by Naomi West
It almost made Blade feel bad. Almost. It wasn’t this chick’s fault that her asshole father couldn’t handle his own business. But as Jet’s daughter, she was a prominent member of the Skulls. As a woman, she was easily intimidated. It couldn’t have gone any better. Blade whistled to himself as he made his way back through the hallways, knowing the Skulls would start settling down soon enough.
5
Venus tipped back her head, closed her eyes, and let the hot water run over her body. It was a relief after spending so much time sitting in the hospital, wearing the same blood-encrusted clothes in which she’d arrived. She hadn’t wanted to return home, not now that she knew just what her father was capable of, but there had been little choice to make. If she wanted something as small as a hot shower or a decent meal, then she was dependent on him.
Running a soapy loofah over her body and rinsing the last of shampoo and conditioner out of her hair, Venus stepped out of the shower and slowly dried off. She needed to get back to the hospital as soon as possible, but she was so tired. What little sleep she’d managed to get hadn’t given her any energy back, and at this point she wasn’t sure if she’d ever feel like herself again.
Her mind wandered to Blade as she reached for her bottle of lotion and began applying it over her skin. He’d struck her immediately as being a handsome man, and he didn’t have the scruffy, dirty look that other bikers did. His dark hair was neatly undercut on the sides and longer on the top, but it was clean and neat. He’d shaved that morning, and the T-shirt under his leather vest was clean. When he’d come close, she’d even noticed that he smelled good.
But that wasn’t what she needed to be thinking about. It didn’t matter how good-looking he was or that he had that deep, gravelly voice that reverberated through her body even as he was threatening her. No, the most important thing she needed to focus on was that the Fangs were after the Skulls. It was some heavy information, and she wasn’t completely sure what to do with it. Blade seemed to be under the impression that she was high up within the gang simply because she was Jet’s daughter. The thought was laughable, but no amount of humor could make her situation any better.
If she went to Jet and told him what had happened, there would be hell to pay. Jet would be furious with her for insisting on staying at the hospital, and he would blame her for putting their gang in danger. Granted, the whole thing was Jet’s fault. He was the one who’d tried to trade off his own daughter to save some money, and he was the one who’d chosen to shoot Vixen. Blade never would’ve come to find Venus if that hadn’t happened.
On the other hand, Blade had been very clear in his threat. The Fangs were practically on the verge of declaring war on the Skulls, and Venus had no doubt who would come out the victor. The motorcycle club was bigger, stronger, and probably even better funded. If things went down, it was likely something would happen to her father. She hated Jet, but that didn’t mean she wanted him to get killed or to lose his gang.
Venus pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a fitted T-shirt before heading back to her bedroom and finding a new pair of shoes. She’d thrown away the ones she’d been wearing when Vixen had been shot since they were now stained with blood. After combing her hair into a loose braid at the nape of her neck, she went downstairs in search of her father.
Her stomach trembled inside her, and it wasn’t because she was hungry. Her father or not, Jet was an intimidating man. She’d seen him fly off the handle more than once, and there was no telling just what he might do when he heard what she had to say. Venus paused as she raised her hand to knock on his office door. She still had a moment to change her mind. But her hand moved forward as though of its own volition, and there was no turning back now.
“Come in,” Jet barked, startling her even though she’d been expecting a similar answer.
Venus opened the door to the office, finding Jet sitting behind his desk and clacking away at his laptop. The room was a lavish one that Jet had decorated with only the most expensive furniture and rare decorations. The plush carpet squished softly under her feet as she approached the leather chair in front of his desk, which had been made of rosewood from the Amazon. The matching shelves on either side of the room held numerous signed photos from celebrities and athletes, and a massive set of elephant tusks served as a makeshift hat rack on the wall near the window.
Jet ignored her as he hammered away on the keyboard. Venus knew she couldn’t expect him to put everything down to pay attention to her. He’d never really taken any time out of his life for her, even when she was a kid. Venus was just another piece of furniture most of the time. She cleared her throat.
“What?” He didn’t look up.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about,” she said quietly, trying to keep her voice even.
“Is it something worth my time?” Jet retorted. “Because if you’re just in here to argue with me over your troublesome friend—who I never should’ve let into the Skulls, by the way—then I don’t want to hear about it. In fact, I have half a mind to teach you a lesson.”
Venus took half a step back at that. The last time he’d “taught her a lesson” she’d been black and blue for a week. “No, it’s not that. I mean, it’s not really about that. But something happened while I was at the hospital.”
Jet slowly tore his gaze away from the computer screen to look at her. His eyes were hard stones as he stared at her, and Venus suddenly wished she’d never said a word. “What? Did the police come back?”
“No, nothing like that.” She’d expected it, actually. The cops hadn’t seemed all that satisfied with the story she’d given them when Vixen had been brought to the emergency room, and she wouldn’t have been surprised at all if they’d come back asking for more details. In a way, it almost would’ve been easier if she’d been here to tell Jet about the cops instead of the visit she had gotten.
“Spit it out then! I haven’t got all day! I don’t think you realize just how important my work is, Venus. You just see it as something that keeps you in designer clothes. You’ve always been an ungrateful little bitch.”
Venus frowned. She knew she had nice clothes, but that was only because Jet insisted. He said he didn’t want her running around looking like a street rat. And she had never thought her life here had gone to her head. This was just another way Jet was trying to make sure she remained firmly under his thumb.
She pulled in a deep breath, knowing she’d need to get as much of this out as possible before Jet either interrupted her or sent her away. “I was at the hospital with Vixen when this guy came in. I didn’t recognize him, but he said his name was Blade and that he’s the head of the Devil’s Fangs. He—”
“What?” Jet shot out of his chair, his fists slamming down onto the desk and making a pencil cup tip over. A gold fountain pen rolled off the edge of the desk and to the floor. “When did this happen?”
“Y-yesterday morning,” Venus stammered. “I would’ve told you earlier, but I got in really late and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“It’s not disturbing me when it’s an important matter like that! You should’ve told me right away! That sniveling little brat is hardly even old enough to run a club, and now he’s poking into my business again! What did he say?” Flecks of spittle had landed on the desk and on Jet’s chin, and his knuckles were white where they gripped the desk. He didn’t even seem aware of the fact that he’d made a mess of the place in such a short time.
“He said that he knew Vixen had been shot on Fang territory.” Venus hadn’t even thought to question the man on that. She paid little attention to those kinds of matters, and she knew they’d dealt with Pedro there several times before. “He said it was bringing the wrong kind of attention to his club, and that he wouldn’t stand for it.”
Jet spun away from the desk, pounding his fist into the open palm of his other hand as he turned toward the window. “I see how it is. He thinks he can order me around just because we have fewer members than he does.
But we’re fiercer, and I can show him that! Little fucking bastard!” Jet was yelling now, his screams filling Venus’ ears. “I know what’s going on here. He thinks he can keep claiming our property as his. Every time he does it, every time he slips the word out there about it, someone else will believe him until, eventually, everyone does. We’ll end up looking like the bad guys, even though we’ve done nothing wrong!”
Venus nodded dumbly, knowing at this point it was nothing short of deadly to do anything but agree with Jet. The conversation made her wonder just where the lines had been drawn between the territory of the Skulls and the Fangs, and how anybody was really supposed to know. It all seemed so arbitrary and stupid to her now, even though she knew it was important to Jet.
“What else did he say?” Jet demanded. “Tell me every goddamn word.”
She started to shake her head, but a sudden thought occurred to her. Blade had directly threatened her. Jet didn’t give two shits about her other than the fact that she was his, and if he was already that pissed at the other leader, then maybe he could take care of Blade for her. “He threatened me,” she said, feeling only the tiniest bit guilty for playing the game she had so unwillingly been a pawn in all her life. “He said he’d come after me if things didn’t change.”
She expected him to yell and rage some more, to make some claim that nobody was allowed to mess with his daughter. But Jet just let out a snort of laughter. “I guess he doesn’t understand how things work around here, does he?”
“Aren’t you going to do anything? Maybe talk to your lieutenants about it, see what they think, come up with some sort of plan?”
Jet slapped his hand against the wall, making the original paintings shake tentatively on their hooks. “Don’t try to tell me what to do. I don’t care that you’ve grown up around all this; you can’t just pretend you know everything. This is complicated stuff, and the last thing I need is you fucking it up. Again.”
“But, Dad, he said he’s going to come after me personally!” She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d called him that, but it seemed to suit the occasion.
“And I’ll take care of it in my own time and according to my own methods. This is my job.” Jet’s voice had calmed down, but his eyes were just as serious as ever.
Venus knew he wasn’t in a mood to argue or debate. “All right. I understand.”
“Good. Now I suggest you get your ass back to the hospital.”
She looked at him in shock. Venus had wanted to go back, and she’d felt horrifically guilty for leaving in the first place, but she’d never expected Jet to tell her she could return. “Really?”
“Yes. If Blade knows about Vixen, and he’s already seen you there once, then there’s a good chance he’ll come back. When he does, you make damn sure you memorize everything he says. If he so much as sneezes, I need to know about it.”
“Oh. Okay.” For a fleeting second, she’d thought her father was finally starting to feel guilty about shooting Vixen. But he only wanted her to go back to the hospital in the hope of finding Blade again. He didn’t care at all about what he’d done, and he probably never would.
The day was warm, but Venus felt cold as she called a cab and headed for the hospital. She’d hardly touched her breakfast at all, even knowing that anything available at the house would be far better fare than what she’d get in the hospital cafeteria. Just as he’d done with her clothes, the furniture, and everything else, Jet was after an image of a luxurious lifestyle. That had extended to the kitchen with custom cabinets, high-end appliances, and a cook that came in a couple times a week.
Venus took a deep breath and reminded herself that she needed to focus on the good aspects. That was something a high school counselor had told her once, and it had sounded like such shitty advice at the time. In fact, she was fairly certain she remembered telling Mr. Fowler to fuck off and that he didn’t understand her problems. But now she knew he had been right. In the midst of all these horrible things that she couldn’t control, she needed to find some way to feel a little bit better about it. The one thing she could truly count herself lucky for was the fact that Jet wanted her to go back to the hospital. Yes, it was only because he hoped it would bring him more information, but she’d take what she could get. When she’d left Township Memorial the previous day, Venus hadn’t imagined she’d ever get to come back.
“Good morning,” she said softly as she stepped into the room. Vixen was still unconscious, but the bright sunshine streaming through her window made everything seem a little more cheery. Venus stepped around the side of the bed and took her place in the uncomfortable chair next to it. “I wish you could open your eyes and sit up. Not only because I want to talk to you again more than anything, but also because you wouldn’t believe some of the shit I’ve been going through.” Venus laughed, gently touching Vixen’s arm. “I’m pretty sure you’d be kicking ass and taking names at this point, and I wouldn’t be stopping you.”
At first, it’d felt strange to talk to someone who couldn’t respond, like she was making conversation with a stuffed animal or a dog. But now that it’d been a couple days, she was becoming more and more used to it. She liked to think Vixen could hear her, even if the doctors weren’t completely sure. At the very least, it was a comfort to her to think she could still let her best friend know what she felt and what was going on in her life.
“You know, I don’t think I ever really thanked you,” Venus said softly, reaching out to touch Vixen’s fingers. “You stood up for me like nobody else in my life ever has. We both know my father only has his own interests in mind, and the men who follow him aren’t any better. Nobody in the Skulls has the least sense of morals and values, and I’m not even sure I know much about them myself, after being raised the way I was. This whole situation has really made me think a lot about my life.”
She paused, taking a deep breath in an effort to stave off the tears that burned at the backs of her eyes. “I should’ve listened to you. You started saying quite some time ago that we shouldn’t be putting up with any shit from Jet and the other Skulls. I kept brushing it off, but it wasn’t because I didn’t agree. I was just scared. I was too afraid of the consequences to do anything. That wasn’t fair to me or to you.”
Vixen gave no indication that she could hear. Her closed eyelids lay steadily, her lashes resting on her cheeks, her mouth slack around the ventilator. She would twitch a finger or a toe every now and then, but Venus had come to understand these were just random nerves firing in her unconscious state. They never coincided with what she said, and Venus had learned not to put any stock in them other than as simple signs of life.
“Anyway, things have gotten worse. I have no idea what’s going to happen to me or to the gang. I don’t know what’s going to happen to you either, but I want you to know I appreciate what you did.” In her mind’s eye, Venus could still so easily transport herself to that night in the parking lot. It hadn’t been that long ago, and the memory was still as crisp as if it was happening right then. She could see the glint of the last ray of sun on her father’s gun and feel the shock of the sound when he fired on Vixen. It was horrible. It was all so horrible.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Vixen, and I just wish I could repay you. I love you so much.”
Her eyelids fluttered. Venus felt her heart stop in her chest as the rest of the world stopped spinning. She focused on that tiny movement and gasped when Vixen opened her eyes. She stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning to Venus, focusing on her face.
“Hey! Hey, sweetie! Oh my God. I love you so much!”
But the happy reunion she thought she was getting wasn’t meant to be. The monitors that surrounded Vixen suddenly began sounding numerous deafening alarms. Vixen’s eyes went wide, and her back arched stiffly.
“No! What’s happening?” Venus pushed the nurse call button on the side of the bed, but of course they had already been on their way. The door burst open as first one nurse and th
en another came charging in. They shoved Venus back as they began checking the monitors and assessing the situation, shouting directions at each other that didn’t make any sense to Venus.
“What’s going on? Is she all right? She was just looking at me!”
As a doctor came rushing into the room, a third nurse grabbed Venus by the shoulders and pulled her toward the door. “You need to wait outside, ma’am.”
“But I’m the only one she’s got!” Venus wailed, digging in her heels and refusing to move. “I can’t just leave her.”
One of the nurses at the bedside hollered out a command, and the one who’d been trying to remove Venus no longer had time to mess with it. She let go of her and shot from the room, returning a few moments later with a syringe full of something.
Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good. Venus didn’t need to go to medical school to know that. Vixen’s body shook and trembled, and she gasped for air despite her ventilation tube. The shouting and beeping no longer drowned out the sound of her friend dying, up until the heart monitor flatlined. That sound pierced Venus’ heart and mind, digging deep into her soul.
The doctor was on top of her, rhythmically pounding his palm into her chest and trying to get her heart started again. The nurses watched the monitors and administered medicine, but it was of no use. Venus had no idea how long they’d been working on her, but the doctor finally climbed down from the bed and whipped off his face mask in frustration. He glanced up at the clock. “I’m calling it.”
The nurses nodded, and one of them began unhooking all the wires and tubes from Vixen. She worked quickly and soon pulled a sheet over her face.