by Quinn Ryder
Daisy covered herself up with a blanket, suddenly looking very vulnerable and worried. “Maybe I don’t want to be found.”
“Why?”
“Shit’s complicated.”
“Is it because of Guerrilla?”
She nodded weakly. “I never meant to become his Old Lady, but he gave me no choice. He was going to kill me if I didn’t. I try to pretend that I like his greasy hands all over me, but I hate it. He treats me like I’m his property. Phyllis would never understand that.”
“Who the fuck is Phyllis?”
“My sister. You know her as Filly. When she asked for volunteers to go undercover in our rival MCs I volunteered. I was tired of being under her wing all the time. I thought it would be easy. I’d feed her information when I could and blend into the club, then Guerrilla forced me to do heroin with him and I got addicted. He started feeding me other shit, too, and now I can’t stop. She’d be so disappointed in me. I don’t think I could look her in the eye. Our mother was a drug addict and she died because of it. Filly doesn’t touch the stuff, but me, I inherited our mother’s cravings. Now, I’m stuck. Guerrilla won’t let me leave him, not unless it’s in a body bag. I hooked up with Cipher a couple times for fun, but shit’s been getting serious and I don’t want to see him get hurt. Guerrilla is a bad man, and I’m pretty sure he’s killed someone before. I heard him talking about it in his sleep once. Some guy named Midas, I guess he was part of the club. I haven’t told anyone about it because they’d never believe me, Guerrilla has his hooks in everything. There isn’t anything that goes on in this club that he doesn’t know about. Hell, he’s got three side businesses going. He gets drugs from the Saints and transports and distributes it on the streets, wearing his Armada cut and everything. He also started a child prostitution ring. He’s got about twelve teenage runaways holed up somewhere that he sells for extra cash. It sucks how much I hear when he thinks I’m not listening. He’s running guns for the Scorched Brotherhood as well. He’s got a hand in every fucking club in this town. He knows I’m a Viper, and he uses that to his advantage. He said if I ever try to leave him, he’s going to chop my sister’s body up into pieces and feed them to me. That’s why I don’t fight him on anything. I don’t want my sister to get hurt.”
Fuck.
Guerrilla’s even more fucked up than I initially thought. I can’t believe he’s doing so much shady shit, and nobody knows about it. Not only is he running drugs for the Saints, but he’s running guns for the Scorched Brotherhood as well. And that prostitution shit? What the hell is that asshole thinking? He’s fucking insane. I gotta stop him, not because he admitted to killing me, but because if I don’t take him down, he’s going to bring the whole Armada down with him.
“I’m going to get you out of this, Daisy. I promise you that.”
“How? Nobody’s been able to take Guerrilla down in the past, he has too many friends in low places. If anyone challenged him, he probably would go underground. Nobody would find him then.”
I smiled. “Guerrilla hasn’t danced with a ghost before, and this ghost has a vendetta against him that won’t end in anything but blood. Cipher and I will protect you, Scythe too, when I tell him what’s going on. Don’t worry, Daisy, we got your back. We protect family here.”
“I’ve never had a real family before. Filly and I ran away when were teenagers and never looked back. She fell in line with the Vipers after a few years of slumming it on the streets and brought me in with her. Eventually she got voted in as Prez, and I kinda just followed her around. Infiltrating this club was one of the first things that I ever did that I was proud of until I met Guerrilla and he got me hooked on drugs.”
My heart broke a little for this girl sitting naked in front of me. I wanted to help her out, but right now I had another woman that I needed to save first. Faith was my main priority and once I knew that she was safe, I’d come back for Daisy and help her get away from Guerrilla.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing, Daisy. If Guerrilla even thinks you’re fucking around on him or that you’re planning on leaving, he’s going to hurt you. I know him enough to know that for sure. So, just keep pretending that everything is fine and do whatever he says. Cipher and I’ll do the rest. Now get dressed and get the fuck out of this room. If Guerrilla catches you in here, it’s going to start shit we don’t need right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Club business, but once this shit gets taken care of, I’ll be working on getting you back to your sister.”
First rule of being a prospect, keep your mouth shut. Club business was for members only. Daisy was being too fucking nosy, and she probably knew better than to ask so many questions.
Daisy nodded. “Thank you, Specter. It’s nice to know I have someone on the inside looking out for me.”
“You have more than just me, Daisy, you got the whole Armada looking out for you. Get dressed, I got to catch up with Cipher.”
I closed Cipher’s door behind me, and made my way to the war room, I was only about two steps away before Jagger came tumbling through the clubhouse door practically slamming into me. His face was streaked with sweat and he looked absolutely terrified.
“Everyone, come quick! Something’s wrong with Faith.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Faith
My foot dragged across the ground behind me. Every few steps felt more tiring and painful than the last. Every cell in my body was weak, and my skin was coated in dried blood. Cars drove past me, some honked, but nobody stopped. I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t stop either for someone covered head to toe in blood.
I tried to blink out the images of what happened at Diego’s club, but I couldn’t make them stop. It was like I was tied down to a chair in the middle of a movie theater with a sputtering projector that was watching a snuff film on repeat.
“Is this what you wanted, Fe? This man’s hands all over you? Did it feel good to have his hands where only mine should be?”
Diego grabbed my chin and made me look at Alejandro, who was tied to a chair, mouth covered in duct tape, legs and arms bound to the wooden chair with the same sticky, silver material.
“This is your fault, Fe. Playing games with me never ends pretty, and now this guy is going to pay for your games.”
“Just let him go,” I begged, “please.”
Diego laughed manically as one of his club members, I think his name is Zipper, walked over with a black cloth draped over his arms.
Diego uncovered what was underneath the cloth and pulled out a giant machete.
“Diego, what are you doing?” I screamed.
“You wanted his hands all over you, Fe, now you’re going to get to keep them.”
I blinked out. Trying to fight off the image of what Diego did, but I couldn’t suppress them. Alejandro’s muffled screams were taking over my head. I could hear the terror in his voice and see the fear in his eyes—wide and filled with petrified tears.
I tried to look away. I did. But someone came up behind me under Diego’s orders and made me keep my eyes open. Then the hands. Oh my god, the hands! I kept seeing them being flung across the room and landing at my feet. Fingers still slightly twitching even though they were no longer attached to Alejandro’s body.
I screamed. I screamed so fucking loud, but the dance club’s music was louder than my screams and no one could hear me.
Alejandro wouldn’t stop screaming. I wanted him to stop, but he wouldn’t. Then Diego ripped off the duct tape covering his mouth and the screams became deafening. I couldn’t cover my ears. I had to listen—he forced me to listen.
“Is this what you like, Fe? Do you like these hands?” Diego picked up one of the dismembered hands off the ground; it was covered in blood that dripped across the ground like disgusting bread crumbs I didn’t want to follow. He moved toward me menacingly.
I collapsed to the ground, exhausted and out of breath. My body was shaking, and I couldn’t move another muscle without passing out. I had falle
n at the gates of the compound, just as a motorcycle ran up behind me.
“Faith? Is that you?” The voice was familiar—muffled, but I couldn’t hear anything but the screams echoing inside my head.
A hand came down on my back, and I screamed, curling up in a ball. The slightest touch triggering more memories.
“This is what you get, Faith. You wanted him now you can have him.”
“Stop, Diego, this isn’t what I wanted.” He forced me to look at Alejandro, no longer moving. Seven stab wounds, bleeding from his chest.
“Any man that tries to fuck my Fe, is a dead man,” Diego whispered in my ear. “This is what happens when you try to play games. You fucking lose.”
He motioned for his men to untie Alejandro, and I watched his lifeless body slump to the floor. Diego’s men kept kicking Alejandro’s body until he was completely flat on the ground, lifeless eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
“I’m going to give you what you want, Fe. You wanted to get fucked, now I’m going to fuck you. Right on top of his dead body.”
The hands left my body, and I started to sob, a wailing cry that shook my whole body. I needed to feel safe, but nothing felt safe anymore. Everything that made me feel safe was taken away from me today, left bruised and broken back at Diego’s club. My innocence stolen the second I watched Alejandro murdered in cold blood, knowing it was all my fault.
I blocked everything else out, but the blood stained my body, wrapping me in the sins of my mistakes. There was no taking back what I did, and now I couldn’t open my eyes without seeing Diego’s menacing face and Alejandro’s dead eyes blankly looking at nothing at all.
“My fault. My fault. My fault,” I screamed. “My fault. My fault. My fault.” I kept chanting the words over and over, whispering them until they bellowed from my throat. I tugged at my hair, wishing I could pull out every damning image searing my brain.
I barely remember escaping. I waited until Diego passed out and climbed out a second-story window, landing in a metal dumpster a floor below. Old food, cigarettes, and other used things I didn’t want to remember clung to my body as I pulled myself out of the dumpster and slunk away. I didn’t have my keys, so I walked. I walked down the alley and up the roads nobody used. Nobody touched me, I was too broken and disgusting for anyone to touch. So, I walked, and I kept walking until my feet blistered and I couldn’t feel the glass and thorns in the bottom of my feet. Everything hurt. Everything was numb—I was numb.
“You’re mine, Fe. If you try to leave me, I will murder everyone you love and make you watch.” Diego grabbed my hair and forced me to look at him. “Have you learned your lesson yet?”
He pulled hard, causing me to cry out. “Yes.” I blinked away my tears, but a few stray ones maneuvered down my cheeks. Diego smiled evilly and his tongue met my skin, licking away the tears that mixed with Alejandro’s blood on my face.
“You’re never leaving me again, Fe. You’re mine now.”
I heard the footsteps running across the compound. It sounded like a herd of elephants storming toward me.
Scythe’s voice was first. “Sis, Faith? What’s wrong, what happened?”
He fell down beside me and touched my shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed. “Don’t touch! Don’t touch! Don’t touch!”
Scythe coiled back, but another pair of strong arms came around me, familiar arms that made me feel safe—arms I desperately needed in that moment.
Specter.
I tried to fight back, I didn’t want anyone touching me, not even him, but he refused to let go. He scooped up my broken body and carried me into the compound. The whole time I screamed, until the screams died in my throat and turned to sobs. I clutched onto Specter’s shirt, refusing to let go of the soft cotton.
“I got you,” he murmured. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
He carried me into Scythe’s bedroom and straight into the bathroom. He slammed the door behind us and locked it. I could hear Scythe and Switchblade pounding on the door, but I knew what Specter was doing, and he didn’t want anyone else to see me.
“Let me in!” Scythe screamed. “I need to make sure my sister is okay.”
“Give me a second,” Specter yelled back.
Specter plugged the tub and turned the water on. The whole time he kept me cradled into his chest, not caring that my fingers were digging into his flesh and making him bleed.
The room filled with steam, and even though I fought him, Specter removed my clothing until I was nothing but skin, blood, and anguished memories. He lifted me up and placed me in the warm bath, the second my skin touched the water it tinted pink, the clumps of dry blood dissolving in the warm liquid. He pushed the curtain over so that you could only see my face, then opened the door only allowing Scythe inside.
“Is she hurt?” Scythe asked.
Specter shook his head. “This isn’t her blood.”
“Fuck,” Scythe ran his fingers through his hair. “You didn’t kill him, did you, Faith?”
The word kill sent me into another sobbing fit. I sank to the bottom of the tub, allowing the water to wash over me, until I was submerged underneath the reddened liquid. Maybe I could drown away my sins. Midas could meet me on the other side.
Strong hands wrapped around my neck and lifted my head out of the water. I sputtered as I gasped for breath.
“My fault. My fault. My fault.” It started out as whispers, then got louder.
Scythe covered his ears and started screaming. “Make her stop.”
Powerful lips covered mine, silencing my crazy thoughts. For a second all the evil melted away, and I felt safe again. Specter pulled away, and Alejandro’s screams echoed in my head again.
“No. No. No. Kiss me. Keep kissing me. Make the screaming stop. Make me forget.” My whole body started to convulse, and my brother’s eyes went wide, but Specter looked remarkably calm.
“She’s in shock. Let me clean her up and get her calmed down, then we can see what happened.”
Switchblade pounded on the door. “Scythe, get the fuck out here. Shit’s hitting the fan. Diego and the Saints are here.”
I launched out of the tub until I was face to face with Specter. I grabbed him by the collar, pulling him toward me so my face was inches away from his. “Nooooooo,” I screamed. “Don’t let him have me. Don’t give me away.” I clutched Specter’s shirt, afraid that if I let go Diego would take me away.
Scythe looked down at me and frowned. “There’s nothing in this world that the Saints could give me that I would sell my sister for, Faith. You’re Armada, and the Armada protects its family. Specter, stay here and take care of my sister. I’m going to see what Diego wants.”
“He’s bad. A bad, bad, bad, man. He’s evil. He murders. He . . . he . . .” I broke down again, all my words choppy and crazy as the thoughts rolled around in my head.
“I got her, go and take care of this shit.” Specter held me as tight as he could, my shaking sobs vibrating through him, too.
Scythe ran out of the bathroom, leaving me and Specter alone together.
“You’re okay now,” he cooed, petting my wet head. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He grabbed a rag, lathered it with soap, and moved it across my skin. Everything was pink, the water, the soap, everything.
“Why do you care about me?” I asked him, staring into his hazel eyes. The outline of a contact covered his iris, and I realized he was wearing colored contacts. “Your eyes aren’t hazel?”
He shook his head. “No, they aren’t.
It was like I was seeing him through new eyes, and I swear if I squinted just right, it was Midas sitting right in front of me. But that was impossible. Midas was dead. Wasn’t he?
I opened my mouth to ask him what color they are normally, but a soft knock wrapped against the door and Daisy popped her head in.
“Can I help?”
“Yeah, can you continue washing her up? I need to go see what
’s going on outside.”
“No, don’t leave me. Please!” I clutched onto Specter’s cut, refusing to let him go.
“I have to, Faith, my brothers may need my help. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. Daisy’s a good person, she’s going to keep you safe for me.”
Daisy nodded. “I got this.”
Specter stood up and gently removed my hands. “I’ll be back.”
“But what if you don’t come back? He said he was going to kill everyone I love.”
Specter looked at me strangely. “I’ve already survived death once, Faith. It’s going to take a lot more than a bunch of Saints to kill me. Nobody’s ever taking me away from you ever again.”
He left the room in a rush, but his words hung in the air between us.
I mulled over them for a few seconds before everything hit me like a bolt of lightning. “Midas, come back!” I screamed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Specter
The second she said my name, I stilled. I knew I had said too much, but I couldn’t conceal my identity any longer—not from her—not when she was this fucked up. Faith meant everything to me and when she showed up a sobbing mess covered in blood, I knew that I had to tell her the truth. It was the only way she’d trust me again.
Despite the nagging thought in the back of my head telling me to turn around, I kept walking until I was outside. The gate was closed, but Ice and Obi were standing on the lookout posts with guns pointing down. Scythe, Switchblade, Guerrilla, Jagger, Riptide, Rex, and Cipher had their guns drawn pointing at the other side of the gate.
I walked up next to Scythe and drew my gun, pointing it forward.
“Where’s Faith?” Scythe whispered through the corner of his mouth.
“Daisy’s got her.”
“Is she okay?”
“No, but she will be.”
“Open the gates, Scythe. I just want to have a little chat,” Diego’s voice boomed on the other side.
“What the fuck do you want, Diego?” Scythe yelled.