It tastes bitter to think that we're so fucking close, and then we're stuck here.
“For Valhalla!”
The deep voice rings out from above us. Everyone looks up, and there stands Viking, shirtless and war painted on the wall. He raises his fists in the air like he's Thor himself, then launches into the fray. The braids in his beard swing as he makes his fists do the work.
A moment later, Bear rolls over the wall and drops into the yard, followed by Hawk and Snark. Even Eagle-eye.
Thank fuck. The cavalry's arrived.
Viking clotheslines two of the surprised guards at once with a full on charge and his arms wide apart. They grunt as they strike the ground hard and stay down. Bear, about the only other guy in the club who could ever possibly compete with Hero on size, picks up another and throws him into a tree. Its leaves rustle when he strikes.
“Who's the broad?” asks Eagle-eye, as he sidesteps, just barely dodging a guard's taser before he plants his fist in the guard's face. His beard might be grizzled and his glory days behind him, but the pres is no one to fuck around with.
“Emily's mama. I'll explain later.”
“Jesus Christ on a bike. You couldn't have found a way to make this even harder, could you?” Even still, I don't miss how he gives her the up and down with his good eye before getting his head back in the fight.
But we're not here to party. “We're leaving!”
“We just fucking got here,” complains Viking. He's disappointed, I get it, but we don't have time to fucking play. Still, he knows his role. Pulling back with the others, he puts them in a defensive wall around us with military precision. It gives us enough space to keep the girls safe until we get them over the wall.
Hero uses his strength to lift them up, then basically throws Wild Child up there so he can help them down on the other side. The moment Emily and her mom drop down, I pull my piece out and point it at the guards. No chance of the girls getting caught in the crossfire now.
Everyone stops.
A bullet is way fucking faster and more deadly than a taser and right now, I'm the only one who's ready to start spraying them around.
“Nobody fucking move.” I wave the gun back and forth, giving each of the guards at turn at its business end. “I don't want to make this bloody, but I don't have time to fuck around anymore. Stay back or get shot.”
The closest guard sneers at me, but he puts his hands up as well, so he might be angry, but he's also smart. Then, one by one, the rest follow suit. There's one guy in back there who tries to use a tree for cover, but Viking whips out his own gun and points it. “You too. Come on. No one gets hurt if you behave.”
Snark and Bear get their own pieces out, while the others get themselves up on the wall to help the rest of us over. Keeping the guards in place at gunpoint, we work a rotation until we can all drop down on the other side.
The guards glower at us, waiting impatiently. The moment we're out of sight, their guns are coming out, and they'll be coming for us. Time is about to be real fucking precious.
I'm the last to drop, and the moment I do, the guards explode into activity. There's yelling and instructing, and we're going to have them on our heels in a fucking second.
We need to get the fuck out of here.
Now.
39
EMILY
This time, I'm sitting behind Wild Child. It feels so good to have one of the guys in my arms again, even through the rough denim. His patch reads Screaming Eagles like all the others, but underneath is his name and a caricature of a boy with wild eyes, a big toothy grin and his claw-like hands held out like a cartoon villain. Like Calvin's evil cousin.
I'm still reeling at how they've managed to steal me away from my house again. Dad's going to have an aneurism.
If I'm lucky, it'll kill him.
Of all the riders, Mom's ended up on the back of Eagle-eye's bike. She looks absolutely terrified, but he's smirking. I stifle a groan. He'd better not be putting the moves on Mom. I try to imagine him as my new step-dad, and I can't do it. I really can't. When he revs the bike, she screams and clings to him in a way that makes him break out into a big grin.
I'm just going to try to put that out of my mind until we're safely away.
Hero has my bag slung over his head and shoulder so it rides on his back. At least I'll have some underwear and clothes this time around.