Only Witness, The (13 page)

              “Quiet!” Josiah ordered, the crowd complied immediately. “This is unexpected for all of us. It has been a day of unexpected events. Adelaide, join me.” He turned to the door and Adelaide stepped out to stand at his side. “I am humbled to accept what Ezekial has offered me. It is an honor I probably don't deserve. That said, I will do my very best for this pack with my wife at my side. Most of you have known Adelaide for years, you know her and love her. And she loves me, so I'll ask you to trust her judgment.”

              Deacon didn't hear another word that Josiah said, he couldn't hear anything but the roaring of his own boiling blood in his ears. In that moment, he saw red. He saw Josiah through the wolf's eyes, felt hunger unlike anything he'd ever known. He wanted to taste Josiah's blood and watch the life fade from his eyes. Adelaide had joined Josiah on the porch; they shared a kiss.

              “Take it easy,” Susan stepped in front of Deacon.

              “Move,” he growled the word.

              “Don't do it. Not now. Not in front of Adelaide. Look at her, Deke. She does love him, they're...”

              Deacon didn't want to look at his sister. He didn't want to see the way she looked at Josiah or the way she was smiling. Or the fact that she looked completely at ease with his hands all over her. “I don't believe in that shit. Love at first sight? Being meant to be? Bullshit.” Even as he said the words, his mind went to Vera. The feeling from earlier returned, this time he had a name for it. It was fear. Cold, dark fear.

              “Deke?”

              “I'm fine,” Deacon tried to shake off the feeling. Josiah had finished speaking; the crowd was dispersing towards the woods or the makeshift bar. There was no way in hell Deacon was letting himself change. No, he was going to need his wits about him. “I need a drink.”

              He didn't wait to see if Susan followed him. Deacon hoped that she didn't. He needed a minute to pull his shit together or it was going to get ugly. There were coolers with beer, he grabbed two and walked alongside the house where it was quieter.

              The feeling was still just beneath the surface, it was an itch he couldn't scratch. As angry as he was, he wasn't afraid, so why was fear picking away at the base of his neck? Deacon downed one of the beers in several long swallows, popped the top on the second bottle. His mind went to Vera.

              He dropped the bottle as things connected in his mind, it was like a flash, and he knew that the fear he felt had nothing to do with him. It had to do with Vera. She was scared, scared out of her mind. Where the fuck was Houdini and why wasn't he watching her?

              Deke!” He looked over as Adelaide came rushing around the side of the house. She was holding up her long white dress. “It's Vera! She's...”

              “She's in trouble.  I feel it. I feel her.” He looked up at his sister. “How is that possible?”

              “You know how it's possible, Deacon. You've got to accept it and embrace it. My truck is out front, take it.”

              “I can get there faster. Call Master, tell him to have someone go to her house, have them bring me clothes and my guns. And have him find Houdini. I want to know what was more important than watching Vera like I told him too.”

              “You told him to watch her?” Adelaide let out a satisfied sigh. “See, you know. Deep down, you know that she's...”

              “I don't have time for this shit,” Deacon told her. It was going to be taxing on his body, and mind, to change to get there and change back when he arrived. He was definitely going to need his guns if there was trouble. Truth was, he'd be lucky to still be on his feet. “Do it, Adelaide. Now.”

              The quickest way back to the center of town was with four feet, not two. He could only hope he got there before it was too late. He was going to kill Houdini, tear his throat out with his bare hands if he had to. He'd been very clear about making sure that nothing happened to her.

              The change was always painful, like being torn apart and set on fire at the same time.  It wasn't something that you could ever get used to, but Deacon always forgot it the second his four feet touched the ground.

              The wolf let out a howl as the part of the mind that was still Deacon realized Vera was his mate. If she wasn't, he wouldn't be having such a strong reaction to her. It pissed him off just a little because he'd never expected to meet his mate, but now that he had, he'd happily die before letting anything happen to her.

              Vera wasn't aware of it yet, but she was his and he was not going to lose her.

              By the time that he reached the edge of the New to You lot he no longer felt Vera's fear, he no longer felt anything from Vera. Scents assaulted his sensitive nose; he could smell blood, and it was her blood. He didn't smell his Brothers, which was a problem but not as much of a problem as the fact that the front door was open.

              Deacon entered the building unarmed and as naked as the day that he was born. He grabbed a cloth off of one of the tables and wrapped it around his waist before he bounded up the stairs.

              Vera was on her bed, stretched out as if she were sleeping with her hands folded on her stomach. Her hair was arranged on the pillow and for a moment he thought that she was dead, but then he saw the shallow movement of her chest. “Vera!” She didn't stir. As he moved closer to the bed he saw that there deep claw marks on the mattress on either side of her. “Son of a bitch.”

              Deacon heard the front door open, caught a whiff of Fire's scent. “Get up here! NOW!” He was screaming and still Vera didn't even flinch. “Come on, Vera.”

              “Got your clothes, I don't want to look at your naked ass.” Fire tossed the clothes at Deacon. “What the fuck happened here?”

              “No clue, we need to get her to a doctor.” Deacon would have liked to take her to Adelaide; his sister was as good as any doctor, but he imagined she was otherwise engaged. Deacon got up from the bed and dressed in the clothes Fire had brought with him. “Fuck it, I'm not waiting for an ambulance. Help me look for her car keys.”

              “Houdini's phone is still off, got guys out looking for him.”

              “You tell him to find me the second you hear from him,” Deacon left the clawed blanket on the bed as he lifted Vera. She still hadn't so much as twitched. “You can open your eyes any time now Vera, any time.”

<#<#>#>#>#

              It turned out Deacon didn't have to go to a doctor, a doctor came to him. Susan was pulling into the lot in Adelaide's truck as he carried Vera out of the house. They went to his place while Fire headed back to join in the search for Houdini.

              “She got her bell rung, that's for sure.” Susan took off her gloves and stretched her arms over her head. Vera was on his bed, as still as she'd been in her apartment. “The good news is I don't see any signs of concussion, her pupils are equal and reactive. Honestly, she should have woken up by now. I don't know why she hasn't. I'll stay, keep an eye on her.”

              “I appreciate that, you should try and get some sleep. There's a room down the hall,” Deacon's voice thickened at the thought of Finn's room. “There should be some clothes in the dresser you can sleep in.”

              “You probably don't know this, but Vera is one of my good friends—though I'd have come even if she wasn't. I've always had a great deal of respect for you, Deacon, despite the differences between our kind. Right now, I think that it's smart for us to band together as much as possible in these changing times.” Susan folded her arms over her chest. “This change of leadership doesn't bode well for anyone. I've seen the handiwork of The Grievers firsthand, especially that Michael guy. Bastard gives me the creeps.”

              “We'll figure it out.” Deacon didn't know when or how, but he needed to believe that they would because the alternative wasn't acceptable.

              “I hope that you're right about that. Wake me if she wakes up.” Susan started out the door but didn't get far before Houdini ran straight into her.

              Deacon curled his hands into fists. He would not lose his shit with Vera just a few feet away. He would not turn and rip his Brother to pieces, no matter how tempting it was at the moment.

              Even the gravity of the current situation couldn't stop Houdini from flashing his megawatt smile at Susan and introducing himself. Deacon wanted to let out a groan when Susan smiled back and introduced herself. “Houdini,” Deacon growled the words, “flirt when you're done telling me what the fuck happened tonight!”

              “Chief Will happened,” Houdini explained with one last smile at Susan. “We were almost back here after dinner and he pulled me over. Told Vera to head home and I thought that it was the right thing. I thought that she'd be safe.”

              “You were wrong,” Deacon told him. “What the fuck did Will want?”

              “He wanted to question me about Grant Caldwell disappearing. I don't know where that piece of shit is. Probably high as fuck in a dark dank room somewhere and he'll surface when he's out of whatever he's on.” Houdini ran a hand over his head. “It's bullshit he's accusing any of us and just because of who we are.”

              “Ignore him, we didn't have anything to do with whatever happened to Grant. We've got bigger things to be concerned about right now. I need to tell you what else happened tonight. I need to tell you all what happened tonight. Get everyone here.”

              “Here?”

              “Here,” Deacon confirmed as he looked back over to where Vera lay on the bed. There was no way in hell he was leaving her, not tonight and not fucking ever. “I want everyone here within the hour.”

              Houdini left, no doubt glad that Deacon hadn't handed him his ass. Oh, he'd wanted to. It had been right there on the tip of his tongue. He'd held back, if Vera woke up he didn't want her seeing him angry. He didn't want to scare her.

              With no real clue what had happened to her in the apartment, his mind went to worst case scenarios. The things he imagined were enough to have him pacing back and forth, so he pushed them out of his mind, sat on the bed next to Vera and picked up her hand.

              “You need to wake up. We've got shit to talk about. Not quite sure how you're going to take it.” Deacon felt a little foolish talking to her like this but he had to do something. “Whoever did this to you, they're already dead. They just don't realize it yet. No one is going to get away with doing this to you, no one.”

<#<#>#>#>#

              Deacon told the story without mentioning his revelations about Vera. Those feelings had no place here, nothing to do with the club he was starting to wonder if he could hold on to. The Grievers in Center City meant one thing, they were headed for an all and out war, since neither group was going to back down.

              “Smart old bastard,” Whiskey let out a laugh. “Best way around Deacon not letting him use us for his dirty work. Complicates things, though. Dealing with challenging The Old Man is one thing, challenging Josiah is a whole different thing. He's new generation, fighting with honor isn't going to be high on his list.”

              “If honor is out the window,” Fire grinned, “we can just kill all of them.”

              “We're not killing anyone. Not yet. Something else has to be going on here.”

              “This is the shit I was talking about earlier,” Master spoke up. “I don't give a fuck about your pack and its politics. I care about this club, about these guys. You tell me how we're going to survive this shit. Tell me, Prez. Tell us all.”

              “I don't know how this is all going to play out,” Deacon had to be honest with them, lay his cards on the table. “I'll tell you what I do know, The Grievers are going to cause trouble here, they're feral. They've been on the road too long with no consequences. We will do everything we can to stop that, to stop The Grievers. We need to be vigilant, keep our eyes open. Stay armed. Stay alert.”

              “What's the plan?” Houdini spoke up.

              “It'll be quiet at least for tonight,” Deacon replied. “We'll regroup in the morning. Figure out a plan. I just wanted to keep you all up to speed. I'm giving you full disclosure here, that's how we're going to get through this.”

              “What about the bitch?” Master questioned. “The mousey one you took out of the used shit shop.”

              Deacon curled his hands into fists. “Vera,” he emphasized her name and met Master's eyes, “is upstairs, still knocked out from being attacked in her store. Her store in our town. This shit doesn't happen in Center City.”

              “So, you're taking in the injured now? Don't say full disclosure and hold shit back.”

              “Vera is with me now.” Deacon rose to his feet. “That's as much as it concerns the club. She's mine.” The table grew silent; no one had seen that coming. “Alright, get out of here. Be at the warehouse, tomorrow at ten.”

              One by one the men left, except Houdini, who lingered behind. “I can hang around, keep an eye on shit down here.”

              The other guys all had family to go back to, Deacon knew that he was the closest thing Houdini had to family. Truth was, he'd rest easier knowing that his friend was in the house. “You know where the blankets are.”

              Houdini nodded. “I'm sorry about earlier, I fucked up. I'd have never thought she'd get attacked at the fucking shop. It's on me. We'll find him and we'll make it right.”

              “Yes, we will.” Deacon knew that Houdini had experience making things right. He'd lived a hard life before he came to Center City.

              “So, what's up with the lady doctor?”

              “Don't start, Houdini.” Deacon felt himself smile, he couldn't help it. “And she has a name.”

              “Her name is Susan. And she's smoking hot.”