The ride to the warehouse was rather silent. Hunter sat in a stupor in the front seat accompanied by damien. Behind them in a black sedan followed Ren, and his right hand man Michael. It had been thanks to Ren and the Serpents that Rayven had been able to obtain all the necessary paperwork. She had met Ren's woman Anna, but only briefly while they were training.
From the beginning it had been drilled into her that she had to mean calm and aloof. It was a lesson Rayven knew well but Anna's training had helped drill it home. Maybe a little too well?
Rayven was silent in the back seat as she watched the scenery flowing out the window, her eyes every so often would catch her reflection in the rear view mirrors studying her new reflection. The person staring back at her was a complete stranger. From the curtain of layered purple bangs, to the tattoos on her face and shoulder, nothing remained of her former self. She had to admit, it felt good to be a woman again.
Every so often Hunter would catch her eyes in the mirror and attempt to smile reassuringly at her. It broke his heart to see the stranger staring back at him, especially when she would avert her eyes as though he were nothing.
Rayven couldn't help but feel a little remorse at how she treated him, but she could never let it show. The Lia he had known as gone, and in her place was a stranger. A former member of the Serpents, seeking refuge in his gang. That was her story, she could recite inside out in her sleep. She was Rayven Thomas. A former assassin of the Serpents'. The list of men who had fallen to her charms was a mile long, and all of them ended up dead as the result. She couldn't help finding humor in the irony, that fact mirrored her previous life so well it was scary.
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt as they pulled up in front of the warehouse. Rayven immediately swallowed back the wave of nostalgia that hit her. Stepping in behind Ren and Michael out of respect she allowed the bosses to enter first.
The chatter of the hall became dead silent as Hunter entered with his entourage. Ren to his left, Rayven and Michael flanking behind. Rayvens eyes swept the club taking in its old familiarity. The number of eyes on her was almost overwhelming. She could feel her skin flush beneath her make-up, more than that she felt annoyed! They looked at her as though she were a piece of meat. One of them even dared to reach out and try to grab her. The silence was suddenly filled with catcalls. Rayven hardened her eyes gripping the hand that reached out for her and bent the fingers back until she heard a crack. The young man cried out in pain drawing their boss's attention and anger.
The f*ck?! They had just entered the club and she was already attracting this much attention? Hunter groaned inwardly glaring at Ren who stood back snickering along with Michael. This was the reason that up until now women were not allowed in the club. They were a distraction, and this one was a one very attractive distraction. Hunter cleared his throat and bellowed out loudly as Rayven dropped the other guys hand with a cold smirk.
"Listen up!!" he yelled making the men cower, they were brave but none of them were brave enough to go against the boss. The only who had been dumb enough to do so previously had been Luke, and that kid was now long gone.
"This is Rayven, from toward forward, she is under the protection of the Soldiers. This is a favor to an ally, and any one of you dumb asses touch her, your life is forfeit! Am I understood?"
What?!? The boss was actually allowing a female in the club. One by one the men began to voice their complaints, causing Hunter to pinch the bridge of his nose in disdain. He was about to speak up when he was abruptly cut off by Ren whose voice rang out clear and deadly against the jeering in the room.
"Knock it off! Is this how you lowlifes show gratitude? Who was it who helped your dumb asses clear the pyschotic drugs of your street!? If you aren't afraid of your own boss then you had better damned well be afraid of me!"
With that Ren pulled a gun from his jacket and without even blinking an eye shot the guy attempting to grope Rayven in the head.
"And if you think this is bad, this is mild compared to what she will do to you. Rayven is the number one Assassin in my Serpents. She's not a toy. She's a one man arsenal. If she didn't have a giant bounty on her right now, I wouldn't be leaving her here in this den of filth! Got it!"
With one nod from Ren, Rayven stepped forward and before anyone could see the movement of her hands she had drawn a gun and shot out three of the overhead lights in a matter of moments. By the time they had realized what had happened her gun was already holstered.
The room grew quiet, and with that, Hunter spoke up once more. And this time the men could tell he was drop dead serious.
"If any one of you scumbags even thinks of touching this girl, or even looks at her the wrong way, your life is forfeit. She has been given a full pass on anyone who disrespects her, and that is not even a third of what I will do to you - or have you already forgotten what happened to the last person who challenged me?"
One by one the complaints seemed to drop to a minimum - all except for one in the back who continued to try and incite a riot.
"Bloody hell, what is this a daycare? Why don'tcha give her to me boss!! I promise I'll take good care of her!!" sneered the man, the club members knew him as jones. He was still relatively new and thus hadn't seen their last member slaughtered by the boss. He had yet to do his initiation.
Hunter smirked, glancing to Rayven and then to the new kid.
"So you think she needs to be taken care of? Jones right? I don't recall you taking an initiation test." By now, his eyes were glaciers of rage.
"Clear some room" He barked. And the men jumped moving tables out of the way as she gestured to Ren and Michael to head to the balcony to view the match.
"Listen up. This is a no holds bar fight. Rayven and Jones will fight for the right to join the gang. Last man standing. Absolutely no Interruptions!"
Rayven stepped forward and, pulling her shoulder length hair into a purple knot atop her head, she shrugged off her leather jacket. The man in front of her began sizing her up right away, the look he gave her was making her skin crawl. In reality she wanted to just put a bullet through his head and have it done with. But she knew she needed to be a little more in depth in her approach this time. She could not leave a single doubt in any of their minds as to her skill.
It was just like the old times, the two of them squared off much the way she had in her initiation as Luke, but this time she was faster, more lethal. Before the man could even throw a punch she had struck out, landing her first punch square in his Adam's apple. His eyes bulged from his sockets and before he could take a breath the next landed in his solar plexus.
Jones staggered back, in an attempt to regain his footing. As he did Rayven landed a kick to the side of his head. There was a loud crack heard as it connected and the man fell to the floor like a rag doll.
Rayven walked over stoically, picked up her jacket and returned to place at Hunter's side. It was as if nothing had happened. The men in the room sat stunned.
Hunter gestured for the men to clear away the body wrapping his arm around Rayven as he did, giving the men a warning glance. This was their warning. If Rayven wouldn't kill them, he would. She was his. Rayven looked up at Hunter momentarily, a question in her glance before looking away.
Ren couldn't help but chuckle under his breath, as he gave a sideways glance to Michael. Clearing his throat he looked to Hunter and commented sardonically.
"Well, it seems you have things under control now. I believe you can take it from here."
With that he gestured for Michael to hand over the papers for Rayven and nodded on his way, that man had a long way ahead of him. And many, many headaches. He shook his head as he left the building. He had no doubt, that her and Anna had hit off wonderfully, and that only meant for trouble for Hunter.
Ren had left the building and Hunter had walked into his office, Rayven in tow, and shut the door. He had been watching her all day, how could he not. He had seen her vulnerable, weak and even heartbroken. He had seen her kill a man as Luke, and now today, as Rayven. The difference being that today, she was calm, almost robotic. She hadn't spared that man a chance. Where Luke had enjoyed taunting his prey. Even now she had an air of detachment that shook him. He needed her to feel, he needed her to still be his Lia somewhere under that mask.
Locking the door behind him, she pushed her up against the wall and kissed her violently. His lips crushed her own as he tugged at them with teeth and forced them open. Rayven could feel her knees go weak but she shut that desire away, her hands sliding up between herself and Hunter to push him away.
"We...We can't!" she murmured and rushed past him out the door to the training grounds to blow off steam. She had to admit she was rattled. She couldn't afford to be. Lia was dead, she was gone. Rayven had taken over, and as her fists began to land one after one on the punching bags she could feel herself becoming calm once more, mumbling with each breath, almost like a mantra "A Serpent never shows fear." with each punch to the punching back