Despite myself, I had to snicker. “You worry about him too much. He’s not as vulnerable as you think he is.”
“I don’t think he’s vulnerable,” Rex denied instantly, but his glower told me I’d hit a nerve.
“Yeah, you do. He ain’t,” I countered. “Bro’s got brass balls, and even if he was fucked up, Giulia’s straightening him up some.”
Steel’s eyes widened. “How did you say that without busting your gut laughing? Last thing that bitch is gonna do is straighten a guy like Nyx out. If anything, she’d encourage him.”
“Two psychopaths in sweet harmony,” I joked, leaning back against the wall and digging my heel into the drywall as I did so. “Did you hear about what she did to her stepfather? Good thing Nyx’s balls are brass. That’s the only thing that’ll keep them safe if she goes nuclear.”
My words got my brothers smiling, just as I’d intended, then I reached forward, gripped Rex’s shoulder, and urged, “Hustle, Prez. We need to get them girls out.”
“If they’re even there,” Steel muttered.
“Don’t be negative,” I chided. “Let’s hope they are there, then maybe we can sleep again.”
Rex grunted but moved down the hall to Nyx’s room, where he and Giulia were probably sleeping. He knocked and I heard a few thumps as Nyx made it to the door. When the door slammed shut a few minutes later, and I heard more thumps, I knew he was getting ready.
Steel cut me a look. “You think this is true? Not BS?”
“Fuck knows. I just hope she wasn’t lying.”
“I’ll slit her throat myself if she is. What kind of sicko—”
Before he could continue, I mumbled, “She’s related to Luke Lancaster. A guy who rapes for fun? Let’s hope being a psycho isn’t a genetic trait in her family.”
Steel grimaced but shoved the deck of cards away in his jeans’ pocket.
About twenty minutes later, Nyx and Giulia were on his hog, Steel was on his, and I was climbing onto the back of mine. A quick glance at the clubhouse told me everyone was watching, even though this was supposed to be under wraps, and I mock saluted those peering at us from behind the curtains before I kick-started my bike into action.
The roar of the trio of hogs made my blood sing, and even though our end destination might be the definition of a nightmare in the flesh, I felt energy flood my veins as we began the roll down the drive.
The gates opened the second the Prospect saw us, and we sped up, flying out of the compound like we were using winged chariots.
As the wind smashed me square in the face, I let out a holler, and wasn’t surprised when a feminine version that matched my own came next. I twisted around and saw Giulia was clinging to Nyx, but her hair was whipping around in the wind, her face was tilted to get it full frontal, and her eyes were closed as she gloried in the moment.
If I hadn’t known that she came from biker stock, I had proof then and there. This shit was genetic. Passed down from generation to generation. We were born to ride these beasts, just like our ancestors had lived on horseback. Some people were meant for the constraints of city living, of the rat race, then there were folks like us. Folks who lived on the fringes of society. Who led their lives the way they wanted, not the way the government did.
The three-hour journey was broken up by two breaks at a pitstop. It was late already, none of us had been sleeping right anyway, and Giulia was sore after what that fucker had put her through. We each downed a large cup of coffee which, of course, necessitated the next stop.
Fucking coffee.
Lancaster’s little sister didn’t realize how lucky she’d been coming across me. As Road Captain of the Satan’s Sinners MC, it was my fucking job to lead my brothers into chaos. She hadn’t just caught the eye of any brother, she’d caught mine.
But then, looking like she did, I knew every fucker with a dick had seen her walk into the bar when she had. No one could have failed to spot the elegance she exuded. Everything about her screamed money. More than that, it screamed ‘hands off,’ which of course, was more of a challenge than anything else. Especially to a fucker like me.
The coordinates to our end destination were on my phone as I led us to hell, but along the way I thought about her, thought about how she’d looked around Daytona like it was dog crap on her expensive heels. Then, I thought about the vulnerability in her eyes when I’d had to help her breathe through her panic. At first, I just thought she was scared of me. Lots of country clubbers approached the MC, wanting to get laid. Wanting to get fucked hard by the local scum. I’d thought she was one of them until Cody had shared her intentions with us, then I’d learned otherwise.
She’d entered my world with a purpose.
A purpose that saw me driving straight through the heart of New Jersey and close to the Pennsylvanian border. The reason it was so far from the MC was because of a windy motherfucker of a road that brought us to the town itself and took a goddamn age to traverse.
Stewartsheim, according to Google anyway, was home to less than three hundred souls. I had to assume the women being held against their will weren’t included in the census so, yeah, more like three hundred plus.
My mouth twisted into a grimace as we approached the township. Lancaster’s sister had given me fucking coordinates. How the hell she knew them, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when we went off road, driving onto a field, and approaching a body of water I had to assume was a reservoir, seeing as we were in the middle of the goddamn country, and I didn’t know about any lakes in this part of the state.
The early morning sun made the body of water gleam and glitter where it hit, but it was still dark enough for me to see that, in the distance, there were rows of homes where the good folks of Stewartsheim lived, and who were slowly starting to wake up.
The coordinates took us past the township, past the reservoir—if that’s what it was—and onto slightly higher ground that was surrounded by trees.
When we reached our destination, I didn’t even fucking realize it. The sun had started its rise, sure, but we were surrounded by a chaos of trees that kept us in the shadows. Only when I braked to a halt did my brothers join me, and Nyx was the one who called out, “Where the fuck are we? Why did we stop?”
“These are the coordinates,” I stated firmly, peering at the map and wondering if Siri had failed me. Again.
“Looks like that bitch was toying with us,” Steel muttered.
I glowered at him, aware he’d see my expression because of the glow from my phone. He grunted at the sight, and I bit off, “We can’t see for shit. There could be a fucking creepy ass cabin right in front of us and we wouldn’t know it was there.”
“We have our lights on,” Steel retorted, as he folded his arms across his chest.
Fucker looked like he was settling in for a fight.
I opened my mouth to give him what he was asking for, then Giulia whispered, “Did you hear that?”
She sounded shaken, and I knew the difference. She hadn’t been around the clubhouse that long, but she was a weirdo who I quite appreciated. She was snarky, usually a bitch, and had a wicked right hook. I actually liked that she’d managed to bust her stepfather’s ballsack because with a fucker like Nyx in her bed, she’d need to be ready for anything.
Not that he’d hurt her, but living our life the way we did? Shit got real and weird, fast.
“What is it, babe?” Nyx rumbled, his voice low. His leathers squeaked as he twisted to face her, giving her all his attention.
The second he did, she released a sigh, like she could breathe or something because he was looking at her, seeing her. I wasn’t sure why that would help, but it did. Hell, it had helped Lancaster’s sister this evening too. Breathing with her, calming her down, it had felt oddly natural. But then, I’d done it often enough with my ma, helping her climb out of her panic-fogged stupor, for me to be at ease with it.
“I don’t know,” Giulia admitted. “It
was like a cry.”
“Probably the wind,” Steel muttered, earning himself a glare from both me and Nyx as well this time.
“Why are you trying to be awkward?” I groused. “You want them found as much as we do.”
He gritted his teeth. “‘Course I fuckin’ do.”
“Then don’t be so damn difficult.” I turned my focus to Giulia once more. “I didn’t hear anything. The bike’s engine is still whistling in my ears.”
“Mine too,” she admitted, “and it was faint.” She reached up, tugging slightly in a way that made me realize Nyx had somehow managed to grab a hold of both her hands. She ran the one he released over her face and muttered, “Maybe I’m losing my mind.”
Nyx snorted. “No way, baby. You’re not losing shit. I’ll find you every fucking time. You hear me?”
Her lips curved in a dry smile, and she surprised me by raising their joined hands and brushing her mouth over his knuckles. That small act of tenderness probably gained more of a reaction from me and Steel than her getting naked would have. Women didn’t do shit like that around us, but Giulia had because, it figured, she wasn’t like any of the women we usually had at the clubhouse.
And weirder still?
Nyx didn’t mind.
He didn’t pull back. Didn’t pull away. Didn’t even shoot us embarrassed looks.
Fuck, he loved her.
He actually fucking loved her.
I mean, I guess it made sense. He’d given her his brand, she wore his patch. But still. I hadn’t thought about love. Love wasn’t a thing in this world of ours.
On edge at what I was witnessing, I kept quiet. I didn’t want to be on the end of Nyx’s fist tonight, not when there might be some women who needed our help around here. Last thing they needed was to see their saviors bruised and bloodied after getting into a stupid fistfight. But I wanted to speak. Fuck, I wanted to ask questions.
How did it feel to be in love?
Was it weird? Was it nice? I’d never felt anything like that myself and I was curious, even if I probably shouldn’t be. Badass bikers didn’t fall in love…supposedly. Nyx had, though. And shit, he was the biggest, baddest motherfucker I knew. Demons would cower before Nyx, that was how messed up he was.
The shit I’d seen him do to those sick fucks who messed with kids?
Yeah, I couldn’t see Satan himself not feeling squeamish at the shit Nyx did in his spare time.
Giulia sighed, catching my attention once more, and I saw that their hands were lowered and she’d pressed her forehead to Nyx’s arm. Was she crying?
I cut Steel a look again, saw he was just as uneasy as me.
A noise whispered through the trees as I was about to clear my throat, trying to get shit moving. It was quiet. Like a shushing sound, but it was high-pitched too.
I tensed and so did my brothers, and my brother’s woman, who scrambled off the bike at the noise. Nyx had her back a second later.
“What was that?” I rasped, even as I started to climb off my bike too. I pulled off my helmet and hung it from the handlebars as I straightened up.
Steel, peering through the trees where only the faintest of light was bleeding through, muttered, “I heard it too.”
“Well, if you heard it, then it must be real,” I snarked at him, earning myself the bird he flipped my way.
I took another look around, sweeping my phone’s flashlight in the area. Steel, evidently doing the same, mumbled, “Some kind of truck has been here. SUV maybe. Something heavy.”
I stared where his light was directed and saw what he was seeing and agreed, “SUV. I recognize those tires.”
Giulia snorted. “Of course, you do.”
Nyx tapped her leg. “Link runs the garage for a reason, babe.”
My lips twisted. “Just ‘cause I hate cages doesn’t mean I don’t know how to fix them.” I knew how to fix them too fucking well. Meant most of our customers wouldn’t be coming back as often as they should because I knew my shit.
Of course, I’d tried not to work at the garage. When Rex had dumped the MC’s new businesses on the council’s shoulders, I’d hoped some other fucker would want to run it. No dice. I was stuck getting engine oil in my asscrack for the rest of my natural life.
“That bodes well though, doesn’t it? If there are tracks that means someone’s come here recently.” The hope in Giulia’s voice was painful to hear.
I sucked in a breath. “Could be anyone. Could be hunters.”
To counter my words, there was that noise again.
I whipped around, my phone with me, trying to fucking see where that goddamn sound might be coming from.
“Never heard a bird sing like that before,” Steel grumbled as he slowly turned, his gaze drifting along the tree line. “Something’s here.”
“If that isn’t the creepiest thing you could have said,” Giulia retorted, shuddering as she wrapped her arms around her waist. “This is like the setup for a horror movie.”
Nyx snorted and hauled her into his side. “You’re safe with us.”
“Yeah,” I teased. “Giulia, ain’t you realized it yet? We’re the boogeymen.”
Her only response was to huff, which either meant she thought I was full of shit or she was agreeing. Never could tell with Nyx’s bitch.
“We’re going to have to go into the woods,” Steel stated grimly, and I knew he was just as freaked as Giulia but he wouldn’t say shit.
I’d have goaded the motherfucker for being a pussy but hell, it was creepy. It reminded me of the opening scenes of a horror movie too. When the director was setting shit up to get the audience in the mood. Even the lighting wasn’t on our side. It was bleak and there was a haze to the air. Plus, knowing that some women might be held in captivity around here didn’t exactly make the place fucking cheerful.
Grunting at my thoughts, which were goddamn stupid, I strode forward. The crunching of grass beneath my feet was a giveaway—there was more crunching when my brothers and Giulia joined me. Three more streams of light joined mine as we pushed between the trees and began walking over the soil. It was pretty peaceful in here, but there was a low mist that made it hard to see the ground.
Okay, so this place was beyond creepy as shit.
I’d admit it.
Even if it was only to myself.
As we walked, our feet making too much noise as we stomped through the forest, it was a miracle we heard that weird ass sound again, but we did.
And we all froze.
I thought about what it sounded like, and could only compare it to the clank of a wrench or something clanging against the body of a car. Metal against metal. A dull whine.
Ears pricking up, I peered through the mist, then groaned with relief when a shard of light from the sinking moon pierced the trees.
Giulia whispered, “Oh my God, over there.”
I followed the direction where she pointed with her finger and grimaced at the sight of a shack. Fifteen by fifteen, minimum.
As we processed its sudden appearance, we took off at a run. The sound echoed again, and my belief that it was metal ringing against metal was reiterated as the dull, shrill whistle seemed to be on repeat.
My heart began to race with hope. Someone who was being held captive, who’d managed to hear someone in the vicinity, who was trying to call for help…they’d make that kind of noise, wouldn’t they?
I heard the click of a gun behind me and dug into the back of my jeans where I kept my weapon. Knowing Nyx had armed himself made me want my gun in my paw too, and when I heard Steel’s safety snick off, I knew we were all feeling the same vibe. The same hope. The same concern. Especially as we slowed down the second we got to the shack.
It was made of wood, almost entirely, except for a window beside the door—four dirty glass panes held together by a cross, loaded with spiderwebs and filth. There was guttering around the roof that quivered when a gust of wind whispered through the trees.
“Shit, did we bring anything w
ith us? Food? Fucking clothes?”
Steel’s remark had me jerking in surprise. I twisted around to glower at him. “You serious right now?”
“Yeah. If there are women in there, we need to help them.”
“Yeah, by not shooting the shit,” I ground out, even as I strode forward and pulled the door. It was, not surprisingly, locked. “There are space blankets in each of our saddlebags as well as water and protein bars,” I informed him absentmindedly. The door rattled and shook under my grip, the padlock old and rusty, but there was some wear around the hinges that told me it was used.
“When did you do that?”
“When you were taking a leak before we set off,” I muttered. Twisting to Nyx, I ordered, “Hold the light steady so I can shoot off the padlock.”
The second the stream of his flashlight hit it, I angled myself so it wouldn’t ricochet into my damn face and shot it off. That clanging sound appeared again, confirming that someone was behind it.
Someone in the fucking shack.
Breathing in sharply, I pulled open the door, and the second I did, the stench hit me.
I was a hardened criminal. I’d killed. I’d watched Nyx torture fucking pedophiles. I’d helped torture them. I would kill and kill again for my MC, but that smell? It had me staggering back with my hand to my face to try to cover it.
“Holy fuck!” Nyx spat, and Steel’s curse echoed at the same time.
I wasn’t surprised when Giulia dashed off and the sounds of her puking soon followed.
That stench?
It was death.
We were too late.
Too fucking late.
Then the clanging sound came again and fuck, I realized someone had to be alive in there.
Someone had been living with that goddamn stench.
The prospect of heading toward the smell made my stomach roil like I’d eaten ten ghost chili peppers, but step forward I did. I tried to breathe through my mouth, tried not to inhale the scent, but it was impossible. And then the humming started.
“Coffin flies,” I bit off, the words coming out nasally.
“Sweet fuck, someone’s down there with a corpse,” Steel rasped.
Forgotten & Found: A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Boxset Page 31