“I’ve always been this, Evelyn. And my son carries it in his blood. You can’t stay hidden behind your mutts forever. I will have what is mine.” Max walks towards me and I throw my hands up in defense. What happens next not only stuns me but throws Max on his arrogant ass. A bright wave of lights came from my hands sending anything in my way across the cemetery. I may not have known what just happened but Max doesn’t need to know that.
“I told you Max. I don’t belong to you and never will. Everything I am belongs to someone else who deserves it. Now why don’t you go back to whatever hole you came out of and rot!” I yell at the same time I am trying to make myself wake. I feel it happening again. The world around me melting. Only instead of machines, I can feel shaking and my name being called. Time to go. I feel myself being lifted back to my body. Thank the fucking Lord. Took you long enough, Evelyn.
“Evelyn! Wake up!” Tony is on top of me shaking me. My body felt as if it got life back into it as I open my eyes and gasp fighting for air. What the fuck just happened? I stare at Tony as he looks at me like I had just died. He’s brushing my hair out of my face and making me look up at him. “Baby, can you hear me?” He’s concerned but why? It was just a nightmare. Then I see blood coming from his hairline. Did I do that?
“Yeah, I can hear you.” I say still trying to figure out if I am even awake.
“Bad dream?” He’s off me and sitting on the side of me stroking my arm and kissing my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I say rubbing my temples.
“Who’s Max?”
I stiffen at that question. How the fuck does he know about Max? “Alec’s dad.” He doesn’t need to know anything else, at least for right now. I can’t help about think that Max being in my dream. He’s an asshole, yes. That has already been established but why would I dream about him?
“Yeah, I know his name, but who is he that you’re dreaming about him?” He persists.
“I left him shortly after Alec was born. He was a good man when I met him but he turned into a whole different person when I got pregnant. He began isolating me, telling me my place was in the house now that I was going to be a mother. Yet, he didn’t have a job, not that I was aware of. I could handle the isolation but shortly after Alec was born, the relationship hit the fan fast. He started hitting me and belittling Alec, even though he was only an infant. The last straw was when he came home drunk one night and I was asleep on the couch. He grabbed me by my hair, slammed me into the wall, and took the side table by our couch and threw it on top of me. So, when he left on one of his little trips, I don’t even know what you would call them, I packed me and Alec up, left and came back to stay with a friend until I was back on my feet. He was served with a restraining order but it was dropped so that we could work out custody. That’s it Tony. That’s my past. It’s not a pretty one, but I don’t try to dwell in it.” I don’t think he expected me to go into that much detail with it. Hell, I didn’t even give everything that happened to me. He just sat there with a pissed off look on his face.
I look over my shoulder to Tony. He gives me a concerned look. He knows something, I just have a feeling he knows more than he’s telling me. Instead of questioning it, I just give him a reassuring smile and lay back down with him. Entwined in his arms, this is where I feel safe. The last thing that runs through my mind as I drift back off to sleep was the laugh that came from Max. It gives me chills as I lay there and think about it. For right now, that doesn’t matter. My son and I are safe and that is all that matters.
Trigger
Having Eve sleeping in my arms feels perfect to me. I didn’t understand what it meant to be in the arms of a woman until this moment. It was short lived though. What I did in the hospital is normally forbidden for us to do to humans. I needed information from her to help me catch this guy. But what just happened, I have never experienced before. Someone channeled her. I wouldn’t have known it had she not been tossing and turning resulting in her nails meeting my forehead.
“Max.” I hear her whisper. Who the fuck is Max? And why is he in my girl’s head?
I cannot sit here and not do anything. I try to wake her up hoping I don’t scare the shit out of her. I become worried when she doesn’t respond to that. Fuck! Eve wake the fuck up! I roll on top of her and start shaking her to wake up. Her eyes snap open and have a hint of a yellow glow. Oh shit! She takes a breath as if she had just been cut off from her oxygen and throws herself up and I catch her.
“Shhh, baby. You’re ok!” I’m worried as I look at her; moving her hair out of her face. The glow is gone and she looks a bit lost, like she doesn’t know where she is at. When she finally realizes where she is at I ask her about Max. Her breathing is still staggered when she looks at me and says that this guy is Alec’s father but she also tells me that it was not a good relationship to even be in. I can see that there is more to this guy in her eyes but I decide now is not the time to push it. I lay back down with her and pull her close to me.
Once I know she is asleep, I quietly get out of bed and get dressed. I want to know who this Max guy is and if she isn’t going to tell me, then I will find out on me own. I exit the room and close the door quietly. I run into Seg in the hallway.
“How is she?” Seg asks.
“Sleeping. She will be ok though, brother.” I’m in a hurry and don’t have time for this small talk.
“There is something you need to see.” Seg turns on his heels and leads me to our tech room. As we enter the room, I see Malik and Nico and they don’t look happy.
“What’s going on?” I ask
Malik meets my gaze and lets out a sigh, “Trigger.”
“Don’t ‘Trigger’ me. You’re not my fucking mother. What the fuck is going on?” I make my way over to the screens that Nico is still looking at. He hasn’t spoken a word but when he looks at me, he gives me a look like he just answered my question. It’s the video of the attack.
“You wanted any and all security cameras pulled, well I did that. As you can see, this camera here shows the store front where Eve works.” Nico points to the top left of computer screen to show the building. “Now if you look at these other camera views, you can’t see anything out of the ordinary but if I back up the time to the beginning of the week, take a look and tell me what you see.” Nico starts playing one video after another and sits back in chair and crosses his arms. As I study the frames, I see what looks like the same man in every frame on different days. Maybe he is a local, I think to myself.
“Alright, Nico you are going to have to help me out here. I see a man here on different days but couldn’t that be a local?”
“Not when he’s the one who did the attack. He studied the store, Trig. He memorized when people would be in and out and when Eve would be alone. This is the guy that needs to be hunted down and questioned.” Nico looks up at me knowing I would know what he meant by ‘questioned.’
“Do we have an ID on him yet?” I ask as I pace the floor.
“I have a detective friend that is on that for me now. We need to come up with a plan when that name comes back.” Malik speaks up. I whip my head in his direction and give him a look like he has gone nuts. “Trig, I want to get this guy as much as you do but we need to make sure that we don’t go in half-cocked and shit. I’m not losing men because you want to let your emotions get the best of ya.” Malik meets me in the middle of the room and puts his hand on my shoulder. “We will get him, brother, but we need to have a plan.”
I back up from Malik’s grip and give him a nod in understanding. As much as I would love to put this guy in the ground, Malik is right. We could lose brothers if we don’t have a plan in motion.
“Fine. In the meantime, Nico I need you to do some more research for me. I need to know any information about a Max that may have been associated with Eve in any way.” I say as I turn back to the computer and stare at the coward on the computer. Nico is fast to respond to my request and starts pulling up screens I have never seen before.
> “Why am I searching for him?” he asks. I know he means nothing by it but I’m irritated that he would even ask such a stupid question.
“Eve was saying his name in her sleep and they have a past.” I take a deep breath and let it out. All three of the guys look at me, confused. “About an hour ago, I had to bring Eve out of a projection. I initially thought it was a nightmare but when I couldn’t wake her, I knew what was happening. Whoever this asshole is channeled himself into her dreams. When she finally came out of it, her eyes were glowing.” That last statement set everyone off with questions of ‘Am I sure’ and ‘How did this happen’.
“She can’t be turning, can she? I mean you have to be born into the clan or bitten but even that is dangerous on a human.” Seg has panic in his voice. He’s right this is a dangerous situation unless she was born a Lycan but I would have sensed it, right?
“What about the scratch?” I ask Malik. He crosses his arms and has a look on his face like he is thinking.
“Get in touch with Sierra. See if there is a new strain out there that we are unaware of. If this guy is some sort of hybrid we need to get rid of him fast and find out if there are any others. We don’t need a pandemic happening in our city or any city for that matter. Seg, you’re close to Sierra. You make the call. Nico, you keep working on this,” Malik motions to the computer. “Trig, organize the brothers. Church in 30.” Malik storms out. He knows something, I can tell by the way he acted.
I make my way over to the bar and grab a beer before making the calls. This is going to be one long ass night. As much as I want to be in bed with my girl, we now have bigger issues on our hands. And Eve is caught in the middle of it all. Now it’s my job to not only protect her but Alec as well.
If I only knew what I was dealing with.
As the brothers file in for Church, I can’t help but feel a sense of guilt for getting Eve stuck in the middle of all of this. She doesn’t deserve this kind of life. I knew better than to get involved with someone outside the clan and it was stupid on my part to drag her into it. She has a son for fuck’s sake. She already has someone to live for.
A crack of the gavel draws me out of my thoughts and back to reality. Malik is at the head of the table, Seg is sitting across from me and the rest of the brothers are scattered around the room, either sitting or standing.
“Church is called to order,” Malik calls out. He sets the gavel down and rustles through some papers, “Now most of you know, there was an attack on a human a few nights ago. Most of you have met her already, Eve Bordeaux. While we are still going through camera footage, there is something that was brought to my attention that needs to be address.” Malik leans forward and folds his hands on the table. “During her stay at the hospital, a piece of her attacker was left behind. A claw. She was scratched. However, unlike the scratches that we have dealt with in the past that have happened to humans; this one is different. She is doing things a human should not be doing?”
“Like what?” one of the brothers in the back asks.
“Right now, it’s just dreams; more recently her eyes have changed colors. We don’t know what exactly we are dealing with. Whatever questions you may have are most likely going to go unanswered. Nico, any word from Sierra’s people?”
Nico clears his throat and sits up in his chair. “I did manage to get ahold of someone but they aren’t giving us much help. They are just denying anything like this could happen and suggesting maybe she is Lycan after all.”
“That’s bullshit,” I quickly say. “If she was, I would have sensed her or it,” I look at Malik, “You would have sensed it,” and the finally I look around the room, “Anyone in this room who has met her would have been able to sense it. This is just another way for them to brush their problems under the fucking rug.” I’m pissed. Those people had an answer, they just didn’t give a shit since it didn’t concern them. Everyone in the room knows that. The murmurs confirm it.
Malik slams his gavel on the cypress table and the room goes silent. “For now, we monitor Eve. Trig, you are the closest to her as well as Bridget. If she changes at all, then we need to know.” Nods from all around are seen.
“On to the issue of the package that was sent to Bridget. We all know that this is a direct threat. According to the labs we have sent it to, they can’t identify what it is.” Malik starts explaining.
“Yeah, but when did we become the fucking dealers of NOLA? I mean, a fucking vile of purple shit is a little Lucy-ish, don’t ya think?” Rush butts in. He said what we were all thinking. Bridget thinks there is a curfew on her because of the trouble she causes and I know Rush cares for her more than just a friend but this is still my sister. This is a direct message not just to her but to us too.
“It is but until we know for sure what it is, we heighten our security around the compound and the city.” Malik puts his hand up as objections start coming in. “I know we are stretched thin physically and mentally. But without knowing what this stuff is, we can’t just let it go. For all we know, it could wipe out our city if it hits the air.” At that statement, the table starts to quiet down and the brothers slowly start agreeing with him.
“Now we have one more issue to discuss. Eve has been channeled. Trig has successfully done this to try to obtain information that may help us catch this fucker. But tonight, someone else channeled her and she gave Trigger a name. Max. Does anyone know a Max here?” Everyone shakes their heads indicating that they didn’t know anyone by that name. “Then we are on lockdown. Whoever this character is, may know where Eve is. So, no one in or out of the Club without any of us knowing.” At that, the gavel comes down on the table one more time to signal Church is over. The brothers start dispersing back through the clubhouse while Malik, Nico, Seg, Rush and I all still sit there wondering what we could do to not only protect Eve and Alec, but the Club as well.
Eve
I’m awakened by the sun beaming into the bedroom. Fuck it didn’t even feel like I was asleep at all. I laid there in bed thinking of the last couple of nights and feeling like I had let everyone down. I’m supposed to be the strong, independent woman; not the helpless damsel in distress. I roll over and see Tony’s cut sitting on the back of the chair. Was he still in here? Oh Lord! What did I say to him last night?
I sit up in the bed and swing my feet over the bed and instantly the feeling of dizziness and nausea overcome me. Too fast, Eve, too fast. I really need to pee and I don’t feel like being carried to the bathroom to do it. So, I slowly get up off the bed and give my body time to steady itself before I make my way there. Once in the bathroom, which is quite small with a sink, toilet, and a small shower; I look at myself in the mirror. Holy fuck, it looks as if I got hit by a truck. Then I see the scratches for the first time. I run my fingers over the stitches and feel a burning sensation running through my body.
I hear talking coming from the outside of the door to the bedroom so I decide now might be the time to use the bathroom and attempt to get dressed. I struggle to get my shirt on, it hurts like a bitch against my scratches when I hear that familiar husky voice come into the bedroom.
“You should’ve asked for help, my baby.” Tony says as he helps pull my arms through the sleeves.
“I had it.” I smile at him. His features soften, I can tell something is on his mind. He stands there looking at me and I can’t help but get that butterfly feeling in my stomach. He looks down right sexy this morning with his black t-shirt that looks like it may pop at any second from his biceps, his jeans that leave a lot to the imagination, and boots. I hear him chuckle when he realizes I am checking him out. I can probably gauge that I am five shades of red right now.
Tony turns and retrieves his cut from the back of the chair by the nightstand. He hasn’t said much since he came into the bedroom but when he does, it makes me jump right out of my skin.
“Come on, some little man has been waiting to see you.” He says with a smile on his face.
Alec! How can I forget my little
man? Fuck. I have missed him so much. It seems like it has been weeks since I have last seen him but it has only been a few days.
We walk out of the bedroom and down the hall. I completely forgot about the bruises on my face. It wasn’t until I noticed everyone staring at me with distorted faces. I lower my head trying not to make eye contact with anyone. I don’t want anyone to see me like this especially Alec.
I feel a presence in front of me, Tony. When I look up at him, he gives me a strange look and says, “Baby, if you lower those eyes again, it’s not going to be a good day. You have no reason to feel ashamed of anything.” Tony turns and looks at everyone else. “And you have no reason to stare. One of our own was attacked, there is no reason to gawk. Now on with y’all.” Tony turns back to me and puts his hands on my arms and gives me an assuring look. It was like I could read his thoughts, know what he was thinking. I understand what he was trying to say with just his eyes.
“Momma!” I hear a little voice calling for me. Oh, my sweet little man. How I have missed him so much. I crashed down to my knees and grabbed him tight when he crashes into me. I hold onto him like my life depends on it.
Alec takes my face into his hands and looks at me hard. “Otay?”
“Yes baby, I’m ok.” I say trying to reassure him.
“Momma, hurt.” He says as he touches one of my bruises. I wince in pain but I put a smile on my face for him.
“Momma, is okay baby. Have you been a good boy?” I ask. He’s fidgeting with my cross necklace. But he nods his head and I give him a kiss on his forehead. “I love you, my baby.”
“Wuv you, too.” Alec says.
“Alright, how about you go watch some more Teen Titans, okay?”
“Otay!” He says excitedly. He gets up from my lap and I watch him climb up on the couch and hold onto his stuff dinosaur I got him for his birthday last year.
Trigger's Salvation: Hellfire Dogs MC #1 (Hellfire Dogs MC Series) Page 8