“Riot’s not far away,” Ryder said. “I think we should wait.”
“Mona’s going to be back here any second,” I said. “We need to get in while we can.”
“There might be others,” he warned. I nodded, pulling out my gun as we made our way through the thick woods. “Riot said it was a ways back.”
“I think I see it,” I pointed through the trees. “Do you see it?”
“Yeah, I see something, let’s keep going.”
We walked a little farther, the house becoming visible through the trees. We were almost there when I couldn’t take it any longer. I owed him the truth.
“Ryder?” I stopped, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. I felt the danger we were in and I knew how seriously we could get hurt. I couldn’t let another minute go by without coming clean to him. It just wasn’t fair to keep this going on any longer. What if we died right now and he never knew?
“Yeah, babe?” he asked, clearly focused on making it through the woods.
I stopped in my tracks and he turned to look at me.
“I need to tell you something,” I said. “It’s serious.”
“Grace?” he asked, his eyes filling with concern. “What’s going on?”
“I’m so sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I wanted to —.”
“—You just don’t stop, do you?” I froze.
Ryder and I turned to the voice behind us.
“Mona!” She and her driver stood behind us on the trail, a gun in his hand, pointed straight at us.
Ryder tensed beside me, his own gun pointed at them.
“Hello, again, Grace. Meet my friend Zane. Why are you here?” she demanded.
“I told you, I’m looking for my friends.” I gripped my gun in my hand, but left it hanging at my side. “This is my partner Ryder.”
“You aren’t going to find them here, Grace. It’s best you get off my property.” Zane towered behind her, his pointed gun unwavering.
“No,” I replied. “Not until we look inside.”
Fear gripped my heart, just as it did anytime guns were drawn around me. My training told me to ignore the fear and stay focused, but things were different now. That fear was impossible to ignore. A new kind of fear lived inside of me now.
“That’s not going to happen,” she said. Her eyes were red and swollen, a contrast to her perfectly applied makeup from earlier. She’d been crying.
I shook my head, hoping I could get through to her.
“Look, Mona, I don’t know what’s going on with you. I’m sorry if I upset you earlier. I just need to look for my friends and then I’ll be on my way. Okay?”
Her eyes grew angrier with every word, until she was shaking with fury.
“Mona, listen to me…”
In a flash, she lunged towards me, her hands gripping my throat and knocking me to the ground. She lay on top of me her eyes wild and red.
“You bitch!” she cried. “Why did you tell me her name?! Why? It was all perfect, you fucking cunt!”
I struggled to get her hands off my neck. Ryder moved towards us, but Zane jumped between us, his gun pointed right at Ryder’s head.
“Don’t go near them unless you want a bullet in your head!” Zane growled. Ryder stopped, putting his hands up.
I grabbed Mona’s fingers, prying them off one by one and trying to buck her off of me. I got one of her hands off and pushed it away, but she got her hand free, clawing and scratching at my face. She screamed and cried, growing wilder by the second.
I had to do something.
I shot my knee up between her legs as hard as I could, forcing her off of me as she rolled over on her back crying.
The roar of motorcycle engines sounded in the distance and I jumped up before Mona could straddle me again. I jumped on top of her, grabbing her wrists and pinning her hands above her head. She seethed below me, her eyes shooting daggers of hate straight through me.
“You didn’t have to tell me,” she growled, writhing below me as she tried to get loose. My eyes darted over to Ryder, the gun still to his head. “I didn’t need to know her name!”
“Who? Olivia?” I asked, gasping for air. “Where’s Slade? Where’s Bullet?”
“Fuck you!” she spat, her curse laced with anger and pure vitriol. She bucked her hips again, throwing me off balance, allowing her to get one of her hands loose and break free, scrambling out from under me as I landed on my back.
I struggled to get to my feet to catch her, but she ran into the woods. Zane stepped in front of me, his gun now pointed at both Ryder and myself.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said.
A scream echoed through the woods and a few seconds later, Riot burst through the clearing, carrying a wiggling Mona over his shoulder.
“Let me down, you asshole!” she cried, beating him over the shoulder.
When he saw us, with Zane’s gun still pointed at us, he stopped. The Gods behind him all drew their guns on him at once, until we all stood staring at each other breathless.
Danger dripped from the air.
The only movement was from Mona’s kicking legs and her fists beating on the back of Riot’s shoulders.
“Looks like we need to make a trade,” Riot said to Zane.
“Put her down,” Zane insisted.
“Put your fucking gun down,” Riot growled, completely unfazed by Mona’s assault. “And give us our guys.”
“No way,” Zane replied.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
MONA
“Zane, put your damned gun down!” I cried, beating on this enormous brute’s back. “Let me down, asshole!”
“You sure, Miss Mona?” Zane asked.
“Yes, dammit! Look how many of them there are! Are you insane?”
Slowly, he lowered his gun. Quickly, Ryder moved behind him, grabbing his arms and twisting them behind him as he threw him to the ground. The Gods all surrounded him, a gang of intimidating, towering men that would have put the fear of God in any sane person. I looked them over, wishing like hell I could have just half of them for my own.
But my dreams for a new life had been shattered.
Now that all this shit had gone down, now that Grace and her huge group of beefcake knew that I had kidnapped their friends, I knew I couldn’t just hang around.
I needed to get out of here and escape, go somewhere completely new.
“Don’t fight, Zane,” I said, feeling like shit as he squirmed on the ground. My eyes darted over to the house. I needed to get in there, get to Libby and talk to her, explain everything to her. The need to see her was overwhelming, the longing to look into her eyes and know she was mine was like a tsunami of painful yearning that washed over me.
But first, I needed to get through all these men.
Which I was pretty sure wasn’t going to happen.
I had to try. I owed her that much.
Riot put me down and as soon as my feet hit the ground, I ran.
I took off towards the front door, sure I’d never get there before being scooped up by a pair of meaty arms.
I was right.
A pair of muscular, tattooed arms wrapped around my chest, picking me up in one swift movement, my feet leaving the ground again as I flailed around, trying to break free.
“Get in there!” Grace demanded and five of her guys ran inside the house.
My heart sank. It was too late now.
It was all over.
Zane struggled to break free from the guy holding him down, managing to punch him and break free enough to take three steps before a shot rang out and he sank to his knees.
Chaos broke out all around us as Hank, my bartender, and three of his guys burst through the trees with their guns blazing. Grace ran to the back of the house while the gunfire burst out all around us. I turned around fast to face the new guy holding me and kneed him in the nuts with all my strength.
He let me go just long enough for me to scramble away.
I ran in
to the trees, leaving all my dreams behind, leaving my only friend behind, leaving my daughter behind.
I had no choice.
I ran until I couldn’t run anymore, until I couldn’t hear the gunshots, until I couldn’t hear anything at all, except the birds singing amidst my sobs, my heart broken, my soul devastated.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
BULLET
Wreck and Riot’s faces were the most beautiful things I’d ever seen, right next to Libby’s.
After hearing gunshots and fighting outside, Libby and I weren’t sure what was going to happen, but when the door burst open and those two stood at the top of the stairs peering down, I thought I might burst with joy.
I grabbed Libby’s hand and we ran up the stairs to meet them.
“Bullet!” Riot said, grabbing me and embracing me tightly. “Are you okay? Where’s Slade?”
“He’s down there,” I said. “He’s in bad shape, man. I’m so sorry.”
He steeled himself and nodded. “Okay, I got him.” He ran down the stairs as fast as he could and Wreck turned to us as gunshots continued to ring out.
“It’s really bad out there,” he said. “Go out the back door, go into the woods and run.”
“No, way,” I said. “I’m fighting with you.” I turned to Libby. “Stay inside, go into the bathroom and hide in the bathtub. If they come in, run out the back door. I’ll come get you in a few minutes.”
“Bullet, no!” she cried, her eyes wide with fear.
“Do it!” I demanded. She looked at me in despair and I grabbed her, kissing her hard on the lips. “I’ll be back. I promise. But these are my brothers, I can’t abandon them.” There was no way in hell I was going to let them fight alone. Wreck and I left her locked in the bathroom as we ran outside together.
“I don’t know how you found us, but I’m so fucking happy to see you,” I said, as we ran towards the front door.
“Happy to see you, too, brother,” he said, handing me a gun. “Be careful. There’s not many of them, but they have a lot of firepower.”
“Where’s Mona?”
“I don’t know.”
We walked out onto the porch, guns drawn as we took cover behind the posts holding up the big porch. Mona’s men were in the trees, bullets flying in every direction. Zane laid bleeding on the ground a few feet away and he didn’t look good.
A bullet whizzed by, barely missing Wreck.
“Cover me,” he said, “I’m going around the back of the house to come up on them from behind.”
I nodded, my heart pounding as I crouched down and then jumped out, firing off a round before ducking back down.
He made it, disappearing around the back and leaving me there alone. The door behind me opened, and Libby stood there with tears streaming down her cheeks, her body shaking in fear.
“I can’t leave you alone!” She cried.
“Libby!” I shouted, fear striking my heart. “Don’t come out here!”
I shoved her on the ground, landing on top of her just as I felt the bullet pierce my back.
Her screams were the last thing I heard before everything went black.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
LIBBY
Bullet’s body lay heavy on top of me, his eyes closed, his breath shallow and ragged.
I screamed for help and two Gods came running towards us. A barrage of gunfire echoed through the air, and then suddenly — it all just stopped.
Voices cried out and boots pounded the ground coming towards us, one of the Gods pulling Bullet’s bleeding body off of me and laying him on his back as he began CPR.
My screams sounded a million miles away as I watched them work on Bullet’s lifeless body.
“Bullet, Bullet, come on,” I sobbed. I glanced around at the bodies strewn along the edge of the woods, every one of Mona’s men lying motionless in the dirt.
“Come on, brother…”
“Bullet, you gotta pull through…”
“Wake up, man…”
Five guys crouched around him and one of them pulled me back while we watched as they worked on him, my heart sinking into the deepest despair.
“Oh, baby,” I cried, tortured with helplessness, my mind clouded with fear.
The sound of a siren broke through the fog and in a second everything was a blur around me.
Someone brought Slade out just as the paramedics arrived, and within minutes, both Slade and Bullet were being loaded into ambulances as the paramedics worked on them.
Out of the fog, a blanket appeared on my shoulders and I blinked, focusing on a petite blonde woman standing in front of me, her smile gentle and loving.
“They’re going to be okay,” she said. “I’m Grace. What’s your name, honey?”
“Olivia. Olivia Daniels,” I whispered, my voice a million miles away, my eyes glued to the ambulance the love of my life had just been loaded into, still unconscious.
Grace froze, her eyes widening in shock.
“What! Oh, my god,” she said. “I had no idea.”
“What?” I asked.
She shook her head, “Never mind. I’ll explain later. Let’s get to the hospital. I take it you’ve grown close to Slade and Bullet?”
“Yes,” I nodded. We walked over to the ambulance right before they shut the doors and I put out a hand, stopping them from closing it. “I’m going with you.”
I jumped up without waiting for permission and kneeled next to Bullet. They’d got his heart beating on its own, but he was still unconscious, a breathing mask on his face.
I leaned down, whispering to him.
“Bullet, you have to wake up!” I insisted. “You can’t leave me now. We’re free! We’re free, baby. Please, please wake up!”
Hot tears rolled down my cheeks and I laid my head on his chest. The doors closed and the ambulance started moving, the loud sirens screeching overhead, as Bullet’s eyes remained closed.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
SLADE
The pain was gone.
In its place was the sweet caress of morphine, cradling my broken body in its delicious embrace, allowing me to experience the most incredible pain-free high of my life.
If only someone would turn off these lights…
They were bright. Too bright. And the smell, so strong and jarring, like ammonia, or bleach. I had no idea where I was but I had no problem enduring the smell in exchange for this high.
Dozens of voices swirled around me, but it all turned into one big dreamy drug trip and I couldn’t make out any words, but I felt the love. Whoever these people were — they loved me.
“Slade,” a woman’s voice whispered in my ear. “Baby, it’s me, it’s Diana, please wake up…”
Something inside of me definitely woke up.
My Diana! Was I dreaming?
Was this real?
Was she really here?
I blinked, my eyes opening to small slits, but enough to see her, to see that she was real, that beautiful face shining down at me.
“Diana,” I mumbled. Tears streamed down her pretty face and I wanted desperately to make them go away.
“I was so worried,” she cried, her lips kissing all over my face. I winced from the pain, but the last thing I wanted her to do was stop.
I shook my head, “I’m okay, baby,” I whispered, my voice rough and raspy. “Where am I?”
“At the hospital, my love,” she replied. “They’re going to take good care of you. I promise. You’re safe now.”
I nodded, a slow smile spreading across my face.
“Baby?” I whispered.
“Yes, my love?” she asked, bringing her face close to mine.
“Touch my cock,” I said, my voice cracking.
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Touch your what?”
“My cock, babe. Just do it,” I said. She shook her head, but she reached down, placing her warm hand over my cock like a comforting blanket. I sighed, melting into her touch.
“It’s hard,
” she said, her eyes wide with surprise.
“I knew it!” I croaked, laughing and immediately wincing in pain again. “It’s really good to see you, babe.”
EPILOGUE
TWO WEEKS LATER
“You don’t look a day over thirty,” Ryder said, leaning down and kissing Cherry on the cheek. She’d been flying around all afternoon, her copper curls bouncing around the clubhouse as she prepared enough fried chicken to feed a small army. “And you shouldn’t be working so hard on your birthday.”
“You flatter me,” she winked at him, her fondness for him shining through. They’d been friends and lovers and now they were family. Cherry loved all the Gods like they were her own, but she had a particular love for Ryder. They’d gone through so much together. And today, on her fiftieth birthday, she couldn’t imagine anyone else she’d rather spend the day with.
Slade limped through the front door, Diana by his side. His bruises and cuts were healing, and while it would be a several more weeks before his broken leg healed, his spirits were high and he was back to being the same cocky jokester he always was.
“Happy Birthday, Cherry,” he said, leaning down to hug her as best as he could with his crutches. “I love you, girl.”
“I love you, too, Slade,” she said, beaming up at him. “Where’s Jeremiah?”
“Outside looking for Oliver and Olivia,” he said.
“How’s the leg?” she asked.
“Oh, the leg is fine,” he replied, winking at her with a mischievous grin. “But as long as my third leg is working, who cares about walking straight, right?”
Diana shook her head and rolled her eyes. Cherry chuckled, “I don’t know how you put up with him.”
“Neither do I,” she said, pulling Slade away. They sat down at the table and quickly lost themselves in conversation, completely happy to be there. Slade had taken the incident with Mona in stride, just as he always did. All he cared about was that he was back with the ones he loved.
CAGED: GODS OF CHAOS (BOOK TEN) (Gods of Chaos MC 10) Page 15