Talon

by Savannah Rylan

  I stuck my chin up in the air, daring him to say more, to say anything to me.

  “Now, tell me, sweetheart, how are you connected with Glock? You think if I set a honey trap for him, he’ll come sniffing about here?” the man stepped closer to me and I brought my knees to my chin. I could feel the muscles in my body stiffening, my back stiffening with a mixture of fear and rage.

  “They told me you were a big talker, cat got your tongue, sweetheart?” he said with that sickly smile still on his face, and he crouched down in front of me. Our faces were only a few inches away now, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath, I could see the shape of the scar on his face clearly. I felt sick to my stomach.

  “I don’t have to talk to you,” I hissed at him, and he threw his head back and laughed.

  “Of course, you do, Sage, who else do you have to talk to? I’m pretty sure Casey isn’t good company,” the man said, and I clenched my jaws at him.

  “How do you know my name?” I growled, and he laughed some more.

  “Finding out your name in this town wasn’t too hard, Sage. A redhead who hangs around Glock, big tits, those were the keywords used, and we got your name within seconds,” he said and reached for my hair. I tried to shake his touch away, but he had a firm grip on my hair now.

  “Soft hair,” he said and pulled a bunch of it to his face. He was breathing in deeply. “Smells good too. You know how to look after yourself, don’t you, beautiful Sage? Not like Casey here. You should take some fashion advice from Sage,” he looked at Casey, who was curled up in the corner, staring at us with tears streaming down her face.

  “Okay, yes I will,” she murmured politely, and the man laughed.

  “Who are you?” I asked him, and he turned to me again.

  “You want to sit down and have a chat? A real heart to heart?” he asked, mocking me and I gulped, trying to hold back the rage that was seeping out of my veins.

  “What is your name?” I growled at him.

  “Why do you want to know, sweetheart?” he asked and reached for my hair again. I didn’t move or flinch, I let him touch me.

  “So that I can tell Glock. He should know exactly which of you to kill first,” I hissed the words at him, and he grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my face close to his. I could feel the pain shooting down my spine. He had grasped my hair too tightly, but I didn’t want him to know just how badly he was hurting me.

  “You think your little boyfriend can get to me? Not before I’ve sold you off for a nice price,” he said with that slithering voice.

  His face was close to mine, and with my hands tied, all I could do was spit at him. I watched as my spittle landed right on his left cheek. It was satisfying, even though it wasn’t much. I wanted him to know that I was never going to give up fighting for myself, no matter how long it might take Glock to eventually find me.

  His slap landed on my cheek like a hot iron on my skin. I heard Casey gasp as my head rolled back and another searing ache ran down my spine. He grabbed the back of my neck and used that to yank me closer to him again.

  With one hand, he wiped the spittle off his face, and then he rubbed it on my knee. I gritted my teeth. I could sense the blood pooling under my skin where the slap had landed on my cheek.

  “Don’t ever try something like that again, do you understand, Sage? The next time it will be more than just a slap,” he growled at me, and I flared my nostrils at him.

  “What are you going to do?” I barked at him.

  The man shook his head like he was disappointed in a child and he stood up off the floor. I fell back when he released his grip on me, and then he dusted his hands like they were dirty.

  “I want you to remember that I have personally taken on the responsibility of training you. I’m sure your bitch roommate here will be more than happy to fill you in on the details of that. Also, I like a bit of spunk, and you have loads of that, don’t you, Sage?” he hissed, just as we heard the shot of a gun upstairs.

  The three of us flinched at the same time, and my eyes lit up. The sound of shots could only mean one thing, the Bad Disciples were here. Glock had found me.

  Chapter 17

  Glock

  When we arrived at the address that Noelle had given Tank, my brothers were sure that this was the wrong one. I hadn’t formed an opinion about the place yet, although I could see their logic.

  The house was close enough to one of the Dragon Knights’ holding cells that we already knew about, but this place looked like nothing. It wasn’t secure, the house was crumbling, there were no vehicles in sight and no signs of movement inside the house. It seemed like an unlikely place to hold two girls captive, without reinforcements or the full force of their MC, especially if they were expecting us and had baited Sage to get to me. Unless we were lucky and they hadn’t completed their preparations yet. Maybe they weren’t expecting us to turn up so quickly?

  “Fuck! I think I got the address wrong!” Tank growled as he slipped his cellphone out of his pocket. He was about to call one of the girls again, but my eyes had landed on the old pickup parked near the steps of the porch. I had seen it outside Sage’s house the other day, I knew this was where she was.

  “They’re here,” I said in a low growl and tipped my head towards the beaten-up truck. The others followed my gaze and Tank slid his phone back into his jacket.

  We parked our bikes and got off. It was only Gunner, Tank, Hunter and myself for the time being. Sniper had gone back to get reinforcements, but we were far away from the Rusty Pelican. It would take them at least an hour to get here.

  It was too dark and too quiet and seemed like an unlikely place for the Dark Knights to gather. For one, the house was too small.

  “Maybe they’ve taken the girls to a different location? Maybe we should check the nearby holding cell first,” Tank suggested as the four of us stared at the porch of the crumbling house.

  All four of us had our guns out and pointed in the direction of the house.

  “We can’t leave without checking this place out first,” I said, looking out for any signs of movement inside.

  “One thing’s for sure, there can’t be too many of those fat fucks in there,” Gunner said, and the others laughed lightly. I wasn’t really in the mood for a laugh. They had Sage. I couldn’t even be sure if she was alive or dead. There was a high chance that she was dead, and I was trying to not think about it.

  I just hoped that she hadn’t opened her big mouth and told any of the Dragon Knights about her stupid plan. That would definitely have earned her a bullet through the brain. The thought made my hands quiver as I gripped the gun tightly.

  I was the first one to take a step up the porch.

  “You sure that’s her truck? It looks like a pile of shit,” I heard Hunter hiss out to me in the dark.

  “I’m sure, man,” I growled back at him, without turning to look at him.

  “How are they so quiet in there?” Gunner added, and I was just about to turn to them and tell them to keep their traps shut when the first bullet broke through one of the windows, shattering the glass and whizzing right past my ear.

  “Motherfucker!” Tank growled, and in the next instance, we were firing a volley of gunshots at the front of the house.

  I had stepped back down the porch, and so had my brothers. Hunter had an AK which he was using to fire clip after clip at the front of the house. I could see the pattern of bullet shots on the wall now. A few more shots rang out towards us from inside the house, and we all ducked behind our bikes for cover.

  “Fuck!” Hunter barked. The four of us were still uninjured. I was itching to get back up and charge at the house. Now I was sure that Sage was in there, and so were at least some members of the Dragon Knights.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Glock!” Gunner growled at me from behind his bike. When I looked at him, I found him glaring at me. He knew what I was about to do.

  “You fuckers were too loud! You gave us away!” I fought back i
nstead.

  “I’m pretty sure your engine gave it away, Glock, chill. They’ve known we’re here for a couple of minutes now,” Hunter said to me, in a coaxing but firm voice. He was right, this wasn’t the time to get into an argument with one of my brothers.

  “We have to fucking get in there. I know she’s in there,” I said, crouched down behind the bike. A few more shots fired past us, just as Tank had tried lifting himself up to look. He fell back down on the ground and clenched his jaw in anger.

  “Yeah, we’ll go in there, let’s just wait for the rest of the MC to arrive. There can’t be many of them in there, they’re shooting in bursts,” Gunner said, and I shook my head. I knew I was breathing hard. A film of sweat had formed on my forehead. The more I thought about Sage held captive in there, the more charged up I got.

  There was no way I was going to just sit there, hiding behind my bike, while knowing that Sage was inside the house.

  “I’m going in, you guys can stay here,” I muttered and stood up.

  “Shit.”

  “Glock!”

  “Get back down here, Fuck!” I heard their voices behind me as I ran towards the porch steps again. Another round of fire had erupted from inside the house, but my brothers were covering my back now. They were shooting back at them, and I crouched and ran right up to the front door of the house and kicked the door.

  It took two attempts to kick it in, just as the others joined me. The firings had stopped on either side. It was evident that the Dragon Knights inside were trying to either run out of the back as we approached, or they were now looking for places to hide inside the house.

  “They’re going to regret ever touching her,” I growled, and I took a step into the dark, cold house. My brothers were right behind me.

  ***

  The house was deathly quiet inside. The fuckers had clearly taken cover like the bunch of pussies that they were. The four of us had walked in with our guns pointed forward, even though we couldn’t be sure if any of the Dragon Knights were still in the house.

  I was hoping that I’d walk into the house and hear Sage’s voice or see her immediately, but she was nowhere in sight. What if my brothers were right? What if they had taken her somewhere else? What if they had used her pickup as a lure for me? What if this was another trap. We couldn’t change our minds now, we were already in the house.

  “Come out come out, wherever you are. Motherfuckers!” Tank shouted, in a mock sweet tone. It’s not like we were expecting a response, but it was for them to know that we were in the house now. And as much as they tried to hide, if they were still in here, they wouldn’t be able to for long.

  Flashes of scenes of Sage being held, being stripped, being “trained” ran through my head and I could feel my breathing quickening. All I needed was for her to still be alive, and I knew I would do anything to get her out of there, no matter what the consequences. If it was me they wanted, they were going to get me.

  The four of us had spread out around the house, walking slowly. I had my gun pointed in front of me, and I whipped around and sideways with every pin drop.

  I could feel drops of sweat trickling down my eyelashes from my forehead, and I realized that I hadn’t blinked in a while. I didn’t want to miss a single opportunity.

  A shot rang out in a different room. It was Gunner. I ran into the room, to see him running into what looked like could have been the kitchen.

  “I saw one of them!” he barked at me, just as the others joined us in the room.

  We were gathered in a circular group, pointing our guns in every direction now.

  “They could have run out of the back,” Tank said, but I could sense they were here. Sage was still here.

  “Sage!” I shouted her name, but I didn’t hear a voice in response. Not even a muffled cry or a sob.

  “Sage! It’s Glock!” I shouted again, and nothing again.

  A bullet zinged past us, and I saw Hunter grab his arm, it had grazed him.

  “Fuck!” he growled and fired in the direction of the shot, and just behind a wall, one of the Dragon Knights members fell to the floor. We could only see his head on the ground, and we rushed to him. He was alone and clutching his knee where Tank’s bullet had caught him. I flipped him on his back and pressed my boot down hard on his throat.

  “Where’s Sage? Where are you holding her?” I barked at him, keeping my gun pointed at his head.

  “Fuck you!” he got out and pressed his eyes in pain. Another shot was fired at Tank, and Gunner ran towards the other room, chasing after the guy who had fired at us. Hunter remained with me.

  “Answer the man, you motherfucker!” Hunter barked and kicked the guy’s leg which made him moan and groan, and he clutched his knee harder.

  “Where is she? Where did you take her?” I pushed harder down on his throat and moved my gun right to his head. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t kidding around. He opened his eyes wide at me, bloodshot dark eyes. He was writhing in pain and anger at the same time. Did they think they were invincible? Did they really think that we wouldn’t get them?

  “Okay, why don’t we warm you up with a different question? How many of you fucking assholes were holed up in here?” Hunter asked him and kicked his leg again. He winced and tried to roll away, but my boot kept him on the ground.

  We could still hear the firings in the background. Gunner and Tank were in a crossfire with some other guys.

  “Four,” the man groaned and pressed his eyes closed again.

  “Good boy. Now, tell us, where are you holding the girls?” Hunter asked him, with a sizzling voice and I kept my gun pointed at his ugly head.

  “Where is she? I’m not going to fucking ask you again. Where are you holding Sage?” I growled louder at him and bent down to press the barrel of my gun right at his temple.

  “Okay, okay, she’s with Brick,” he said, holding his hands up in defense. I looked up at Hunter, whose eyes were wide.

  “Where is Brick? Give me the address!” I shouted, and the guy’s nostrils were flared.

  “Speak up!” Hunter growled and kicked his knee again, which made him moan again.

  “He’s here. They’re here. In the basement,” he finally said.

  I looked at Hunter, who tipped his head once.

  “Go! I’ll hold the fort here,” he whispered to me in the dark, and I was gone, running down the hallway and looking for the door that would lead me downstairs.

  Chapter 18

  Sage

  It wasn’t just me who had realized that the Bad Disciples had found the house. The man with the scar on his face jumped in my direction and pulled me up off the floor. I struggled to be released and screamed until my lungs hurt, but I knew that Glock wouldn’t hear me screaming over the sound of gunfire.

  “Shut up, bitch!” the man growled, clasping a hand on my mouth. He was standing behind me now, with his back against the wall. With one hand, he was holding me in position, his arm was twisted around my belly, and I could feel the strength of his muscles digging into my flesh.

  He used his other hand to keep my voice muffled so that no matter how much I squealed and screeched, my voice didn’t even leave the room.

  I was convinced that Glock wouldn’t find me here. We could hear the gunfire upstairs, then silence for a few minutes before another shot rang out. It was several minutes before I heard the faint sound of Glock’s voice, calling out my name. Then silence again.

  When I heard Glock’s voice, I wriggled in the man’s grip again.

  “Shut up! Be quiet, or I’ll choke you!” he warned me, his voice hissed in my ears. I tried to move my leg to kick him, but his arm around my waist tightened causing my breath to rush out of my body.

  I’d been holding back my tears for so long, that now they pricked the back of my eyelids painfully, desperate to come pouring down my cheeks. The rope was digging into the soft flesh of my wrists too, but I kept pulling. I was hoping that the binds would give way so that I could whip around and
smack the man across his face.

  Casey was cowering in the corner, flinching with every sound of a gun, crying but trying to stay quiet so that she could please the man.

  “I should have known your hero would come looking for you soon,” the man growled. He had prepared himself for an attack, using me as a human shield. I had a feeling that he wasn’t armed because if he were, he would have had his gun out by now.

  Even through my tears, I could feel a smile creeping up on my face. This idiot is going to die. Glock was going to kill him; I kept repeating to myself.

  “You’re going to do as I say, or you’ll get killed, do you hear me?” he growled into my ear. His arm around my body sent chills down my spine. I could feel his cock in his pants too, digging into my ass. I wished I was wearing heels so I could just poke a hole straight through his foot; but the men had even taken my sneakers off, along with my denim jacket. I was in jeans and my thin cotton t-shirt, which now had a few rips in it. Glock was going to kill him, I told myself again. The thought gave me some comfort, enough comfort to keep my tears back.

  We all heard the footsteps on the stairs at the same time. I knew that the man had heard it too because I could sense his body tensing up. His grip around my stomach became tighter, and his clasp on my mouth became stronger. I tried screaming again, but my voice was still muffled.

  There was a kick on the metal door, then another kick and it went crashing open. I screeched again when I saw Glock at the top of the steps. It was dark, but we had both seen each other.

  “Sage!” he shouted, and he took a few slow steps down, with his gun pointed in our direction. He could see the man standing behind me, holding me in position.

  “Ah, you must be the famous Glock! I’ve heard so much about you,” the man said, and even though he was trying to sound casual, I could sense the nervousness in his voice.

  “Let her go,” Glock growled as he took a few more steps down.

  The man was angling me to match Glock’s movement, making sure that he was shielded by my body at all times.