Among the Chaos: Book 2 of the Soldiers of Chaos MC Series

by A. A. Askevold

  The loud roar of a twin cam had her eyes opening wide and Cole’s head whipping around. She watched as an unmistakable figure on a Harley Fat Bob turned his bike and thundered through the car park. The afternoon glow from the sun lit him up as he exited onto the street and disappeared. Trace.

  Nikki’s brain was shocked back in to action. She shook loose from Cole’s hold and dropped her eyes to the ground. She knew this would happen. She knew if she came here she would let him suck her back in.

  “I shouldn’t have come here.”

  She moved quickly towards her bike.

  “You can’t keep denying it Angel. I am the only one who can give you what you need.”

  She pulled on her glasses and mask as she straddled her bike.

  “You can’t hide what’s inside you,” his words echoed that of her mother in her nightmares.

  He was right but she couldn’t find salvation with him. She started her bake and quickly throwing on her helmet she roared out the alleyway.

  Nikki entered the clubhouse through the side door. She’d been looking for Trace for two hours. She’d already been to the clubhouse but there was no one there except for Melanie and the prospects. Dumb and dumber hadn’t seen him. She’d gone to the house and found it empty. She’d asked the girls at Eros but they hadn’t seen him. She was furious at herself and the monster was clawing away at the walls of its prison. She also had nothing to show for her meeting with Cole either. No information about the rat among them. Not that it mattered now. In a few hours her and Reaper would ride out to that house and take down the bastard traitor anyway. He’d told her to meet him at the clubhouse away from the funeral goers that had gathered at the farm.

  As Nikki neared the corner of the short hall she heard Rose’s voice coming from the main room.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Something about her tone of voice put Nikki on alert. She approached the corner cautiously.

  “I asked you a question. What are you doing here?”

  “Get your hands of me you old hag,” Melanie’s voice made Nikki’s insides burn with hate.

  Bitch. Melanie was really pushing her luck giving the President’s old lady shit was a big no, no.

  “What did you just call her?” that sounded like Case’s old lady Joanne.

  “You heard me you fugly bitch.”

  Nikki rounded the corner just in time to see Joanne punch Melanie in the face. Didn’t that make Nikki smile? She wasn’t the only one smiling. Nikki could see Casey, Joanne’s best friend, standing behind Rose.

  “Watch your mouth you stupid skank. You have no right to talk to the Prez’s old lady like that.”

  Melanie held her cheek and hid behind her hair.

  “Unless you want another one I suggest you leave now bitch plus I’m pretty sure you’re still on a freeze out.”

  Melanie dropped her hand from her face and reached into her purse. She pulled a gun.

  Joanne backed up quickly moving Rose behind her. Melanie pointed her pistol at the three women, her hand shaking.

  “Don’t you fucking come near me.”

  As she stared at Melanie Nikki felt cracks begin to form in the monster’s enclosure but she couldn’t stop them. It was time she sorted this skank out. Melanie was turned slightly away from the side entry hall and hadn’t seen Nikki yet. Nikki flattened herself against the wall and slid closer to Melanie.

  “I’m here because I was fucking invited.”

  Who the hell would invite that skank back here?

  It was Joanne who asked the question, “Who the fuck invited you?”

  Nikki was almost at Melanie’s side.

  “Your man did.”

  Lying bitch. Case may have had a dirty mind, a dirty mouth and a dirty sense of humour but he would never actually follow through with any of the shit that came out of his mouth and Nikki knew that Melanie wasn’t telling the truth. The hurt in Joanne’s eyes angered her further. She withdrew her Glock from its holster and leveled it at Melanie’s skull.

  “Drop the gun,” she demanded.

  Melanie’s head swung her way quickly. Her eyes travelled from the barrel of Nikki’s gun to Nikki’s face and back again. Then she straightened up like all of a sudden she had a spine.

  “You drop yours or I’ll shoot them,” Melanie warned.

  Nikki smiled at that comment she’d spotted something that Melanie obviously hadn’t.

  “You aren’t going to shoot anyone.”

  “What makes you so sure about that bitch?” Melanie asked.

  Nikki smiled wider before replying, “You forgot the safety bitch.”

  Melanie turned back to her gun and Nikki took advantage of her distraction. She stepped towards Melanie and pistol-whipped her in the side of the face. Melanie dropped the gun and fell to the floor. Nikki grabbed a handful of Melanie’s using it to maneuver her around on to her knees. Melanie struggled scratching at Nikki’s arm till Nikki put the muzzle to her temple. Melanie froze and Nikki tilted her face up so she could see the fear in her eyes. It filled her with an undeniable satisfaction.

  “What’s that look for Melanie? You should be used to being on your knees. I mean sucking dick is what you love right?” Nikki slowly dragged the barrel of her pistol down Melanie’s cheek as she spoke, “Sucking Soldier’s dick in particular?”

  Nikki wedged the muzzle against Melanie’s mouth and forced it between her lips. Melanie squealed and tried to shake her head in protest but Nikki just gripped her hair tighter. She slid the barrel back and forth in Melanie’s mouth.

  “How do you like this Soldier’s dick bitch?”

  “Enough!” Trace’s voice sounded from over Nikki’s shoulder as he stepped into the main room.

  She stopped and looked down at Melanie’s tear streaked face. The woman disgusted her and Nikki wouldn’t lose sleep over Melanie’s dead body.

  “Let her go Nikki,” Trace demanded.

  Oh she’d let her go alright but not without a warning. Nikki slid her Glock from Melanie’s mouth and pulled her to her feet by her hair. She leaned in close to Melanie’s face keeping the muzzle of her Glock wedged against Melanie’s chin.

  “You listen to me bitch. You go and you don’t come back do you hear me?”

  Melanie gave a slight nod of her head in acknowledgement.

  “Because if I ever see you here again, I won’t hesitate to paint these walls with the inside of your skull. Now run.”

  Nikki let go of Melanie’s hair and watched as she scrambled across the clubhouse stumbling as she went.

  The door closed and the three other women in the room breathed a sigh of relief. Then she felt the anger in the room swell again.

  “Who invited that skank here?” Joanne’s voice was filled with a mixture of hurt and fury.

  “It wasn’t Case Joanne. He’s still at the Cabin,” Trace’s answer came swiftly and the relief on Joanne’s face was obvious.

  “Who did then?”

  Nikki glanced at Trace. His eyes immediately moved away from her gaze, his face full of guilt.

  “I did.”

  Those two little words set off an eruption of darkness inside Nikki. The cracks became fissures as the darkness began to escape from the box she had locked it in. She was going to kill that stupid gash. Nikki went for the door blind fury driving her out of the clubhouse and into the car park. Melanie was gunning it out of the compound when Nikki spotted her. She raised her Glock and unloaded a couple of rounds into the back window before the car disappeared around the compound wall.

  Trace’s voice followed the sound of his thundering footsteps. “Nikki!”

  At the sound of his voice the sense of betrayal crept in. How could he do that to her? Tex sleeping with that bitch upset her sure but Tex was the act without thought type. Trace on the other hand thought carefully about everything he did, which meant that his actions were always purposeful. That made it hurt more than anything else, the fact that he set out to cause her pain.

&nbs
p; “Jesus Nikki I saw you with him and I.”

  She couldn’t listen to his excuses. Nikki swung her gun towards him.

  “Don’t. Don’t say a fucking word to me.”

  If she didn’t leave now she was gonna lose it and she hardly had herself under control as it was. She went straight for her bike leaving Trace standing in the forecourt in silence.

  Chapter 14

  Nikki had ridden around and around with the blackness inside her slowly leeching through her. When Reaper had finally called to say he was on his way to the bike shop Nikki could barely contain the satisfaction at knowing that soon she would be destroying the bastards that threatened her family. Now they sat on the roof of the building waiting.

  The unmistakable sound of throbbing twin cams came roaring down the road. Nikki put her eye to the scope. Four bikes turned into the driveway of the house they'd been watching and disappeared around the back of the house. The lack of lighting made it difficult for her to identify the riders until they appeared in the front room of the house. Two Crows members stepped in to view shaking hands with the resident of the house. She recognised them immediately.

  The first one was Jimmy Romero. The guy was a complete dick. He was left over from before Bull took the reins of the club and tried to turn it around. He was a traditionalist and a small picture guy who couldn’t look past the cash in his back pocket now. Nikki had never liked the guy, not that she’d been around him often, he just gave off a bad vibe. The other patch was Rez.

  Nikki nearly fell over with shock. What the hell was the VP of the Crows doing talking to a Niner?

  The other two riders stepped in to Nikki’s line of vision and what she saw next had her insides growling with fury. There in the lounge of that house was Dumb and Dumber. Those traitorous scumbags.

  “What the fuck?”

  “Indeed kid, indeed. Wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes,” he said.

  The sound of a car coming toward them caught Nikki’s attention. She looked up to see a white ford sedan moving down the street in the direction of the house. She recognised that car and wasn’t surprised as it too parked behind the pale blue house of treachery. She watched all the men in that house closely as Malakai and two other Niners greeted their compatriots. Their body language wasn't stiff and wary telling her this wasn’t the first time they met. The conversation appeared to flow back and forth easily which told her the people in that room were all on the same page.

  "You know what they are discussing right now?" Reaper asked.

  She knew. They were discussing a hit on one of her Brothers.

  "They want Rez and Jimmy to take out on Bull & King at a little meeting they are setting up. The retard twins, who you might notice are not quite as retarded as you thought, are meant to take out me," he explained.

  They were planning on killing her family? Her blood ran ice cold then lava hot in a matter of seconds as she considered the possibility. She felt the monster inside her pulse with fury. Those walls were gonna be all but destroyed in a matter of moments and Nikki knew it. At this point she was beyond caring.

  “How do you know this?” she asked him.

  "Because Rez is playing double agent. Did you honestly think he would betray Bull like that?” Reaper sneered at her in disgust.

  That made more sense than believing he was a traitor and it just made the whole thing seem more real.

  “So what are we gonna do about this?” she asked Reaper unable to hide the contempt from her voice.

  “These shaky hands aren’t gonna do shit about this kid,” he paused and looked her directly in the eye, “but you are.”

  He shifted over gesturing his weapon towards her. He wanted her to put them down. She had no problem with that.

  "Right how do you want this shit to go?" She asked as she shouldered the weapon properly.

  "You got the gun in your hands kid," he said.

  Nikki eyed each of her targets, "traitors go first."

  She squeezed the trigger the bullet shattering the window and popping Dumb in the back straight through the heart. That’s where she'd aimed and her aim was never off. The darkness inside her roared with triumph as it finally exploded free from what was left of its confines. Dumber was next. Without thinking she put one through his throat as he was ducking for cover. She saw the blood squirt and knew she'd hit an artery, he'd bleed out within minutes.

  The others were still scrambling for cover when she fired her next shot. It hit true, straight through the house resident’s skull and out the other side. The other four were hiding now. The two nameless Niners were crouched behind the sofa and Malakai was down under the windows. All she had to do was wait until they popped their heads out and bang, they'd be dead. But she didn’t have time to waste. Those shots were loud enough to wake the dead and they didn’t need the attention.

  "I’m going in," she said as she thrust the gun back at Reaper, "just don’t shoot me ok?"

  He nodded in acknowledgement and Nikki turned running in a crouch for the stairs.

  "Hey Ace," Reaper called to her.

  He never called her that.

  "Show them what your old man gave you,” he said smiling wildly at her.

  She smiled right back just as wildly before she turned and ran across the rooftop.

  Nikki scrambled down the stairs to the sound of Reaper firing the M4 probably trying to pin those bastards down. She rounded the back of the old store and ducked across the road. Adrenalin flowed through her feeding the dark being inside her that revelled in the violence. Even as she crept through the shadows towards the house she began to accept that feeling, to let it wash over her. Nikki ducked through the yard next door and went up over the fence into the backyard. She dodged the vehicles in the yard and made it to the back door. Reaper was still putting down fire. Brandishing her trusty Glock she slowly opened the back door and slipped into the house.

  Light filtered into the laundry from the next room. On soundless steps she moved toward the door way. Peering around the frame she checked the room was clear and went straight for the lounge room entry. Nikki couldn’t see jack from the angle she was on. She ducked across the open entry way and flattened herself against the wall on the opposite side. A quick look in the room told her that Malakai was still under the window. From the shouting she could tell that the two nameless Niners were still behind the couch. Jimmy and Rez on the other hand were nowhere to be seen.

  Malakai popped up and a volley of shots from Reaper hit the frame and ripped through the curtains. Nikki didn’t understand how Reaper didn’t hit the guy. Maybe his symptoms were worse than she thought?

  “Fuck,” Malakai shouted loudly, “Did you make the call?”

  “Yeah I made it,” one of the guys behind the couch yelled back.

  “How long till they get here?”

  “Ten minutes.”

  “Shit. We gotta find out where this guy is firing from. I’ll distract him you run for the door,” Malakai ordered.

  “OK.”

  Nikki turned her attention there. She caught a glimpse of him as he shuffled to the edge of his hiding place. Nikki quickly pulled back so as not to alert the guy to her presence. Flattening herself against the wall again she waited.

  “On three,” the other voice called, “One, two, three.”

  Nikki stepped out of her hiding place just as the guy behind the couch made his run for the door. His steps faltered and his face showed his surprise but it was too late for him to do anything else. Nikki fired at him hitting him dead in the chest. He stumbled falling forward and crashing into the shelving near the door. The noise caused Malakai to whip around. Nikki already had her Glock trained on him. She let fly but Reaper’s wild shots collected the guy twisting him so her bullet went through his shoulder. He went down his gun bouncing on the carpet away from him.

  The volley of fire from Reaper stopped and the world went suddenly silent except for the ragged breaths of the man dying on the floor across f
rom her. She felt a shift inside her. She knew she should cover and make a play for the other man behind the couch but instead something commanded her to move toward Malakai and finish the job. She tried to resist, telling herself she was not an executioner, that her best move was to go for the couch guy but it was no good. Her feet took her towards the body under the window with determined strides.

  The darkness urged her to flip Malakai over. His breaths gurgled out of his mouth and despite the fact that she knew he was as good as dead. She stood up and aimed her barrel at his head. One quick squeeze of the trigger ended him quickly. The sound of running footsteps behind her had her swinging around. The man behind the couch was making a run for it. Coward. She aimed and fired dropping him with one shot through the back of his head. A roar of triumph echoed loudly inside her, the monster declaring its victory over the enemy and over her.

  The front door burst open and Nikki swung her weapon that way her finger preparing to squeeze that trigger.

  “Whoa Kid,” Reaper said as he raised both hands up, “It’s just me.”

  Nikki turned her attention back to her surroundings. As she surveyed the carnage around her the old part of her tried to feel remorseful. It was too late the monster had taken over.

  “Cavalry’s on its way. We gotta go,” she told Reaper.

  “What about Jimmy?”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that. Rez went after him,” Reaper assured her, “Now let’s go.”

  She dipped her chin in acknowledgement and took one last look at the room before she headed out. The darkness had engulfed her entirely and it cried out restlessly, thirsty for more violence. There was only one way to assuage its thirst.

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