Cyanide passes me my precious, and I run my hand over her shiny blade lovingly.
“Hey, there, pretty girl,” I croon.“Did you miss Daddy?”
Malice shakes his head at me and passes the holder I had commissioned so I can carry my girl on my back.I’d be a neglectful father if I didn’t ensure she was strapped in properly.
“Don’t worry, my precious, I’ll feed you soon,” I promise, the anticipation for spilling blood sending a thrilling rush of adrenaline flooding my veins.
That same hunger lights my brothers’ faces as we climb back onto our bikes.
There’s a stillness in the air as we pull down the road that leads to the house Birdie shared with Frankie.Electricity dances along my skin in warning, and I cast my eyes about as we slow.
I form the letter ‘d’ with my right hand and then lift it above my head, twirling it in a circle to warn them that danger is in the air.
Bike engines throttle down as my brothers go alert, trusting the instinct I’ve had for as long as any of us can remember.
There’s no sign of anyone, but the hair on my arms warns me to stay vigilant.
When I was here five years ago, the subdivision was bustling with life.Now, houses sit abandoned, neglect showing in the overgrown yards.
The only house that isn’t in a state of disrepair is Frankie’s.
Did he fucking isolate her out here?Why didn’t Cypher pick that up?
Joker signals for us to spread out along the empty road in front of Frankie’s house while me, Malice, and Cyanide pull straight into the driveway.
The sound of bike engines fades from the air as we shut them off, leaving us in eerie silence.
Cypher climbs from his bike and jogs over to the cage, grabbing his laptop setup from the front.He sets it on the hood, and his finger flies over the keyboard.
He and Bugsy were supposed to be heading back to bring their partners home, but they got a call last night that they’re all packed up in the moving trucks and are already heading this way.We sent some brothers out to meet them to lead them safely home while Bugsy and Cypher did the run with us.
I keep my eyes peeled for trouble as I climb from my bike and head to him.
“I’m sorry, Prez,” he mutters.“I don’t know how the hell I missed this.I should have been aware of all these empty houses.
“Don’t beat yourself up.”
The back of my neck prickles as if a thousand tiny spider legs dance across it.
Cypher, Malice, and Cyanide must feel the alertness in my body because they come to attention next to me.Their hands fall to the weapons at their waists.
“Someone has me in their sights,” I murmur, sliding the gun from my shoulder holster.
I let out one long whistle and two short ones to warn the rest of the brothers.As a unit, they unholster their weapons and turn back-to-back to stand at the ready.
“Drone is in the air,” Joker says in a low tone.
He keeps his eyes glued to the monitor in his hands.He’s controlling the flight of the drone while searching for heat signatures along the area.It’s only seconds before it picks them up.I spit out a curse when I catch how many of them are hidden away, waiting to ambush us.
“Find their sniper,” I order Joker.
Malice uses hand signals to get the rest of the brothers in position.Just as we’re about to split into teams toward the heat signatures, bike engines fire up in the distance and then they’re roaring toward us.
Fuck.
“Incoming,” I yell, just as the first shot rings out from one of the abandoned houses.
Joker calls out locations and my brothers take off to meet the motherfuckers who descend from the houses.
