CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Allison
I started shaking in Axe’s arms. The FBI was there and I knew there was no chance we were going to make it out of this unscathed.
To say I was in total shock right then would have been an understatement. There was so much that had just happened.
One, Savage was dead. I could finally breathe. I was free—of him at least. I mean I had a pretty good idea that the FBI wouldn’t just let me walk out of here after what I’d done.
Two, Lulu was there. She somehow didn’t forget about me. And while I was desperate to know what all I’d missed in her life, I knew now was not the time.
Three, there was so much blood everywhere. I was covered in it. Axe was covered in it. The walls, floors, just about everything. And the bodies…I tried my best not to think about how many there were.
Four, Axe was alive! He was alive, there, and holding me in his arms. He had come to save me after all.
“Neiryn.” My little boy’s name rushed out of my mouth in a panic.
“He’s fine, baby. He’s at the clubhouse and the girls are watching over him,” Axe whispered into my ear.
Thank God. My son was still alive.
For the first time in a long time, I felt like things were going to be alright. I felt like I could close my eyes and not feel fear. I didn’t have the constant urge to look over my shoulder. I mean, there was still the FBI thing, but my biggest nightmare was no longer there.
Really, this was a room full of criminals. Sure I didn’t have hardcore proof of any of it, but I wasn’t stupid. Criminals and FBI didn’t mix. There was no way we were going to get out of this with a slap on the wrist.
I pulled Axe’s arms tighter around me. I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to touch him again. Hell, it might have been never. So, while I still had the chance, I took everything that I could.
“Breathe, baby.” His words calmed me but not enough that I could forget what kind of situation we were in. “It’ll work itself out.”
“Agent Marks,” Burke said as he stepped out of the crowd, hands by his head letting them know he wasn’t threatening and the journal held up in one of his hands.
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Burke, what the hell are you doing here?” The lead agent said with a roll of his eyes as he put his hands on his hips.
The agent then holstered his gun but didn’t motion for the rest of his team to follow suit.
Burke walked over to the agent, as cool as could be. They had a back and forth that was completely out of earshot. Agent Marks, as Burke had called him, tilted his head to the ceiling and blew out an exacerbated breath as he slightly shook his head. Then his head snapped down and his eyes landed on me. Burke handed over the journal and Agent Marks flipped through it.
We all stayed silent as we waited. I didn’t dare fucking move, that was for sure. There were guns aimed at us and I was afraid that so much as a sneeze might cause one of them to fire.
Agent Marks held up his hand and all the rest of his team lowered their weapons and took a more relaxed stance, but that still didn’t mean that they weren’t ready to draw at a drop of a hat.
“Alright,” he said as he walked over and stood directly in front of me and Cal, who happened to be right beside Axe and I. “This is a fucking shit show.”
He could say that again.
No one opened their mouth to speak as we waited for him to carry on.
“Looks like I got what I needed out of this whole thing. I would have liked to have a man to question, but given who he is, it is probably for the best that it went down this way. But I never said that. Don’t think that I don’t know anything about you. It just happens that I have bigger fish to fry.”
He pursed his lips and looked at me.
“Self defense, right?”
His question wasn’t really a question. Though that was pretty much what it was. I mean Savage may have been tired to a chair and rendered helpless the moment I stabbed him, but I would have called it self defense. Or temporary insanity.
“Yes, sir,” I said with a tiny nod.
“Sykes, call the hospital. Let them know that they have about…” His head did a slow swivel, looking at every inch that he could see. “At least fifteen coming in. I’ll handle it when I get there.”
One of his men, I’m assuming Sykes, walked off with his phone to his ear.
“Get your men up, take the ones that need medical attention to the county hospital. I’ll need a statement from the girl, but as far as I can tell, it looks like the leader of The Devil’s Kings—Savage, as he went by—went crazy and took out his own men. It looks like your men were in a bad car accident while you so happened to be here in town on an unscheduled club ride for charity.”
Oh, I got what was going on.
“I’m sure the local women’s shelter is about to get a big check,” Cal said understanding what the agent was saying.
“Yep. And this one here,” he pointed to me, “you found her running down the road when you drove past. You never saw this place or stepped foot here. And you,” he looked at me, “just happened to find a gas can and a box of matches.”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed feeling like I was in some weird alternate universe. Sure, stuff like this happened sometimes in the movies, but never in real life. Right?
“You happened to grab this before you ran from this place. Then you handed it over to Burke here, who just so happened to be here because he got information on a missing girl. Which, turned out to be you. He found you when they put your information into their system and he used one of his unconventional ways to track that. Then Burke handed it over to me.” His eyes shifted to Burke as he said the last sentence.
And by unconventional I was sure he meant not quite legal. It seemed like this Agent knew more about Burke and the company he worked for than just in passing.
“Got it,” Burke said with a nod.
“Alright,” Agent Marks said. “We are going to clear out. I’ll meet you over at the hospital. Do what needs to be done so I don’t have to deal with this mess.”
With that, he turned on his fancy, polished shoes and walked off.
“You heard him, let’s get movin’.” Cal barked and everyone went in all different directions.
“So…” I said to Axe. I was still confused. My head was spinning and it almost seemed too easy how we’d gotten out of it.
“We’re good, baby. Nothing will come of this. The club is in the clear.” He spoke like he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Let’s get you in the car and get you taken care of.”
He carried me out of the building. I tucked my head into his neck and kept my eyes closed. I had seen enough for a lifetime, I didn’t care to see anymore as we walked out of the hellhole I’d been trapped in.
The blood had dried and started to crack and flake off every time I moved. It pulled at the hairs on my arms and made them tingle. My hair was a matted mess of knots, dirt, and clumps of the man that had terrorized my life for the last seven years.
It was over. I wanted him dead. But did that mean that I would automatically be okay with what I had done? It was all unclear at that moment. Too much had just happened and my brain was spinning trying to process it all.
I sucked in a lungful of cool night air as we stepped outside. I felt like I wouldn’t ever get the smell out of my nose.
It was over. I couldn’t let myself really believe it even if I had seen with my own two eyes that it was done. Hell, I had pretty much been the one to do so. I had no doubt that when I was finally done with him he wouldn’t have been hanging around much longer, even if Cal hadn’t shot him in the head.
Axe carried me over to a line of SUVs that were parked just on the other side of the gates. There were already men standing out there and by their cuts, I knew they were part of Axe’s club. Axe set me gently onto the seat and stood just outside the door watching me.
“I was so fucking scared,” he admitted to me. “I don’t know what I would do if…if he’d killed you.”
“I’m here,” I said as I slowly reached for his hand.
The door on the other side opened with a jerk. I jumped only because I had been so lost in the moment that I had forgotten what was around me or even where I was. My body screamed at me with every move I made. I was trying to be strong, but I had to admit that I was way past hurting. Every single part of me either ached or burned in some way, and those that didn’t just felt numb.
Next thing I knew, a very busted up Brand was plopped down in the seat beside me. I gasped at the sight of the state he was in. One of his eyes cracked open to look at me and he tried his best to smile. I wanted to shake my head at him and at the same time hug him.
“Aren’t we a pair,” he said with a choked cough.
Without thinking, I reached down and grabbed his hand, he gave me a tiny squeeze then his eye fell closed as his head went back against the seat. I could see that he was still breathing so I tried not to panic.
“Need to get these two to the hospital,” the guy that had helped Brand into the car said.
I didn’t recognize him but I could see he was part of the club. He shut the door and jogged around to the passenger’s side and slipped into the front seat. Another guy I didn’t recognize got behind the wheel and turned over the ignition. Axe carefully got in, lifted me up, and held me on his lap as we drove away.
My eyes watched out the back window as the building got smaller and smaller the further we drove on. I just barely saw the smoke and flames start to rise before it was out of view.
“It’s over,” I whispered finally letting it sink in.
“Yes, it’s all over. You are free now.” Axe ran his fingers over my hair as he whispered in my ear.
“Lulu?” I said and I couldn’t believe that I’d almost forgotten that she was there. I didn’t even get to tell her bye or figure out how I could get in touch with her.
“Don’t worry. If she doesn’t show up at the hospital, I’m pretty sure I know how to find her.” He chuckled and I felt like there was something I was missing.
But it wasn’t the time to try and figure it out. I trusted him, so, therefore, I believed him when he said that. I knew he wouldn’t let me down and he wasn’t trying to soothe me with false words.
“I love you,” I mumbled into his neck and then realized that I’d never actually said those words to him.
“I love the shit outta you too. You’re my forever bitch. Don’t ever fucking forget that shit.” His tone was light and almost had a hint of humor to it. If we both weren’t covered in blood and God knew what else, I could have kissed him right then.
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand you, brother,” Brand mumbled beside us and the car erupted with laughter. “Ky?”
“Yeah, man?” the guy in the passenger’s seat answered as he half turned around to give Brand his attention.
“You owe me twenty bucks. Don’t think I forgot that shit.”
“Make it out of the hospital alive and I’ll give you forty.”
The air went still. Brand didn’t move. The half smile on his face had faded and his head sagged to the side. I couldn’t watch, yet I couldn’t look away. I waited, my eyes glued to his chest almost like I was expecting it to stop moving at any second. But thank God it didn’t. His breaths may have been shallow, but they were steady. We pulled up to the hospital and they wheeled him away, I could only hope that we’d gotten there fast enough.
I was wheeled in after him. I felt so tired all I wanted to do was close my eyes. They had a room ready and people standing by, and within a few minutes, I had a doctor by my side asking me questions as he poked and prodded me.
My eyes grew heavy not long after the pushed the IV in. I didn’t fight it because I was so desperate for a moment to rest.