Nash came up on us, tearing his helmet off. “The fuck happened?”
Nope. I couldn’t speak. I waited for Alexei to fill in the blanks, but he jerked his head at my pocket.Use your phone.
Bastard. I pulled the burner from my pocket and tapped it out.
Saint:jumped by crows. 9 of them. at least 3 dead. rest are sleeping.
Nash’s eyes widened. He glanced rapidly between us. Opened his mouth. Shut it again in the best impression of me he’d pulled all year. “Fucking-A. You hurt?”
“No.” It came out like dragging gravel through a hose pipe.
Alexei stepped away without answering, but Nash grabbed his arm.
Idiot.
Alexei flexed.
I stepped between them before Nash got drop-kicked off his bike. “He’s fine.”
Nash nodded, understanding. “Sorry, dude. I’m a tactile motherfucker and I forget you’re not a brother these days.”
Only Nash would think something like that. Say it. Mean it. Alexei spared him a chin dip and weird tension evaporated. “Who is with you?”
“Mateo, Cam, and Decoy. Got a few soldiers further back.”
“Send them home,” Alexei said. “The fewer eyes on this the better.”
“Keep Decoy back too.”
Nash relayed the message via a text, then destroyed the burner phone. I gave a distant wince at the carbon waste, but it was unavoidable. Who the fuck knew who was listening otherwise? Feds. Mafia. Cartels.
A new breed of Crows.
My brain hurt with the complexities of life. Alexei took Nash to our conscious hostage, but I stayed rooted to my spot, craving a hit of Cam, and neither of them said a damn thing.
I got my fix a few minutes later. Cam and Mateo rolled up, Decoy driving the van a good distance behind.
He didn’t approach. But he didn’t leave either, knowing we could need him at any moment.
Cam jumped from his bike and sprinted the last ten metres, skidding to a stop beside me. “You okay?”
I nodded.
“Alexei?”
I hesitated. A split-second waver. But Cam saw it and anxiety creased his face. “Where is he?”
“With Nash. He’s okay, but he came off his bike pretty hard. He’s got to be banged up somewhere.”
Mateo joined us. “What needs doing?”
“Three heavy ones,” I said, using our code for cadavers. “At least. But we’ve got a conversation to have before we can move the rest.”
“With who?”
“Alexei kept one awake.”
Mateo’s eyes lit up. Sick fucker had a thing for the blood of his enemies. “Where?”