by Jamie Begley
“Okay.” She got to her feet and they went to the dance floor, spending the remainder of the evening dancing.
The rest of the members spent the night continuing to go between the two floors. Beth and Winter both showed up a couple of more times before eventually telling her goodnight.
“Night,” Lily told her sister.
Beth and Razer had turned to go, but Beth turned back, giving her a tight hug. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so happy.” Beth’s voice sounded tight.
“I’ve had fun,” Lily said. “I’m going to use the picture of Rider to blackmail him with later when he’s bugging me at work.” Beth had taken a picture of Rider dressed as Tarzan as he did the dishes upstairs and had texted the picture to Lily.
“You do that. Just don’t tell him who sent you the picture.”
“I won’t.”
Shade was talking to Train and Evie as Lily yawned, finally growing tired.
“I’m going to bed. I have to be up early to go to the church store.”
Everyone told her goodnight, and then Lily went into the bedroom. Her mind played back over the evening as she changed into her pajamas and went to the bed, stretching out over it.
She was almost asleep when Shade quietly came to bed not long afterwards. When he reached out underneath the covers, pulling her to his warmth, she didn’t pull away. She just let her body sink against his, falling asleep with a tiny smile on her lips.
It was funny how one simple Halloween party had given her hope for the future.
Chapter 23
“Wake up, Lily!” Shade was shaking her awake from a deep sleep.
She jerked upright in the bed. “What’s going on?”
“Get up. The basement’s on fire.” He jerked her from the bed.
She slid her feet into her shoes while Shade ran to the bathroom, coming back with a fire extinguisher. She heard the sounds of screams from upstairs and running feet as the fire alarm went off.
“How are we going to get out of here?” The windows in his room were nonexistent. They were trapped inside.
“The brothers will get us out,” Shade said grimly.
Going to his dresser, he pulled out a long piece of material and then ran to the bathroom again. He came back with the wet cloths, tying one across her face then his own. Just as he finished, they heard the sounds of a fire hose and an extinguisher from outside their bedroom door.
There was a loud bang on the door and Shade opened it. Viper stood on the other side with just jeans and boots on. “Let’s go,” he yelled.
Shade took Lily’s hand, pushing her behind Viper as he followed. It was pitch dark except for the dying embers of the blackened walls. Viper was carrying a flashlight and the men putting out the fire with water hoses were spraying the smoking couch. The steps to the upstairs were destroyed, the blackened door closed.
Viper led them out the side door as Lily choked on the smoke, starting to cough. Shade picked her up into his arms, carrying her into the living room before removing the cloth he had tied around her face.
The screams, the smoky smell and the dark basement she had walked through combined to send Lily into a terror-filled haze she didn’t know if she could fight.
She quit coughing, drinking the water that someone thrust into her hands. The smell of the smoke was attacking her senses. This wasn’t the first time she had smelled that odor or had seen how flames could destroy.
The door so tightly locked in her mind snapped open.
The glass in her hand dropped to the floor as her skull filled with a blaze of pain there was no way to escape any longer.
Shade dropped down to his knees in front of Lily. He knew it was bad. He had witnessed the gradually spiraling ferocity of her panic attacks, and was certain this was the worst he had seen. Seeing Beth’s terror for her sister, his assumption that it was indeed the worst was confirmed.
“Razer, call Rachel and tell her to get here as fast as she can. Beth, call her doctor.” Shade could do nothing except hold on to the woman he loved more than life itself as her tortured screams scored his soul with the agony that he couldn’t help her.
His friends stood back, giving him space as she fell to the floor. All he could do was hold her, calling her name repeatedly as soothingly as possible.
Beth returned, falling to her knees beside him, calling for Lily as she held her hand. It seemed like forever, each minute ticking by endlessly, until Rachel ran through the door that Cash was holding open.
“Move out of her way,” Cash ordered everyone.
Shade didn’t make a move to release Lily whose voice had broken from her screams of terror.
Rachel motioned Shade to move over, and he complied shakily. She sat down on the floor by Lily’s head, pulling her head onto her lap. Her graceful hands went to Lily’s temples, pressing her fingers along them, rubbing in soothing circles.
Everyone went silent then as Rachel’s hushed voice spoke to Lily. “Lily, what do you need me to do?”
* * *
Lily heard the voices calling to her, but she didn’t know how to reach them; she couldn’t find them in the darkness. The flames were preventing her from reaching them. How could it be so dark yet be filled with flames? She was adrift. She was one of those people you hear about who died when they’re lost because they wandered away. Then, when their lifeless body was found, help had been invariably just a few feet away.
She needed to stay still so they would come and get her. Shade would come.
Where is he? Shade? Shade! Where are you, Shade? Was I bad? Is that why you’re not here? Shade, please help me. I’m so scared.
Beth, please, I won’t be mad at you anymore. I’ll be good, I promise. Please, Beth. I want to go home. Please. Beth! Shade! Help me!
Razer? Razer! You promised me no one would hurt me. You broke your promise. Razer, please help!
Shade! Shade!
Pastor Dean!
Please help me?
Vida?
Sawyer?
Where are you? Why did you leave me? Vida! Sawyer! Please help me.
Shade… Shade…
“Lily.” At first, Lily thought she was imagining the calm voice from the other side of the flames. She quit screaming, listening again.
There it was. Someone was there.
“I’m here! I’m here! Help me!”
“What do you need me to do?” The voice was coming closer. Someone was there!
“Help me! I’m lost! I can’t find my way back!”
“Yes, you can.”
“The flames won’t let me pass, and I’m afraid to go the other way in the dark. I’m afraid I’ll get lost.”
“I won’t let you get lost, Lily.”
“But you’re on the other side of the flames,” Lily cried out then watched as Rachel walked through the flames without them touching her.
“How did you do that without getting burned?”
“They’re not my memories, Lily. They can’t hurt me, only you.”
“I want to get out of here.” She whimpered, “Can you help me?”
“Yes, but you have to lead the way, Lily. I don’t know where we are.”
“Then we’re both lost. I want to go home.” Lily started crying again.
“Listen to me. There is only one path home and that’s through the flames. You have to be brave enough to take those steps, Lily.”
“I can’t go through there!” Lily screamed.
“Then you’re going to stay lost. You can do this, Lily.”
“No, I can’t!”
“Lily, your memories have broken free. There is no locking them away anymore. The only way to avoid it is to stay lost. You have to go through the flames.”
“They’ll hurt me again!”
“No one is ever going to hurt you again. Didn’t The Last Riders save you tonight? They’re not going to let anyone hurt you again. You know that deep in your heart.” Rachel turned her to face the flames.
“I c
an’t,” Lily sobbed.
“Not alone, but together we can. I’m beside you. I won’t let you go. Shade is here and so are Beth and Razer.” As Rachael spoke the words, Lily felt Shade standing behind her, and Beth and Razer each taking a hand, holding tight. “We’re all here for you, Lily. Lead us home.”
Lily cried, taking a hesitant step forward, one after the other, each of them holding her, not letting go.
Lily’s tortured scream filled the dark-filled silence as she stepped into the flames, the pain consuming her.
“The pain will lessen as you go through the flames. You’ll leave the pain behind, Lily, because they can’t hurt you anymore. Keep walking.”
Rachel was right. The flames were reuniting her with long-lost memories. The pain was there, but it wasn’t devouring; stinging but not burning.
Lily walked through the hell she had barely survived once, enduring it now for a second time to find her only way home. She emerged on the other side, unscathed and free at last of the monsters she had been hiding from for so very long.
“You can open your eyes now, Lily. You’re home.”
Chapter 24
Lily opened her eyes. She was lying on a soft bed in another strange room. She turned her head on the plush pillow at a slight sound to discover Beth sitting on a chair by the window. Shade’s room didn’t have a window, so they must be in one of the bedrooms upstairs.
“You’re awake.”
“How long was I out for this time?” Her voice was hoarse and her throat felt raw.
“Just a few hours, actually,” Beth said, getting up from the chair and coming to sit next to her on the mattress, taking her hand in hers.
“There was a fire last night.” Lily looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a white nightgown.
“Yes. Thank God for Viper’s security system. If not…” Beth broke down crying, laying her head down on Lily’s chest. Her hand reached out to smooth down her sister’s silky hair as she wept.
“I remember, Beth,” Lily said softly. Beth raised her head, looking into her eyes. “I remember,” Lily whispered, turning her face away from her sister’s searching gaze.
“Did you know?” Lily asked.
“During your worst panic attacks, you would let a few things slip past your guard. Over the years, I pieced together what happened.”
Lily turned back to her sister. “Did you…” Lily licked her dry lips. “Did you tell Razer?”
“No, Lily. I swear I didn’t tell anyone. No one.” Lily saw the truth in her eyes. “But Razer and Shade have both been around you a couple of times during your panic attacks and I think they’ve guessed some, if not all, of it.”
Lily squeezed her eyes tightly closed to prevent herself from crying. She refused to cry anymore. Tears were useless and weak like she had been.
She sat up in bed, leaning back against the headboard.
“I laid some clothes out for you. Yours all smell like smoke.”
“How bad is the basement?”
“The front part is gutted, but because we live so far out of town, Viper had several water hoses and the factory had fire extinguishers. If they hadn’t been so prepared, you and Shade would have been trapped.”
“That’s twice I’ve almost died in a fire,” Lily said softly.
“Do you want to talk about it? Your doctor came out and checked on you last night and I called your therapist. I can take you to her today if you want,” Beth offered.
“No.”
“Okay.” Beth stared back at her.
“Beth, I want you to know I couldn’t have asked for a better sister. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” The sisters hugged, thankful they were able to do so. The night before could have easily separated them forever.
“Now, I’m going to get dressed. You go take care of what you need to. I’ll be fine.”
“I just need to do a few patients then I’ll be back. If you need anything, there’s a cell phone on the nightstand.”
Lily nodded her head as Beth got up from the bed, going for the door.
“I was supposed to help Rachel in the store this morning, could you…?”
“I’ll give her a call,” Beth promised.
“Thanks.”
Lily got up from the bed, pulling on a pair of jeans and a bright pink sweatshirt that fit well, if not for being too short. A pair of sneakers was there, also. They were tight but not painful.
A shopping trip would definitely be on the agenda now with her clothes damaged. She didn’t think it would be easy to get the smoke smell out of them and most of them were old enough that it wouldn’t be worth the bother.
Going downstairs, she found the house was eerily quiet. She was beginning to think she was the only one home until she went into the kitchen.
The women members were sitting around the kitchen drinking coffee. There were none of the usual smells of cooking food, though.
When Lily walked through the doorway, they went silent and everyone’s eyes turned toward her.
Lily hated being the center of attention. She wiped her sweaty palms against the side of her pants and said, “I was going to get a cup of coffee.”
Jewell and Evie both turned toward the coffee pot. Raci started to get up, but sat back down when she saw the other two women doing it. Bliss got up from her chair, motioning for Lily to take a seat.
“That’s okay. I…” Seeing the crushed look on Bliss’s face, Lily took the seat. “Thanks, Bliss.”
“No problem.”
Jewell sat the coffee down in front of her.
“Thanks.” Lily took a sip.
“Well, that was some party. I think I’ll give next year’s a pass,” Lily joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
The women chuckled, but Lily heard several sobs mixed in. Looking up, she knew they had all witnessed much more than the fire. Lily’s eyes watered and she clenched her hands so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.
“Where are the men?” Lily asked, determined to lighten the atmosphere.
“Downstairs ripping out the damaged wood. They took pictures of it before they did anything. Knox came out early this morning,” Evie informed her.
“Knox?” Lily questioned.
The women stared at each other before Evie replied, “Someone deliberately set the fire.”
Lily absorbed the shock of someone trying to kill a whole houseful of people.
“Do they know who yet?”
“Knox and Shade are looking into it.”
At that, the men came through the basement door, carrying with them the smell of smoke. They were covered in soot and grime, so Evie ordered them upstairs to shower before eating lunch.
Lily looked around the kitchen at the mention of food. “We ordered pizzas,” Raci answered her unspoken question.
As if on cue, the front door opened and closed, and Shade and Knox came in carrying pizza boxes. Shade glanced at her before setting the pizzas on the counter, quickly coming to her side.
“Hungry?”
“I could eat,” Lily admitted, getting up from the table while avoiding his concerned gaze. Getting in line, she took a slice of pizza before resuming her seat. Shade, on the other hand, filled his plate before sitting down next to her.
“Evie said someone deliberately set the fire,” Lily told him.
“Yes. Knox came out this morning and took the evidence he needed. Whoever it was slipped into the party last night with a hanger-on. We have a description. It’s only a matter of time before we find her.”
“Her?” Lily repeated, shocked.
“Yes,” Shade answered.
“Why?”
“We think it was another attempt on your life,” Shade told her.
Knox sat down at the table and she asked, “Why does someone want me dead? I don’t understand.” Lily looked for answers from the two men.
“We don’t know yet, but when we find who started the fire, we will.”
She shivered at t
he cold look of purpose on both men’s faces. She almost felt sorry for the person who’d set the fire. Only the knowledge of how many could have been killed had Lily keeping her mouth closed.
Everyone finished eating then Viper organized them all into one team as a cleanup crew and another to put up new drywall. Lily got up to go downstairs.
“No. You stay up here and start dinner for everyone.” She didn’t argue with Viper. She hadn’t looked forward to going downstairs and seeing the destruction while everyone was present.
Shade hung back once the other members had left. “You need anything?”
“No. Shade, maybe it would be better if I left. I don’t want to endanger anyone.” Lily didn’t want anyone hurt because of her.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, pulling her to him. “It’s because you were here with all the security we had that it wasn’t much worse. We slipped up because we didn’t think someone was brave enough to actually make a move on you in the house. We won’t make that mistake twice.”
Lily bet they wouldn’t. Anger had poured off the men in waves. They wouldn’t make a deadly mistake twice.
“Beth will be back soon. Go shopping, get out of the house for a while. Razer will go with you two.”
“That sounds good. I’m ready to get out for a while.”
Shade touched his mouth to hers briefly before going downstairs.
Lily texted Beth with the plans then quickly threw together two crockpots full of stew to simmer while she and Beth were gone. She had just finished when Beth returned to get changed out of her uniform.
“Give me a minute while I get changed.”
It didn’t take long and then they drove into town with Razer following behind on his bike.
Treepoint wasn’t large, but it had two sizable stores that Lily should have no problem finding a new wardrobe of clothes from.
She tried on several dresses at their first stop; however, nothing was making her happy. She left disappointed. A few doors down, they went into the second department store. After they had been looking around for a while, Beth stopped.
“You go on ahead. I have a call I need to make.”
Thinking she needed to check in with her patients, Lily continued to go through the women’s department, searching through the racks. She picked out several dresses that she thought could work and a new pair of jeans before going to the fitting room.