Hell on Wheels (Faetal Attraction #1)

Desperado

Florissa worked quickly once she shooed the guys. She might be flaky as hell and she’s only moderately trustworthy, but she’s skilled at healing supes if you got the cash and need to keep your injuries under wraps.

My wings won’t be up to snuff for a couple of weeks. Once those bitches figured out Apollonia wasn’t getting up on her own, they focused on disabling my biggest weapon. Reb didn’t mention her, so I assume they must have carted her off to a healer when the door flew open and they ran.

Cowards.

If I’d used my magic, I would have been able to disarm the Seelie chick. Unfortunately, as an inactive Guardian, I’m not allowed to use my entire skill set on the public. I could be called in front of the Council for the wings, as it is. My powers are classified as lethal, and I’m bound by my oath to use only what I need to survive an attack when provoked.

Just another reason for my parents to dislike me.

Wrinkling my nose at the stench of the salves Florissa applied to the delicate chitin and veins, I prop myself up and consider my options. The Sickos didn’t come after me solely because Mina had a grudge—the level of viciousness they displayed was disproportionate to a spiteful chick fight. Someone sent the entire team after me, and it had to be because Mina spilled her guts as part of her initiation.

I rack my brains, fighting the fog of painkillers to remember what I might have shared with her that would scare someone powerful enough to order a hit on a Guardian. Society business gets compartmentalized and I wouldn’t have risked my job to blab to my BFF. That conclusion leads me to believe it’s a personal confidence, and I honestly can’t imagine what in the hell it could be.

Outside of my sex life, I’m boring AF. All I do is train and skate—except on the occasions Reb lets me… oh shit.

The most dangerous thing I do is race under his flag and Mina knows about it. She’s even been in the passenger seat before, so she’s well aware of how skilled I am. Beating the hell out of me wouldn’t just take me off one set of wheels—it would change the odds for the upcoming illegal races. Besides keeping me out of the driver’s seat, vengeance for my injuries will distract the fuck out of Rebel.

That fucking bitch.

My revelation can only mean one thing: the rumors about the Sickos being backed by Stuhll Mob are true. Merra Stuhll had one of her capos tap the team to disguise a race fixing scheme, as simple as that. Since my little glamor trick is a well-guarded secret, people will assume they assaulted me in an after-hours brawl between roller derby teams. It’s happened before, and it will happen again—some insults aren’t solved on the boards.

I have to admit, their plan was brilliant. They might have succeeded in permanently removing me from the game if Reb and I hadn’t kept our mind speaking ability secret all these years. We never told our parents or any of our friends because it’s a huge strategic advantage in our Guardian duties. Telling anyone would risk losing one of the rarest powers a supe can develop, and we decided that was a chance we weren’t willing to take.

Frowning, I pick at my nails as I ponder my theories. Even with the addition of the street racing purse, what happened to me seems like using a nuke to drive a nail. Merra could have disqualified Reb without batting a lash—all she would have needed was Mina’s testimony. It wouldn’t have exposed the Mob’s involvement with the Sickos; people would have believed that she did it to spite me.

So why go to the effort of trying to take me out?

There must be a bigger puzzle piece I'm missing.

The Stuhlls control a good portion of the city, but they have rivals. Is it possible that their illegal sports activity and their protection racket are tied together? Are they using Roadrunner Racing to fund a hostile takeover of another family’s territory? I wouldn’t put it past Merra to muscle her way into one of the other less savory rackets in Bay City. She’s ruthless, and her utter lack of empathy would make it easy to order her goons to wipe out a competitor’s entire family.

I keep turning it over in my mind until the medication finally knocks me out.

“Hey! Get out of the way!”

“No, I’m going first.”

“Fuck you, dude. You’ve both had years.”

“She’s my sister .”

My eyes flutter open as loud voices echo off the walls of the hallway and penetrate the sleep haze I was drifting in. So many people and they’re so damned loud. Why are they all shouting?

“Gentlemen!” Florissa claps her hands, and the tone of her voice tells me she’s close to giving me the boot just to reclaim her quiet home. “If you insist on causing a ruckus, I won’t let any of you see my patient.”

I bite back a snort. The diminutive witch has never raised her voice in front of me before, and I can only imagine the scowls she’s being met with. Reb alone is probably giving her a look that would scare the pants off anyone who didn’t know him. A chorus of muttered apologies follows and I wish I could see what’s going on, but I’m stuck in this bed with my arm re-growing bone, so I can’t move.

Life really isn’t fair.

The door opens and my jaw drops when a veritable parade of dudes shuffle in. Archie is carrying bags of food that smell like heaven and Javi is right behind him with a tray of drinks. Next in the clown car of hot guys are the Gemini twins—Angelo and Damon. Reb files in behind them all, glowering as he parks his ass on the bed next to me.

Where in the hell did all of them come from?

Running my good hand self-consciously through the rat’s nest that is my hair, I look around in confusion. “Um…”

To my shock, Archie trots over to the other side of the bed and plops down next to the weird contraption Florissa has my arm in. He’s more careful than I would have expected, and when he combs his fingers through my hair gently, you could knock me over with a feather. I give him a bewildered look, and he shrugs, his handsome face full of an emotion I can’t peg.

“You looked like you needed help,” he mumbles.

Rebel reaches over to smack his arm and it jostles my injury, making me moan in pain. I swallow hard as the ache reverberates through me. As the throb recedes, I open my eyes to chastise them, but they’re staring at me heatedly.

What is wrong with these fuckers today?

“Look, guys. I don’t know why Reb brought you all here but?—”

“I did not bring any of them here. Arch won’t fuck off and the rest of them slithered in when we picked up the food and your clothes.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose as a new argument starts about who brought whom, and when I can’t take it anymore, I shout, “ Enough!” That shuts them up. “I don’t care how you all ended up crowding me in this tiny little room. What I want to know is why .”

Javi has the grace to look sheepish, and the twins just cross their arms over their chest stubbornly. When no one answers, I elbow Archie in the ribs and he coughs, pausing the gentle combing of my hair.

“Wheels, we stopped to get your grub and Sir Mix-a-lot over there sent out a group text alert about the fight. The meatballs were waiting at your place by the time we got there.” That earns him a glare from Angelo and Damon, but he shrugs and gives me a five-star grin. “After some… negotiation… we decided everyone was coming with us.”

Arching a brow, I squint at the crew of guys, realizing they look a bit more scuffed up than usual. “You had a fight about visiting my sick bed?!”

Reb grunts, shifting next to me. “I wouldn’t call it a fight .”

“Damon is getting a black eye as we speak, Rebel!” Smacking his thigh with my good hand, I glare at each of them before turning to my stepbrother. “What the hell has gotten into you lately?”

The guys roll their eyes and mutter when he shrugs petulantly. “Nothing. My friends suck.”

“Suuuure. That’s the problem,” Archie grumbles. “Not your head being up your ass or anything.”

Is there anything more infuriating than men? If so, count me out.

“Guys, I appreciate you coming, but honestly, I’m doing better now. Florissa said I can go home once we eat, and she does another check-up.” Javi hands me my to-go cup and my salad, winking at me before he distributes food to Rebel and Archie. One sip of my drink makes me sigh happily, and the tension in this tiny space lessens almost immediately.

“Rogue, I know you’re eating and it’s really soon, but…” Damon looks uncomfortable, but the other guys nod. “... we need to know the details of what happened. Right now, we’re working on assumptions, and that won’t protect you if they try this again.”

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, ignoring the pain in my ribs. I hoped they’d wait a little longer to ask, but I guess that was na?ve. “Okay,” I murmur.

“Sorry, Dragonfly,” Javi says. His expression is worried, but it’s probably because he knows Reb is going to get himself arrested or exiled when he gets his hands on the idiots who did this.

“No, I need to do this.” Taking another breath and letting it out slowly, I sit my fork down. “I was dancing with Archie in the middle of the crowd. Reb came up and picked a fight with him, so they got distracted. Someone yanked my hair, dragging me further into the crowd, and they descended on me like locusts. When they got me outside, there were more girls waiting. I couldn’t see all of them because they were backlit by a car—I think that’s how they got away so fast.”

Three of the guys swing their eyes to Reb, giving him filthy stares. Finally, he throws his hands up and growls, “Like I could have known !”

“I sure as fuck didn’t expect it,” I agree.

Damon glances up from his phone for a moment before he asks, “Who did you see? We need to figure out who the mystery bitches were, so we’ll work outward from the ones we can identify.”

“Mina—and she was sucking face with some girl I couldn’t identify.” They all look shocked and I lift a hand to stop them from jumping in. “I know… she pretends to be an ally, but she’s a fetishizer. Unfortunately, I’m sure it was a girl, but I couldn’t see any details. BJ was there and so was Apollonia—I might have killed her with the dust. They had a Seelie, too, because my powers got severely dampened.”

The room is silent for a moment as they digest that information, and Angelo takes charge. “Damon hacked the hospital database while we were talking. Apollonia isn’t dead, but she might as well be—permanent vegetative state. The roster for the Sickos doesn’t include any Seelie Fae, so he'll have to do some digging to find out who they tapped.”

Reb grits his teeth and growls. “Who else runs with them? We know three of them and two wildcards. Were there more than that, little sister?”

“ Stop calling me little sister!” That gets a laugh from all of them and I frown, going back to eating so I can ignore them. In between bites, I try to think about the shadows and voices from last night. “The girl she kissed probably wasn't Seelie, so that’s two. I know at least five people carried me out, including BJ and Apollonia. So, at least seven women, and probably someone waiting in the car for the getaway.”

Archie hands me a napkin before I need it and I give him a grateful smile. He crosses his arms over his chest, looking over at Angelo. “That’s possibly their whole starting line-up and most of the second stringers. For the entire team to come out like that, they got paid. This wasn’t a random act of vengeance or an initiation.”

“I agree, Archer. Mina doesn’t have enough sway to deploy the entire team—her followers aren’t that high. Someone ordered this, and those puttanas took the contract.”

Swallowing hard, I stare at my hands as I whisper, “I came to that conclusion when you were gone. It was short notice, but well planned and executed with specific weapons. It had to be for hire.”

“Who the fuck did you two piss off?” Javi mutters as he gathers up the containers.

“No one!” Rebel and I shout at the same time.

Archie snorts. “The list of who they haven’t pissed off is much shorter, and that’s only the people we know about. Neither of them is known for their diplomacy.”

I punch his thigh and the rock hard skating muscles make my knuckles sting. Fucking athletes and their stupid, sexy legs. “Shut your face. He didn’t ask you .”

Narrowing his eyes, Archie flips me off. “The two of you are liars , Wheels. You have a fuck ton of rivals and enemies—pretending that either of you are angels doesn’t help us keep you safe.”

This guy… he’s completely off his rocker today.

“We’re Guardians . They train us for this shit. Now help me get this place cleaned up so I can go home and sleep for a week while the rest of my body heals.” Silence descends again, and I glare at them all. “What?”

They all share a look and snap into a game of ‘rock, paper, scissors.’ After three sets, Damon throws his hands up and groans.

“Look, Sparkles. We discussed this in the car on the way over, and we’re not comfortable with you going back to your place alone. Even less so now that we’ve decided this is bigger than a chick fight.”

They did what.

Fury fills my veins, and I have to consciously work not to let my wings pop out as my anger swamps my system.

How dare they discuss me like I’m some feeble damsel in distress they have to rescue from a supervillain?

“Uh-oh,” Archie whispers.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I grit my teeth against the pain as I give them my nastiest stare. “Who the fuck do you dickwaffles think you are? You’re not comfortable ?! Newsflash: none of you are my goddamned supervisor!”

Rebel lets out a long-suffering sigh, raking his hand through his hair. “Don’t be a bitch about this, sis.”

Don’t be a… is he shitting me right now?!

It takes all my energy to keep from screaming like a dying banshee at their misogynistic bullshit. I may have grown up with them, but none of them is actually my big brother, not even Rebel. They can all get fucked if they think they’re going to order me around like a child.

“Listen up, fuckheads. If you think I’m going to?—”

Javi holds his hands up pleadingly. “ Mi alma , please. No one is suggesting you can’t take care of yourself. We’re worried that because your injuries are serious, you’ll have enough trouble doing day-to-day things, much less defending yourself. It’s only until you heal, I promise.”

Goddamnit. Always with the voice of reason, that one.

I consider his statement, sighing heavily. He’s not wrong and acting like he is won’t help anything. “Fine. What do you propose I do? I can’t stay with Graciella and Odhran; they’ll snitch to the Council for brownie points.”

“They hate when you call them by their given names, but you’re right,” Rebel admits. “Dad would tell Mum to keep quiet if it had been me, but he’d rather get the kudos for you.”

Fucking amazing. Reb never admits they treat him better.

Archie nods and rolls to his feet. “That’s why you’re coming home with us, Wheels.”

I blink at him, my mouth hanging open. He has to be joking. Go home and stay with a house full of hovering big bro wanna-be dudes? There’s no way in Hades—I’ll end up maiming one of them.

“I don’t think…”

Angelo holds up his hand, giving me the signature Gemini glare they inherited from their father. “It’s that or take your chances with the Kellys, brat. You’re shit out of options.”

At least he didn’t say ‘because you don’t have any friends left.’

“Fine. But you idiots don’t get to boss me around. If you haven’t noticed, I’m not Rebel’s pig-tailed sibling anymore.”

“Oh, we’ve noticed,” Archie grumbles.

What in the name of Mab does he mean by that ?