Craving Trix (The Aces' Sons 1)

I dropped my cut in the dirt and ripped my shirt off my head as I went, adding it to the blood soaked one under his hands. “You got this?” I asked frantically as I dropped down beside them.

“Yeah,” he choked out, tears running down his face. “Micky.”

I turned toward where Grease was bent over his sons and watched as the big man sobbed, picking Mick’s limp body up off the ground and staggering to his feet.

Tommy stood shell-shocked behind him, his face completely blank.

Grease came toward us and fell to his knees, laying Mick beside his mother, who was unconscious, but thankfully, still alive.

Cecilia and Rose met my ma on the porch, and she pushed them toward Trix before dropping the phone and running down the stairs toward Casper, who was screaming for help.

I ran.

Fuck, I ran so fast I barely felt my feet hit the ground.

Lily.

As I circled around the back of the picnic table, I couldn’t breathe.

Vera and Gram’s bodies were in a heap, and beneath that heap was Lily. She was completely silent, and her eyes were wide and unblinking.

“Lily? Baby?” Casper asked frantically, pushing Vera and Gram’s bodies off of her. They were gone. Completely ripped apart by bullets.

“Daddy? Where are you?” Lily asked in confusion, her arms waving around in front of her.

“Right here, baby. I’m right here.”

Farrah made a mournful noise in the back of her throat as Casper gingerly picked Lily up out of the gore.

“I can’t see you,” Lily said dazedly.

“I’m holding you, Lilybug,” Casper said gently, standing from the ground with my baby sister in his arms. “You’re alright. Daddy’s got you.”

I glanced around me and noticed Poet sitting silently beside Slider’s body, wrapping his t-shirt around his thigh, tying it in a tight knot.

“Shit,” I hissed, running for him.

“I’m alright, boyo,” he said achingly. “I’m alright. Go to my daughter.”

I turned slowly, my stomach hollow, and caught sight of Brenna and Dragon bent over Leo.

As I got closer to them, I noticed they’d turned Leo on his side as he choked.

“You’re okay, son,” Dragon said gruffly, his hands steady on Leo’s head as Brenna used her body to brace him. “Just breathe. You’re alright.”

Brenna was in her bra, and her shirt was wrapped around Leo’s face as he jerked and tried to pull away.

“Calm down, baby,” Brenna pleaded, her voice shaking. “You’re okay, Leo. Help is coming, son.”

Leo jerked hard and I caught a glimpse of his mangled face, the skin of his cheek almost completely severed from his jaw.

“I’ll hold him,” I said quickly, my hands shaking as I fell to my knees beside Brenna. “You go by his head.”

We switched positions as I heard multiple sirens in the distance.

“Hear that, little brother?” I asked, leaning down near Leo’s ruined face. “Cavalry is almost here.”

Leo choked as he tried to reply, then without warning, passed out completely.

I leaned back on my heels and looked around the backyard. Jesus.

“Hulk!” Poet yelled, getting my attention. He was still sitting on the ground beside Slider.

I stood up and jogged toward him, noticing the way his face had paled in the last few minutes once the adrenaline began to wear off.

“Will’s out on parole,” Poet said sharply, glancing over to where Will and Grease were bent over Callie. “Get his piece, wipe it down, bring it to me.”

I nodded once and ran to Will.

“Gun, brother,” I told him quietly, reaching out.

His eyes didn’t leave his mom as he handed it to me.

I ran back to Poet and dropped the gun in his lap. “Don’t have nothin’ to wipe it down with,” I murmured.

Before I could say anything else, he was unwinding his shirt from the wound on his leg so he could use it to wipe Will’s prints off the weapon.

“The fuck are you doin’?” I asked incredulously.

“I got this—you go ’round the house. Make sure we’re all clear. Fuck. Bullets stopped flyin’ and we started panickin.’ Stupid.”

I stood from my crouch and glanced toward the back porch to check on my girl. Cecilia, Rose and Trix sat huddled together in a little group, the older two watching the scene before them in horror as they shielded Rose with their bodies.

How the hell had this happened?

I jogged around the side of the yard and hit the left side of the house, finding the shooter Casper had taken out less than a foot from the corner of the porch. Casper had got him once in the neck and twice in the chest.

I moved silently around the front of the house and found a light blue pickup and two street bikes parked haphazardly behind the rest of the cars in the gravel driveway and cursed. Between the radio and everyone talking and laughing and yelling over each other, we hadn’t even heard the two crotch rockets pull up. It was insane.