Blade

by Blair Grey

  He didn’t look over to me as he left, and I didn’t wave to him, either. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I wished there was some way I could change his mind. But, he was already gone, and I had no other choice but to head back to my house and get on with my own day, trying not to think about all the ways this could possibly go wrong.

  With a sigh, I was about to turn to get my bag when I heard my brother’s voice.

  “I thought I might find you here,” he said. “When we saw you weren’t home last night, we figured you were out doing what you love to do: spreading your legs for the bad boys on the block.”

  “Fuck off, Chad,” I said, doing what I could to ignore him. I wanted to head into the house and close the door in his face, but I wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t try to follow me, and I didn’t want him to get into Blade’s house.

  “I just thought you should know something, that’s all,” he said.

  “I don’t care,” I told him.

  “Oh, you’ll care,” he said.

  “What is it?” I asked, making it clear to him I really didn’t care what he had to say. A smirk spread across his lips, and I braced myself for yet another attack from him. I was sure it would be something against me or some new slur he thought up. But instead, he surprised me.

  “I remembered where I know your boyfriend from, and I really think you should know,” he said.

  Chapter 21

  Blade

  “I want to put a bullet in the forehead of the prick who shot me,” Ryder said as he laid his head back down on the pillow. “I’ve been shot a time or two in my life. Hell, we all have. But this is the worst I’ve ever taken it.”

  “If it wasn’t for you, it would have gotten me,” Jett said. “I’ll forever owe you for that.”

  “I was just doing what anyone would, but still…” He shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “I can’t believe they pulled a gun on us like that. Did they really think they were going to get away with it?”

  “Clearly, and so far, they have,” Jett said.

  “But that’s not going to last long,” I told them. “I have Knox getting us a location right now, and when he does, they’re going to be putty in our hands. I’m not going to let this just fall through the cracks. You could have been killed, and that pisses me off.”

  “It pisses us all off,” Ryder agreed.

  “Roman’s going to be back any minute and let us know how we’re doing by way of ammo and weapons. We took a bit of a hit the other week with that last run-in we had with the cops. We might need to get more before we’re able to do much with that.”

  I nodded along with Jett. We knew we were going to have to figure out the weapon situation before we went into a full war with the rivals.

  “I just don’t get it,” Ryder said. “They were acting like they would be golden. What the Hell set them off?”

  “Does anything have to?” Jett asked. “Look at what the Devil’s Sons did to us. Maybe everyone is coming down on us now with hope they’re going to take us out while we’re down.”

  “Well, they’ve got another thing coming if that’s the case,” I said. “We’re not going down without a fight.”

  “We’re not going down at all,” Jett said firmly. “I’ll make damn sure of that.”

  Once more, agreement spread through the room. Adrenaline was pulsing through me. We were talking about the revenge strike we’d be dealing with MC that stole our drugs, and I wanted it to be hard. I wanted to see blood. I wanted them to lose men, too.

  Sure, Ryder might have survived what went down last night, but he could have died. And, their goal had been to murder Jett. That would have left us without a leader, which was by far the best time for another MC to try to sweep in and take control.

  No, this had to be stopped, and we were going to send a message loud and clear that it would stop now.

  But, we had to get information first. We weren’t going to go in with guns blazing without knowing what we were getting ourselves into. That was for damn sure. When we struck, we would strike hard, and we would strike with what we knew would work.

  We would watch them for a couple days, make sure we kept track of what drugs they sold and to who and where, and we would inventory the weapons they had as well.

  They were going to be taken by surprise, and we were going to wipe them out. Well, that was the goal, anyway. What would really happen would come down to the execution of our plan. But first, we had to form one.

  I knew Alexis wasn’t thrilled with this side of my trade, but she was going to have to get over it. I would be in danger, yes, but that didn’t mean anything would happen to me. And, I wasn’t about to just sit back and let those pricks do that to our brother and get away with it.

  They had to pay. And, they would. Of course, I would be careful. I didn’t want to put her through that with me being the one on the bed. And, I hoped this would somehow lead to our reconciling again. I wanted to keep her in my life, and with the way she had been the night before, I could see her fitting in well.

  But, a sudden pounding on the door made all of us jump.

  “Cops?” Jett asked. He peered out the window, but it was impossible to see the street from where we were all hiding in the back room.

  “Can’t tell.”

  “I’ll check it out,” I said. I crept toward the door, pausing only slightly when the knock was repeated. I glanced out the window first, but there weren’t any police vehicles on the street. So, I put my eye to the peephole.

  I was shocked to see Alexis standing on the doorstep. She didn’t look happy, but the fact she was there at all was enough to make me question what she was doing. I made it clear no one was supposed to just show up to the safe houses, and she should know that meant her, too.

  We had Ryder under control, and there wasn’t any need for her to be there. But, she clearly wasn’t going to leave until she got the chance to talk, and since my bike was right out front, she clearly knew I was there, too.

  But what the Hell did she want?

  I pulled open the door, and she pushed inside the house without giving me the chance to say anything.

  “What the Hell?” I asked. “What’re you doing here?”

  “What the Hell are you doing selling my mother drugs?” she snapped.

  “Oh,” I said.

  “How dare you act like you care about me – how dare you act like you aren’t doing anything wrong, when your precious MC is selling my mother drugs! I told you how that ruined my life!” she shouted.

  “Keep your voice down,” I said. “And, I’m sorry that happened to you, but I’m not sure what you want me to do about it.”

  “My mother gets her drugs from you!” she shouted, not bothering to keep her voice down in the slightest. “Don’t you understand that? You are the ones who sold her the drugs that ruined my childhood! You are the ones who sold her the drugs that keep her in the state of ruin she’s in! It’s your fault she’s like this! And, you’re going to act like it’s not?”

  She was walking back and forth in the living room, and I was glad for the privacy given to me from Jett and the rest of the boys in the house. They could clearly hear the whole thing, but I didn’t want them out there backing me on this.

  I could handle my own woman, even if it was a woman who was passing through my life.

  “First of all, you aren’t going to tell me it’s my fault that she did that!” I snapped. “She’s the one who put the drugs in her body, not me. She’s going to do that whether we are the ones supplying it or not. Second of all, you need to understand if she’s not getting them from us, she’s going to figure out how to get them another way, and that could be dangerous.”

  “I can’t believe this!” Alexis said. She was shaking her head, but there was rage in her eyes and tear stains on her cheeks. “I can’t believe this, at all.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to come to me and blame me for the fact your mother’s an addict,” I said.

  “You
’re going to sit here and really act as though you’ve done nothing wrong when you are the one supplying her drugs?” I asked. “Don’t give me that bullshit that she would get it from somewhere else and it’s a good thing she’s getting pure shit from you than from someone else who might cut it with something!”

  “Alexis,” I tried, but she pulled back from me.

  “I want you to stay away from me,” she said. “Really. I don’t want anything to do with you ever again.”

  “Sounds familiar,” I said with a smirk. “It’s not like you haven’t said that before. And the next time you want to throw a fit, can you please not do it at one of our safe houses? You know where I’m living; just wait to discuss it until I get back, okay?”

  “No!” she snapped. “I mean it. I never want to see you again, Blade. I want you to stay away from me, and I’m not going to contact you, either. This is the last straw, and if you think I’m going to look past it or forget about it, you’ve got another thing coming! There’s nothing good about what you’re doing, and I’m not going to just act like it doesn’t matter, because it does!”

  “Alexis, come on,” I started, but she put up her hand to stop me once more.

  “No, Blade. We’re done. I’m not going to call the cops tonight for one reason and one reason only, and that’s because I don’t want to be tied to what happened last night and ruin my chances of getting out of this Hell hole. But believe me when I say it, if you don’t leave me alone from now on, I’m going to call them and have you all locked up!” she snapped.

  “Alexis!” I tried again, but she wasn’t listening. It didn’t matter what I had to say, or how I felt about any of this. She had said her piece, and she was done. Alexis wasn’t like the other women I’d been with in life. She knew what she wanted, and she would stand up for herself.

  Even to me, if it came down to it.

  She turned and stormed out of the house, leaving me standing in the middle of the living room. I wanted to start after her, to tell her to stop being so ridiculous and listen to me. She had to take a step back and look at this from another point of view.

  I knew if I could just get her to open up and see how it wasn’t my fault her mother decided to do drugs, and it was better that she wasn’t poisoning herself with something she didn’t even know what it was, then we could work through this. We could figure it out and put it behind us. It didn’t have to be a big deal, and it certainly didn’t have to turn into a screaming match.

  But, Alexis wasn’t in the mood to talk to me, and no matter what I said, she wasn’t going to sit there and listen. She meant it when she said she was done, and she proved that point heading right through the yard and to her car. Without even pausing to look back, she opened the door and flew into the driver’s seat.

  Leaving tire tracks on the street, she screeched out of where she’d parked and tore up the road. I sighed.

  There were so many things I knew I could solve if she would just listen to me, but she wasn’t going to, and now she was gone. And for some reason, I felt emptier inside than I ever thought possible.

  This wasn’t just a woman I had admired, or one I wanted to sleep with again. No, when she left, she ripped open something inside me, and now there was a gash stitches couldn’t touch.

  But, I’d made my choice and sworn my loyalty to the MC, and there was no changing that. I had to push through this pain and focus on what was best for the club. I had to trust what she said when she told me she wasn’t going to call the cops, but that was little comfort.

  For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure what I even wanted anymore.

  Chapter 22

  Alexis

  “You’re coming down to the wire now,” Amber said through the phone, and I sighed.

  “I know, and I’m so ready to get out of here,” I replied.

  “Are you sure?” she asked. “You sound disappointed or something.”

  “It’s just the whole thing that went down with Blade. And, the way things are with my mom. I mean, I guess I just wish life was different, you know?” I admitted.

  “I know what you mean,” she said. “But I think it’s for the best with what you said about that guy, and maybe you could try talking to your mother. I mean, maybe if you really talked to her and let her know how you felt things could get better?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “What could it hurt?”

  We wrapped up the conversation, but I couldn’t shake what she’d told me as I headed into the house. She did have a point, and my mother was my mother. That wasn’t going to change.

  It broke my heart what happened with Blade, but I was still angry with him. On the other hand, my mother was an addict. Things weren’t so black and white with her. Maybe it would do some good to just tell her how I felt.

  My mom was in the kitchen when I walked in, and I sat down, forcing a smile. “Hey, can I talk to you about something?”

  “What?” she asked. “You need money?”

  “No, Mom,” I said. “It’s just that, since I’m going to be leaving again soon, I wanted to clear some things up before I did. You know? Maybe we can leave each other in a better place than where we are now.”

  She grunted, but I took it as encouragement to keep going. “Alright. Well, I guess I just really wanted to talk to you about everything,” I said.

  “What?” she asked again.

  “You know…everything,” I replied. I wasn’t sure how to tell her what I wanted to say, and the words just got jumbled in my brain. Suddenly, I decided the best thing to do would be to blurt out how I really felt. I wanted her to know, and I wasn’t sure how else to get my feelings across.

  I told her everything I felt about growing up with her addiction and how I just wanted her to be better. I didn’t hold it against her as a problem, but what she did to me when we were growing up did hurt, and now that I was an adult, I wanted things to be different.

  I was surprised with how well the conversation was going. At first, I thought she was going to get angry with me and tell me to fuck off. That had been her standard reaction to so many of the things I’d brought up in the past. But, the more I said, the more she seemed to really be hearing me.

  “I want to have a relationship with you,” I said at last. “I want you to kick this habit and be the mom I’ve always wanted.”

  With a smile, I reached across the counter to touch her hand. I hoped this was the breakthrough I’d needed with her. I hoped it was exactly what I’d been looking for.

  But, before she took my hand, before she even had the chance to say what was going through her head, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. I screamed, halfway in surprise, halfway in fear.

  It was a Molotov cocktail flying into the room, smashing onto the counter and bursting into flames.

  “What the Hell is that?” my mother shouted.

  But, her voice was drowned out with two more cocktails coming through the window, breaking on the floor and against the wall. Fire spread like there was gasoline in the room, and I tried to find the extinguisher under the counter.

  Before I had the chance to react to even that, however, there were men beating on the door. They were shouting something, and it wasn’t long before they burst into the room. It wasn’t hard for them to break down such a worn door, and with their strength against the doorframe, it came down even easier.

  I fought the urge to scream once more as the four men appeared. They were wearing masks, but it was easy for me to see right through them. They were all wearing jackets, but there was an emblem on the back, telling me plainly they were part of an MC.

  The men broke into pairs as soon as they were in the kitchen. Two of them were running up the stairs while the other two came for me and my mother. I wasn’t able to read what MC they were, but I knew they weren’t the Steel Wings.

  “What are you doing? What do you want with us?” I shouted through the noise.

  It had been so long since I’d last seen Blade
, I was sure this couldn’t have anything to do with them. But, at the same time, that was the only thing that made sense. Why else would these men be attacking our house? Chad wasn’t part of any MC, so why would they be looking for him?

  And, why would they take down me and my mother in the process?

  But, the men ignored my question, shoving me and my mother through the hall and toward the laundry room. My mother was crying and screaming while trying to apologize to me, but she wasn’t making any sense. Hell, none of this made any sense.

  Why were these men here? What did they want with us?

  They were burning the entire house down, and as they shoved us into the laundry room and locked the door, I had a moment of horror when I was sure they were going to burn us up right along with the rest of the place.

  The sound of my brother being dragged downstairs by the other two men soon interrupted my thoughts, and I screamed for him to keep fighting. We might not get along, but he was my brother. And though he might be the reason these men were here, I would stand on his side against them.

  It scared the shit out of me to think what they planned to do to him if they were going to leave us here to burn. Clearly, they had something more specific in mind, and it made me blood run cold to think of what it possibly could be.

  My mother sank to her knees on the floor, crying and spouting gibberish the entire time.

  “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! Oh, baby, I’m so sorry I did this to you, my baby! We’re going to die!” she cried as she threw herself against the washer. I didn’t have time to comfort her. I knew we had to get out of there, but I didn’t know how I was going to break the door down.

  There wasn’t much for tools in the laundry room, and though I threw myself against the door as hard as I could, it didn’t budge. They had locked it from the outside somehow, and I couldn’t get it free, no matter how hard I tried.