And now it’s mine, I thought.
And then I spoke:
“I know I’ve been a shit leader up until now,” I confessed, running my hand over my neck nervously for a moment. “And I just wanted to say just how much I appreciate those of you who are left. Given everything that’s happened—everything that’s happening—it’s not the easiest thing in the world to stay loyal. I understand that. But that means that all of you are the best of the best; the… fuck, the cream of the crop and all that jazz!” I paused as a small splattering of laughter passed from that. “I am, frankly, honored that all of you have continued to stay, and I’m thankful that you’ve all continued to have my back even through it all. We lost a lot of good men when my father…” my voice cracked. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to lose them. I needed to do this. If not just for them, I needed to prove it to myself. I needed to show them that I could be a strong leader. I cleared my throat and nodded. “Well, you all know what happened,” I said finally, taking a deep breath. “And, despite what you know, you’re here with me now—here with us now. Now, I’m not going to sugarcoat the situation. The Carrion crew have numbers. Let’s not even dodge the reality of the situation: they have a lot more than we do, especially since they’re taking the ones who don’t have the balls to stay with us. But I think there’s something to be said of that, don’t you? I think we stand a damn good chance if the best they’ve got are the ones who weren’t good enough to stand with us! I’ll tell you true, guys, I’d sooner take one of you than ten of them!”
This earned a cheer from the crowd.
Smiling at this, feeling motivated by their approval, I went on: “They may have numbers, but we have loyalty and courage to stay together. And I think that alone will give us a fighting chance. Now, we have their location and, Candy—”
“The whore?” somebody shouted out.
A low murmuring passed at that.
I frowned and looked up, already knowing I’d never identify the speaker but also knowing I wouldn’t have to. “And so what if she is?” I demanded of the crowd. “She’s still out there risking her neck all the same; still gonna take arms against those Carrion-fucks! When I was a kid, my dad held business meetings with whores at our dinner table—my mother served them the same food we all ate—and that was how some of the best business this city has seen was done! So who among you thinks you’re above my old man? Hmm? Who out there thinks they’re too good to fight with the same sort of people my mother was willing to feed?”
Nobody said a word.
“Fucking-A right,” I said with a nod. “Now,” I cleared my throat, daring another interruption, “Candy—some of you may know her as Nancy—has been collecting some intel for us on the inside. We know their location, we know how we can bring them down. Like I said though, it’s going to be dangerous and I can’t guarantee we’ll all make it. And I’d understand if some of you decided to change your minds. I won’t blame you if you do.”
I looked up at the crowd, giving them the chance then to leave. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I saw the steely look the crew gave me. No one even made the slightest move to leave. A well of pride and appreciation grew inside me and I gave them a single nod.
“Thank you for this,” I said. “I’ll make an effort to be a better leader. You all have my gratitude.”
With that, the guys all began to cheer and I felt my face grow warm with a flush. I hadn’t expected this kind of response. My shoulders sagged in relief and I finally found my way down to where Danny stood. His eyes shown pride as he moved his hand to my shoulder.
“Yer dad would be proud,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling the wetness grow in my eyes.
I didn’t stop the tears. They weren’t sad tears and as I let them flow, an entire new strength had formed inside me. I wiped my face finally and glanced up at Danny, grinning up at him as I did.
“LET’S GO KICK SOME CARRION ASS!” I roared into the room.
The crowd erupted in agreement and I went to the wall of weapons, beginning to arm myself. When I felt ready (as ready as I could be), I turned towards the exit, making my way to my bike. The rev of engines behind me was like music to my ears and by the time I made it to my bike, the other men were waiting, sitting on their bikes as they watched their leader.
Watched me.
I smirked, hitting the ignition and roared over my engine, “Let’s go, boys!”
With that, I hit the accelerator, heading towards the direction of the Carrion Crew. The direction of Mia. I smirked, glancing in my rear view mirror at the sight of all the guys behind me. Several dozen bikes followed me and I looked up proudly. The sight made me tear up but I stopped myself. There’d be time to cry later, if it needed to be done. I looked ahead at the dark streets, speeding forward, a renewed sense of confidence filling me at the sound of our motorcycles speeding along.
I couldn’t explain just how amazing it suddenly felt.
I would get to Mia.
I would take out her shit-for-nothing brother.
I would end the Carrion crew finally.
Then I would take my rightful place as leader and do things right.
With Mia by my side.
Hang in there, Mia. We’ll be there soon!
****
It took us less than fifteen minutes to get to the location Candy had provided. A part of me was sick at just how close they had been; how close Mia had been.
Fuck, I thought with a wave of disgust, I rode out further just to stare at a Denny’s!
I pushed that away, knowing that it wouldn’t do any good to think about that right now. I looked ahead, seeing Candy standing outside a local pizza shop. She began to head over, whistling at us, looking around the group.
“Wow, you got quite the numbers yourself,” she said, looking around once more. “You think we stand a chance?”
“I know we do,” I said, feeling confident in the answer.
“Where’d this new Jace come from?” she smirked, raising an eyebrow.
“He was always in there,” Danny said, smacking a large palm on my shoulder. “Just took ‘im a bit, that’s all.”
I winced at Danny’s smack, rubbing my shoulder. I shook my head, mumbling that he still didn’t know his own strength. Danny ignored the comment and looked around, raising an eyebrow.
“So, where to, sister?” he asked.
“This way,” she said. “I don’t really think there’s a chance we’re going to sneak in, though.”
“We don’t plan to,” I said, tossing her a bulletproof vest. “Throw this on and get on the bike.
“You plan to what? Just drive right in?” she blinked, slipping the vest on under her jacket.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what we plan to do,” Danny said, grinning widely. “Like you said, we lost the element of surprise already. Might as well come in with a bang.”
“Alright then,” she said, slipping onto the bike behind me.
“This place gated or anything?” I asked.
“Yeah, it is actually,” she said, frowning. “Is that gonna be an issue?”
“Not with this puppy,” Danny said, slapping the side of his Harley Fat Boy he was seated on. “I’m gonna miss the girl.”
“Who knows? Maybe she’ll make it out alive,” I laughed. “She’s taken a ton of your beatings before, after all.”
“Shit,” Candy said with a laugh, “that it survived this long having to hold up your fat ass is nothing short of a miracle in-and-of itself!”
“Good, keep those thoughts out for the ol’ girl,” Danny said, strapping his helmet on along with a hockey goalie chest protector along with the arm gear.
Even though Danny had originally said he’d be fine, I’d pressed that he’d at least wear those. Sitting on the bike now, looking even bigger than he already was, I tried not to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. Holding back my laugh, Candy ruined it by offering one of her own. I glanced back, hoping that Danny wouldn’t ju
st throw everything off.
“S-sorry,” she said, trying to hold back her laughter. “You look so ricidulous!”
“Shuddup, whore!” Danny said, grumbling under his breath. “It ain’t my choice, leader-boy over here said to.”
“And leader-boy here still sticks to this order,” I said, smirking teasingly. “Even though I do agree that you look pretty ridiculous.”
“We gonna go or what?” he said, changing the subject.
“Let’s roll!” I called out.
Candy pointed out the way for us and as we reached the gate, I held the others back. Turning to Danny, I gave him a nod. He smirked, pointing his bike at the gate. I watched, holding back the fear that the protective gear wouldn’t be enough. He was about to smash through a metal gate, after all. How much good would hockey gear be?
Guess we’re about to find out, I thought.
I watched as Danny moved the bike back some, giving himself some distance to speed up. I took a deep breath, watching as he began to rev the engine, hitting the accelerator. As he picked up speed, I fought not to cry out, to call this whole thing off. We needed to do this, needed to at least come in with a bang.
And what bigger of a bang was it to bust right through their gates?
I watched, feeling the others’ growing wave of concern the closer Danny came to the gate. I sucked in a deep breath as he closed the distance. He let loose a loud roar, slamming right through the gate and skidding to a stop in the middle of the circle of the cul-de-sac. I watched, trying to see through the cloud of smoke he’d made in the process. Deciding we couldn’t wait any longer, I roared out to the others.
“Let’s go!”
We screamed forward, heading through the opening that Danny had made seconds ago. As we went through, I saw that Danny was standing by his fallen bike, holding up a shotgun in one hand and his fist in the other. I smirked at the sight, glad to see that he hadn’t been gravely injured.
“Good to see you,” I said, slipping off the bike and retrieving my own gun from the bag on my bike.
I handed the rifle that Danny had packed for Candy over and glanced around as a series of spotlights began to turn on, aiming directly at us. I took a deep breath, waiting for whatever they had planned to appear.
Silence filled the area.
I looked around at my crew, seeing that they were all prepared, holding their guns forward, aiming towards the houses. They’d formed a circle, following the cul-de-sacs outer driveway. I frowned, wondering if they’d decided to move locations.
What if this was a trap again?
What if they’d already evacuated?
As the thoughts ran through my mind, I heard the sounds of garages opening. I looked around, seeing all six houses’ garage doors sliding open. The spotlights shown brightly down, creating a hazy outline of the houses in the darkness, but my heart began to race. Every garage was filled with men, armed just the same as we were. I took a deep breath, glancing over at Candy.
“Which house is Mia in?” I asked.
“That one,” she pointed to the largest house that faced right in front of us.
As the doors opened wide enough, a loud cry was issued from the house Candy had pointed to.
Then the chaos began.
SEVENTEEN
~MIA~
Chaos erupted around me in a winding, dizzying spell.
One minute I was being unchained and taken up the stairs and the next, a warning shot had erupted from above. I looked around, trying to make sense of whatever was happening upstairs.
Then I heard it.
The roaring sounds of motorcycles.
The roaring of my heart.
He had come.
Jace was here!
I turned towards my brother, smirking at the pale-shade his face had taken. I could see the panic on his face, just as palpable as the panic that surrounded wherever this was. Jace and, from the sounds of it, his entire crew—all of the Crow Gang—had come.
Then the gunfire began.
I froze at the sound, unsure of who had started the fight. I glanced around again, seeing more guys heading up the stairs and leaving me with just Malcolm by my side. I glanced down, seeing that the restraints they had poorly done had begun to come undone. I looked back at my brother, thinking of a way to distract him.
The distraction came from one of the men heading back downstairs.
“Has Papa Raven been moved?” one of them asked, ignoring me for the time being.
Perfect.
I began to wiggle in the restraints, careful not to alert their attention as I did. If I could just get out of these things, I’d be able to get out. I had to make sure Jace was alright, I didn’t know what I’d do if he was dead. I shook my head, knowing I had no time to worry about that right now.
I had to get to him.
With that on my mind—with nothing else on my mind—I continued the process; listening slightly at the mention of the name Papa Raven.
Where had I heard that before?
It sounded familiar. Then again, why shouldn’t it, right? I had been forced to work for the Carrion Crew, and with a name like “Papa Raven” I didn’t think I was really climbing on thin limbs of logic in assuming he probably held a sizable amount of clout with the gang. Might even be a leader. Made sense, especially since he seemed to be a major priority now that the shit was hitting the fan.
As Candy had put it, I thought.
Still…
Papa Raven.
I made a mental note of the name, decided I’d ask Jace about it later, and then returned the entirety of my focus to the task at hand. Or, more appropriately, the task of freeing my hands.
“Yeah, he’s been moved,” another answered, nodding, and then glanced over at me. “What should we do about her?”
I forced myself to stop moving, terrified that he had caught me. I stared back, trying my best not to look guilty of anything and trying to suppress the pounding of my heart, certain they could all hear it. I begged whatever gods who might be out there listening at that moment to, for once, show an ounce of decency towards me and my efforts; to either throw me a break or, heaven forbid, actually help me out of this.
I wanted to be back in Jace’s arms; felt like I needed it like I needed oxygen. From the sounds of things, he was bringing hell down on the entire neighborhood to get me back, and that fact alone was pushing me to an unbearable need. I suddenly felt like an iron shaving being drawn towards a powerful magnet.
Then, as if answering my prayers, the Carrion member who’d been staring at me turned back to the others.
A decision had been made:
“She isn’t priority right now,” the guy said. “Much as I hate to admit it, and much as it’s gonna piss off the buyers, Papa Raven has new plans.”
Mack suddenly looked like he was going to be sick. He glanced at me—no sign of his normally lecherous gaze now—and suddenly began stammering. I wondered then if he was remembering what I’d said about him being expendable, because he certainly looked like he was fighting against an impending sense of doom.
“Wh-what about me?” he asked, almost demanding. “I can go now, right?”
The man shook his head, sneering. Even he, I realized, was disgusted by Mack.
Not that that means a damn thing, I’m sure, I thought.
“No,” the man said, and I could all-but hear the word “unfortunately” tailing that single word. Then he said, “Papa Raven says you’re coming with us. Though I can’t begin to imagine why, we’re under strict orders to bring you with us. That said, you’d better get your ass upstairs.”
Mack sneered, suddenly looking defiant; proud. “If Papa Raven says I’m so important, then maybe you’re not the one who should be slinging orders.”
The man earned a gold star in my book at that moment. He drove a mean-looking fist into my brother’s stomach.
Mack keeled over, wheezing and whimpering, and the man, already beginning to walk past him, grabbed his shirt col
lar and began to drag him along.
“Just because Papa Raven says he has plans for you doesn’t mean you’re important,” he said matter-of-factly. “Keep in mind that he has plans for his whores, too.”
I could see the pure terror in Malcolm’s face at that as he was pulled along. If I hadn’t been working so hard to not get the focus on me, I would’ve erupted in laughter. He deserved whatever this Papa Raven had planned for him.
Before the men and my brother were out of sight, the one dragging Mack glanced back at me. “Don’t go getting any stupid ideas,” he called back. “Assuming your boyfriend doesn’t get all of you killed, there’ll be somebody along to collect you soon enough.”
I think I’ll take Option C, asshole, I thought with a smirk as the door was slammed shut. Then, free to do so, I finished my work, feeling the last part of the restraint come undone and suddenly I was free.
****
The sounds of more gunfire tore me from my thoughts and I moved faster, needing to make sure Jace was okay. Then, as a secondary thought, it occurred to me that it was just as important that I let Jace see that I was okay. Thinking on the madness—the empowering-yet-risky sense of immortality—that I’d felt when I’d woken up from the dream, a madness I was sure was on par with Jace’s own, I couldn’t help but imagine that this—all of this—was his response to my being taken. Granted, he’d said that something like this had been coming to fruition for some time, but I couldn’t imagine that, without my abduction, this would all be happening at this moment. And if I didn’t reveal myself to Jace—help both of us by bringing us back together—his noble effort might get himself hurt…
Or worse.
But, in order to do that, I had to not get myself killed. And, with the whole neighborhood turning into a warzone, that might be something easier said than done.
As I snuck out of the basement, I took care to glance around. I was officially in unmapped territory as far as my senses were concerned. I couldn’t be sure which way led where, what sort of rooms awaited me in either direction, or even which spots on the floor might be old and creaky.
Riding On Fumes: Bad Boy Motorcycle Club Romance (The Crow's MC Book 2) Page 28