Origin

by Ana Jolene

  “Seven,” he whispered feverishly. “These men—” I held up a hand to keep him from explaining. I now knew who they were.

  I’d heard rumors circulating about the Phantoms—the dangerous men who raided businesses and forced them to pay protection money. I just didn’t think they would target Giovanni’s. The Phantoms were no more than bullies in the post-flare world, trying to use coercion, force and threats to impose their domination over others. “I know. I know. It’s okay,” I soothed gently. “I’m going to fix this. But I need you to stop yelling, okay?” The more G protested, the more damage they would do to the factory. “Just trust me to handle this.”

  Suddenly, hands gripped me and I was being yanked away. G reached for me. “Don’t touch her!”

  Spinning, I glared at the man who had grabbed me. “Why are you doing this?”

  The leader’s eyes were cuts of amber. “Your friend forced my hand.” His voice was a low, menacing growl as he tightened his grip more firmly on my bicep.

  “He doesn’t owe you any money!”

  “Oh, but he does,” he replied in a deathly calm voice. “And until he agrees to pay, we will continue to burn this motherfucker down.”

  Burn? At first, shock blasted through me. But then fury simmered to a boiling point, hate matching hate. “You won’t get away with this.”

  The leader of the Phantoms looked completely unfazed by my threat. “Try to stop us then.”

  I struck out, blinded by rage. My fist hit bone in an agonizing crack but he only grunted before he backhanded me hard enough to have me stumbling back on my ass. Now my face and my hand were blazes of pain.

  Trey jumped forward then, going for a right hook, but the man with amber eyes blocked it easily and landed his own punch. I could hear the sickening breaking of bone before Trey went down, crying out before the leader pressed the barrel of a pistol against the back of his head.

  “Don’t move,” Amber Eyes growled. His eyes cut to me. “Try something again and I’ll make sure he suffers.” He bent his head over Trey’s, close enough to whisper in his ear. The words were faint, but I could hear the threat loud and clear. “Ever had the barrel of a gun up your ass, pretty boy?”

  A cold sweat broke over Trey’s skin. His face was a mirror of pain as he gripped his side. Then he was being dragged away by one of the others before I could shout for him.

  Five loud pops ripped through the air to my left and I turned just in time to see a body drop to the ground. The man’s body jerked once before falling still. A pool of blood spread around him. Oh God. I recognized him as one of the lead hands. “You son of a bitch.” How could they do this? How could they storm in here and kill in cold blood?

  More shots rang out and in my mind, the image of more bodies falling to the ground flashed. The Phantoms were more dangerous than I could’ve ever anticipated. I heard they were ruthless, but this was horror on a whole other level. How was I going to stop this?

  The blaring sounds of the security alarms went off and everyone, including the Phantoms, stopped to look around.

  Amber Eyes released me to scan the area, eyes darting over the entire factory all at once, but when he couldn’t find anything, he turned to G. “Turn it off.”

  “Fuck you,” G spat back.

  Toni. It had to be Toni who had set the alarm off! The distraction gave me a chance to break free. I ran for all that I was worth, ducking and swerving as Amber Eyes yelled after me. Shots were fired, narrowly missing me by inches.

  Help! I needed to call for help! But where had I left my phone?

  The office.

  Bullets whizzed by me as I sprinted back up the stairs. Praying that a flare hadn’t suddenly come on, I held my breath as I burst into the offices, grabbing my phone before ducking behind a desk. The ringing seemed to go on forever. “Dammit, Lucky!” As I held the phone up to my ear, my eyes darted around for any trouble. “Pick up your goddamn phone!”

  I wanted to weep with relief when I heard his voice on the other end of the line. “Lucky! You have to help! Giovanni’s is under attack! The Phantoms—” Sounds of footsteps sounded behind me and I suddenly fell silent.

  “Whoa, whoa, calm down, Seven. I can’t understand anything when you’re speaking that quickly.”

  “I need you,” I breathed, sick with helplessness and fear.

  “I’m coming. Are you okay?”

  “Y—yes.”

  “Stay that way, babe. Just hold on until I get there.”

  “Wait!” I whispered fiercely before he could hang up. “Some of the others . . .” I didn’t have to continue. He understood. Some of the others were already dead.

  Over the line, I could hear the sounds of an engine starting. “Don’t do anything to provoke them, okay? Just wait for Glory MC to arrive.”

  “Okay,” I promised. And then the line went shut.

  Lucky

  Before heading to Ward Two, I sent off a mass text to the rest of Glory MC.

  These motherfucking Phantoms never gave up, did they? Since finding their headquarters, they had scattered like rodents. Now it seemed that they were looking to take back their power.

  “Tell me exactly what the fuck we’re walking into,” the vice-prez of Glory demanded as we skidded to a stop in front of the textile factory about thirty minutes later.

  Shots rang out from inside, echoing loudly in the night air. “Does that answer your question?” I pushed past him and pulled my pistol out.

  “Fucking A.” Hastie followed, mirroring my movements. “The Phantoms are here?”

  “You wanted that face-to-face, right? Well, I got you one.” Hastie shook his head, lines of frustration creasing his forehead. “But Seven’s in there. So I need to get her out first.”

  “This is so fucked up,” he muttered. “All right, let’s do this.”

  As more shouts sounded from inside, I didn’t dare waste any more time. Hastie pushed through the doors, charging in as the rest of us followed. Immediately, shots were fired. Screams echoed in my ears. Adrenaline surged through my body as my eyes scanned the surroundings, noticing the damage and the bodies littering the floor. I froze, scanning for a blonde.

  A man in white caught my attention first. He stood out like a neon sign as he stood over a man I assumed was Giovanni.

  Suddenly the man in white barked out an order and a rain of fire came down on Glory MC. I ducked to hide behind a big machine. I didn’t know what its intended use was but it was doing a good job of shielding me from the bullets at the moment.

  “Find Seven,” Hastie ordered, ducking as a bullet went flying by his head. “We’ll take care of this.”

  Fine by me. “See that guy?” I said, motioning towards Giovanni. “Don’t put a bullet in his head.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s the owner of this place. It’d be nice if I didn’t have to tell Seven you killed her boss.”

  Hastie nodded. “Roger that.” He popped up and fired off some shots just as I darted out from behind the machine, desperate to locate Seven. She had to be somewhere in the offices upstairs if she had gotten good enough reception to call me.

  Up here, many of the rooms had locks and I prayed that she was safely hiding in one of them. I scanned each room, moving onto the next one when it came up empty.

  A cry caused ice to fill my veins. Bolting forward, I found Seven being pinned down by one of the men in a dark room. The front of her top was ripped opened, exposing her chest and another man hovered over her, undoing his pants.

  Rage filled my vision. I wasted no time, popping three bullets into each of them. As they dropped before me, Seven gasped, tears streaming down her face. “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  “Oh God, what took you so long?”

  “I came here as fast as I could.” Rubbing her tears away with a hand, she used the other to try to keep her top together. “Here, wear this.” Removing my cut, I draped it over her shoulders.

  “Thanks.” She glanced down briefly at the two men a
t her feet. “I didn’t get a chance to use this.”

  “Use what?”

  When she lifted up an object in her hand, I realized it was a letter opener. “You were going to fight off two Phantoms with a letter opener?”

  She let out one choked laughed. “It was better than a stapler.”

  Her jokes may have been lame, but I’d never been happier to hear the laughter in her voice. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”

  Just then, my phone beeped. I pulled it out to see I’d received a text from Hastie: All clear. Boss is safe. That was a relief.

  “Where is G?” Seven asked. “Trey and Toni must be around here, too.”

  “We’ll find them. We have the place surrounded. And G is with Hastie right now.”

  “I want to see him.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Down below, there were a lot of dead bodies. I didn’t want her seeing that.

  But Seven was already stepping over the two Phantoms I had just killed. I called after her, but she didn’t stop.

  On a curse, I followed her until we reached the bottom of the stairs. She stopped when she reached the carnage and I gently took a hold of her arm. “Come on. I’ll take you to see G if you want. But you don’t need to see this.”

  “There’s so much blood.” Devastation filled her words but she did allow me to pull her away.

  “Your boss is through here.” The moment she stepped into the room, Giovanni looked up, an expression of relief flashing over his features. They embraced, and I was thankful that Hastie had managed to follow my instructions earlier.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Did they hurt you?”

  “No, I got away. But that man—”

  “That man, their leader, is currently being taken away by Kitt,” G said.

  “You didn’t kill him?” I asked Hastie.

  He shook his head. “I wasn’t sure whether or not to.”

  With his hands tied around his back, the leader of the Phantoms didn’t look so invincible now. I didn’t like the way he was eyeing Seven. And when her eyes met his, flashing with hatred, I knew he’d hurt her.

  “Keep him,” I said without thought. “I want some time with him.”

  With a nod, Hastie conveyed the message to Kitt and the sergeant at arms pulled the Phantom away, leaving the rest of Glory MC to deal with the dead.

  TWENTY

  Digging Up Old Graves

  Seven

  Blood.

  Bodies.

  It was all I could see as I closed my eyes. Tonight had been terrifying. Seeing the Phantoms like that only made me wonder how Indy had managed to stand up to them. When I realized they planned to rape me, the last bit of hope I had of surviving this night vanished until Lucky showed up.

  After that, I needed to know everyone else was safe, starting with G. The moment I saw him alive and well, tears of relief sprung. Glory MC had assured me that Trey and Toni were also okay, having found them when they made a thorough search of the factory. Knowing that my friends were safe and unharmed, I finally allowed Lucky to take me home. Nothing would stop me from falling straight onto my bed as soon as we reached the front door.

  “Come on,” he said as the engine cut off and he moved to get off his bike. “Let’s get you fed and cleaned up. Then you can go to bed.”

  “Sleep,” I muttered. “I just want to sleep.” The adrenaline had finally passed through my system, leaving me drained. I might as well have been blind with the way I navigated towards the front of the house, but Lucky’s hand shot out and I stopped.

  “Hold on. Something’s wrong.”

  Wrong? What could be worse than what already happened tonight? When I opened my eyes, the answer was obvious. The front door was ajar.

  “Stay here,” Lucky ordered. Not a chance in hell. This was my home! As I followed him, he drew his pistol and entered the house. He did a double take when he saw me standing behind him. “I told you to stay outside.”

  But it wasn’t my own safety that I was worried about. What if Lennon and Dex had been home? Oh God. Another spike of fear lanced through me.

  “Stay behind me at all times. If I tell you to run, you run.” Before proceeding, Lucky pulled out his phone, no doubt calling Glory MC for backup.

  As he headed for the stairs, I braced myself for signs of destruction. Living in the post-flare world meant that people were getting desperate. I wasn’t sure what would be left.

  Yet the house looked the same as always as I quickly took it in. Nothing seemed out of place or missing. I stood there waiting in fear for something to pop up and make me scream, but when Lucky came back a moment later with his pistol holstered, I realized that maybe whoever had done this was gone now. “Are you okay?” Lucky asked me. Although I nodded, confusion was clear in my eyes. “Do you notice anything missing?”

  My tired eyes once again scanned the area around us, looking for something misplaced or damaged, but in the darkness, everything looked exactly as it was supposed to be.

  That was odd. Why break in and not steal anything?

  The look Lucky shot me didn’t ease the panic inside of me. If anything, it only put me back on alert. After everything that happened today, my body didn’t seem like it could take any more. The room did a fast tilt and Lucky rushed towards me. “Whoa, whoa. Why don’t you sit down?” As he led me to the couch, he dropped to his haunches before me, giving my hands a squeeze. “It’s all right. We’ll figure this out.”

  The sounds of motorcycles outside alerted us that Glory MC had arrived. “What happened?” Hastie asked as he approached.

  “Someone broke in.”

  “Anything broken? Missing?”

  “Nothing I can tell,” Lucky reported. “But it’s probably not safe to stay here tonight.”

  The vice-prez’s green eyes slid to me, shining with sympathy. “You can stay with us.” As soon as Hastie said it, I knew it was exactly what I needed to hear after a night like tonight.

  * * *

  “Who could have done it?” Indy asked later as we congregated in her living room.

  Lennon and Dex arrived as soon as they got word of what happened. They seemed completely shocked and spooked as I was. Lucky turned to his sister. “Did you tell anyone you were coming here, Lennon?”

  Lennon shot her brother a confused look. “No. Why would I tell anyone that I was visiting my brother?”

  “I’m in a motorcycle gang,” Lucky said matter of factly. “The people you hang out with may know that and want to exploit it.”

  “The people I hang out with? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Does your dealer know?”

  As soon as Lucky said it, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. The color drained from Lennon’s face, but all she did was she shake her head. “I haven’t seen him in a long time.”

  “Would he have sought you out? Maybe he was trying to get you to buy.”

  “He wouldn’t come all the way to Ward Four to do that,” she snapped.

  “Look,” I said, stepping in before things got out of control. “It might not even be about Lennon.”

  “It has to be.” Lucky’s tone hinted at his exhaustion. “We never had any problems before tonight.”

  I was tired too, but we couldn’t point fingers without thinking about it first. “Are you going to blame Lennon for what happened at Giovanni’s too?”

  Lucky glared. “Why would anyone break into your house and not take anything then?”

  That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? If the person who broke in didn’t find anything of value inside, then it had to be that they were looking for someone who lived there.

  “The Phantoms?” Hastie asked when I told them this. “How could they have known Lucky was staying with you?”

  Lucky shook his head. “It can’t be them.”

  “So it has to be you,” Dex announced and all eyes bounced to me. My lips pursed together in a thin line. That was what I feared. But
who would do this to me? And why? When Lucky repeated my thoughts aloud, I realized just how similarly our brains worked.

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. My past was filled with so many shady people that the idea that someone had sought me out now frightened me. I was already so damned tired of feeling this way.

  Was that the reason for the paranoia I was feeling these past few days? Had my gut known something was wrong before it even happened?

  “Any enemies, friends you’ve lost touch with, or psycho ex-lovers we need to know about?” I looked up at Lucky, expression worried. Daniel wouldn’t do this, would he? While he was capable of hurting himself, my ex was by no means a violent person, especially to others. “Come on, Seven. If you think there’s someone, you have to tell us.”

  “I had an ex,” I began.

  “Of course there was an ex,” he said with a roll of his eyes. I ignored his nasty tone. Everyone was tired tonight and we were all trying our best.

  “He was the needy kind,” I continued. “When I left him, he became suicidal. But I don’t think he’s capable of this.”

  “What’s his name? I’ll have Angel look into him.”

  “He’s not violent.”

  “He’s our only lead, Seven. We just have to make sure.”

  Fear buzzed in my veins. As much as I wanted to keep my past a secret, I understood that this wasn’t just about me. More than my own safety was at stake now. As I rattled off his name and any details I could remember of him, Lucky sent a text with all the information to Angel.

  Lucky

  “Is there anyone else from your past that you think could do this?”

  Seven’s gaze met mine briefly before turning away. I knew there was something going on in her head, but with so many people in the room, she may not want to divulge the secrets of her past. Hell, I knew the feeling.

  “Look.” Dex stood. “We’ll leave so you guys can work this out privately.” After quickly saying good night, he and Lennon returned to Neptune’s where they would be staying the night.