by Madison Faye
“I’m fine.”
The pain all over and the blood I could feel trickling from wounds told me I was full of shit. And possibly bullet or knife holes, judging from the blood. But I couldn’t stop for that. Time was not my friend.
“Leave it,” I growled, turning away from the four of them and inspecting the tires. Suddenly, I frowned and turned to them.
“How the fuck did you know where I live?” I hissed suspiciously.
Dallas shook his head. “It was a little hard to miss the towering inferno blazing up from between the cliffs. Austin and I thought it was a damn forest fire. We bumped into Vlad and Braun on the way over.
I clenched my jaw, my eyes moving over them.
“Thanks,” I finally muttered lowly. “For saving my ass, I guess.”
Braun raised a brow.
“That, uh. That wasn’t us, man.”
I frowned, turning back to look at him. “What?”
“You were already out,” Vlad growled. “Your friend, the big man. He pulled you from the fire.”
I froze, my brain whirling into action as I stood and folded my arms over my chest. “What fucking friend?”
Braun snorted. “Hey, it shocked me too, pal, but apparently you do have one of those. Didn’t give a name, but he’s the guy that saved your ass. The rest of us just got here in time to make sure you were breathing after he took off.
My mind drew a complete blank. Who the hell were they talking about? I didn’t have any friends. My friends had all been murdered four years before. I wondered briefly if they were dumb enough to fuck with me, but I was pretty sure they were telling the truth.
“He didn’t give a name?”
Austin shook his head. “Nah, man. But you were in bad fucking shape, leaking blood all over the place. Vlad patched you up a little, but dude, you really need to get to a hospital.”
I glanced down, realizing for the first time that there were bandages over a few bloody spots on my body. I glanced at the Russian and nodded.
“Appreciated,” I muttered, turning and swinging a leg over my bike. There could be pleasantries later. Right now, the only thing I gave a fuck about was finding the woman I loved and putting the man who’d taken her in the fucking ground.
My vision swam, and I brought a hand up to wipe some of the blood from my eyes. Fuck, this was going to be rough.
“Stop it,” Vlad growled. “You’re being fucking stupid, man.”
“Fuck off, I’m going to get her.”
He glared at me. “Men took your woman, and you want to go after them, yes?”
“That’s the fucking plan,” I hissed back.
“Then we’ll come too.”
“The hell you will.”
Dallas swore. “Look, you wanna die or get her back?”
My jaw clenched as I glared at him, my pulse roaring as my eyes flicked over the four men. I glanced at the tattoos on Vlad — right, he’d been with the Russian mob or something. Not a bad guy to have in a fight. And neither where the others. I mean Braun and the twins were big, hard men.
But that wasn’t my way anymore. Not since before. Running in a pack got people killed. Running as a one man operation, you just had to watch your own back.
“You’re not coming,” I hissed through clenched teeth, cranking the bike on and gunning the engine.
“Yeah, we are,” Austin muttered. “And before you pull anymore suicidal macho bullshit, I should add that we’ve got an idea where they’re headed.”
My brow perked right up and I snarled at him. “And you were planning on telling me this when?”
Braun’s hand landed on my tensed shoulder. “I’ve got sensors on most of the dirt roads coming up here, so I know when we’re getting visitors. There were two Jeeps that came up right before the fire, and the same ones left right after.
“And we called in some favors and tracked the plates,” Dallas added. “They’re at the old Maple Tree Motel out on route 4. The abandoned place.”
I frowned. “You tracked the plates? The fuck is this, a James Bond movie?”
Braun swore and shook his head. “Look, dickhead, you want the help or not?”
“I don’t do help,” I hissed.
“How about ‘do you want to get Larkin back?’”
My jaw clenched tight, my fist clenching as I glared at Braun. This time, he glared right back.
“I think that’s a yes, isn’t it?”
I took a deep breath, and slowly, I nodded.
“Fine,” I muttered. “Let’s go.”
“I’ve got a jeep parked down the road,” Vlad added. “Come with us.”
I shook my head. “I’ll ride.”
“Jesus fuck, Axe!” Dallas shook his head, staring at me. “Are you suicidal? You can barely stand.”
“I’m riding,” I hissed back.
“You’re a stupid fuck is what you are.”
I stood quickly, the growl catching in my throat. And I had every intention of taking a swing at the little prick before suddenly, I thought of her.
…I thought of Larkin.
And I knew what was at stake here. I knew this was bigger than me and my ego. This was about saving the woman I loved, no matter what. And besides that, I knew deep down riding with the wounds I had was going to get me killed. And killed wasn’t going to save her.
“Fine,” I finally muttered, turning the bike off and swinging my leg back over.
Braun nodded, clapping me on the shoulder. “Let’s do this. Anything you want to tell us about the men who took your girl?”
“They're pieces of shit who are going to die?” I growled fiercely.
Dallas nodded grimly. “I think that sounds about right. Anything else?”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, turning to look each of them in the eye. “The leader is mine.”
Vlad nodded firmly. “Let’s get your girl back.”
12
Larkin
“I’m not going to lie to a pretty girl like you.”
Fear roared through me, but I forced myself to breathe. The ropes binding me to the chair cut into my wrists, and when the man’s voice came from behind me, I winced as I turned, feeling the cut a little deeper.
“It just wouldn’t be right now would it?”
Miles.
“The creep” as I’d known him at the club, was now “the man who’d kidnapped me with his armed thugs, set fire to Axe’s cabin while he was slumped unconscious inside of it, and dragged me to an old abandoned motel.” That’s where I was, tied to chair in what had to have at one point been a small music venue and bar attached to the dilapidated old motel.
Five of his goons were with us, grizzled looking men lighting cigarettes or checking ammunition. I felt Miles pace behind me, and it took everything I had not to scream — in rage, in fear, and in pure hatred for him. I couldn’t think about what might’ve happened back on Blackthorn, and I couldn’t allow myself to wonder what had happened to the man I loved.
And I did love him, even if I hadn’t told him. I mean, how could I have? Our time together had been a freaking whirlwind, but then, being with him felt like I’d known him forever. I hadn’t said it because it scared the hell out of me that I could even feel something like that with someone I barely knew. But it was there, and there was no pretending it wasn’t.
But I hadn’t said it, and now it was tearing me up inside that I hadn’t.
“So, since we’re telling the truth here and all,” Miles snickered as he leaned in close behind me. “I’m just going to lay it out for ya. Girl, I’m gonna hurt you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, screaming inside so I wouldn’t do it out loud. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
“See, one of my fuckin retards!” Miles whirled and bellowed the words at his men, who all jumped like he’d hit them. “One of these fuckin’ morons forgot that I’d asked them nicely to bring me the big guy alive, not leave his ass to turn to barbecue in that shitty little cabin.”
I could
n’t stop the tear that trickled down my cheek, and Miles caught it.
“Oh, was that your booooyfriiiiend?” he sneered horribly. “You know what else that asshole was?”
I glared at him, wishing something big would just fall out of the sky and crush him right here.
“A loose fucking end. I don’t know how the fuck I missed him the last time, but that’s a first. And for one, I can’t let shit like that get around, you know? I’m a businessman, you see, and I’ve got a reputation after all. But for two,” Miles made a tsking sound as he shook his head.
“The motherfucker couldn’t just walk away with his life, could he? The man had to come lookin for trouble now didn’t he?”
“It was you, wasn’t it?” I spat at him.
“What was me?”
“His club,” my voice grated like steel. Miles just chuckled.
“What, his little wannabe motorcycle gang?” He laughed. “Bunch of fucking idiots. But man, that contract paid great.”
I hissed at him, lunging from my chair but feeling the ropes dig in as they held me tight. I hadn’t known Axe’s club, but knowing him, and knowing the pain this man had caused him, just hearing about it made the rage explode through me.
“But that brings us to you and me now don’t it? See, the man came after me. And normally, I’d never let shit like that slide. I mean a man comes after you, you teach him a lesson, right? Well, except one of these shitbirds went and let him die.”
I winced, and Miles chuckled again.
“Yeah, well, he’s dead, girly girl. But here I am without the satisfaction of being able to teach him a lesson first.” He smiled an evil, thin smile at me. “Which brings us to you. See, Ashley…” he grinned. “Or is it Larkin? I can’t keep track of girls and their fuckin’ stripper names. But it doesn’t matter. The big guy ain’t here, and you are. Which is why…”
He sighed, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck.
“Well, that’s why I’m gonna have to hurt you.”
Don’t scream. Don’t you dare scream or cry.
“But you know what?” He snickered as he moved closer to me, licking his lips. “Maybe I go ahead and get that damn lap dance now, huh? Maybe I take that little VIP treatment you wouldn’t lay on me back there at the club.
“Don’t you fucking touch me,” I spat.
But Miles just laughed. “Oh, you wanna fight me, huh? Good, I like a challenge.”
He moved towards me, some of the guys sitting at the bar chuckling and elbowing each other as he approached.
“I swear to God, if you fucking touch me, I’ll rip your balls off.”
“Well maybe we’ll just keep ‘em tied to chair then, won’t we—”
“Hey boss?”
Miles scowled, whirling on one of the men from the bar who was now standing.
“What?” he hissed at the man.
“Samuels and Windsor aren’t responding.”
He frowned into a static-y walkie-talkie as if proving his point.
“How long?” Miles growled.
“Two minutes, they missed check-in.”
Miles swore, and suddenly pulled his gun form it’s holster by his side.
“The others?”
The man shook his head. “Nothing from Wilkes or Stevens either.”
Miles swore again, glancing around the mostly dark old bar. His men jumped to their feet as well, grabbing up guns as their eyes darted around.
“You did see him die, right?” Miles hissed at the man with the radio.
The guy shrugged. “I mean, he went down, and we lit the place on fire.”
“Did you watch him die?” Miles roared.
The man shook his head, and Miles kicked a stool over.
And suddenly, something jumped inside of me: hope. I looked around at the fear in their eyes, and I knew that only came from one thing: that the huge, rough man they’d just left to to die might not actually be dead. And what was more, they’d taken me from him.
…And now he was coming to get me back.
The men gripped their weapons tight, eyes darting around the room. I realized I was holding my breath, looking around myself as if seeing him first might save him from the armed men waiting to shoot him down.
And then suddenly, it happened.
Two of the guards screamed as something landed on them, tackling both men to the ground as it dropped out of the rafters of the bar. The shape lunged, barreling into another guard and smashing him into the wall. The fourth and fifth guys started shooting, but the huge, dark shape whirled and hurled a bar stool at them, catching them off guard before it lunged for them too, taking them both down with one powerful tackle.
The shape whirled, gun raised and the light falling across his gorgeous, rough, furious face.
Axe.
My heart lurched into my throat, and I went to lunge from the chair before I remembered I was tied to it. I grunted in pain as the ropes bit into me. Axe’s eyes darted to mine, burning with this fierce intensity before they flicked back to Miles.
“Wow, man,” Miles chuckled darkly, and when I glanced at him, I realized he was also holding a gun, pointed right at Axe.
“You sure know how to make a fuckin’ entrance now don’t you?”
“This ends tonight, you piece of shit,” Axe roared through clenched teeth, his eyes blazing fire at the man standing next to me.
Miles shook his head. “Uh-uh. One more step and this gun points at her instead of you.”
“You and me, asshole,” my big mountain man spat. “That’s all this is—”
Click.
I gasped loudly, and Axe actually jumped back as Miles pulled the trigger on his gun.
Nothing happened.
The man’s eyes went wide, and he quickly jabbed the gun forward and pulled on the trigger again.
Click. Click. Click.
His face went white, and he started to turn when suddenly, Axe lunged. He roared as he bolted past me, slamming Miles into the ground and kicking the misfiring gun away from him. His fist slammed into the man’s face — again and again and again, before he finally stopped. His shoulders heaved as he stood from the broken, bleeding, and whimpering Miles laying on the floor.
Slowly, the gun raised in his hand, pointed down at the man who’d murdered his friends.
“I should kill you,” he said quietly, his shoulders still heaving. “I should kill you piece by fucking piece, and make it last, and make you beg for the end, for every single one of my friends you killed.”
Slowly, Axe took a deep breath and turned to look at me. Our eyes locked, and he shook his head.
“But that ain’t me anymore.”
He kicked Miles sharply in the ribs, making the man groan before he threw his own gun away. He moved towards me, and I gasped as he threw his arms around me and kissed me deeply. His hand yanked at the ropes, pulling me free and pulling me into his arms.
“I’m done killing,” he whispered.
“Well too bad for you.”
I screamed as we both whirled to see Miles holding a small little snub-nosed revolver in his hands, grinning through the blood across his face.
“Cause you shoulda killed me when you had the chance.”
A shot rang out, and I screamed and flinched, and—
…And Miles slumped to the floor, a big hole suddenly appearing in the center of his chest as his blood leaked across the floor. Axe roared as he whirled, shoving me behind him and we turned.
The big man was easily Axe’s size, with huge broad shoulders, a beard, and thick dark hair. Piercing blue eyes glinted in the low light, and his jaw clenched tight. Slowly, he lowered the smoking gun in his hands and turned his gaze from Miles to us.
Axe slowly shook his head, the word no falling from his lips as he stared at the man.
“No,” he growled fiercely, his hand finding mine and squeezing tight as he shook his head at the big man who’d just killed Miles before he could kill us.
“You’re dead.�
��
The man’s fierce scowl faded, and slowly, he started to grin.
“Sorry to disappoint, brother.”
13
Axe
I was staring a dead man. It almost felt like I was in some sort of fucking dream state, but with Larkin back in my arms and pressed tight to me, I knew this was real. Which meant he was real, even if my head couldn’t wrap around what I was seeing.
Ryker. My best friend. The president of the Lost Devils.
Alive.
“You’re dead.” My voice sounded hollow, like it was coming from outside my body as I stared at the man who’d died four years before. Or, who hadn’t.
“It can’t be,” I said quietly, my arm tightening around Larkin. This had to be blood loss or some shit. Vlad had patched me up in the Jeep on the way over here. The other men of Blackthorn had helped with the guards outside, but the fight inside was mine, and mine alone. But getting up on the roof, coming in through the skylight, creeping across the rafters trying not to roar at the sight of my Larkin tied to a chair, and then taking out all five guards?
Well, maybe that’d taken its toll. But no. The man standing in front of me, looking older, and fiercer, and more hardened than even the man I remembered was very much real.
“I’m sorry, brother,” Ryker growled quietly. He strode towards us, and before I knew it, he and I were clapping each other on the back as we embraced.
“You didn’t fucking reach out?!”
“I thought you were dead, Axe!” he bellowed, his face hard. “I didn’t know you were alive either until recently. After what happened…” His jaw clenched and he shook his head. “After what that piece of shit did to us, I was hiding, down in Mexico.”
“How the fuck did you get out that night?”
“Got a call from Becca because Kyrie wouldn’t stop asking if I could come by.”
I almost grinned at that one. Kyrie was Ryker’s sweet little girl. And Becca was his bitch of an ex who’d managed to get custody despite her drinking and generally being a shitty human. Any time Kyrie made it known that Ryker was the favorite was reason enough to smirk.
“I left the party early, man. Went over there ‘cause Becca had been hitting the booze hard and with Kyrie there?” He growled, shaking his head. “I crashed in Kyrie’s room, and in the morning, I found out everyone else I knew was dead. After that, I bribed a couple local cops to falsify some reports and list me there with the dead, and I took off. Had to, man. For Kyrie. I knew what the killing was about, and they had to think I was fuckin’ dead or they’d have kept going after my family.”