by Nicole Snow
The renegades behind their leaders began to push forward, down the short rickety staircase. Then Irons swaggered down and raised one hand.
“Hold up. What the fuck's that Prairie Pussy doing with you? Brothers, stop!”
The renegades froze. I stepped deeper into the light. I could feel the rage and annoyance rolling off Fang, and he eyeballed me a furious warning.
“We're here to get our hostages. We know you fucks have them in there, and we're not leaving until they come out safe.” My eyes narrowed. “Bring her out and let's get this done.”
No fucking requests. Just a demand. I was past giving a damn who it pissed off – Ursa, Irons, Fang – fuck them all. I wanted my old lady, and I wasn't gonna walk away with anything else.
“Doesn't seem right,” Irons leaned in and whispered to Ursa. The old President nodded, squinting at me like he was ready to put a bullet in my head himself.
Fang's lips twitched in surprise when they drew their guns and aimed them at us. The renegades nearby were a lot more cautious. They had their hands in their pockets, but they didn't move.
“Looks like a goddamned trap,” Ursa said. “Bring out your weapons, boys. Whoever's there, they're gonna get filled with lead if they come a step closer.”
Our turn. Fang's crew drew their weapons and I heard my guys readying their guns behind me. Locked and loaded. Between our two crews, the renegades were fucked, assuming Devils and Grizzlies didn't start shooting each other first.
“Prez? They're national.” A skinny young man with a tattered cut and greasy hair looked like he was about to start hyperventilating.
Ursa didn't acknowledge he'd heard him. Skinny boy broke. He went running toward us, and so did several other greasy motherfuckers. I watched Ursa's face twist into a monstrous grin.
He fired first. Never knew if he was aiming at his own man for going coward or trying to surprise our asses.
The bullet cracked right past me and nailed Fang in the stomach. The Grizzlies President dropped, spitting blood, growling a muddled “shoot back, dammit!”
Everybody opened up at once. I hit the floor and began to crawl. Several guys screamed as bullets found their mark. Nothing left to do at this point but hope and pray they weren't my boys.
My place wasn't in this fucking crossfire. I had to use the distraction to get to Saffron.
Heading right for the window, I grabbed my gun by the barrel and bashed it against the glass when I was close. A stray piece cut the back of my hand, but it did the job. Kicked the rest out with my boots, and then I was sliding through, straight to Saffron.
“Jesus. Fuck.” I ran over, ready to help stem the damage.
She looked unconscious. For a second, I feared the absolute worst, ready to watch my word imploding into pure despair. Then I scooped her up and she groaned.
Shit! She was alive, and I didn't see the blood that wouldn't been spilling all around her if she'd been shot and bleeding.
It was a relief just having her in my arms. My relief was short lived.
As soon as I saw what those fucking animals did, I screamed like demon. She was naked from the waist down, and I winced in rage and horror when I felt the burns.
It was too late to protect her. Too fucking late! All I could do was soothe the pain, and make sure I gave it to every last fuck who'd been involved with this, until their lifeless carcasses were at my feet.
“Saffron? Talk to me, baby!” I shook her lightly.
She opened her eyes and let out another weak moan. Thank fuck.
She was hurt like hell, but they hadn't killed her or put her into a coma. That was something.
Her breath stank like...Jack? What the fuck?
I searched the floor for her jeans. Didn't bother with the burn marked panties wadded up beneath the place where she'd been sitting. I helped her into her pants and threw her over my shoulder, taking a quick look at Jordan in the corner.
I reached out to touch him. Her big bro was warm, but almost certainly dead. Fucking weird, especially when I didn't see a gunshot or any other trauma.
Saffron groaned again. She retched, and I held on tight, steadying her over the ground as she went into dry heaves.
Shit! It was like she'd binged and drank herself stupid. I didn't understand what the hell happened here, but now I stopped worrying about the burns and started to freak about too much crap in her system.
“It's gonna be okay, baby. We'll get you home. I'm so fucking sorry I couldn't get here sooner. So sorry, love. The fuckers who did this are dead.”
I listened close to what was happening outside. The gun fire had died down, but shots were still going off in staggered bursts. Loud manly screams and a thousand sailor's curses filled the night.
“Blaze...” she coughed. “What about Jordan?”
My fucking heart constricted. Poor, poor baby, always putting everybody else first. Didn't have a good answer for her, so I didn't answer at all. I just waited until her stomach stopped going into spasms and then threw her over my shoulder, ready to haul her the fuck out of here.
The asshole sliding in through the window didn't let me get that far. Ursa rolled onto the floor, gripping a gun and bleeding from one leg. The filthy grin he gave me pulsed pain and hatred.
“You! This is your fucking fault, Devil.” He raised his gun, pointing it at Saffron instead. “That worthless, tight-lipped whore...I should've killed her an hour ago.”
Fuck. I had to take my chances, even with her between us.
I fired first. He jumped.
Ursa let out a horrific scream as my bullet found its mark somewhere in his side, but somehow the old bastard didn't go down. He staggered up, fell halfway across the table against her brother's body, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet missed us by a long shot. I wasn't taking anymore chances.
Sonofabitch grunted and bled, and violent satisfaction jolted through me for a second. I was about to aim for his head when something jerked up behind him.
“Fucking-A,” I muttered, holding my fire.
Saffron's big bro wasn't so dead after all. He wrapped his hands around Ursa's neck and slammed his head into the corner of the table, thrashing like a ghoul. The boy might as well have come back from the dead.
He choked the renegade President and bashed his head into the chipped wood again and again. Took all my strength to lower my gun and let him have his fucking fun.
I wanted to kill Ursa myself. On the other hand, this poor bastard deserved something after what they'd done to him. I let Jordan do the dirty work, watching as he continued ramming Ursa's face into the table, long after the shithead was dead.
Saffron collapsed into a half-conscious stupor. I held her tight and reached for my radio.
“Tank? What the fuck's happening out there? Is it clear yet?”
“Safe enough,” he chattered back. “Where you at? Fang and his guys got the last few Grizzlies cornered and disarmed. Only one got away, and we're hunting him down now.”
“Bring the truck around. We're near the side window.”
One got away...
I was never a believer in psychic bullshit, but I had a good feeling who was it was, waiting for me to finish him. Bloodthirsty excitement stormed in my blood.
There was still a chance to make this right, to make them pay for torturing my woman...
I stayed near the window, cradling Saffron. The kiss I planted on her forehead wouldn't do much to heal her awful fucking pain. Too bad. We both needed it.
Hold tight, baby. They're all gonna be dead. Just one more fuck to go...
Jordan slumped back onto the table after his wild murder frenzy. He wasn't out, though. The boy looked at me with bright, angry eyes, his skinny chest rising and falling.
“Stay there. Don't move.” I wasn't taking any chances, even if he'd done me a big favor.
He was definitely hopped up on some vile shit. Junkies were always unpredictable, especially when they'd nearly been fucked into an early grave.
<
br /> The truck pulled up, along with several bikes. I quickly passed Saffron through the window to Moose. Tank helped me climb out.
My eyes lit up when I came face-to-face with Fang, noticing the Harleys weren't ours. Fucking Grizzlies. This shit wasn't their business.
“You're still standing?” I said, genuinely surprised.
“Yeah. I've had worse than this.” Someone had tied a shitty tourniquet around his stomach. “Not leaving this place until they're all dead. How many more down there?”
“Just one. He's our guy. Pretty fucked up on smack or crystal, I'm not sure which.” I gave him a sour look. “You're not gonna kill him, are you?”
Fang refused to answer. Not this shit again.
I held my gun tight and watched as he bent near the window, ordering Jordan to come out. The kid had just enough strength to walk up to the window. He let one of Fang's guys reach in and pull him up.
“Shit. Wanted to do Ursa in myself. Guess that's worth something, though.” Fang slapped one hand on Jordan's shoulder and then ran his fingers down his Grizzlies MC patch. “You're the bastard who rolled on these motherfuckers, aren't you? Come on, boy. You're coming home with us.”
He climbed stupidly onto one of the Grizzlies' bikes behind the driver, a mean looking bastard with a bandana tied tight around his frizzy hair. I looked at the truck and saw Saffron slumped against the window.
Her eyes were open and she was alert. It looked like she was saying no, no, no, begging her fool brother to turn around. No such luck.
Dammit. Maybe I should've put a bullet in his head when I had the chance. Brother or not, he was just one more fuck screwing with her head, causing more pain.
Whatever. There was no stopping it. The Grizzlies were doing us a favor by getting his stupid ass out of our sight.
“That's it?” I growled to Fang. “What about the rest? I know you took some prisoners.”
He turned to me, face twisting in pain as he pushed a hand against his stomach wound. “They'll burn. We're just waiting to find the last asshole. Then we load them inside this shithole and light it up. You don't got a problem with that, do you?”
I thought hard. Long as they weren't putting Saffron's bro in there with the others, I really didn't care.
None of these men were innocent. They were vipers, renegades, junkies, and killers. Exactly the kind of assholes who just need killing.
My boys were tired and lucky to be alive from the firefight too. We were in no position to tangle with the Grizzlies and prevent a massacre of fucks who actually deserved it.
I looked at Fang coldly and nodded. He shrugged.
“Go home, Blaze. We'll find the last turncoat here and raze this place to the ground. Better get your girl patched up.”
“You handle your business and we'll handle ours. I'm not done here yet.”
Tank raised an eyebrow as I pushed past. Fang and his men went on their way, riding past us, toward the dark brush behind the battered building.
“Boss?”
“Take her home right now,” I growled. “We need to find the asshole who took flight before they do. Moose, you're with me.”
We piled into the truck and rode back to our bikes. I gave Saffron one last squeeze until she opened her eyes and looked me.
“Blaze. Don't leave me alone.” Her voice was a faint whisper.
Fuck me. It was mighty tempting to turn back then and there, but if I did, the possibility existed the same shithead who'd hurt her would find us again. I'd taken too many chances tonight, and I sure as hell wasn't taking one more.
“Easy, woman. I'll be with you before you know it. Try to get some sleep. Emma will have you all fixed up by morning. I promised to keep you safe, and I fucked it up. Nothing's gonna stop me from salvaging the last way I can live by my word.” I looked past her at Tank. “Drive! Don't worry about us. Make sure you get her to the clubhouse safe.”
Tank questioned me with his eyes. I saw what he was thinking. If everybody but Moose and I took off, we were out here alone with Fang's crew, pretty much at their mercy.
I didn't fucking hesitate. The demon inside me was too unstoppable now, howling his thirst for blood, his need to annihilate the rotten shit who burned my girl.
“Go,” I said one more time, and slapped the truck's side angrily.
Fuck him for caring. Fuck the Grizzlies. Fuck everyone who got in the way of this.
Moose and I mounted our bikes and took off down the dirt road. We chose a different gravel fork than the one Fang and his guys had followed. If they'd found Irons by now, I would've heard the gunshot or the roar of their bikes coming back to put him with the men they were going to roast.
No more chances. No more games.
I needed to keep Saffron safe. Just as much as I needed vengeance too. I wouldn't rest ever again if a bear killed that motherfucker before I did. Or worse, if he escaped.
Moose and I found the overturned bike near a shitty overgrown path leading into the dark forest. Bastard must've wiped out in some brush. We parked and got off, using our flashlights to follow the bloody trail.
It didn't take long.
Irons was in a shallow ditch, his gun resting in one hand. At first I thought he was dead because he didn't raise it to defend himself. No, he was too busy keeping pressure on the bullet someone planted in his leg, probably the thing that caused him to wreck.
“Oh, fuck!” He lifted his head. “Not you assholes. Oh, fuck!”
“Keep saying it,” I smiled. “You've lost a lot of blood, but if you were gonna pass out, you wouldn't be talking.”
“This asshole's all yours, Prez.” Moose grinned and leaned back against a thick tree. With his big beard and huge teeth shining in the night, he looked like a monster.
Fine by me. Because out here in the dark, I was going to show this bald sonofabitch that monsters weren't just in fairy tales. They were right here, breathing down his neck, gatekeepers between the Montana wilderness and the hell he was heading to.
Irons looked up and yelled as I grabbed his hand. Didn't take much effort to bend it back and make him drop the gun. Of course, I kept going, not stopping until his fingers snapped one by one.
His screams were constant. Good thing we had plenty of space between us and Fang's search crews. Out here, nobody would hear him but us, and we'd just gotten started.
“Why? Why the fuck did you pick on her? The girl and her family weren't even part of my club when you bastards showed up.” I had to ask.
Irons winced, looked at me, and opened his lips. “Because she was easy pickings. Needed to make you fuckers so mad with rage you'd charge in and do something stupid. Didn't exactly work out. We were close...so fucking close...”
He elbowed him in the side. Had to shut his fucking yap. I'd gotten my answer – the same bullshit I'd expected – and now the time for talk was over.
“You know those burns you gave my girl?” I said, reaching near my belt and unsheathing my hunting knife.
He whimpered like a bitch. Music to my ears.
“I'm gonna do you one better. See, the great thing about getting sliced and diced is the nerves don't die 'til it gets real deep. You'll be feeling this until your body's got no more blood to keep your ass alive.”
Irons howled like a beast caught in a trap. Then he turned, wilting when I kneed him in the stomach, twisting his head in agony.
Fucker looked right at me. I saw the cold acceptance of a man who was about to die there.
“Fuck you, Prairie Pussy. Least I ruined her inks. Just wish I'd torn up her rotten little pussy the same as momma's before I –“
I grabbed his chin and forced his mouth open. Honorable men deserved last words. This piece of shit didn't.
My knife started on his tongue so I wouldn't have to hear a single filthy syllable more. Then I flipped him over, cut through his leather and shirt, and went to work on his vertebrae. One by one, I made him pay double for Saffron's suffering.
Behind me, Moose grunted with
satisfaction.
Fang and his guys were pissed off, lounging around and smoking when we rode up to the front of the shitty pseudo-clubhouse. If the dumb bastard had any sense, he would've been getting his gut wound patched up by now.
Whatever. I wouldn't keep him waiting.
“What the fuck took you so –“
I snapped my fingers. Moose pulled up and dumped the mutilated body off the back of his bike. Fang staggered over with several guys and looked down in surprise.
“We're done with him. He's yours now. Not the same as doing him in yourselves, I know, but you can burn the body just the same. Didn't even take his patches as trophies.”
Fang looked at me with a smirk. I had my gun ready for trouble. He shook his head and almost laughed.
“We're done here. You...you're all right, Blaze. Even if you are a goddamned Prairie Pussy.” He clapped his hands. “Let's go! I'm starting to feel a little sick with this fucking hole in my side.”
I looked at Moose and nodded. We hit the road, and were almost all the way to the highway before we even heard the muffled screams. There was no avoiding the bright light in the distance.
Whatever the Grizzlies used to the fire, it moved fast, consuming the old building and all the men they'd locked inside, plus one very dead body. I watched the fire dance in my mirrors for several long Montana miles.
The road was finally open, and not just the one Moose and I were taking to Missoula.
With this shit settled, Saffron was mine, and nothing was keeping me from making her the happiest old lady who'd ever lived.
“How is she?”
Emma was just leaving the infirmary when I arrived. Fuck, how many times had I seen the same catty, melancholy look on the nurse's face? If Saffron's condition was making her wear it, I swore I'd find my way back into the boonies to desecrate that motherfucker's bones.
“Well enough,” Emma said, adjusting her scrubs. “The man who did this must've been drunk or something. The burns are bad, but they would've been a whole lot worse if he'd gone at her with any precision.”