottle against Milt’s glistening forehead. ‘Once I finish with our guests, you, me and Lily are going to have a chat.’ He straightened and ordered the two handlers, ‘Take him to the conference room. Sit on his ass until we arrive.’

  It didn’t take long for Milt to be whisked away, leaving Vex and Math to take his place. Trip turned, bottle hanging from his fingers as he made his way to Vex. Stopping in front of her, he lifted his hand and managed to point his index finger and wiggle it inches from her face. ‘Where’s the rest of your gang?’

  Vex folded her arms over her chest as her chin lifted, then tilted. The curl of her lip was echoed in her derisive tone. ‘Hello to you too, Trip.’

  Math didn’t like the calculation slipping into Trip’s gaze or how he stayed on track. ‘Where’s Reaper?’

  ‘Not here.’ Proving she hadn’t missed his look, she informed him, ‘You may as well know, before you start playing your games, Reaper knows I’m here.’

  He liked it even less, when an ugly smile broke over Trip’s face before he murmured, ‘Is that so?’

  Knowing Vex wouldn’t appreciate it, Math held back from using his fist to wipe out Trip’s smirk. Barely.

  Interestingly it was Ori who cut through the rising tension. ‘She’s bringing you shit from Gus.’

  Trip rocked back on his heels looking between Ori and Vex. ‘Are you kidding me?’ His lip curled and he didn’t bother dialling back his disbelief. ‘Since when do Vultures run errands for pissant mechanics?’

  Catching the flex of muscle along Trip’s jaw and the whitening of his fingers against the dark glass of his bottle, Math shifted closer to Vex until mere inches separated them. His move was clearly unappreciated as Vex’s spine went stiff, and she shot him a narrow-eyed glare over her shoulder.

  Ignoring her, he tried to justify his knee-jerk reaction to preparing for the worst. Such as things taking a disastrous turn, say like Trip
being unable to reign in his temper and swinging out with that damn bottle. Reactions like that were something he was coming to expect when Vex’s smart mouth engaged.

  Unfortunately his movement also caught Trip’s attention and those mismatched eyes came to him, narrowed, then went back to Vex who snagged the bottle out of his hand.

  She brought it to her mouth, tipped it back. Lowering it, she grimaced. ‘You need better brew, Trip.’ She handed it back. ‘That tastes like shit.’

  ‘Fuck you, Vex.’ He snatched it back, finished it off, and then threw the empty bottle at the far wall, where it shattered on impact. Considering the stains, it wasn’t the first one. ‘This a solo venture?’

  ‘Do I look alone?’ She jerked a thumb over her shoulder in Math’s direction.

  Trip gave Math a once-over. ‘Doesn’t look like a Vulture.’

  ‘That’s because he’s not.’

  ‘Then who the hell is he?’ Trip spun away, paced and muttered, ‘Fucking overrun with tourists. What the hell do they think? That they can drop in uninvited and waltz around messing with my shit?’ He wrapped a hand around his neck and pivoted to eye Vex and Math. He stalked back, closing in on Math and jutted out his chin, belligerence all but dripping from his pores. ‘Who the fuck are you?’

  Reigning in the urge to knock the overly dramatic ass down a peg or three, Math kept his voice empty. ‘Crow.’

  With a slow, deliberate pace, Trip began to circle them as he continued with his interrogation. Following Vex’s example, Math held still, even as he clocked Trip’s progress. ‘Crow? Don’t recognise that name.’ He spun out to address the room, arms wide. ‘Anyone know a Crow?’ When the catcalls and jeers died down, he went back to his circling, coming at Math to lean over his shoulder. ‘Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Crow?’ Trip sneered his name.

  Vex pivoted on her heel until she was facing Trip, keeping Math in the middle. ‘Go ahead and piss me off, Trip,’ she warned in a low, vicious whip, ‘And I’ll take Gus’s gift for myself.’ A cruel smile curled her lips. ‘Maybe,’ she all but purred, ‘I’ll do some renovating around here.’ She waved an arm to encompass the room. ‘Shake a few things up, knock out a few walls. Could do the place a world of good.’

  Trip snarled and stomped back around, Vex turning to keep him in sight. The itch along Math’s spine eased as Trip went from his back to his front. With his hands curling and uncurling at his sides, Trip paced in front of his throne and then stopped. ‘You didn’t come here to run errands.’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘I’ve got enough unwelcome visitors lately. Don’t need more piling on shit.’ Trip’s jaw flexed and he pinned Math with a furious stare. ‘What are you doing in my territory, Crow?’

  For a moment Math considered ditching the bounty story as it might prove too tempting for Trip to attempt a double cross. Then he considered Trip’s disgust when ranting about uninvited tourists. That, he could work with. It was a slim, but possible, chance Trip’s frustration would work in their favour. So he tweaked his answer. ‘Tracking a hunt based out of the city, hoping to get ahead of the rats who think they can nab my cheese.’

  Trip’s gaze narrowed. ‘And what? You tracked your rats here?’

  Holding that gaze, Math answered, ‘Yeah.’

  Trip’s attention shifted to Vex. ‘Let me guess, you’re looking for help in return for handing over my property?’

  ‘Help is appreciated, not expected. Which is why we’d like your permission to poke around a few holes, see what slithers out.’ She shrugged. ‘Sounds like you have an infestation, maybe we help thin out the numbers.’ When Trip didn’t say anything, she added, ‘Can’t hurt, right?’

  ‘Oh it sure as hell can.’ Trip paced away, one hand rubbing his neck, the other propped on his hip. He turned back to them, a hint of unease quickly masked by angry annoyance. ‘You poke around and tick off the tourists, who do you think the blowback is going to hit? You?’ He withdrew the finger and shook his head, his arms waving around as he continued on his rant. ‘I let you chase your rats and when you start thinning the herd, they’ll come back at me.’ He followed that declaration up by jerking his thumb at his chest. ‘Me, not you. They’re always looking for a reason to screw with us and this gives them a bright, shiny opening.’ He stopped directly in front of Vex and leaned in. ‘I’d be better off letting you indulge in your redecoration by boomer.’

  Vex held her ground and her mouth, so Math took his turn. ‘If we could promise no blowback, would you change your mind?’

  That snared Trip’s attention and he angled his head so he could see Math. ‘Can you?’

  Math shared a look with Vex remembering the conversation with Reaper that started this whole deal. If they did this, kept Trip free of the city guards’ wrath, it would put Greer’s attention solidly on the Vultures. A price Math had been willing to pay if he could get Cam back, or at least that’s what he thought when this scenario was nothing more than speculation. Now that it was fast becoming a reality, his certainty rocked with doubts. He held Vex’s gaze, letting her see the shift in his internal landscape. Trip’s question wasn’t Math’s to answer because it wasn’t just his ass on the line. Not anymore.

  Vex’s gaze stayed on his and when grim acceptance darkened it, he knew she was following the same train of thought. So she was the one to answer. ‘Yeah, Trip, we can.’

  Not completely oblivious to the undercurrents, Trip took his time studying them before finally waving a hand in acceptance. ‘Fine, go do your poking, but—’ he pinned them with a sharp glare, ‘—don’t expect any of us to ride to your rescue.’ He held out his hand and curled his fingers up in a ‘give me’ motion. ‘Hand over my boomer.’

  ‘Fair enough.’ Vex reached into her vest and pulled out Gus’s box. She extended it and when Trip went to take it, pulled it out of reach. ‘Got one more request.’

  Trip snarled and rolled his eyes. ‘What a fucking surprise.’ His hands went to his hips and his chin jutted out. ‘What?’

  Apparently amused at Trip’s snippy response, Vex flashed a mocking grin. ‘Like you, not a fan of riling up the rats. To that end, we’ll go in during the dead hours. Got a set of eyes we can borrow so we get in quick and quiet?’

  Trip held up a hand and counted down with his fingers. ‘You want a place to hole up and a guide?’ He canted his head, looked from his fingers and then back to Vex. ‘That’s two requests.’

  ‘So it is.’ Unruffled, Vex wiggled the boomer back and forth. ‘Deal?’

  With blurring speed, Trip snatched the boomer from her hand. ‘Deal.’

  Chapter 14

  What the hell did I just do? Equal parts panic and impotent frustration cruised through Vex, leaving her faintly nauseous with the beginnings of a headache. The decision to put the Vultures squarely in Greer’s crosshairs wasn’t sitting well. It should’ve been Reaper’s call, not hers. Not that Trip gave her much of a choice. Hell, she couldn’t even blame Math for offering the option since it initially came from Reaper. Didn’t make it any easier that she was the one finalising it. The only bonus? She and Math would be able to hunt for the missing Strix uninterrupted. Until then she was stuck here twiddling her thumbs with the attractive pain in the ass behind her.

  Like whispering the magic word, her private admission granted the sneaky slut in her head and the accompanying hormones entrance into her thoughts. Could be twiddling something else, girl. Heat bloomed under her skin.

  Before the visuals could go full-blown, Math interrupted her private musings. ‘You’ve got yourself an admirer, Vex.’

  Standing next to the window, the top half protected by a thick sheet of metal, she turned away from the sketchy entertainment of the streets below and shot Math a frown. ‘What?’

  ‘In Trip’s throne room.’ Those dark eyes watched her, his expression impenetrable. ‘There was a guy when we first walked in, couldn’t keep his eyes off you.’

  Like she’d noticed? More concerned about keeping Math from
doing something crazy, say like taking out Trip, she hadn’t bothered to worry about who was watching. Now that they no longer had an audience, she found it difficult to deny the dangerous urges coursing below the surface. The sexy bastard was stretched out across a thick pallet of blankets piled in the corner. With his arms behind his head and his lashes at half-mast, practically issued an invitation to come play.

  Did he know how tempting he looked lying there? Because he was, not to mention damn distracting. Which was the reason she stayed near the window and kept her eyes on the street below, brooding instead of enjoying what lay behind her. Occasionally she caved, sneaking a peek, which only fed the lustful fuel keeping her inner hussy panting and the rising heat curling through her. She drank in his long legs and the broad shoulders poorly concealed by his t-shirt. Not to mention the intriguing dips and valleys begging to be traced. Preferably with her tongue.

  ‘Vex?’

  Distracted by a tangle of half-formed images of what one touch could lead to, she blinked. ‘Yeah?’

  Under the soft glow of the solar lamp, the steel blue of Math’s eyes focused on her with an uncomfortable intensity. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Just tired.’ Tired and horny. A very bad combination. Maybe she could blame it on adrenaline letdown. Scrubbing her hands over her face in an effort to wipe her mind clear, she tried to find a lighter footing, one that didn’t involve naked playtime. What had he said? Right, someone had been watching her. ‘Afraid I’ll leave you for something better?’

  ‘Babe, ain’t nothing better than this.’

  His confidence had her inner sex kitten purring. ‘Cocky.’

  ‘True.’ He gave her a wicked grin. ‘On both counts.’

  That earned him a chuckle, but she couldn’t miss the flare of heat in his gaze. Hmmm … he wants to play as much as I do. Pushing off the wall, she crossed the small space and stood over him studying his battered appearance.

  The once clean-shaven skin now sported a dusky shadow of stubble, adding a dangerous cast to his already lethal looks. God had it just been this morning when she helped with his makeover? It felt longer. The urge to reach out and brush her hand over the rasp and soak in the heat of it left her curling her fingers. Hell, even the cuts and bruises added to his overall nefarious vibe. A vibe that became honey to her bee.