Twisted Mercy (Red Team Book 4) (24 page)

He grinned down at her. “It’s all good. He’s just letting us know whose park this is. We aren’t here for trouble, so don’t worry.”

She slipped her hand in his, then looked back to Lion. He was following a few steps back. He’d drawn the hood of his T-shirt up over his head. She couldn’t decide if he was trying to blend in or hide. Neither was working. It was a hot evening. And though it would cool down once the sun set, his hooded, long-sleeved T-shirt drew attention. As did his inked brows and hairless head. People looked at him with open fear or disgust.

Hope reached her hand out and slipped her arm through his. “I’m so happy to have this time with you.”

“Are you two hungry?” Mads asked.
 

“Starving!” Hope answered for her and Lion.

“Name your poison. Hot dogs, burgers, burritos, barbecue…”

Her brother didn’t ask for any of those things. She wondered if he’d ever had any of them. “Could we have one of each and share?”

Max smiled. “You got it. One rodeo feast coming right up.” He grabbed a couple of club members and sent them to wait in different lines while she and Lion picked a table.

She found them a table with a big umbrella, giving them a break from the heat. And offering Lion a bit of shade, which he seemed to prefer. “What do you usually eat for dinner?” she asked him as they waited.
 

“Whatever we can scavenge, fish, or hunt.”

Hope frowned. “No one feeds you?”

He looked at her. “Why should they when we can feed ourselves?”

The guys brought over a couple of trays loaded with different foods. They set them down, then took their items and went off to another table. No one wanted to be around her brother. Mad Dog brought another tray over and joined them.
 

“This is a feast, Mads.”

“As promised. Dig in, Lion. It’s a new experience for you.”

Hope opened different wrappers and cartons and made a plate for her brother. She filled her own plate and took a bite of a hot dog. She tried not to stare at Lion, but she was pleased when he sampled some of the burrito and liked it.

She looked at Mad Dog and smiled. His eyes held hers just a little too long. An unfamiliar warmth filled her from his hot gaze. She looked at her plate, realizing that strange feeling she was experiencing was a mash-up of contentment and desire.
 

She couldn’t look at Mads without thinking about last night, which she really, really wanted to repeat. And now, he was showing himself to be the kind of man she’d always dreamed of. Strong. Fearless. Thoughtful—very different from the man he’d first shown himself to be. He’d given her this time with her brother, time she’d never have had otherwise.
 

She was with the two people she cared for most in the world, and it felt wonderful.

She looked at Lion. It didn’t bother her anymore that he had tattoos for brows, now that she was used to seeing them. Or that he shaved his head. Or that his eyes were blue, not brown like hers. He was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen. He watched their surroundings quietly, always moving in careful, measured motions even while he ate.
 

“Why are you smiling at me?” Lion asked.

Hope shook her head. If she said the wrong thing, he’d shut down. “Oh, no reason. It’s just something I do. Ignore me. Mad Dog does.”

Mad Dog reached for her hand. “When have I ever ignored you?”

“Really? How about when you told Pete you didn’t want me?”

He said, with as solemn a face as she’d ever seen on him, “I was lying. Straight up.” She laughed, because after last night, she actually believed him.

When they finished eating, they strolled through the carnival. Mads challenged Lion to a couple of games—a shooting gallery, which Mads won, and a ball toss, which Lion won. They talked Lion into riding the Ferris wheel. She and Mads sat facing him in the bucket. She couldn’t take her eyes off her brother. He looked around in wonder, as if seeing the world for the first time. Maybe he was.

It was in the hall of mirrors that Hope lost Lion. One minute, they were walking through the hokey chamber of disorienting mirrors. The next, he was gone. She couldn’t find Max either. She ran back to the beginning, then went all the way to the end. No sign of either of them. She stepped outside, hurrying in a circle about the building. They weren’t there. She looked around, wondering how she could have lost them so quickly. What had happened in there?

“Is everything all right, miss?”
 

Hope turned to see a tall blond man standing behind her. He had the most extraordinary cerulean blue eyes and neatly trimmed butterscotch hair. In grooming and coloring, he was Mad Dog’s exact opposite. In size, they were about equal.

“I’ve lost my little brother.”

Concern washed over his features. “Have you? How old is he? Can you describe him?”

“He’s taller than me, but not as tall as you.”

“Oh. He’s an adult?”
 

“Yes.” Before she could say more, Mad Dog showed up.
 

He stepped in front of her, blocking her from the helpful stranger. “Go find your own girl. This one’s taken.”

She grabbed his arm, trying to stop him before he started a scene. The two men stood face to face in a staring contest before the blond giant nodded at her, then moved away.
 

“Mad Dog,” she said, sighing, “he was only helping. Where’s Lion?”
 

“I don’t know. I saw him going the wrong way through the mirrors, but couldn’t get to him before he went outside. Maybe it was just too much for him. I’m going to go look for him. I’ll take you back to where we had dinner. You stay put there. I’ll send some of the guys to stay with you.”

He took her hand and led her quickly through the crowd. The flashing lights and bells and laughing people jangled against the panic she was feeling. Lion was lost somewhere here, where nothing could possibly make any sense to him. She should never have brought him here.
 

And to think how happy she was before…

“Look at me, Hope.” Mad Dog cupped her face, forcing her to look up. They were back at the park’s main dining area. “I’ll find him. Don’t worry. It’s not like he’s a child. He’s a grown man. He can take care of himself.”

“No, he can’t. Not here.”

“If the guys roll out, you go with them.”

“Mad Dog…” She gripped his arms.

“I won’t be long. Stay put. I don’t want to lose track of you, too.” Before she could stop him, he slipped into the crowd.
 

Hope sat at the table, facing the milling crowd. Pike and some of the others whose bikes she’d worked on came and sat with her. She watched the people, looking for Mads or her brother.
 

Her gaze snagged on a face she’d seen before. At the market. The big guy with dark blond hair and a flattop buzz. As if feeling her interest, his head pivoted in her direction.

“Aw, shit,” one of the guys at her table grumbled. “The fucking Feds are here. We gotta roll.” Hope realized the biker was looking at the same guy she was.
 

“He’s a Fed?”

“Yeah,” Pike said. “I’m gonna get the word out.” He started dialing numbers. “You coming with or hangin’ for Mad Dog?”
 

Hope looked back at the hard eyes of the flattop guy. “I’m going with.” She texted Mad Dog to warn him.

It’s all cool. Head back. I’ll come by as soon as I can,
he texted back.

* * *

Lion sat at the table in the room where Mad Dog had brought him. Three men he didn’t recognize from the compound were with him. No one spoke. One of the men, a tall blond warrior with short hair, clearly held him in ill regard.

Was he to be the pride’s new leader? King had said the pride could choose their own, but perhaps he’d changed his mind. Lion had been quietly planning for just this scenario. His pride knew how to disappear into the woods. They could live off the land. He would not let the pride fall into the hands of a man like Mr. Holbrook again.
 

He’d been too young to stop it before. But he was a warrior himself now. If King thought to take the pride away, he’d have to fight Lion first.

Mad Dog came back into the meeting room. He exchanged a quiet conversation with the blond warrior, then he and one of the other men stepped out. Mad Dog came over to the table, flipped a chair around, and straddled it. He folded his arms across the top, then tilted his head and considered Lion.

“I regret pulling you aside like this. I wanted us to talk someplace where your sister or the club guys wouldn’t interrupt us.” Mad Dog looked over at his friend, another tall guy. This one had gray eyes and light brown hair. Lion had seen him once before. He’d come into the bunkhouse and attacked Mr. Holbrook. They’d heard the ruckus at that end of the bunkhouse, but none of them had come to their leader’s aid.

He’d been severely punished for that offense, but not before he’d gotten all the other boys out of the way, scattered them into the woods with orders not to come back until Lion or Hawk said it was safe.

Mad Dog drew a long breath, then faced him again. “Lion, this is my friend, Blade. He’s a good man. You can trust him. You can trust me.”

“Has King decided you’re to be our new leader?” he asked Mad Dog.

“No. But I’d like to talk to you about King. Do you know who he is?”

“I’ve never met him. I call him when I need to. And now that I’m the pride’s leader, he sometimes calls me. It’s hard to understand him. His voice is scrambled somehow.”

“What is it that you do for King?”

“My pride watches the tunnels for him.”

“Your pride?”

“The group of boys I lead.”

“So, you know about the tunnels. Why does King want you to watch them?”

Lion’s mouth tightened. He knew the penalty for discussing the tunnels with any outsider.

“Lion, King told you to protect me, didn’t he?”

“He did.”

“I know Hatchet’s been in the tunnels. He’s a danger to me. I need to know what he was doing down there.”

“I don’t know what he was doing down there.” Lion looked at Mad Dog, keeping his face blank and his eyes level.

“Do you have your phone on you?”

“I do.”

“May I see it?”

Lion handed his phone over. Mad Dog sent a text message, then thumbed through a few screens. After an incoming text, he fussed with the phone a bit more, then shut it off and handed it back to Lion.
 

“I’ve added my phone number to your address book. I want you to call me when you need me. And I have your number so that I can reach you if I need to. Since King has asked you to protect me, I assume he won’t mind.”

Mad Dog considered him in silence for a minute. “When I visited your…
pride
with your sister a few days ago, a couple of the boys mentioned preparing for Armageddon. Can you tell me anything about that?”

“No. You aren’t a member of the pride. We cannot discuss it with you.”

“King’s made me a member, Lion. Blade, too. Do you know why I asked Blade to join us?” Silence. “He knew Holbrook. In fact, he was one of Holbrook’s first students.”

Mad Dog’s friend nodded. His eyes were hard. “I learned firsthand his special disciplinary tactics, his way of breaking a mind,” Blade said.
 

Lion looked at him. Was that why he’d attacked Mr. Holbrook?

“Holbrook was a sick bastard, Lion,” Blade said. “Is it a technique you’re continuing with your pride?”

Lion’s lip curled involuntarily. “I do not punish the pride members in the way he did.” Maybe Mad Dog and his friend would report back to King, but so be it. He and King were going to be at war soon enough. “I would have killed Mr. Holbrook, had he not died when he did.”

Mad Dog and Blade exchanged looks. “King is a bad man, Lion. More so even than Holbrook,” Mad Dog said.

Lion couldn’t refute that. “Is it true that Hope is my sister?”

Mad Dog nodded. “Short of doing a DNA test, I believe she is.”

“Is it true that my father killed my mother?”

“Yes.”

Mr. Holbrook had lectured endlessly about the evils of women. But because Lion knew Mr. Holbrook to be evil himself, he’d always believed the opposite of what he taught—and he’d communicated that belief to the pride. Now hearing it confirmed that his father had done such a vile deed, Lion felt physically ill. He asked Mad Dog one more question. He watched Mad Dog’s eyes, knowing his answer would tell him much about the man. “Do you also believe that women are evil?”

“No,” both men answered simultaneously.

That, at least, was the truth. He could tell it in their voices, in their eyes, in the way they held their bodies. Did that mean what they were saying about King was true as well?

“Lion,” Mad Dog said, pinning him with a hard look, “your boys made it sound like Armageddon was already beginning.”

Lion pressed his mouth shut again. He couldn’t talk about it with them. King would find out. He always found things out. He’d punish him by killing one of the cubs. He’d done it before. Twice. “I cannot talk about that with you.”

“Do you think women are evil?” Blade asked him.

“No.”

“Do you think children are evil?”

Lion shook his head.
 

“Do you understand what Armageddon is?” Blade asked. “Do you understand how many women and children will be killed?”

“Nothing leaves this room, Lion,” Mad Dog said. “It’s why I pulled you aside here. King does not know we’re talking to you. He is our enemy. I suspect you know he’s your enemy as well.”

“How am I to believe you?”

“I will never do anything to hurt your sister. I will never do anything to hurt your pride. Or you,” Mad Dog said.

“Asking me these questions jeopardizes my pride.”

Blade stepped closer. “We can pull them out of there, get them somewhere safe.”

Lion shook his head. “No. King’s exterminated prides before. He will hunt them down and kill them all.”

“Give us tonight. One night. We’ll show you what will happen if your Armageddon goes forward. I suspect you are the only who can stop it. And stop King.”