***Alastair***
“Everybody needs to calm the fuck down.” My palm hits the table a few times before things turn quiet. “We all know what a patch over means and the icy little fact that this is a Heaven Charter, will ensure things won’t go over easy. But a direct job from The Orderly is a job given that needs to be followed through.”
“Won’t go over easy?” Velma squeaks. “That’s a cookie and cream interpretation for war. You’re insane. How can you even...wait, a patch over, did my job title change? Would theirs? What the hell is going on? I don’t understand.”
“Did your job title change?” I ask Velma and I’m fucking curious what her answer will be.
Velma explained to Eliana what her job entailed. She’s a Guardian, one that protects the ‘good’ humans. She also mentioned to her earlier that a Hell Charter takes care of the ‘bad’ humans. Creating balance for mankind. The way her body tightens in my hold, I’m sure she’s suddenly very aware about the mess of things, if her job title indeed did change.
Velma closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. When they flash open again, she shakes her head. “No. Everything is still the same. But how can it be? I belonged with the Heaven Charter, now I’m mated, you’re doing a patch over…I don’t understand. I reach out to souls who are troubled, help them through their difficulties, prevent the good ones from their life coming to an end too soon. While you guys are there for the souls who can’t be saved, the tainted ones who are a threat to themselves and to others. I belong with you guys now, why didn’t my job title shift with it? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“She’s right,” Os quips. “Unless it’s not frowned upon to fraternize with the enemy.” He gives his mate a quick peck on the cheek. “Figuratively speaking.”
I run my fingers back and forth along my beard, thinking things through. “Enemies? I’ve never considered them enemies before. I mean we’ve never run into our counter parts…I’ve mentioned war before with the mess we stumbled into now…and yet…” Shit. It’s like moving around in the dark wearing blindfolds. “We need to dig into the archives and see what we can come up with. I’ve never ran into mated couples who each work for the other side of things, nor have I heard about it. Maybe our ancestors have. We handle the souls of the damned, the Heaven Charter handles all the others, the innocent so to speak. It’s the balance between life and death. Light and dark, ones who fight for the living, the others who hunt down the condemned.” I’m still scratching my beard, throwing out my thoughts and thinking out loud. “Maybe there aren’t any rules set in stone about mating between Heaven and Hell MCs.”
“What else are you thinking about, Prez?” Os asks after the room has turned to utter silence for a few heartbeats.
I connect my gaze with him while my thumb strokes my woman’s side underneath her shirt. “Remember the order I got before we rounded the corner at the station?”
Os nods. “Let the dice roll, your choice.”
“Right.” I let that little fact soak in and glance around my table so every one of my brothers realize what it means. “I could have picked her soul. But I knew when her scent entered my nose that she was destined to be mine. My mate. That’s not some setup deal, a trap, or a devious plan from above. It’s rooted deep inside us. We can’t choose our mate, we’re already connected the moment we take our first breath in this God-forsaken-world.”
“True. When Velma jumped inside our clubhouse I got a hint of her scent, that was when I knew she was my true mate. One whiff and my body went in overdrive,” Os quips.
“Some bloody warm welcome you gave me,” Velma mutters and glares at her mate, her mouth twitching and eyes twinkling. “But yes, same here.”
I take a deep breath before I give them the next words. “With the order given, all of you know we don’t have a choice in this. The patch over will happen.”
“But what about my father? The VP? All the other members? What? Did you get another ‘roll of the dice’? Are you going to be the one who determines what side the coin flips for who?” Velma is sneering her words with anger.
My whole body goes ridged. I can’t answer those fucking questions. Not only is it club business, but she won’t like what the job that was given to me is. It’s not like we can ignore a job once it’s been given. It also concerns the woman that’s mated to me. Fuck. I’ve had her in my life for the blink of an eye. Spitting out the truth can mean I will lose her trust, or even push her away. I can’t allow that to happen. Although it will be inevitable in the end. Why? Why the fuck is it that evil always hides in the inevitable? Lurking around the corner, no way around it, only a head on collision that awaits.
I feel my Old Lady’s fingers trace my beard while her body shifts. “That’s not something we have a say in, sis, and you know it.”
“How can you say that?” Velma gasps. “He’s your father too.”
My Old Lady snorts. “Maybe in the DNA department, but he basically told me straight to my face that I wasn’t anything special. Right before he sniffed me I might add. A damn look of disgust on his face too. Yep, that will get me all filled with warm, fuzzy, daddy feelings. And don’t act like he means the world to you because he’s been treating you like shit, you said so yourself.”
“It’s confusing.” Velma sighs. “It’s all I have ever known.” She glances around the table before she looks up at Os. “How is it you can have a full table while my dad’s MC is always working.”
Os looks confused, his eyes slide to me. I give him a slight chin raise as a signal to take the lead.
“Why is that, darling? Aren’t we working right now? Talking things through?” His voice is sweet, yet determined.
“My dad made sure every single biker has a task to fulfill. No matter the time of day. Well...except for the hours of sleep that were scheduled in, right next to the screwing around,” Velma spits out in disgust.
“Hang on,” I snap. “Lemme get this one hundred percent straight.”
“Yeah.” Velma waves her hand dismissively. “They have hours of fucking scheduled each day. Most are one night pickups, the only humans allowed for that single purpose.” She glances around the table, her eyes widen when she sees the shock of my guys edged on their faces. “What?” she almost whispers. “You guys don’t have a schedule?”
“So not only does he use human women on a daily basis, but he’s got his entire crew up and running all fucking day? Doing fucking what exactly?” I growl in utter fury.
“So that’s not normal?” Velma whispers yet again, turning white as a sheet.
I can feel the Hellhound inside me clawing. Yeah, buddy, I know this is bad. We need to take action sooner rather than later. The good guys aren’t good guys anymore, and he knows it too.
“No, darling,” Os answers her. “You are aware this country is divided into states, and therefore different Charters, right? There are many different Heaven and Hell MC Charters. Each getting their jobs to keep everything running cross country as smoothly as possible. Sometimes it’s busy, yes. Most of the time it’s easy sailing, in between jobs where we live our own lives. The girls who come here? They think we have a bar and will offer them a good time. If they stick around, they get the rules of the club explained. Their own free will and all that. We don’t go around trolling for a new load each damn day.”
“Oh, God.” Velma swallows. “I’m gonna be sick.”
“Yeah, you and God both, I’m guessing,” Os mutters as he pulls his Old Lady into his arms.
“Yikes,” Eliana mutters.
A smile tugs at my lips. Even with all this shit going on, I can’t help it, she’s too damn adorable. “What is it, gorgeous?”
She turns her attention to me. “Nothing seems to be either red or blue anymore, don’t you think?”
“Red or blue? Isn’t the term Black and white? What the fuck are you talking about?” Zikmund asks confused.
Eliana whips her head toward him and glares. “It’s the patches and color of the fire that’s linked to each, idiot. Hell Charter has the red, Heaven’s got the blue. Nothing seems either red or blue, good vs evil. It’s more like a purple, midway, merged. Not very clear.”
“The color purple? You throw that in there? Why? It’s because of the damned drama in that movie, right?” Zigmund shakes his head. “Steven Spielberg, 1985.”
“Thanks for the info.” Eliana glances at me and rolls her eyes. I can’t help the chuckle that falls from my lips while she explains to Zigmund. “Purple is what you get when you mix blue with red.”
“Ah.” Zigmund nods with an evil smile on his face. “So you two Old Ladies are the purple ones. Gotcha. Might need to dissect you two, cut you right open to see what you’re really made of. If you bleed red, blue, or in fact…purple.”
My woman’s chest rumbles while a half growl, half scream tumbles from her amazing lips. I can barely keep her on my lap as I hold her down with two arms around her waist. She bends over the table and points a finger in Zigmund’s face, saying nothing but wrapped up in a stare off.
Seconds go by before Zigmund starts to tremble, his eyes bloodshot. “Make it stop,” he croaks.
What the fuck? I tighten my grip on my woman and swirl her around to face me. She immediately buries herself against my chest.
Zigmund rubs two hands over his face.
“What the fuck just happened?” I ask out loud, totally stunned.