SEAN

 

“Here.”

Poison tossed a small switchblade at my feet. It clanked against the ground and slid toward me.

“Go on,” he said. “Pick it up.”

His hand was on Lydia’s shoulder. That was the only reason I hadn’t run forward and knocked his head into the next county.

“I said pick it up!”

He pulled out another knife and held it toward Lydia’s throat. Seeing her bound to her chair, tears running down her cheeks… My whole world was at his mercy.

“Do it!”

I slowly bent down and picked the knife up from the ground.

“Good. Now put it to your throat.”

“You don’t want to do this—”

“I said put it to your throat or I’ll cut this bitch’s head off!”

“Listen to yourself! You’re telling me to kill myself?”

“It’s better than you deserve! Three years! They gave you three years for killing my brother! That’s not justice!”

“That wasn’t my choice!”

“What about Razor? What about his choice?”

His hand was trembling. Lydia grimaced as the tip of the knife pierced her skin slightly.

Trying to reason with a fucking maniac like Poison was impossible. But I had to do something if I was going to save the woman I cared about.

“I made a mistake,” I said. “It was wrong. I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

“You’re right. You made a huge mistake. Now you’re gonna pay the price!”

“Let her go! She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“She has everything to do with this!”

His hand was shaking so much. The longer he kept the knife at her throat, the less chance I had of saving her. I was running out of time.

“Do you know what it’s like to lose someone?” he barked at me. “Do you know what it’s like to lose everything?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen to your brother. I didn’t mean for you to lose your patch. But you don’t have to do this. You’re making a mistake.”

“I’m not making a mistake. I’m doing this for my brother. This is what he would have wanted.”

“Is it? Your brother was a Winter Cobra, just like you were. You two lived the lives of outlaws. You were true one-percenters.”

“Stop talking and do it!”

I shook my head. Even though I was trying to save Lydia, I meant every word I said. The poor bastard had lost everything. His brother. His patch. He had nothing else to live for. I had to give him something.

“This isn’t what Razor would have wanted,” I said.

“What do you know about what he wanted?”

“Because you were Winter Cobras. If he were here now, he would want you to take justice into your own hands. He’d want you to settle this like a man.”

“…Fucking Reapers. Always riding around this town, acting like you’re the fucking owners of the road. I always fucking hated you.”

“This is your chance. Letting a Reaper kill himself…”

I kept shaking my head at him.

“…Nah. Put down the knife. Beat a Reaper like a man. Take justice like I did.”

I could see his hand still trembling. Lydia had her eyes closed, sobbing softly as the maniac kept his hand tight on her shoulder.

“Put the knife down,” he said. “I’ll fucking kill you myself.”

I dropped the knife and it clanked against the floor.

“Come here and kill me,” I said.

“I’m gonna enjoy this.”

Poison pulled the knife from Lydia’s throat and tossed it to the side of the warehouse. I held back a sigh of relief as she sank into the chair she was tied to.

Poison took off his vest and his shirt followed. I took a moment to do the same. Underneath the dim bulb shining down in the center of the warehouse, Poison walked toward me with his fists up.

“This is for Razor,” he said. “This is for every Cobra who got disrespected by a Reaper.”

He yelled as he rushed toward me. A violent punch that would have knocked me unconscious if I hadn’t shifted out of the way.

I put my hands up.

I’d spent three years in prison. Before that, all of my teenage life was spent fighting off bullies and dealing with punks who picked fights with me.

I could take Poison. He was just another asshole I had to deal with.

He threw another punch at me and I took a knee, responding with a hard right hand to his ribs. He yelled out and stumbled back.

Got him.

One punch wasn’t gonna be enough to stop him. All it did was fill his eyes with even more determination.

“Motherfucker…”

He muttered to himself as he rushed toward me. There was no punch or kick this time. Instead, he wrapped his arms around me and tackled me to the ground.

I wasn’t ready.

I stumbled to the ground with him on top of me. Suddenly, he was raining down punches on my face. Every fist left me more dazed than the last.

“This is for Razor… This is for the Cobras… This is for justice…”

He grunted between every blow.

“Sean!”

I could still hear her. I had to do this. For her.

For her…

I struggled underneath him. I stuck my hands out, reaching for him.

I gripped my hands around his throat and squeezed. He pulled his hands back to try and free himself from my grasp. It gave me the chance I needed to push him off of me completely.

He stumbled back and fell to the floor. I raced forward and pounced on top of him. With all of my strength, I reared my hand back and slammed it against his jaw. Blood splattered against the concrete beneath us.

But all he did was smile back at me, the crazy bastard. I kept hammering his face with punches until he was bloody and bruised.

“Sean! Look out!”

I hadn’t noticed where his arm was reaching. At the last second, I rolled off of him as he took a swing at me with the blade he’d picked up from the ground.

His face was red and dripping. His nose was pointed in two different directions. But he was still smiling at me like a fucking maniac.

He turned his head to the side and spit out some blood.

“Come on,” he said as he motioned for me with the knife. “Stop acting like a pussy and fight me.”

I’d been in more fights than I could count. But it was always different when a weapon was involved. All it would take is one stab, one swipe, one motion, and it would be all over.

“Sean! Sean!”

Her voice in my head. Like an angel singing a chorus.

I had to do this.

Not for me.

Not for the club.

For her.

The one who made me feel like I was flying. The one who eased the pain in my heart.

For her.

Bleeding from my face. Covered in sweat. Breathing hard. I knew I was close. I just had to dig deep for whatever was left to finally end this once and for all.

“Come on,” I said, motioning for him. “Let’s finish this.”

He charged at me with the knife pointed forward. Just as he got to me I grabbed his wrist with both hands. With all of my strength, I twisted his arm until I heard it. A loud snap. Bone crunching. Tendons moving in the wrong direction.

He howled in pain, telling me I’d done what I needed to do.

The knife fell harmlessly from his fingers and bounced to the ground. The rest of him followed.

I got on top of him and started throwing punches. Poison was dangerous. Too dangerous. I couldn’t leave him where he was.

My fists keep hitting him. My knuckles felt like they were breaking. I had to keep going.

“Sean!”

Her voice cried out to me again.

I looked up and saw Lydia tied to the chair. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She sobbed loud enough that it echoed through the warehouse.

“It’s over,” she pleaded. “You don’t have to do this.”

Her voice was so calming. It was like the world around me was melting and I was floating on a cloud.

For her…

“Don’t do this.”

I looked back down at Poison and saw what I’d done. His face was a mess. Blood all over it like someone had spilled a bucket of red paint on him. His eyes were flickering like he was barely there. But he was breathing.

I slowly got back up to my feet and rushed over to Lydia. I untied her as quickly as I could. When I did, she wrapped her arms around me. Feeling her soft skin and warm body against mine shaking as she sobbed against me… I wanted nothing more than to keep my arms around her.

“It’s all right,” I sighed. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

She didn’t say anything. She just kept her arms tight on me, squeezing me like she was going to fall if she didn’t.

I brought her to her feet and we slowly made our way to the exit of the warehouse. Right as we did, the unmistakable sound of police sirens started approaching. When we got out of the warehouse, I saw the squad cars all surrounding us. Sheriff Sutton got out of the lead car and walked toward us.

“Are you all right?” he said as he looked at Lydia.

She nodded her head.

“Get me an ambulance, right now!” Sutton barked to his men.

“Look out!”

One of the cops shouted suddenly. I spun around and saw Poison walking toward us, his arm raised and a pistol in his hand.

My instincts took over. I grabbed Lydia and wrapped my arms around her. I squeezed her tight as the gunshots filled the air.

It lasted for a few seconds before everything went silent.

She was still warm in my arms. She was still breathing. She was still with me.

I looked down at her and saw the innocence in her eyes, the only reason I’d done any of this.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She gave me a nod, a faint smile of relief.

I turned around and saw Poison on the ground. His body was lifeless as some of the other cops started to check on him.

“Lydia!”

Ben rushed up to us to check on her.

“Holy cow!” he said. “Are you okay?”

“She’s fine,” I said. “She just needs some space.”