Harlow

Should I try to hit Talon or the guy driving my truck? Talon, who seemed to be way meaner, and way more in charge than Farkus, had put me in the back. We drove away from Kade and any bit of safety I might have had.

“This will be the perfect spot after we cross the border,” Talon said to me and I had no doubt about what he meant. He yanked the top button of my blouse clean off just in case I didn’t.

“If you’re good to us and get us back across with our guns, nice and smooth, we’ll be nice and smooth with you,” Talon said to me and I didn’t want to think about what came next. Kade was right: every single Hawk was a psycho.

I couldn’t believe I’d been so trusting of Rudy. He had sold me out twice, once to the Saints and then to the Hawks. I knew he needed money. I obviously didn’t know how much or how little he thought of me. He’d put me in the middle of this mess and didn’t think twice about it.

And now he was dead. I closed my eyes and all I could see was him getting shot. These men, these Hawks, didn’t care who they hurt or killed. Kade was right about that.

I wondered if I could signal the border crossing agent. How would I do it? Would I be able to? I had to think about getting myself out of this mess somehow. Was my best bet being quiet and getting back into the country?

It wasn’t long before my only thought was holding on to something as the truck swerved left then right. I heard popping; it had to be gunshots or maybe tires blowing? I didn’t know. What I did know is that Kade was coming for me. I knew it in my bones. It terrified me. He was one man versus at least ten and those ten didn’t have a conscious. They seemed ready to kill or rape or steal on a whim.

My head slammed on the side of the truck and I tried to decipher Talon’s swearing and the yelling he was doing at the Hawk he had driving.

“Shit! STOP!” Talon yelled, and I was hurtling forward and slamming into the back of the seats. Our fast getaway had come to a screeching halt.

Talon and the driver were now shooting out the front window of my truck. I tried to get as low as I could.

“You fucking keep firing, assholes and this little bitch is the shield I need.”

I didn’t dare lift my head above the window line at this point. I didn’t know who was shooting what. Even if there were police out there, they didn’t know I was only with the Hawks by force.

But we had stopped. I hoped this was good. The hail of bullets had stopped as well so I ventured a tiny look outside.

There were bikers and their rides positioned in front of the truck. I could only assume they’d blocked the way.

Maybe I could run? But Talon hadn’t forgotten about me, not by a long shot.

“I’m going to fucking stop this right now,” Talon said and he grabbed a hunk of my hair and pulled me out of the truck.

I looked around and didn’t see Kade. Where was he? Had he been hit by bullets or crashed his bike? I had a hard time focusing on anything. Hot tears filled my eyes as Talon yanked me around. I reached up to his fist and tried to stop it but he wasn’t letting up or letting me go. He practically lifted my entire body by my hair.

I scrambled to try to stand at least somewhat upright instead of being dragged. It was then that I got a better look at what had stopped the truck.

There was a wall of men and bikes.

They stood side by side. Their fury seemed a physical thing. Their power was something you could see.

I didn’t know their names but I knew they were The Dark Saints. I recognized the same patch that I’d seen on Kade’s jacket on each of their leather vests and jackets. There was no doubt.

I didn’t have a count of how many Saints versus how many Hawks were on this stretch of deserted Mexican backroad. I hoped the numbers made some sort of sense. I also hoped the Saints realized I wasn’t a Hawk.

Because one thing was crystal clear. I did not want to be on the wrong side of The Dark Saints. Where The Devil’s Hawks seemed dirt caked, crow like, and mean, The Saints projected something else.

None of them looked like the other, but the men standing in front of the truck, unflinching, were almost mythically huge. It wasn’t just the muscles; there was a broadness to each one, a solid stance that dwarfed the wiry looking Talon and his crew.

I had thought Kade’s size was some sort of fluke, but it wasn’t. To ride with The Saints, at least these that I was seeing, you had to be able to shake the Earth.

I was at once hopeful, that they were there to help me, and terrified that they would just think I was a Hawk’s old lady.

The Saints formed a ‘v’ with a man named Axle at the apex of the ‘v.’ I tried to read all their patches, to get a fix on who they all were.

“Let the lady go,” Axle said. His voice was low, like Kade’s. Hearing it gave me a fresh spike of worry. Where was Kade?

“Fuck you, Axle,” Talon said and he pulled back my head and exposed my neck. He leaned over and I felt his tongue score the skin from my chin to my collarbone. I kicked at his shins and he laughed.

“I know she’s real special to Kade. I can see why ” Talon snarled. How was I going to get out of this? If they shot Talon, there was no way I was escaping without a bullet too. He held me in close to his body and I gagged at his sweaty smell.

“How about this? You take those guns and get out of here. Leave the lady,” Axle said. I looked in his eyes. They were kind. I was so confused by the biker gang war that I’d stumbled into, but if I ran, I’d run to The Saints. That was the only plan I had.

“I’m in no need of negotiating for something that’s already mine. I’ll take her as payment for what you tried to steal.”

I scanned the faces of the other Saints. One looked like a wolf come to life, huge, with wild hair, and veins popping on his massive arms. He was terrifying looking. But his eyes were trained on mine, not on Talon. Every single other Saint was fixed on Talon but this one. His patch read Maddox. Maddox was holding my gaze.

Something about Maddox made me think we were communicating. What was he trying to tell me?

His eyes slowly focused on something behind me as the threats between Axle and Talon got more intense. I felt compelled to keep looking at Maddox for a clue on what to do, and when.

Talon’s grip was strong and the wall of Dark Saints was at least two dozen feet away from me.

Slowly, Maddox nodded and it made me think I needed to be ready for his next signal. I hoped it was a signal.

Whatever I did, I’d have one chance at it. Either Talon or The Saints or one of the other Hawks was going to shoot and I was going to be in the middle of it.

Maddox and the rest of The Saints were still as statues. Slowly Maddox lifted his arm to stroke his jaw. It wasn’t out of place, it was a normal gesture. Except it was totally out of place.

I watched for whatever sign there might be for whatever opening I could squeeze through and somehow make it out of this.

I stayed focused on Maddox and the smallest of gestures. And then he did it. I watched the casual motion turn definitive as he pointed his index straight down. That was it. I slammed my body down to the dust-covered road. I used all the force I had and it was enough to break Talon’s grip. At the same time, a dark blur launched toward Talon and gunshots rang in my ears.

I rolled away with no regard to where I was or what I might land on. Then I felt scooped up.

“I got you, Curly.” It was the wolfie biker, Maddox. He took what only seemed like a few big strides away from the dust-up.

There was a full-on skirmish between The Saints and The Hawks. But I was being spirited out of it.

“You need to stay down,” Maddox said as he deposited me behind his bike.

“I, what?” I looked around him at what I hoped was The Saints overwhelming The Hawks. And then I focused. It was Kade. He was standing over Talon. Thank God. He was alive.

It only took another beat to realize, he was bleeding.

Kade had taken a bullet for me.

But Talon looked worse. Talon looked dead.