26. Hellena

26

HELLENA

" W ake up! We're under siege!" Alaya's bark startles me from the deepest sleep I've had in days.

All three of us are tumbling out of the queen-sized at once, dragging on any clothes we can find.

Gavin's through the door first, then me, Tell bringing up the rear.

I swear they plan it that way.

Not that I'm complaining.

Early morning light tints the world in blue as Gav clears us a path through the growing rabble of citizens and Block members, opening up to a scattered line of perimeter guards, all locked and loaded.

Aiming at the group of several dozen big ass dudes at the base of the trailhead.

Got to give it to the Block, they know how to run a tight show.

Anyone trying to get into our camp would have a face full of bullets before they cleared the tree line.

Unfortunately, they're evenly matched. At least until some reinforcements can arrive.

Their advantage is that we have the high ground at the top of the slope.

That trailhead is the only way into the valley from Sanctum, forcing them into a standoff. It also means they are blocking off our escape and all of our vehicles if it comes down to it. Not our best planning, but no one was supposed to figure out where the camp was in the first place.

And we were supposed to have a warning.

I guess last night got a little out of pocket. Everyone needed the time to let loose.

"Who is it?" I ask no one in particular, scanning our side for Ora, Alaya. Any of the Block captains. Taking over the situation seems a little presumptuous.

Here and there, a few of ours give me dark looks. Mostly average citizens.

They clearly know who I am.

And I was right to hesitate to take the lead. Even so…

Taking a breath, I head for the line, ignoring the protests of my ‘honor' guard.

"Hell!" Gavin rumbles.

"Go find Ora," I clip right back at him.

"Why don't you go find Ora?" Gavin snips. He's still on edge. Not that I can blame him.

I'm about to turn on him and give him a piece of my mind when a little shadow darts through the crowd.

"I found her!" Ora chirps, popping up beside me. "Me, I mean."

"Thank goodness. Any word on what they want?" Gavin manages to pause my charge forward with an arm on my shoulder.

"They came in slow. Announced themselves," one of the bulky bikers states, never taking his eyes off the sights of his rifle.

"And we know that because?"

"Because Alaya was on the lookout. And is still on lookout," Ora announces with a smirk.

That is good news. No one can shoot like her. Got to give the sniper-queen props there.

"Then why did she wait until they were in the valley to say something?"

"I'm sure she had her reasons." Ora pats the air between them. Gavin only scowls back at her. I'm with him on the topic of Alaya.

But I keep my thoughts to myself.

"That's all fine and dandy, but who are they ?" Tell asks, sounding more than a little irked.

"Ora-Tora," Alaya's voice scratches over the radio.

She's taking binoculars from one of her men as she answers. "What's the razzle, Miss Dazzle?"

"They've hunkered down. Waiting for something. You need to see who's leading them, though. So does Hell's Bells." The radio bleeps once and goes silent.

"Do we all have call signs now?" Tell mumbles to Gavin, who grimaces. Why he's not stepping in is just one of many questions on my mind.

Ora scopes the scene below out for several seconds. "Is that…?"

She passes them to me, pointing to one figure at the head of the procession.

"It's Sing! And a whole shitload of Marco's men." I scan the faces, noting Jay, Mannie. A few others stand out, including some of the more recent additions who came in with the boss himself.

Most of them I only had run-ins with at the compound.

But there are just as many who must have come up from Cali for the wedding-slash-invasion.

"They want you up front, Clive!" a gangly, shirtless man in overalls cries, trotting up the path.

"Of course they do. Couldn't this have waited until noon? Until after breakfast and more round two on?—"

"Ahem," I clear my throat, giving her a sly smile and waving her on.

"I'm just saying, it's fucking early," Ora bitches, mussing up her hair and clomping down the hill. "And why me? Hell's right there."

The biker tongues the inside of his lip, giving me a dirty look.

"Hey! None of that. I will kick anybody's ass who has a problem with Hellena. Are we clear? Now who did they ask for?" Ora hammers his chest with one finger. The guy at least has the decency to look abashed.

"Whoever's in charge," he clarifies.

"Aha! So I did not need to get out of bed at all."

The crowd rustles, murmurs of agreement ripping out. Doubt. Hesitance. Some of them nod, others just look a bit confused.

"You know, we never really discussed this. Or took the townspeople's votes on who they want to be in charge," Gavin grumbles quietly, intoning that this isn't the best time to do it either.

"Bullshit. We had an election and everything."

"You did?" I ask, trying not to sound skeptical.

"Yeah. The Block had it out after Clive died," Alaya's radio voice interjects. "Ora made it very clear that she was president."

"You mean that you whooped Gerard's ass so hard that he's still walking funny," Ora snaps back. "And that was club business. And this is club land. So anyone wanting sanctuary agrees to abide by club rules."

Tell opens his mouth to interrupt.

" But ," Ora cuts him off, "The club has also always fallen under the purview of the Sinful. And by blood, I'm Xavier's heir. Hellena's dad was too. So…"

She shrugs like that's the end of the conversation.

"You made all of that up just this minute, didn't you?" Tell snickers.

"You're damn right I did. Now, are we going to wait around for them to get antsy and try to shoot their way in, or are we going to go talk to sleek-sly-exotic-eyes?"

"I call dibs!" Alaya protests from the receiver in Ora's hand.

"And I call bullshit!" she snaps back, clicking off the radio. A second later, an arrow hits the ground a foot from Ora's foot, making her jump and squeal. "You bitch!"

"She has a bow and arrow, too?" Tomlin makes a face, and Gavin nods, not at all surprised.

"What the fuck?!" Ora looks up toward a cliff face to our left and flips off the hidden woman. "I am going to fucking murder her later."

"Only if I get to kick her ass first," I grit out, my nerves frazzled. Alaya with me in her sights brings back all sorts of memories. None of them good.

"And what an ass it is," Ora mumbles.

I can't even with them.

I'm about to grab her arm and head down the hill when she stops me one last time.

"It's not cool the way some of these assholes are treating you, Hell. I'll say something."

"It's alright, Ora. They have no reason to trust me."

"They have no reason not to! You were the fucking boss long before I stepped in during crisis mode."

"Evan was my boss, actually."

"I meant after that. We were all a team. We should be again."

A fact that the average Sanctum Harbor resident wouldn't know a thing about.

But she has a point.

And I don't see anyone else stepping forward to take the lead.

"I'm not?—"

"Bullshit." Alaya speaks up from another radio receiver.

"Excuse me?" I spin, losing my cool and snatching the com from Grizz's hand. "Listen here, Alaya?—"

"No! You listen, D-cups. Whether you're the right bitch for the job now with all these people has yet to be seen, but Ora's right. You're the best suited to the job. Always were."

I swallow, losing most of my bluster.

Gavin, Tell, and Ora all nod along with her words.

Openly deferring to me. And it has a very immediate effect on the gathering of worried Sanctum Harborers.

Well, shit.

"Fine. We can hash this out more later."

"Agreed. For now, those assholes down there are either coming to collect you and string you up, or they are lost without a leader and you're the closest thing they've got. Marco's dead. You were his queen."

Fuck it if she isn't right.

Why is she always right?!

"Time I start acting like it, huh?" I huff, shaking my head.

Squaring my shoulders, I lead the way, my mind racing to figure out what I'm going to say. Assuming they aren't here to wipe us out.

Or even if they are.

Not that several dozen gangsters have a chance against an entire town's worth of people. Still. I can't risk a single citizen dying at the hands of an invader.

Even if they don't trust or like me, I'm responsible for their safety.

"Hellena." Sing nods as I reach the line of their barricade, locking eyes with him. His slip to the side for a moment, catching Ora's smug glare.

"Hiya, slick. Back for some fun?" Ora bobs her eyebrows.

Sing blinks. Swallows.

Does she make him… nervous ?

"We didn't come to fight. I mean. You."

"You didn't come to fight me? Then what?" I'm being obtuse. Playing stupid. But I'm in no fucking mood.

Best to make them work for it.

"I wanted to… we all wanted to see if there was anything we could do."

"I can think of a few things," Ora hums.

"Shush." I swat her arm, and she grins mischievously. "Why didn't you just leave? Go back to Cali or to Marco's mansion south of here? Isn't there a power vacuum and a throne for all of you to fight over?"

A ripple filters through the ranks, murmurs and shuffling feet. Like a bunch of grade-school bullies who got in trouble and don't know how to say sorry.

"Most of the men here were loyal to… me."

"Why should that mean anything to me?" I frown, nailing him with my best ‘get-to-the-point' glare.

"Because of who I was loyal to." For the first time in history, I see his bland, flawless expression falter.

His nostrils flare. His lips quiver. Just a fraction.

"What are you saying, Sing?"

"That I want to throw my lot in with someone who wants to make a difference. To get out from under a tyrant and do something meaningful, work for someone who gives a shit, just like her mother did."

A leaf falling on the other side of the valley could echo in the silence that statement leaves in its wake.

Ora's fingers hook around my arm, steadying me.

"You know my mother?"

"I was her bodyguard. And friend."

"Why tell me this now?"

"Because we're free to leave. And we've all chosen to stay, to help you fight Rachelle and her flunkies. If you'll have us."

Every brute behind him nods in agreement, most of them still roughed up from the battle at the wedding.

All of them armed to the teeth.

They could have done us a lot of damage if they'd wanted to storm this place, take what's ours.

"You're a fair boss, Miss Michaels." Jay speaks up, looking completely uncomfortable talking out in front of others.

"Give us a chance to show you how good we can be, too," Mannie adds, taking a knee.

The rest follow suit, kneeling to me.

What. The actual. Fuck.

"Well, that's fitting." Ora snorts, shaking her head.

"I…" Glancing at her, I shake my head for a very different reason. "I can't…"

"You can. And it's your call, Hell. You know them best."

"Then let's put them to work. We have a Herald to silence."