by Nicole Fox
And Haley Cochran steps out.
She bumps directly into me. As soon as she realizes who I am, she holds up her hands.
“Look, I don’t want to deal with this today, okay? Sorry. Have a good one.”
“No, wait.” I grab her arm and cling to it for dear life.
Finally, someone who will care about Noah.
Someone who will want to help.
“I need your help. It’s Noah.”
“Is he okay?” She looks around, scanning the floor like she expects to find him passed out on the ground. “Where is he?”
“In the woods with the Hell Princes. I don’t have time to explain, but—”
She curses under her breath and spins around.
“Where are you going?” I yell, following after her.
“To find Caleb!”
I run after Haley as she turns the corner into another hallway and unlocks a door. I don’t consider where she’s going until I’m in the room with her and Caleb is naked on the bed in front of me.
His eyes are hooded, a wide smile spread across his face at the sight of Haley.
Then, he sees me and blanches.
“Fuck, Penny! Get out of here!”
Haley grabs his clothes off the floor and throws them to him on the bed. “No, we have to go. Noah’s in trouble with the Hell Princes.”
Caleb, to his credit, pivots quickly. He’s dresses fast and doesn’t bother asking questions.
He trusts Haley.
I admire that. They really are good together.
“J.C. is two doors down,” Caleb says, the order implied.
I go to get him.
Two doors down, I find a similar scene, except this time, J.C. and Jennifer are naked, coupled on a bed.
Unlike Caleb, however, J.C. wags his eyebrows when he sees me. “Care to join?”
Jennifer gasps and slaps him in the chest.
Maybe under different circumstances I’d find it funny, but right now, nothing is funny.
“Noah is in trouble. We have to go.”
J.C. throws Jennifer off of him with one shove and slides into his jeans. I do my best not to look, but it’s hard not to look at what’s between his legs. I mean, my God.
I have never and will never have an interest in J.C., but I suddenly understand Jennifer’s infatuation a little bit more.
“Sorry, Jen,” I wave as J.C. and I run out of the room to meet up with Caleb and Haley in the hallway.
“Where are they?” Caleb asks, game face on.
“I left them in the woods, straight south, but I don’t know where they are taking him.”
“How did they know we’d be here?” J.C. growls. “I swore everyone to secrecy.”
There will be time for me to confess my sins later, to admit to everyone how badly I sold Noah out.
But right now, we just have to focus on finding him.
“They’re going to beat him, maybe worse. I don’t know what they have planned, but it’s not good. We have to go.”
Caleb turns for the stairs. J.C. follows.
“What do I do?” Haley asks.
“Stay here,” Caleb yells back. “We’ll take care of this.”
J.C. and Caleb run down the stairs and head for the door.
It takes all of thirty seconds for Haley and me to look at one another and shake our heads.
There’s no way I’m staying here when Noah is out there fighting the Hell Princes off alone because of me.
This is my fault.
And I’m going to fix it.
By the time we get outside, J.C. and Caleb have already taken off into the trees. There’s no way to know which direction they’ve gone.
“What do we do?” Haley asks.
“Do we call the cops?”
“It will take too long,” she says. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t time.”
I take a deep breath and try to think. “The Hell Princes were dragging Noah further south. What’s directly on the other side of these trees?”
“The road. The driveway is a mile long and wraps around the trees to connect with the road there. They were dragging him towards the highway.”
Jennifer and Anika picked me up at my house, so I don’t have my car, but I see Noah’s car parked off to the side of the house.
I run for it, praying he has his keys inside.
I yank on the handle.
It’s locked. “Shit!”
I cup my hands around my face and peer in the window, and I can see the keys in the cupholder. “The keys are inside, but the door is—”
Before I even get the words out, Haley calls for me to get back.
I step away just in time to see a massive rock from the cabin’s garden fly towards the back windshield.
It shatters. Haley scrambles inside.
She unlocks the doors for me and crawls into the passenger seat and retrieves the keys from the cupholder.
“Sometimes, coming from the wrong side of town has its advantages.”
I, for one, am not going to argue with her.
She just saved my ass.
I turn the car on and gun it through the grass, navigating through the maze of cars parked haphazardly around the cabin.
Noah is going to have a few more dents and scratches on his car, but I hope there will be time for me to make it up to him later.
We reach the gravel driveway, and I press the gas to the floor.
I can feel the road slipping out from underneath me a few times.
I barely slow down. There isn’t time.
Caleb and J.C. are on foot in the trees, but there’s no guarantee they’ll catch up to them in time.
If Haley is right and the Hell Princes are taking Noah back towards the road, they probably have a car there waiting.
We may not find him again until it’s too late.
The thought makes me grip the steering wheel tighter, and I fly around a curve in the highway, slowing down only slightly once the road comes into view to make sure no one is coming before I drive around the corner.
Haley grabs the handle attached to the ceiling and curses.
But she doesn’t tell me to slow down. I think she knows she would be doing the same thing if it was Caleb in trouble.
Time feels both impossibly slow and like it is passing much too quickly.
The road is deserted, and with every hill we navigate, I keep praying we’ll see another car.
I keep praying the Hell Princes were walking him to the road. If I’m wrong, then this may be a wild goose chase in the wrong direction.
It would mean we wasted time getting the car.
I’m not sure if it’s a mistake we’ll recover from.
Just as hope begins to wane, Haley points at something through the windshield. “A car! A black truck!”
We’re still far away, but I recognize it as the same truck I saw in the senior parking lot the day Tank surprised me at school.
It’s their car.
I’m thrilled for one second.
Got you, motherfuckers.
Until I realize I don’t see Noah.
“Where are they?”
“Pull over. Pull over.” Haley lightly touches my hand on the wheel, comforting me as we pull onto the shoulder of the road, thirty yards away from the black truck.
“What do we do now?” I ask. “Do we wait?”
Haley shakes her head. “No, we don’t fucking wait. We go in there and we get our men.”
She jumps out of the car, leaving the passenger side door open, and runs into the trees.
I make to follow her, but stop and dive back into the car.
I open the glove compartment and see Noah’s gun tucked away there.
Grabbing it, I flip the safety off and run into the trees to get my man.
38
Noah
The betrayal almost hurts worse than the beating.
Almost.
Tank laughs as the Hell Princes take turns throwing punches at
me, encouraging the men to get creative.
“We’ve got all the time in the world out here, fellas. Have some fun with it.”
Unlike other encounters with the Hell Princes when they overestimated their own strength, Tank didn’t take any chances this time.
He showed up with seven other bikers, and they all either have a personal vendetta against me or are in desperate need of some catharsis.
They certainly don’t hold back.
“The least you could do is give me a chance to fight back,” I say, spitting blood onto the ground.
“Not a chance in hell, fucker. We’ve got plans for you.”
The Hell Princes dragged me away from where Haley and I had been standing, but the walk through the woods has been a slow one, punctuated with long breaks to kick me in the ribs, make my nose bleed, and knock the wind out of me.
Whatever they have planned for me, it isn’t going to be pleasant. They aren’t offering me a warning.
This is a punishment.
Perhaps, the final punishment.
The possibility that I might die washes over me as one of the Hell Princes, a small guy with a face tattoo and a nose ring, slams his fist into my jaw.
I’m scared, obviously, but I also can’t help but notice the irony.
I thought Penny ruined my life, so I set out to ruin her.
In doing so, I made her so mad that she decided to actually ruin my life.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave.
I grimace. That’s a J.C. kind of joke. The bastard is getting inside my head.
I should have apologized to Penny sooner.
Maybe if I had, things would have been different.
Maybe there would have been time for me to make things right with Penny and have her call off this plan.
Then again, maybe not.
She seemed genuinely hurt when she thought I’d offered her up as The Sacrifice. Her relief at finding out I hadn’t seemed genuine, as well.
Is there any way she didn’t mean to do this?
Tank is walking just ahead of me, but he stops walking suddenly, turns around, and punches me in the stomach.
I groan and double over.
He laughs before facing forward again and carrying on.
It doesn’t matter. Whether Penny meant to do this or not, it’s happening.
I have to figure out a way to get out of here.
I have to try and escape.
Not only for my own sake, but for my mom’s. I’m the only family she has left.
Without me, what’s stopping her from drinking herself to death?
And Delanie.
I told Penny I didn’t care about Delanie, but it’s not true.
I’ve wanted to know her since the moment I saw a picture of her birth announcement. Her green eyes the same color as Penny’s, her curly head of hair.
She’s my blood, and I want to be in her life.
I want her to know me.
She won’t have that chance if I’m killed by these Hell Prince assholes.
Looking ahead, I can see more light coming through the trees.
If my sense of direction hasn’t been knocked loose from the beating, I think we’re walking towards the road.
Which means they’re going to load me into a car. If there’s anything I’ve learned from years of watching true crime shows with Caleb, it’s that you should never go to a second location if you can help it.
My chances of escape are much better now—before they take me to wherever the fuck they have in mind.
The two guys holding me have loosened their grip the longer we’ve been walking. They are growing complacent. They think I’m too beat down to try anything.
I’m going to fully take advantage of that stupidity.
I sag down like I’m losing consciousness, my legs in a crouch.
Then, before they can regain their grip, I push off with all the power in my legs and throw myself backwards out of the hold of the two guys on guard duty.
My head is spinning from all the drinking, but adrenaline is working to cut through the fog.
There are shouts and scrambling to catch me as I stumble backwards and fall.
I roll over my shoulder, jump to my feet, and take off running.
I haven’t even made it twenty feet before I slam into a tree.
When the tree curses at me, however, I realize it’s not a tree at all.
It’s Caleb.
“Caleb?”
“Noah? Fuck!” He grabs his nose and then looks around, eyes wide. “We were coming to get you. We were sneaking up on you all.”
“So much for that,” J.C. says, pointing over Caleb’s shoulder.
We spin around, and the Hell Princes are on us again.
Tank’s joy is unmatched.
“Three for one. My lucky day.”
“Is that what you’d call the day I kill you?” Caleb asks. “I’d call it my lucky day, but I’d call it your funeral.”
Tank spits in our direction. “You Golden Boys are a little too cocky for your own good. I, for one, don’t think you are so tough without your guns. What do you think?”
I look at Caleb and J.C., hoping beyond hope they’ve brought something more than just their fists with them.
No such luck.
J.C. shrugs. “We were both having sex when Penny came to get us, so you’re lucky we’re here at all.”
Penny came to get them.
I have bigger things to worry about right now, but I still cling to those words.
She went for help.
She tried to save me.
No matter what happens, that counts for something. She cared enough to not let me be beaten to death, and I’m grateful.
Except now we all three might be in deep shit.
Tank circles a finger in the air. “Let’s grab them all, boys.”
The Hell Princes circle around us.
Just like that, the fight is on.
Caleb is the fighter, so he takes the lead, going for the biggest attackers, but J.C. and I can hold our own.
Correction: we can hold our own better on days we haven’t been drinking since dawn.
Caleb knocks one guy out, but more are on him in a second.
J.C. and I rush from behind to try and help, but we’re blocked by two more Hell Princes.
J.C. launches himself at them both, going for their middle, but no sooner does he knock the guy down than another grabs him and pins him to the ground.
They kick him in the ribs.
I yell for my friend and try to fight my way to him, but there are simply too many bikers.
Eight on three is hardly a fair fight, especially when I’ve already taken more than my fair share of the punches.
All it takes is one swift kick to my knee and a second jab to my knees to knock me to the ground.
The dirt is cold against my cheek. I try to see where my friends are, but there’s too much movement.
I think J.C. is on the ground next to me, but a Hell Prince is in my way. Caleb is still on his feet from what I can tell, but he’s surrounded.
It hits me all of the sudden that I can’t remember a time when we all fought together and lost.
Every time we joined together as a group, we won.
And now, all together, we’re going to lose.
Maybe even die.
I don’t want to think it’s a possibility, but I have to. The Hell Princes have done far worse for far smaller infractions, and after how much we embarrassed them last semester, they are angry.
I’m just sorry J.C. and Caleb got wrapped up in this mess, too.
I wish it had only been me.
“Take me!”
I press up onto my arms, and a Hell Prince takes the opportunity to kick me in the stomach again.
I drop flat, groan, and then lift up again.
“Just take me.”
Tank whistles and his guys stop fighting, though they keep a hold on J.C. and Caleb.
He narr
ows his eyes at me. “What?”
“You came for me, so take me,” I say. “Only me. Let my friends go.”
“Noah, no.” Caleb shakes his head. “We aren’t leaving you.”
“You all don’t need to fight this for me. It was my gun. That’s what you’re mad, right, Tank?” I wipe blood from my nose and spit on the ground. “You’re mad that I scared you all away with a gun? Then it sounds like your problem is with me.”
“They came for my girlfriend,” Caleb grits. “I should be here fighting.”
“No, you shouldn’t. Neither of you should.”
“I know that’s right. I should be back fucking a girl senseless, but instead I’m here fighting to protect my friends.” J.C. sits up and shakes his head like he’s trying to clear stars from his vision. Then, he grins at me, his teeth bloody. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“You all have been good friends to me, and I can’t let you go down for something I did.”
Caleb opens his mouth to argue, but Tank interrupts with a deep belly laugh. “You all talk like you have a choice. Do you really think I plan to look this gift horse in the mouth? You all three landed in my lap, and I’m going to make the best of it. You aren’t leaving.”
Suddenly, I hear the click of a gun and a voice from the darkness.
“Yes, they are.”
39
Noah
Everyone turns to see Penny standing with her legs spread and a gun outstretched in her arms.
Haley is just behind her, her eyes locked on Caleb’s, scanning him for injuries.
“Fucking badass,” J.C. says, clapping softly. “You girls really brought it full circle. Bravo.”
The Hell Prince standing behind him kicks him in the back, making J.C. groan.
Penny fires off a shot in the trees overhead. Everyone ducks instinctively.
“I’m not playing with you,” she says. “Let them go. Now.”
“Angel,” Tank croons, taking a step forward, angling himself towards her, “what are you doing? You know this invalidates our deal.”
“And you know if you take another step, I’ll blow your brains out.” Penny tightens her grip on the gun, her finger hovering over the trigger.
She’s stone. Not trembling or quaking in fear.
She’s solid and determined and protective, and she has never looked hotter.