The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

“I don’t care if God owns that club. You’re not going in there alone,” he merely said.

I sighed and sat back in my seat, grateful that he was at least speeding down the interstate.

Instead of the normal hour, it only took us forty minutes to get there. Tray parked across the street and I unbuckled my seat belt. “You might want to—” I was about to suggest he stay in the vehicle, but Tray was already out and crossing the street.

As I darted after him, I saw the club’s line was around the corner—again. The nightclub was one of the most dangerous clubs around, but for some stupid reason, it was one of the most popular.

Ben was at the front door.

Ben and three other bouncers were manning the front door. Seeing me cross the street, he stepped away from the group. And he folded his arms, an imposing figure, he waited.

“Girl,” he murmured, shaking his head, “you shouldn’t be here.”

“My sister’s inside, Ben. She’s in trouble.”

“Sister?”

“My adopted sister,” I clarified. “Is Jace in there?.”

“He in a meeting. One that he ain’t coming out of. Not even for you, girl.”

“Ben!” I cried. “Let us in. I have to help my sister.”

“Hold on.” He held an arm out, blocking me. “I’ll get you some escorts.”

A moment later, three burly guys came to the door and Ben lifted his arm up, allowing us entrance—which caused the crowd to swear at us.

I swept inside, uncaring that the escorts weren’t even catching up. Tray was right behind me, he had one hand on my elbow and the other through one of my belt-loops. As I stopped just inside the largest area, I could see why Mandy was trapped in a corner. The place was overcrowded to maximum occupancy and probably over the max. If there was a gunshot or a fight, either no one would ever know, or there’d be a riot to the door. More than a handful would probably be trampled to death, trying to get out of the way.

Tray stood right behind me, one arm around my waist, protecting me from the crowd.

“I can’t see them,” I shouted in his ear frantically. Then I saw Krein—thank God. He was laughing with a guard in front of him, a girl at his side, and two guards behind him.

“Krein!” I screamed over the crowd. It was a fricking miracle that he heard me because he lifted his head, scanning the crowd. A moment later he spotted me, shock on his face before he moved towards us.

Raking his eyes over Tray, measuring him up, Krein grasped my arm and shouted in my ear, “What are you doing here? Jace would freak. Tonight is not the night to be here.”

“My sister’s in trouble. Some guys won’t let her and her friends leave.”

“What does your sister look like?”

I pulled out my phone to show him a picture of her.

Krein grabbed my arm and led the way. I tried to see, but I couldn’t see anything. There were too many people blocking my view, but I held onto him. A few times he stopped and shoved his way through, one time he grabbed a guy with his arm, neatly twisting him in the other direction as he tried to grab for me.

The place was beyond chaos tonight.

Tray was backing me up, blocking any advances from behind, keeping his fingers inside my belt loop so we wouldn’t be separated.

Another time, Tray and Krein both restrained two guys that were fighting. One of them swung at the other and almost fell into me.

Finally, I saw Mandy standing behind a tall, lanky guy with tattoos riddling his body. There were four more, all positioned in a way that kept Mandy and the rest in, but didn’t alert anyone watching that they were being held against their will.

“Mandy!” I screamed.

I saw Bryce in the corner, laying on a table. She was right, he was covered in blood and the bruises were already starting to swell.

Fuckers.