Epilogue 1

KYLE

 

It had been a week since I had the cast removed from my leg. I was healing and my ribs didn’t feel like they were about to explode out of my chest every time I moved now. Who would have thought that injuries like that took longer to heal than a broken leg? But, slowly but surely, I was getting back to me and today I even managed to go for a walk with Jagger. He’s been acting strange for a while, but I figured it had to do with the meet happening tonight with the 412’s. Satan had been putting them off for weeks, but Preacher had made it clear that it was happening tonight, regardless. I still wasn’t fit to help out and it ate at me, but I knew that they would have the Ghosts behind them and that they’d be okay. We also knew the strengths and weaknesses of the 412’s, of which there were way more weaknesses than strengths, and it wasn’t even going to be a hard fight.

“Where are we going?” I was taking the stairs slowly behind Jagger. We did a slow walk of the perimeter and then he told me he had a surprise for me, so now I was following through the clubhouse, to wherever it was. Truth be told, I hated surprises, the only ones I ever had were fucking shitty ones, but I trusted him and I couldn’t say I wasn’t intrigued by what it was.

“How are you doing on the steps, baby?” he ignored my question and turned to look at me. I was breaking a bit of a sweat which was embarrassing, but it all still hurt and there were a lot of stairs. Taking in the sheen on my forehead, he turned and swung me up in his arms, scaring the shit out of me.

“If you drop me and break the shit that’s not healed yet, I’ll kill you,” I growled. That was the last thing that I needed right now.

“Right,” he muttered, taking the stairs easily even with the added weight of me. We got to the top and he placed me down so gently that if I’d been a girly-girl, I’m sure I would have cried, but I wasn’t. I really wasn’t. Shit, don’t cry.

I was about to ask him what we were doing when he surprised me with the gentlest kiss he’d ever given me. Obviously, my body wasn’t conducive with doing anything, but over the last couple of weeks, we spent time just kissing and talking, something I normally hated doing, but I loved with him. Jesus, please tell me this wasn’t more girly-girl shit.

“Do you remember the day you first showed us your sniper skills?” I grinned at the memory of covering Preacher in the watermelon. “Yeah, that day.” He tapped my nose and grinned back. “Well, I was hoping you’d teach me the basics.”

Most women wanted flowers and shit, but Jagger knew me well. This was my version of flowers.

“Fuck yes!”

 

JAGGER

 

My heart was pounding as she got into position and talked me through the readings on her scope. I had gotten the prospects to set up the targets just like last time, but this time, there was a difference.

I knew her body still hurt, so I brought up some cushions from the couch in her room and had set them up so that she wouldn’t be lying on the hardness of the flat roof. The purpose of this wasn’t to cause her pain, far from it.

“Okay, you’re shooting from right to left,” I had to make sure that she followed those instructions, otherwise, this would be over before it began.

“Right,” she muttered, caught up in what she was doing. She wasn’t even really showing me how it was done, she was too focused on what was now an instinct in her.

“Can you shout that I’m firing?” She asked, not taking her eyes away from what she was doing. I knew her ribs still gave her grief so she wouldn’t be able to do it, not that she needed to because I’d made sure everyone was inside for this.

“Live rounds firing,” I bellowed to literally no one, but it was best to be safe than sorry.

The sound of the rounds leaving her rifle cracked through the air and I watched through binoculars as she took out the targets from right to left, my heart pounding harder with each one.

When she got to the end of the line, she looked up and grinned. “That was fun.”

“You’re not done yet,” I squatted down and pointed over at another crate that was further away from the others.

As she looked through her scope, she made some adjustments and then froze. The engagement ring on top of the matchbox was different to the last time.

Looking up at me, she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before nodding. That’s all I needed.