Free Blood and Honor by Jayna Vixen Page B

himself swelling up with anger the way he always did when he felt an injustice was unfolding.
    Don’t want to go back there. Things were just getting good here.
    “What is it, baby?”
    Baby.
    One simple word was all it took to settle him. Some of the anger trickled away as he turned to look at her.
    “Let’s talk about it later, darlin.”
    A cherubic little voice piped up, “You fuckin’ seewious, Daddy?”
    Dax cringed, hearing the f-bomb fall from the lips of an angel.
    “Those are adult words, Sirena,” Rhee admonished, but he could hear the laughter in her voice.
    “I’m a big girl!” Sirena proclaimed, placing her hands on her hips and standing her ground.
    “That you are, princess.” Dax agreed, swinging her into his arms. He slung her onto his back and grinned. “Let’s get your mom.”
    Sirena squealed in excitement as Rhee pretended to run away in terror. Some things could wait until tomorrow morning, and Hawk was one of them.

Chapter Nineteen
    “Get in the car.”
    Mickey didn’t want to make a scene, not at school. She looked over her shoulder, conscious of the way the popular kids stared at her. They teased her about the long sleeves she always wore now, and the baggy sweats she was never without, even in gym class. Paul tapped the horn, making her jump.
    What did he want?
    Paul raked her with his eyes as she opened the car door and sat down gingerly.
    “Wh-where are we going?” she ventured.
    “Got something special set up tonight, sweet thing. You’re coming with me. Good luck charm.” He winked and ice ran down her spine.
    Why? He’d never brought her to any of his card games before. And why was her stepfather wearing his ratty, old suit?
    “Put your hair up—you know, in those little ponytails?” He motioned near his ears and she automatically began to braid her hair into pigtails. It wouldn’t do any good to disobey him now—not when she had no idea where they were headed.
    “It’s Thursday. Mom’s going to be home…”
    “She’s working overtime,” Paul spat. “Don’t talk back to me, Mouse. It makes me angry.”
    Instead of the smelly old basement she expected, they ended up at a hotel. Some kind of charity event was going on. It was odd. Mickey had no idea why Paul wanted to attend something like this—or why he wanted her with him. He introduced her to lots of men who wore fancy suits and shiny watches that probably cost more than their car. She shook the hands Paul told her to shake, and she smiled obediently, wondering what was going on.
    He spent some time talking to some of the men, leaving her sitting on a bench by the elevator of the hotel. Mickey watched the patrons going up to their rooms and wondering what kind of lives they had. Finally, he came to get her and they were headed home.
    She glanced at him, trying to gauge his mood. Paul was rambling again, about his master plan, whatever that was. He seemed tense and distracted, and he swerved hard. Then, he was just angry. With quavering fingers, Mickey’s hand went to her stepfather’s thigh. She stroked his leg, feeling ill as he calmed and the look in his eyes became less wild.
    It was so much worse when he was angry.

Chapter Twenty
    Slade was tripping. Why was Hawk running him around on bogus errands? First, he was sent to make a pointless stop at the port. Things were status quo and he had just done a check the day before. Then, he found himself at Lenny’s picking up some package—something one of the newer grunts could do.
    Maybe he wasn’t as close to the inner circle as he’d hoped.
    When Slade arrived at the compound, five minutes before meeting time, the place was eerily quiet. A warning prickle went down his spine as he pushed open the clubhouse door. Something was definitely up. He scanned the room. A few Phantom stalkers lounged on the couch, but no one else seemed to be around. The door to the meeting room was closed.
    Slade hesitated, unsure what he was supposed to do. Once that door