CAGED: GODS OF CHAOS (BOOK TEN) (Gods of Chaos MC 10)

by Honey Palomino

  I nodded and reached down, cupping the bald one’s chin and taking a good look at his face. He had lots of scars and a nose that looked like it’d been broken a few times, but underneath it all, he was classically handsome. I couldn’t wait till he opened his eyes so I could see what color they were. I let him go, his head flopping back on the bed. The ring on his finger caught my eye — a creepy skull with red eyes that I was immediately smitten with.

  I pulled it off his finger and let his hand fall back on the bed, slipping the ring in my pocket.

  “He looks good,” I nodded, approvingly. I stepped over to the other one, reaching down to touch his hair. I smoothed it down around his face, curling a lock under his chin. Silky and soft, it lay perfectly against his smooth, tan skin. This one was much younger than the other one. “I’ll probably use this one, though. He’s younger.”

  Zane nodded beside me, waiting patiently for his orders.

  I took a deep breath, watching them like sleeping children.

  “They’re both really beautiful,” I said. “I won’t really know until I test them out myself, of course. Which I can’t do until they wake up completely.”

  “A few more hours, maybe,” Zane replied. “I can keep an eye on them if you want to go to bed.”

  “It’s getting late,” I said. “That’s a good idea. Wake me when they’re alert.”

  “Yes, Miss Mona,” he replied. “I’ll wait down here.”

  “Make sure they don’t touch Eve,” I said. “And don’t sample the product yourself, either.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not that stupid,” he replied.

  “You’re a good man, Zane,” I said. “I wish I had more like you.”

  “Are you saying I’m not enough?” he asked, with mock outrage.

  “Never,” I replied, kissing him on the cheek, before turning away and heading back up the stairs, leaving a pissed off Eve and her trail of questions behind.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  LIBBY

  She left me alone with Zane. It wasn’t the first time. He seemed like a decent guy, considering. He never touched me. He spoke to me respectfully. But mostly, he was silent. He didn’t need to speak to be intimidating.

  Tonight, he sat in a chair near the bedroom door, waiting patiently for the sleeping monsters to come back to life.

  “Can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  He looked up at me briefly, then pulled out his phone and focused on it, ignoring me completely.

  “She’s not here, just tell me why you’re keeping me here. Please?”

  He grunted, not even bothering to look up. I sighed and sank down onto the dining chair, determined to wear him down.

  “Look, I’ve been here ten days! What the fuck, man? What’s the point of all this? What’s up with Mona? Is she your boss or what? She’s fucking crazy.”

  He glanced up, shooting me a look of warning

  “Mona’s a wonderful woman. She’s not crazy. She’s a visionary.”

  Finally, an answer. Even if it didn’t tell me a thing.

  “A visionary? What does that mean?”

  “Eve, I know this is hard. But I promise it will all make sense one day. Mona’s not going to hurt you. She’s chosen you. You should be grateful.”

  “Grateful?!” I shouted. “Are you serious?”

  “It may not look like it now, but she’s given you a wonderful gift. Try to relax and count your blessings. Nobody’s hurt you, right?”

  “No.”

  “And we aren’t going to, either. Stop worrying so much.”

  I shook my head, my stomach sinking.

  “Libby,” I said.

  “What?”

  “My name is Libby. Not Eve.”

  “No, not anymore,” he said, his voice somber and serious.

  Whatever was going on, Zane was brainwashed.

  How many others were there? Were they just outside of that locked door? What had Mona done to get them to fall in line so loyally? What was this vision Zane was talking about?

  And most of all, what the hell did it have to do with me?

  What exactly had she chosen me for?

  Zane jumped to his feet as one of the bikers began moaning loudly and thrashing around on the bed. He slammed the bedroom door and locked it, quickly turning back to me.

  “I’ll be right back. Don’t you dare open that door.”

  “I’m not touching it,” I said.

  I wasn’t kidding. I expected those two to roar to life like a couple of injured lions and I didn’t want to be the first thing they saw when they woke up.

  “I’m going to get Mona, I’ll be right back,” he walked up the stairs quickly and I called after him.

  “Wait! Don’t leave me alone with them!”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SLADE

  Blinding pain ripped through my head.

  I shook it away, grasping for clarity through the blurred vision. Blinking hard, it was a struggle to make out the figures in front of me.

  A woman, dressed in black, the light behind her creating a silhouette of slim curves as she towered over me. Next to her, another figure, masculine and intimidating, the outline of a gun at the end of his arm. In a distant corner, a young girl sat curled up and watching.

  Cool fingers caressed my cheek and I leaned into them, the coolness refreshing and comforting. My limbs were weak and heavy, the blanket of fog holding me down.

  Struggling to remember where I was, who these people were, who I was…

  Slade.

  Sergeant at Arms of the Gods of Chaos Motorcycle Club.

  Husband to Diana.

  Father to —.

  I snapped awake.

  Where ever I was — it was wrong. This was all wrong.

  I willed my feet to the ground and when my boots hit wood, I felt a sense of relief wash over me. It was solid. I was alive.

  Pulling my head up, I trailed my gaze around the room, taking in the dank basement, instinctively finding the only door — behind them, up the stairs — that led to what appeared to be the only exit. To get out, to get home to Diana and Jeremiah, I would need to go through them.

  Unfortunately, I knew I wasn’t strong enough to do that just yet. And why was that? I wondered. Was I sick? No, drugged.

  Why?

  “— the fuck?” I mumbled, looking up at the woman.

  She leaned down, bringing her face close to mine. She smiled like roses. An eerie smile lit up her beady eyes and if she wasn’t so creepy, I’d have thought she was hot. She was built like a brick shithouse, that much was true. Her curves were enough to make the strongest man sink to his knees, but that wasn’t what was going on here, though.

  “What did you give me?” I asked.

  “Does it matter?” she asked, with a dismissive wave. “You’re here now. I’m assuming your name is Slade? Is that correct?”

  I grunted in agreement.

  “Nice to meet you, Slade. I’m Mona. Mona Superhero.” She put her hand out as if I was going to shake it, but instead I reached up and slapped it away from my face. The dude next to her lunged for me, but she moved between us and shook her head.

  “It’s okay,” she murmured. “I know you must have a lot of questions.”

  “What I have is a lot of anger. What the fuck did you do to me? And where the fuck is Bullet?” My words slurred, as my last memories washed over me. We were at the weird bar together…

  “Right next to you,” she pointed. I glanced next to me and saw Bullet splayed out on the bed, completely passed out. “He’s unharmed. So are you.”

  “I’d hardly called drugged out of our minds unharmed,” I said. I clenched my fists, willing my strength to return so I could barrel through these assholes and get out of here.

  “You’ll be fine, I promise,” she said, flashing me a reassuring smile.

  “Who are you again?”

  “Me?” she asked. “Well, I’m a lot of things. I’m an artist. A visionary. I’m
the mayor of this town. I actually have a lot of plans that I’d love to tell you more about later, and I think you’ll find them very exciting.”

  “Mayor? Of what town?”

  “I haven’t decided on a name just yet.”

  “Where are we?”

  “You’re the one who stumbled into my bar, Slade. Don’t act like I just plucked you from the street.”

  I squinted my eyes, sizing them up. By my estimation, if I could get through them and make it twenty feet to the staircase and up the door, then I could get the fuck out of here. Hopefully my bike was still out there.

  I glanced down at Bullet, lying next to me completely oblivious to the fact that we were in danger. He slept as peacefully as a baby. I nudged him, but he didn’t move.

  Fuck. I couldn’t leave him here alone.

  “Listen, darlin,” I drawled, flashing Mona my most charming grin. “I’m not sure what you think is going to happen here, but I can assure you that as long as you let us go, I won’t kill you and the big goon behind you.”

  Her laughter bubbled up like a fountain.

  “You’re cute,” she nodded. “And spunky. I like that.”

  Inside, I was fuming. Who the fuck did they think they were fucking with? Did she really think she was going to get away with this?

  As soon as I got my strength back, she’d see just how big of a mistake she’d made. I took a deep breath, my fists balled at my sides, and I sat up on the bed.

  Immediately, the room began spinning, my heavy boots, while planted firmly on the ground, were not enough to make it stop.

  “I may be cute,” I mumbled. “But I’m mean as hell.”

  “Really?” she asked, tilting her head. “Because it looks to me like you’re as weak as a kitten.”

  The anger swelled up in me like a tsunami.

  Fuck the drugs. Fuck the spinning room.

  I pulled myself to my feet, putting one foot in front of the other, my intention to barrel right through them, no matter what.

  Instead, my knees buckled after two steps and in an instant, I was sprawled out on the dirty concrete floor at their feet.

  She laughed again, Zane joining in until she spoke again.

  “You’ve got spirit, Slade. I like that.”

  “Fucking bitch,” I growled.

  “Is that the best you can come up with?” she mused. “I’ve been called a lot worse.”

  She turned to walk away, pausing in the doorway.

  “Zane, give him more drugs,” she said. “He needs to have that spirit broken a bit.”

  “Yes, Miss Mona,” he replied, moving towards me with a syringe.

  I kicked my feet out towards him, but he dodged them easily, sinking the loaded syringe into my ass cheek in a quick, smooth movement. My eyes fluttered closed instantly, the world melting away, no matter how hard I tried to hold on.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  BULLET

  “It’s about fucking time,” Slade said, as I blinked my eyes open. He was pacing around me with the force of an angry lion, his eyes narrowed and focused.

  “What the fuck?” I murmured, looking around, trying to make sense of where we were.

  “We’ve been fucking kidnapped,” he growled.

  I scoffed.

  “What?” I asked, my eyes darting around for something, anything, familiar.

  “And they took our fucking guns,” Slade said, a low growl escaping from his lips.

  “Who did?” I asked.

  “We’ve been here at least two days now!” he growled again. “I’ve been trying to wake your ass up, but apparently, you’ve never taken a drug before in your life, have you?”

  “Drugs aren’t my thing, man,” I said, grabbing my aching head.

  “No shit,” he replied, still pacing.

  “I don’t understand,” I mumbled. “Where are we? What happened?”

  “Goddammit,” he raged. “Fucking motherfucking fuckers!”

  “Slade, stop pacing!” I said. He stopped for two beats, his eyes crashing into mine, the anger rolling off of him like a white-hot wave. He began pacing again.

  “I can’t sit still.”

  “Let’s just figure out a way out of here,” I said.

  “Don’t you think I’ve already tried that?” he asked, looking at me like I was stupid. “Everything’s locked or boarded up. And she’s not talking!”

  “She?”

  He pointed out to the corner and I saw a young woman sitting on a chair, watching our every move. She was pretty, her expression serious and thoughtful, her legs pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them.

  “Who is she?”

  “Fuck if I know,” he said. “This is bullshit.”

  “The last thing I remember is sitting at the bar,” I said, sitting up, the room spinning like crazy.

  “Yeah, me too,” he said. “But then this woman came down here with some fucking gorilla with a gun, talking nonsense about visions and shit. I knew I couldn’t take them alone and you wouldn’t fucking wake up. Then they gave me more drugs. Did I mention we’ve been here for two fucking days? I can’t believe you wouldn’t wake up!”

  “Well, I’m awake now,” I said. “There’s gotta be a way out.”

  “Good luck with that, this place is locked down tight.”

  “It’s useless,” the girl spoke up, her voice soft and calm.

  Slade and I looked at her in shock.

  “Now you talk?” he asked. She looked at him and shrugged.

  “I’ve been trying to find a way out for days,” she said. “It’s impossible.”

  “Nothing’s fucking impossible, babe,” Slade said, walking over to her. “What’s your name?”

  “Libby,” she replied. “But these crazy people keep calling me Eve.”

  “Eve, huh?” he asked. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-one,” she replied. Slade nodding, looking her over.

  “And they haven’t hurt you?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “What do you know about them?”

  “Nothing,” she said. “They never answer my questions. Just keep bringing me food and those fucking apples.” She gestured to a pile of rotting apples in the corner. “It’s creepy.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Slade said. “But I ain’t found a situation I couldn’t get out of yet, and I don’t think this is one either. Just give me some time.”

  “They’ll be back soon,” Libby said, pointing to a black box in the corner. “They have cameras on us.”

  “Yeah?” Slade said, walking up and staring into it. “We’re awake, bitch! Come and get us!”

  We waited, listening, watching the door.

  Silence.

  “Fuck,” I muttered, bringing myself to my feet. I reached out for the doorframe to steady myself, taking one step at a time, slowly making my way for the stairs.

  “What are you doing?” Slade asked.

  “Trying the fucking door,” I said. “Locks were made to be broken.”

  I began rummaging through the kitchen. “I need something small and sharp, like a toothpick or a knife.”

  “There’s nothing sharp down here,” Libby said. “I’ve looked everywhere.”

  “She’s right,” Slade muttered. “Okay, look, we’ll barrel through it. Won’t be the first door I’ve broken through.”

  Slade walked to the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the door at the top. He took a deep breath and ran up the stairs at full speed, slamming into the door. It didn’t budge, but instead he bounced backwards, the force catapulting him backwards down the stairs. He landed in a heap at the bottom, immediately got up and shook it off, eyeing the door again like a stubborn bull.

  “Slade, don’t,” I began, but he was already halfway back up the stairs, slamming into the door again. This time, the door rattled a bit, but remained firmly in place. Slade caught himself this time, jogging back down the stairs, the anger still rolling off of him.

  “I think there
are bars on the other side,” Libby said. “I’ve tried everything, trust me on this.”

  “This is bullshit,” Slade shouted.

  “Are you guys bikers?” Libby asked, pointing to our jackets.

  “Yeah,” I grunted. “Kinda.”

  “So, you’re like…criminals? Rapists? Murderers?” she asked, her eyes widening.

  “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to,” Slade replied, shooting her a wary look. “But don’t worry, we won’t hurt you. We just want to get out of here. And get you out of here, too.”

  “Good luck,” she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

  Footsteps sounded overhead, until they stopped just outside the door, the sound of metal scraping on wood echoing through the basement before the distinctive clicks of a lock being thrown open. Slade and I squared up at the bottom of the stairs, waiting. I reminded myself to breath, my legs still shaky and unstable.

  The woman walked down first, followed closely by a very large guy with a handgun pointed straight at us.

  “Stay cool and nobody gets hurt,” the woman said, standing directly in front of Slade and staring up at him.

  “What the fuck do you want from us?” Slade demanded.

  The woman nodded, a slow creepy smile spreading across her face.

  “I like a man who gets down to business right away,” she said. “We talked before but maybe you don’t remember.”

  “I remember. You talked about vague visions and art and a whole lot of nonsense. I’m assuming this has something to do with Solid Ground. So tell us what you want, we can call Grace and Ryder and negotiate. I need to get home to my family, so let’s not waste any more time.”

  “Huh,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “Interesting. I’m sorry you misunderstood, Slade. I’m the boss here. I don’t know what Solid Ground is, but I can assure you my actions here have nothing to do with that.”

  “You want money, is that it? How much? Name your price.”

  “Money?” she laughed. “Within a few years money will be obsolete. No, it’s not money I’m after.”

  “You want to explain then?” he asked.

  “It’s simple really. I was gifted this little ghost town a few months ago. So, I’m starting my own town, where I’m in charge and only the people I choose are allowed to reside.”