Ace saunters over and opens the door. The guy he was talking to earlier nods his head in my direction and leaves.
“It’s time. Are you ready brother?”
“Ready,” I snarl and clench my fists at my sides.
Ace leads me out of the room with Duke behind me, watching my back. The basement grows quiet and the spectators give us a wide berth. Once I step into the make shift ring, the crowd parts on the opposite side and a guy comes into view. He has tribal tattoos running up over his shaved head and branches out across his forehead. His black eyes land on me and a smirk appears on his face. He punches his knuckles together, cracking his neck from side to side. He’s trying to intimidate me, but it’s not working.
The man Ace was talking to earlier steps between us and raises his hands high. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a surprise fight for you tonight.” He points to the fucker trying to scare me. “Coming in at six foot six and weighing around two hundred and seventy pounds, is a fan favorite, Rescue.” The crowd erupts in cheers and catcalls. Feet stomp on the floor, the room is filled with anticipation and excitement. He holds his hands up again, silencing the crowd.
“Coming in at the same height and weighing around two hundred and fifty pounds is a newbie, Stryker from Savage Saints.” The crowd stays quiet. Fear and darkness surround them, afraid if they say the wrong thing Savage Saints will rein holy hell down onto them. Ace begins clapping, causing the rest of the crowd to follow along. Cheers and chants of my name roll off their tongues cause my adrenaline to spike.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you know the deal. The winner of this round will take twenty-five percent of the bets. So, get your bet in. The last man standing takes all. Good luck. You’re both going to need it.” He steps out of the makeshift ring and Rescue is on me in a flash.
I duck his first punch, landing one of my own on his stomach. His breath hitches and answers back with an uppercut. His punch grazes the side of my chin. I throw my hands up and send a jab into his nose. Hitting my target, blood squirts from his nose and the crowd goes wild. I back up on the balls of my feet and loosen up while Rescue regains his bearings. Now, I’m fucking with him. Letting him think he stands a chance. He throws a few more punches. One lands on my abs while the other two miss. He’s left hand strong, left leg weak. I take advantage of that and sweep my leg out, connecting with the side of his knee. He falls on his good leg in a grunt of pain. I slap him a few times in the face, dancing away and coming at him again. Rescue releases a low snarl and grabs me by the waist. We topple over and he tries straddling me. I push him up and over, throwing him across the ring.
The crowd grows crazy and sends him back in. “Finish him!”
“Shed some blood!”
“Make him suffer!”
“Stryker! Stryker! Stryker!” The crowd chants my name in a loud roar. I block it out and attack Rescue, delivering blow after blow down onto his face. I cut his right eyebrow, dripping into his vision. His nose is bleeding and his lip is cut, bleeding down his chin. He’s landed a few lucky punches on my face and I can taste the blood filling my mouth.
“Your bitch hits better than you,” Rescue taunts, sending a shot of rage into my veins. “I’ve fucked her over and over. I hope you like my sloppy seconds.”
I can’t control it anymore. I unleash a loud growl and attack. No one and I mean no one talks about Holly that way. I swing my fist, connecting with the side of his face, sending him back. I pounce, sweeping his legs out from under him. I gain the upper hand and place Rescue in a chokehold he can’t get out of. I punch his face with my other hand repeatedly until he stops struggling.
I shove him away from me and he flops on the ground, not moving. Someone comes into the ring and checks on him. “He’s alive but unconscious. Fights over. He’s not getting back up.”
The crowd cheers as my adrenaline wears off and fatigue overcomes me. Ace ushers me back into the small closet room and I collapse on the metal chair. Breathing hard, I attempt to settle the shaking in my hands and slow my heartbeat.
“Feel better, brother?” Ace asks, removing the tape from my hands.
“A lot. Thanks, Ace. I needed that.” I rest my elbows on my knees and run my hands over my bowed head.
“I figured you did. It’s what I like to do to blow off steam when things get out of hand. Now you know my secret, fill me in on yours.”
Tired of fighting the darkness and letting it control me, I release a deep sigh. “Siren is my sister. Reaper is the man who seeded me and left me with a junkie mother and abusive boyfriend.” It must be the wearing off adrenaline or that I trust him, I tell Ace everything. From the abuse as a boy to the reason why I killed Karl. Everything.
“Shit. Does Kayne know?”
“Yeah. Him, Blayde and Poison know. I’m sure it’s spread through the Clubhouse like wildfire by now.”
“If Karl came after you for some debt Reaper owes, that means his men will go after Siren if they can’t get to you. Fuck! We need to go now.”
Fear and panic plague me while I throw on my clothes, not bothering to wipe off the blood from Rescue.
“Fuck. I didn’t think about that. But she has Blayde to stay with her.” I say shoving my feet into my boots.
“But if she doesn’t know she’s in danger, she will fight Blayde every step of the way to protect her.” Ace grumbles.
I grab my cut and throw it on. We head out the door quickly and up the metal stairs. “Call Blayde. Make sure he stays with Siren at all times.” Ace shouts over his shoulder.
I fumble for my phone and dial his number. My heart is beating hard against my chest. “He’s not answering,” I shout.
“Try again. Try Kayne, Holly, Rooster. Someone has to answer.” Ace commands.
I dial Kayne and he picks up on the third ring. “Yeah.” His voice is groggy with sleep.
“Prez, where’s Blayde and Siren? They’re not answering their phones.”
“I think they went out for some food. Holly still isn’t feeling well after trying to shake off the poison in her system. Poison is with her in her room. What’s going on?” I hear Kayne moving around in the back.
“Siren is in trouble. I didn’t even think of it until Ace said something. When Karl came after me, he said my father owed him a debt. If he couldn’t collect from me, his men will go after Siren. Where did they go?” We reach the outside doors and I make my way quickly to my bike and straddle it, waiting for an answer.
“The small dinner on M20. They like to go there once in a while. Between here and Mt. Pleasant.” Kayne answers, his feet pounding down the stairs on the other end.
“We’re on our way there. Someone stay with Holly. Ace, Duke and I are going to check it out now. I’ll call you when we get there.” I hang up my phone, slip my sunglasses on and fire up my bike. I peel out of the parking lot and head toward the diner Kayne was talking about at breakneck speed.
Swerving in and out of traffic, I reach the diner in fifteen minutes. Blayde’s bike is parked out front, the sun glistening off the chrome. I pull in and park next to him. Relief fills me when I spot Siren and Blayde come walking out, arm in arm.
“Stryker, what are you doing here?” Blayde asks a questioning look appears in his face. “And what the fuck happened to you?”
“Thank fuck you two are OK,” I say as I place my kickstand down and hop off my bike.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” Siren asks. Her green eyes, just like our father’s, pierce right into my soul, like she knows.
“Because I left out an important piece of information that I didn’t realize until Ace pointed it out.” A loud bang behind us causes me to jump, followed by pops ringing over our heads.
Blayde covers Siren with his big body when we all hit the ground. Another pop explodes in the quiet area. Several pops follow. Fed up with this games bullshit, I turn on the ground, pull my gun from my cut and look around. Ace and Duke are on the ground, covering their heads. Ace reaches for his gun, giving me a slight nod. It’
s time to light these motherfuckers up.
A gray car is idling on the busy road, across the street from The Diner. Ace and I stand up and take aim, letting the bullets fly in their direction. The car speeds off but not before one man inside lean out the window and fire back in our direction. The bullet grazes my left shoulder and I see red. White-hot pain laces my shoulder and I’m on my bike in a flash. I fire again, hitting the man leaning out of the window. The car peels out onto the road and I take off after the car. My right arm’s struggling to hold my bike upright. Ace is right next to me, firing away. His bullet hits the rear tire and the driver loses control. He fires again, shattering the back window.
The car’s swerving all over the road, we back off and watch to see what happens next. Ace is next to me when we stop in the middle of the road. Duke, Blayde and Siren are behind us. My adrenaline is wearing off and a throbbing pain penetrates my shoulder. Warmth and wetness drench my arm under my cut and t-shirt. The car struggles to stay on the road. It swerves again, hitting the ditch. It rolls a few times and rams into a telephone pole, coming to a crashing stop. No one moves from inside the car when we slowly approach on our bikes, guns drawn.
I’m struggling to stay upright with the amount of blood I’ve lost from the bullet wound. Dizziness overcomes me and black spots don my vision. I shake my head trying to clear my sight. Determined to see this through to the end, I fight with everything I have to not pass out. I stop my bike, let the kickstand down and stumble off.
“Stryker, you’re hurt. Stop for a minute.” Blayde demands.
“I need to know who it is. I’m fine, just a flesh wound.” I cover the blood flow with my right hand. It seeps through my fingers and another wave of dizziness washes over me.
“You’re not fine. Stand down, now.” Blayde barks, climbing off his bike.
Siren climbs off after him heading right for me, watching everything around us. Blayde, Ace and Duke approach what’s left of the car carefully. I stay back, holding my left shoulder. Siren stands next to me and covers my wound with a shirt she grabbed out of Blayde’s saddlebags.
“Keep still,” Siren’s gentle voice says applying pressure to my bullet wound. I hiss from the pain. My legs finally give out on me and I collapse on the ground.
“Fuck, that hurts.”
“Yeah, I imagine being shot isn’t much fun.” Siren shrugs her shoulders. It’s the most we’ve talked since she’s come into the Clubhouse last year. “Can I ask you something, Stryker?”
“Only if you want an honest answer.”
“I do.” She looks out to Blayde yanking a guy out of the car before she turns her familiar green eyes on me. “What did I do to make you not like me?”
I don’t know if it’s the vulnerability in her voice or the lack of blood loss or both, but instead of ignoring her question, I answer. “Might as well you know the truth too. I’m surprised he didn’t say anything to you, just to get back at me.”
“Who?” Siren’s gaze is firmly fixed on me, waiting for me to elaborate.
“Reaper.” I pause for a minute. “You’re my sister. Reaper is the asshole seed who got my junkie mother pregnant then left us with a narcissistic drug kingpin.”
“What?” The color drains from her face and her eyes widen in shock.
“Surprise, you have a brother you can’t stand.” I shrug my shoulders and pain erupts from the movement. I grit my teeth hard. “Trust me it’s not you who did anything wrong. I’m just an asshole to everyone and if I became close to you, that meant being close to him. The last thing I want is him in my life. I’ve lived with enough pain of having that man walk away from me as a child and leaving me with a woman who hated me her whole life. A woman who’d let her boyfriend use her seven-year-old son as a punching bag and drug runner.”
“So, you’re my brother. Like real, flesh and blood brother?” Siren’s looking at me with a hopeful expression and it’s doing something to me I never wanted nor realized I needed.
“Who’s currently bleeding all over the place. Don’t let anyone tell you getting shot a third time is easier. The pain still hurts like a motherfucker.” I chuckle. Siren lets out a sweet sound of laughter.
I hear the squeal of tires and vibrations of several Harley’s approaching us fast. Blayde must’ve called Kayne sometime while I was bleeding all over the place and talking to my sister. That feels really weird to finally admit.
“Say it again,” Siren pleads.
“Say what? I didn’t say anything aloud.”
“Yes, you did. You called me your sister.” A smile graces her lips and I can’t help but grin back. There’s something happening between the two of us right now and I can’t explain it. I can’t help but want that bond we’re creating even through these circumstances.
“My sister,” I repeat.
“My brother,” Siren counters with a grin.
A van door slams behind us followed by footsteps running our way. Footsteps I’d recognize blindfolded, water boarded and tortured. It does something to my heart. Makes it skip a beat and peacefulness settle over me.
“Stryker? Oh my God, are you OK?” Holly makes her way to me slowly with the prospect holding her up. When she reaches me, she drops to her knees. There are tears in her eyes while she traces the cuts on my face from the fight with shaky fingers, peppering each cut with a small kiss. “Thank you, Siren. For being here with him.” The tenderness in Holly’s voice settles my soul and makes my heart skip a beat.
“Holly, I need to tell you something,” I mumble.
“That you finally told Siren the truth?” She arches an eyebrow at me.
“What? How did you know?” I ask, truly baffled.
Kayne and Poison stop next to Siren. Poison places her hand on Siren’s shoulder. I don’t know what anyone else is doing at the moment because Kayne’s giving me a scowl which has my neck hair standing on end.
“Are you all right, Stryker?” Kayne asks.
“I will be. This hurts like a motherfucker though.” I turn my attention to Holly. She’s still fretting over my injuries. “How did you know?”
“I’ll explain later. We need to get out of here before the cops show up.” Holly stands up and holds out her tiny hands. I grab them and attempt to pull myself up. Another wave of dizziness washes over me and I tumble back down to the ground, lying flat on my back. The world spins before my eyes and I fight the darkness surrounding me, attempting to pull me under.
I hear Holly and Siren’s panicked voices through the ringing in my ears. Hands are on my body, attempting to wake me. My body is going numb and I can’t fight it any longer. I’ve stayed awake this long, and now I’m forced to give in. My world goes dark and there isn’t a fucking thing I can do about it.
Chapter 13
Holly
When Kayne got the call about the car shooting at Stryker, Blayde, Siren, Duke and Ace, my entire world came to a screeching halt. Everything I was feeling came at me in a full circle. My love for Stryker. My love for this whole MC family. My fears that Sledge finally got to the one person I cared about more than myself.
Poison relieved Siren and she and Blayde took off. Poison told me Stryker, Ace and Duke left for a little while so Stryker could clear his head. I was so pissed he left but realized after I threw up again, he needed to come to terms with everything. He didn’t actually leave me, but he did the only thing he knew. He needed to blow off steam and riding does that for him.
Poison was helping me from the bathroom in my weakened state. She too was injured from Sledge, so Rooster came over to help. My limbs were shaking and I really needed this poison out of my system. I guess Candy had been drugging my water with a little bit of strychnine in each bottle. I never knew because the symptoms are almost nonexistent with the little doses until it’s too late. Then I could’ve gone into cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, multiple organ failure or have brain damage. Poison explained all of this to me as I vomited what little water I could get down. The seizure I had in the wo
ods was triggered by the poisoning and my body fighting it off after fearing for my life. She also told me this could last twelve to twenty-four hours. They’re going to keep Candy alive and detained until I’m feeling better and can face her.
Poison wants me to get my power back Candy took away. She doesn’t understand that even facing Candy, Sledge is still out there and he has all the control. He has control over my mind and that’s something only I can take back. But with the state I’m in, I have no strength to face him right now.
Kayne tried leaving me behind to rest with a prospect and Tatt, but I wasn’t letting him. I cautiously made my way to the van and climbed in the passenger seat. Once inside, I closed the door and leaned my head against the headrest and closed my eyes. I fell asleep on the ride over, trying to get back some strength.
When the van came to a stop, I opened my eyes and looked around. We were on the side of the road, Stryker, Duke, Ace and Blayde’s bikes were parked on the side. There was a car out in the distance smashed against a telephone pole. Blayde, Ace and Duke were down there pulling people out of the wreckage. What made my breath catch in my throat and my whole world to stop was Stryker and Siren. He was sitting on the ground with a makeshift bandage wrapped around his shoulder. Blood seeping through it at a fast pace. Siren was trying to hold the bandage in place but Stryker kept pushing her off him. I watched as he tried to get up, but landed on the ground again. It broke my heart watching him struggle.
I climbed out of the van and if the prospect wasn’t there when I did, I would’ve fallen to the ground. My body was weak, but I fought through it to get to my man. He needed me right now and I refuse to fail him. The prospect helped me over to Stryker. A flash of anger passed in his eyes, but when I dropped to my knees in front of him, holding him to me, he gave in and let me help.
Then Stryker passed out. He tried to stand and ended up tumbling to the ground. It was the scariest thing I’ve seen in my life. My big, strong biker falling to the ground. Siren and I were shouting Stryker’s name, trying to get him to wake up, but he wasn’t moving. Butch made his way over to us and checked him over.
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