Old Lady of the Iron Crown

y P

through the heavy haze of medicati

he brutal tearing in my abdomen du

broad shoulders blotting out the glass, holding

g to a cold, predatory hum. "Bring the entire mother chapte

speaker, punctuated by the unmistakable crash of h

piked agai

seeking the cold steel of the surgic

e click

yellow hallway bulb glinting

ension in my shoulder, pinpointing the exa

smirk touched the

e false bottom of his medical kit and lifted out two

st one with a sharp, lethal sn

round, offering the checkered

s sandpaper. "If you're not Viper's man,

il the dark scent of cedar, gun oil, and leather filled my senses,

with exhaustion, but I leveled

linch. He didn

e slide, and pulled the cold steel muzzle firmly a

dark eyes burning into mine with an inten

threshold without my clearance catches a bullet.

certainty in his voice st

o my lap, though my finger stayed

ing his spine. "Guard your bab

idor, leaving the door crack

pped of all warmth and echoing like a firing

" the blonde sweetbutt shrieked from down the

wet thud c

distance in a blur, his gloved hand clamping around

through the shattered front entrance in

ed, scrambling out a

rity shutter, slamming the industrial

ed shut. Total, suf

sting my free hand over the

rising in tiny, rhythmic beats, oblivious

cked phone lit up with

ext from Raven MC burne

B PROPERTY STATUS AND PROTECTION. TERMINATED AS OF MI

s. A cold, venomous

the rusted metal trash can beside the be

fficially cast me

empty nightstand, glanced at the tra

dance," h

d began methodically loading extra

The silence inside the bunker-

me beneath my matt

On the nightstand, a plastic cup of water began to ripple

ripping the 1911

ed loading

f his nose, and looked toward the boarded windows

r said, "is

est-caving rumble that shook the pl

an screaming in unison as the asphalt

he roa

e bikes. It w

of hundreds of heavy, straight-piped Harley V-

entire rolling army tearing down the main

nched through the window planks, flooding

ly to be drowned out instantly by

hat Viper? Did he bring the w

avy wooden blinds, and ripped them clean o

of black chrome, blazing halogen beams, and three hundred hea

the deafening mechanical tempest outside. "Those aren't