I’d just go in the front door of the clubhouse and explain why I was wet. If Charlie was still there, I’d have to do something else. One step at a time, I thought.
I was just rounding the dumpster, when I heard the sound of pattering paws.
Then, I saw them. They appeared out of the darkness. Three pit bulls were running towards me at full speed. My heart froze and luckily, my feet didn’t. I turned and ran back the way I came, quickly realizing I’d fucked up immensely.
I was trapped.
The dogs rounded the corner of the dumpster, and I lunged for the fence, scurrying up it as fast as I could, my wet boots slipping over and over, the thin wires of the fence coated in rain. The dogs were growling and nipping at my boots and pulling at the legs of my jeans. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get up the fence and each time I made the slightest progress, they pulled me back down, their fangs ripping into my Levi’s.
In seconds, more dogs ran around the corner, joining in on the violent assault. With the extra competition in the fight for a piece of my flesh amping up, they jumped higher and higher. I screamed when I felt the first bite digging into my ass. Fangs pierced the denim, ripping my back pocket off, my phone falling to the ground below the writhing, hungry pack of piranhas.
Terror ripped through me, but so did the need for survival.
The white hot pain radiating from my ass sent shots of adrenaline through my veins, allowing me to pull myself up with my arms, firm footing be damned. My mind blocked out the barbed wire rolled at the top of the fence and with the promise of sure death by pit bull undulating below, I launched myself over the barbed wire with gravity-defying strength of a damned Olympic pole vaulter, my body falling in a crumpled heap onto the sidewalk on the other side.
I lay there, reeling from pain and shock, the piranhas nipping and barking inches from my face on the other side. Gasping for breath, I took stock of my limbs, thankfully noting that nothing was broken. I rolled away, pulling myself to my knees as waves of pain shot through my ass. I turned around, trying to inspect the damage with my hand. I pulled it away and looked at my fingers.
They were covered in blood. The rain dripped down onto my hand, mixing together in an abstract watercolor that I might actually appreciate if there wasn’t a pack of wild animals still trying to get to me.
I eyed the fence, wondering just how strong it was.
Had they ever escaped?
I groaned when I spotted my phone lying just inside the fence. I took a step forward, and the dogs barked even louder, but a few of them seemed to lose interest and walk away, disappearing back around the dumpster. I kept one eye on the phone and another on the remaining dogs.
I really needed that fucking phone.
Maybe I could distract them someway, just long enough to grab the phone. I looked up and down the sidewalk, wishing for a miraculous offering of raw meat that might be waiting close by, but no such luck.
I walked back to the dogs, contemplating how many fingers were actually a necessity in life. Maybe I could stand to lose one or two. Not a thumb, though, those are important. I mean, how many could they really tear off in the amount of time it would take me to reach in there? Not many at all, probably.
Maybe I’d end up with just a puncture or they’d just take off the tip of a pinkie. Something small. Hell, what did my pinkie ever do for me anyway, right?
Surely, I could sacrifice that.
That would work. I’d take one for the team. Imagine how the Gods would like me then, I thought. I’d show them I was committed, dedicated.
I steeled myself.
The dogs that remained stared me down. I locked eyes with the one standing directly over the phone, an all-white one with pink eyes and hardly any fur at all and a head as big as a basketball. He was all muscle.
And teeth.
So many fucking teeth.
He bared them all at me, as if to brag.
“I get it, dude,” I muttered to him. “You’re mean. Scary as shit. Seriously, I don’t want to fuck with you. I’m not even mad you took a bite out of my ass and ripped my favorite jeans. But I need that phone, you hear me?”
He growled, and I don’t know if it was a reflection from a near-by light but I’m pretty sure I saw his eyes glowing bright red for a second, before turning back into the dark as night pools of deadly blackness.
“Okay, okay, so you’re the fucking devil come to life. I totally believe you, my friend.” I stepped closer and he held his ground, his eyes glued to mine. He was frozen still now, which frightened me more than when he was wildly barking and jumping towards me earlier. I ignored that, though. I pushed through, remembering my sacrifice to the pinkie gods and reached my hand forward towards the phone.
“I’m not gonna touch you, dude, I promise. Just need the phone. Just the phone…” I pointed toward it, inching closer with the slowness of a slug. He broke my gaze, looking down to where I was pointing.
He cocked his head, then lowered it, sniffing the phone. He reached out with his front paw, pushing it around.
“Yes!” I cried. “Push it to me!”
He appeared to do just that, for a split second moving it towards me with his paw, but then he dropped his head again, picking it up with his mouth. His eyes met mine and I watched in horror as he jerked his head back, snapping into it with his massive fangs, chomping on it over and over.
“You bastard!” I seethed, shaking my head in disbelief.
I stood up and paused, trying to get my thoughts together. I looked up and down the sidewalk, and realized how lucky I was that nobody else had come out. So much for the club’s surveillance system, I thought. But maybe they didn’t need that when they had flesh eating animals with a penchant for ass cheeks and telecommunication devices to protect them.
I shook my head, leaving the dogs to their feast of glass, plastic, metal, denim and ass flesh, as I hobbled away in pain. I wandered around the perimeter, looking for an alternate entrance that wasn’t littered with fangs. I only had one more ass cheek to spare.
I ignored the pain and the fact that I was soaked to the bone and limping with one ass cheek exposed and kept walking. I found two more gates, in addition to the front one, but they were all firmly locked. Because of the rain, there wasn’t anyone lingering around outside that I could ask for help from in getting in.
Obviously, I couldn’t call Grace.
I walked back to the car where I’d parked it and sat behind the wheel, grateful for the reprieve from the relentless soaking I’d received. I pulled off my wet coat and laid it on the seat under me so I wouldn’t bleed on it.
And then, I waited.
Surely, Grace was wondering where I was by now. She’d come out looking for me, and I’d explain everything and it would all work out fine. I felt like an asshole for leaving her alone, but once I told her about Charlie, she’d understand.
As long as she was still safe in there, everything would be fine.
All I needed to do was wait.
So that’s what I did.
For fifteen minutes. And then thirty. Thirty turned to forty-five and the panic was rising in my throat by then. My ass throbbed as I kept waiting.
And fucking waiting…
I waited an hour and a half, then I got out of the car, walking around the perimeter of the place once more, looking for a way in that I might have missed the first time. But the pit bulls had a taste of me and they apparently wanted more, because they followed along with me, running along the fence and barking relentlessly, making it quiet clear I wasn’t going to get in there without sacrificing more flesh.
I walked back to the car and waited another half hour.
“Come out, Grace, what the hell is going on?” I cried to the empty car.
After fifteen more minutes, I gave in. I started the car, turned the heat on full blast, and put the car in gear.
Ryder was going to kill me, I’d come to accept my fate the last two hours.
What’s done was done.
I drove to the hotel as fast as I could, the sound of the dogs teeth chomping the phone into bits haunting me the entire way…
CHAPTER 10
RYDER
“It’s been way too long,” I said to Riot as I paced outside the hotel lobby.
“Only been a few hours,” Riot replied, patting me on the arm. “I know it’s hard, man, just be patient. If anything was wrong, they’d have called us. No news is good news, remember?”
I grunted and walked away, my eyes darting up and down the road for any sign of the Mustang. It was pouring rain, dark and cold, but I didn’t care, because I didn’t notice any of it.
I couldn’t think of anything until I knew Grace was safe. Hell, I wouldn’t be satisfied till I had her safe and sound back in my arms. The waiting was excruciating. I couldn’t think of a worse hell.
When the Mustang appeared down the road headed towards the hotel, I almost shouted in fucking glee like a teenaged girl.
“There they are!” I cried out to Riot, running back to him and waiting by the front door. The Mustang approached slowly, the dark tinted windows obscuring my view. I ran up to the passenger’s side door and flung it open.
“How’d it —?” I froze, looking in at a frazzled Nate in the driver’s seat and an empty seat beside him. “Where the fuck is Grace?”
He shook his head and shot me a hesitating glance. He turned off the car and opened his door.
“Dude, where the fuck is she?” I said, as he limped around the car towards me. His hair and clothes were soaked, and blood was pouring down the back of his leg. He looked at me with eyes that told me something was terribly wrong. My blood ran cold as rage filled my veins. I’d entrusted my entire life to this man and he’d come back bloody and empty-handed.
I rushed him, throwing him on the hood of the car, my hands around his throat.
“Where is she, goddammit?” I shouted.
Riot pulled me off him and he wrestled back to his feet.
“Ryder, I’m sorry. So much shit went wrong. I think Grace is okay, though, I really do.”
“You think?” I roared, pushing him back on the hood again and wrapping my fingers around his throat. I squeezed, my eyes bulging with anger.
“Goddammit, let him fucking talk, Ryder!” Riot yelled, his words barely penetrating the wall of anger surrounding me. My ears buzzed and I struggled to spread my fingers, releasing my grip and taking a step back.
“Talk!”
Slade, Wreck, Bones, Eli and Fury had been waiting inside and they ran out, spotting the commotion from inside.
“What the fuck is going on?” Slade yelled.
“Talk!” I barked.
“Alright, alright,” Nate said, throwing up his hands. “Like I said, I think she’s okay. I was coming out of the restroom when I saw someone I know. He would have recognized me and blown our cover, so I walked out a back door. I got locked out. I couldn’t get back in.”
“That’s all? You didn’t think to walk back in the fucking door?”
“I tried, but the fucking dogs attacked me. I couldn’t get back to Grace. I swear I tried.”
“How long ago did this happen? Why didn’t you fucking call me?”
“Um, well, I - um, shit, well, the fucking dogs ate my phone.”
“Dude, what?” Wrecked asked, his mouth falling open.
“I was climbing the fence, trying to get away and they ripped my jeans, took a chunk out of my ass, and the phone fell. See?” He said, turning around and showing us the mangled mess of his bloody, bare ass and ripped jeans.
“Where the fuck is Grace? You just left her there?” I growled.
“Well, no, I didn’t just leave her there!” He protested. “I mean, I did, but not until I tried to get back in and I waited, for fucking ever actually, but she never came out.”
“How long did you wait?”
“Two hours, at least.”
“She’s been inside there for two hours by herself?” Slade asked, his eyes wide with concern, as he shook his head slowly. “Dude…”
“Well, a little more now, I suppose,” Nate muttered, hanging his head.
I didn’t see red. I didn’t see black. But I was blinded by a murderous rage that rattled my very soul.
I rushed him again, fists flying. We landed on the ground, and he squirmed beneath me, trying to get away from my pummeling blows. I made contact, three, maybe four times, before the guys pulled me off him for the third time.
“Fuck, Ryder!” Slade shouted, his words muffled. “Jesus Christ, dude, you’re gonna get us all arrested! Chill the fuck out. Let’s go into your hotel room and try to figure out what our next steps are. You can kick his ass later. After we get Grace out.”
“I’m going now,” I said. “There’s nothing to fucking figure out.”
I turned away and began jogging down the sidewalk towards the parking lot where we’d left our bikes. The guys followed behind me.
“You can’t get in, either, man,” Nate called. “Those fucking dogs…”
“Watch me, asshole!” I shouted, just as a taxi pulled up beside me. I barely glanced at it, but it slowed right next to me and the door opened.
When Grace jumped out, I almost fell to my knees in relief.
“Hey, babe,” she said, looking around at us in confusion. “What are y’all doing? Sorry that took so long.”
I pulled her into my arms faster than I’d ever done before, pulling her tightly against my chest.
“You’re okay?” I murmured.
“I’m fine. Pissed. But fine. Nate disappeared on me.”
“Grace, I’m so sorry, I —,” he began behind me.
“Shut up!” I barked over my shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, babe,” I said. “I never should have let you go in there.”
“What are you talking about?” She pulled away, looking up into my eyes. “It took a little longer than I expected, but the deal is done! I’m in! We’re all good!”
I pulled her into my arms again, my heart racing, my breathing slowly returning to normal.
The Gods were crowded around us and I looked over at Nate.
“You’re one lucky bastard.”
CHAPTER 11
ELI
It broke my heart to see the pain on Nate’s face. I knew he’d tried so hard to do a good job and the fact the he’d failed was breaking him.
The Gods were gracious.
Well, after Ryder’s anger passed once he saw Grace was safe and the urge to rip Nate’s head off faded somewhat. At least for now.
I couldn’t help but feel the need to make up for it somehow.
“I want to go with you tomorrow.”
“I’m going alone,” Grace said. “I’m fine.”
“Like hell you are,” Ryder replied, with a firm shake of his head. “Shit might not have gone off the rails tonight, but I’m not about to let you go in there alone. I’m not fucking having it, Grace.”
“I’m so damned sorry,” Nate uttered, his brokenness so hard to look at. He’d get over it and it wouldn’t take long, he was that kind of guy, but right now the wounds were fresh and the worst kind of wounds were the self-inflicted kind.
I wasn’t sure what really happened, but it involved barbed wire and chewed up cell phones, and Bones was still sewing up Nate’s ass as he lay on the hotel bed as we all mulled around, trying to figure out how to proceed.
“It’s fine, really,” Grace said, dismissing Nate’s apologies with a wave of her hand. “Nothing happened. I stayed at the bar waiting for you. I figured something happened. I’ll admit I was confused when I walked out and saw the car was gone, but I called for a cab and they were there within minutes. I never once felt in danger for my life. Seems like you got the worst end of the deal, to be honest.”
He flinched as Bones pulled the thread up. I’d have laughed, if it wasn’t so damned tragic and making my brother so miserable. Someday, I’d
rib him about this night, but tonight wasn’t the time to start.
Like I sad, it was all too fresh for him.
“I’d like the chance to make up for Nate’s…um…well, the complications he ran into tonight. I want to show you that we’re worthy and skilled and can do the job. Give us another chance.”
“Won’t Charlie recognize you, too?” Grace asked.
“I don’t know him, never met him,” I shrugged. “He was prospecting that year I was in the service. And Nate and I might be brothers, but you’d never know by looking at us. I think we’re safe. And I promise not to leave your side.”
“It was a simple mistake, it could have happened to anyone. I’d let you come back, Nate, if there wasn’t a chance you’d be recognized,” Grace said, flashing him a sympathetic smile.
He nodded gratefully.
“So?” I asked. “We go back tomorrow?”
“Ryder?” Grace asked, looking over at him.
“Alright, I guess. But if you’re in there longer than an hour this time, I’m coming in after you, pit bulls be damned.”
Everyone laughed, the tension finally broken. I took a deep breath, nodding my head.
“I won’t let y’all down,” I said, making a mental note to hit the butcher on the way there. A pocketful of raw meat couldn’t hurt, right?
CHAPTER 12
GRACE
For a moment, I wasn’t sure Ryder was going to let me out the door. He hugged me so hard I thought I felt a rib crack. Not that I’m complaining. It’s the best feeling in the world having someone love you so much that they worry about you.
Since my first meeting with Snake, I was a little more relaxed going back in there this time. Ryder seemed to be more worried than before. Sure, I had to explain the fact that I was bringing a new guy with me, now that we’d replaced Nate with Eli, but that would be a piece of cake. Snake wasn’t too concerned with Nate, so I didn’t expect anything different this time with Eli.
I was right.
Everything went smoothly getting in. Snake met us at the gate with an armful of steaks for the dogs and we breezed through the gates without even a cursory glance from the hungry dogs.
SAVING GRACE: GODS OF CHAOS MC (BOOK SIX) Page 7