Running with Rogues

CHAPTER 58 - OUT OF LINE

But Lilah shook her head vehemently. "No, we need to go now. Lin said she didn't want to mate with that fighter, and it sounds like he took it personally."

"Ah, shit," I mumbled. With everything going on, I had forgotten about Lin. They had been trying to replace Will with some older guy, hadn't they? And I'd promised I would help, and even if I hadn't made that promise, I couldn't just sit here, could I? "Alright. Let's go get her. I guess there's room for one more in this house."

There was not, in fact, room for one more. The girls from the boathouse were packed into two bedrooms. Charlie was sleeping in the study, Liam was on the sofa, and I was on Lilah's floor. But we'd find space. Somehow.

I made a quick trip to the kitchen, stopping just long enough to slip a jagged knife into my pocket, and then I trudged back towards the door.

"Want some back-up?" Andrea asked from behind me. I turned my head to see that she was leaning against the doorway, all casual like, but every muscle in her body was taunt and knotted. She didn't seem to be holding a grudge against Lilah for her harsh words that morning, but I reckoned that said more about Andrea's nature than Lilah's behaviour. The other girls were crowded behind her.

"Sure," I sighed. "Why not? Girls' trip."

When I turned back around, I saw Charlie's mother zipping up her coat with a determined gleam in her eye. I hadn't even realised that she'd been listening, but ... it looked like she was not going to be dissuaded. And I wasn't going to try. It seemed that we might have accidentally created a little splinter pack when we'd gathered everyone in this cottage. They all spilled out onto the driveway.

Charlie's parents had taken to leaving a baseball bat beside the door while Micah's men were camped outside the cottage. They were flockies, and flockies didn't like knives, so they settled for blunt force trauma. I picked it up as I passed and marvelled at the feel of the smooth, varnished wood against my palm.

"What's that for?" Lilah asked me, eyebrows raised.

I gave it an experimental whack against my hand and found that I liked the balance. "We'll see."

***

Lin had barricaded herself, quite sensibly, into the commissary storage room, where she had no end of heavy boxes to pile against the doors. Unfortunately, that hadn't deterred her attackers. It was the twenty-something-year-old guy who had been selected as a replacement for Will and one of his pals. Both of them were fighters. And both of them were trying their best to kick down the door.

I sidled up alongside them and leant against the wall of the corridor. It was very easy to be brave with a baseball bat in my hands, a knife in my pocket, and seven very determined-looking women standing behind me.

"Hey, lads," I said. "What are we doing?"

The nearest guy spared me the barest of glances, with a curled lip and a derisive look in his eye, and then he went right back to kicking the door. It was splintering before my eyes. Two panels were lying on the carpet, surrounded by fragments of wood, and another was hanging off.

"We're minding our own business," he said. "You should try it sometime."

And just to illustrate his point, he took a threatening step towards me, suddenly too close for comfort. I prodded him with the end of the baseball bat - pushing it hard against his chest. He grabbed at it and yanked, trying to take it off me. And it was then that I sent the butt end swinging towards his face. It made contact with a horrible thunking noise. He groaned and reeled away, clutching his jaw and spitting curses.

His friend stepped in front of him, eyeing the bat with narrowed eyes. He wasn't in such a hurry to make contact, but he did spread his hands wide in a placating gesture. "Look, darling. Lin's confused at the moment. The grief is making her a little ... loopy. You know? I'm just trying to make sure she gets to the sanctuary on time. The priestess is going to give us special dispensation to mate."