I rolledmy gaze over my Bird’s long dark hair to the tangle of limbs engulfing her.
A snarl curled her lip as those bright aqua eyes met mine. “I hate you.”
Those were my favorite words slipping through her lips. They were dripping with so much venom that I could taste the sweet sting in the back of my throat.
“Be good, Little Bird. My brother and I are going for a ride.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Parker argued.
“Shut the fuck up and get in the car.”
“Good, go,” Marnie hissed as I pushed Parker toward the door. “Don’t get mad at me if I’m gone when you get back.”
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was going to miss me.
I looked at my old man, who was grabbing some bungee cords from a cupboard, then at Ava. She was still petting Marnie’s head, and I snickered. “Good luck with that.”
Playing the Game of Life with my old man and sister was not an experience I wished to share with her.
* * *
Parker’s headcocked at the town sign we passed. “Why the fuck are we in New Haven?”
“Because Mason is an idiot.”
Unlike his brother, Mason Kessler was impulsive, rash, and constantly causing problems that needed to be cleaned up. He was in desperate need of some form of control. However, tonight I didn’t mind. His decision to participate in an underground fight in the one town that didn’t give a fuck who we were, provided me with the perfect place to take my brother.
For the first time, I was grateful to receive a text from Silas Creswell. Not that we’d texted much over the years, maybe five or six times. But that was why I liked the guy. He kept his nose out of my business. Though I was curious why he didn’t send his SOS to Logan or Micha, both of whom would care more about their well-being than I would.
Personally, I’d leave Mason to deal with the repercussions of his actions. If people stopped sheltering him from the world, he might understand the meaning of consequences. Every time Micha bitched about his brother, I wanted to slap him. Of course, Mason rebelled. Everyone around him treated him like he was five fucking years old. I’d have acted out too.
I assumed that was why Micha no longer called me to help clean up his brother’s messes. The last time he did, I showed up with Mason in tow and made him do the hard work. Why the fuck should he get to carry on with his happy day while the rest of us had to give up our plans. Fuck that.
“What the fuck did Mason do?”
A better question would’ve been, what the fuck didn’t Mason do. “Decided to go for a celebratory drink at Gators.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Parker sighed and shook his head. “That’s Skevers territory.”
“I’m aware,” I said while pulling the car into the dimly lit parking lot of a run-down bar.
The Skevers was a local gang with a hard-on for anyone from Ashen Springs. If Mason wanted to get burned, this was the perfect place to find the fire.
“Please tell me he didn’t bring Harper with him?”
I eyed the two jacked-up thugs standing by the door and shrugged. “Didn’t ask.”
Nor did I care.
“Fucking Mason,” Parker muttered and got out of the car.
It didn’t take long for the two bouncers to notice him. When they rolled their shoulders back and started our way, I considered staying where I was and letting my brother take care of them. He was more than capable of defending himself. However, he’d also had time to cool down, and the real show was inside.
Sighing, I followed my brother’s lead and stepped out onto the parking lot. Instead of preparing to square off, I pulled out my Desert Eagle and shot them both in the head.
“What the fuck, Preston?”
“What? They’re a waste of time.”
