Kelsey

 

The first thing she noticed was the smell seeping into her nostrils — a vague but persistent stench of fish and salt. Kelsey opened her eyes slowly. Her neck was stiff and so were her shoulders, and when she tried to rub them, she found that her hands were bound. The light in the room was dim, but as her eyes adjusted, she noticed that the room around her was strangely empty except for some long metal tables with a few boxes underneath. She shifted in her chair. Her feet were tied too. As the reality of her situation sank in, Kelsey’s heart began to pound. She searched her memory for an answer, but found only fog. She’d been walking out of the hospital parking lot, and then what?

 

The chair, a metal folding type, was cold against her skin. At some point, someone had stripped her of every piece of clothing except her underthings. She stared for a moment at the plain of her stomach, already so much flatter than it had been not-so-long before. If nothing else, she remembered losing the baby. She remembered sneaking out of her hospital room. But after that, she didn’t know. She pulled at the restraints on her wrists to see if she could maybe work herself free, but the rope was rough, and it chafed at her skin. She shivered. It was so cold … was the place abandoned? Had she been left alone in there?

 

Her questions were answered when she heard footsteps drawing closer, echoing through the high, empty spaces. The door at the other end of the room unlocked and swung open. She recognized the figure even before it drew close. Kelsey’s face set into a stony frown. Of course, it was Spike who had kidnapped her. And of course, he had taken off her clothes.

 

Pig, she thought savagely. If she hadn’t been convinced he was out to hurt her, she might have spat on him.

 

“Hello, darling,” he said, smirking. He towered over her, his lean frame almost spidery. She thought he must have lost weight in the months since her departure; his face had gone from lean to gaunt, and there was a creepy, skeletal quality to his limbs. When he stretched out his fingers to touch her face, his knuckles bulged under the skin. Kelsey wanted to shrink away from his touch, but she couldn’t bring herself to give him the satisfaction of her discomfort. Instead, she stared defiantly into his face.

 

“You’re looking as lovely as ever.” He gave her a lingering once-over. The sensation of his gaze on her skin made her want to vomit. “It’s too bad we had to meet this way. I was hoping it could be under better circumstances.”

 

Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. You never gave a shit about me.” She’d meant to sound cool and dismissive, but whatever drugs she’d been given had made her tongue thick. The words slurred coming out of her mouth. Spike laughed.

 

“I haven’t heard you sound like that in months,” he remarked, leaning down close to her face. He smelled like sweat and grease and cigarette smoke. Kelsey felt her gag reflect threatening again. She clenched her jaw, refusing to flinch. “We had some good nights, didn’t we, Kelsey?” he asked. “But you decided to throw everything away.”

 

Kelsey moved her tongue in her mouth, hoping that exercise would give her slightly better control. “Actually, I didn’t,” she said. “I was kidnapped back then too, remember? Kind of like right now, except Chopper didn’t throw me into a freezing empty building.”

 

Again, Spike laughed, and this time the sound was edged with bitterness. “Ah, yes. Chopper Slater is quite the gentleman, isn’t he? That why you decided to stay with the Outlaws?” He began to circle her like a hungry tiger. Kelsey knew she would have to watch her words very carefully from that point forward.

 

She cleared her throat. “You never gave me a choice,” she said evenly. “You never came to get me.”

 

“You’re a big girl. Can’t you take care of yourself?”

 

“Not when I’m used to being someone’s spoiled old lady.” The words sounded utterly ridiculous to Kelsey’s ears, but she knew they would strike a chord of truth within Spike Lawler’s chauvinistic world view. He always treated her like a prize instead of a human being, a delicate, fragile thing who was too weak and stupid to ever get along in the world without him. He had used her to validate his own sense of self-worth, and she knew he would believe it had worked so well that now she was totally lost without an alpha male to guide her.

 

“True,” he said. “But you didn’t even try to get back. Chopper kept you, and you let him.” A hint of petulant jealousy crept into his voice. Kelsey was hit by a wave of repulsion to think she’d ever allowed herself to be subjected to the every whim of this man-child. All of this was just to spite Chopper, and to punish her for her desertion.

 

Anger swelled within her. Spike couldn’t know exactly what she’d been through in the past few days, but she blamed him for it anyway. He had known she was pregnant when she left, and he had thought the child was his. That didn’t seem to matter to him.

 

“What was I supposed to do?” she demanded sharply. The residual effects of the drugs were starting to wear off. Her mind was clearing. “You think yours is the only gang that kills for insubordination? I had more than myself to think about, you know.”

 

He glanced at her stomach. She wondered if he could tell that things weren’t right, or even that she looked different than she had when he chased her down the street. She held her breath, anticipating her secret to be uncovered. But he only turned away from her, resuming his slow, menacing circle around the chair.

 

“Okay, okay,” he said. “I get it. It’s not your fault.” He passed behind her. “That leaves only Chopper to blame, which is fine by me. I guess you and I will just have to find a way to make him suffer.” Spike stepped closer, slid his finger underneath the strap of her bra, and snapped it smartly against her back. Kelsey bit her lip to keep from whimpering in pain. “Or,” Spike said, drawing out the word, “do you think he’d like to watch?”

 

“You’re disgusting,” she spat. “I hope he kills you.”

 

Spike’s laugh was hard. She could tell she’d made him angry. He came around to the front of the chair and caught her face in his clammy hand.

 

“A bitch like you doesn’t have no right to talk like that to me,” he growled. His civilized façade fell away, and with it, his polished language. “I’m the only reason you’re even here at all.” He jabbed a finger at her belly. “I’m the reason you got that baby in you.” Once again, he leaned close, and she could smell his rancid odor. “And I’m gonna get my respect any way I can.”

 

Kelsey pressed her lips together. When she had been Spike’s old lady and he’d been on top of the Mongol world, she might have been afraid of him. But through Chopper, she’d seen Spike Lawler get dismantled, torn down into the man who was standing before her now. He didn’t look dangerous — he just looked crazy. After months spent running with the Outlaws, it would take more than that to faze Kelsey. She pulled up a thick wad of spit and launched it into his face. It stuck to his cheek with a satisfying splat.

 

For an instant, Spike was too stunned to do anything except stare at her. She stared back, her eyes cold. Then he reared back and slapped her so hard her vision blurred. She rocked back in the chair.

 

“You think you’re so funny, you fucking bitch!” he bellowed. “I wanted to give you another chance. I’d hate to see such a beautiful woman go to waste. But, no.” He picked up her face, admiring his handiwork as it bloomed into a dark splotch across her cheekbone. “I’m gonna make sure I’m the last man you ever have. And when I’m done with you, you’re as good as dead.” With that, he turned and stalked out of the room, his heavy boots thunderous on the floor.

 

As soon as he was gone, Kelsey sat up straight, shaking the hair from her eyes. She tasted blood on the inside of her cheek, but her heart was full of triumph. No woman had ever spit in Spike Lawler’s face before; she was sure of it. That was a wound he hadn’t expected to feel. Maybe he had thought that he could sweet talk her back to his side of things, that he could convince her to team up with him against Chopper. Maybe he’d envisioned a future with her by his side at the head of the Mongols.

 

Kelsey had been told that before she knew Spike, he’d been notoriously fickle with his women, sometimes swapping them out every week. Yet, he was willing to pour enormous amounts of his resources into tracking her down. She didn’t know what it was that made her valuable, but she knew it gave her power. If she could hurt Spike even a little bit, then that would have to be her legacy. Because really, even if Chopper did turn up, why would he save her now? She had done so much to hurt him. The best she could hope for was to be pardoned after it was all over.

 

Her face began to throb slowly, in time with the beating of her heart. Kelsey let her head fall forward onto her chest and closed her eyes. She saw, in the darkness behind her eyelids, the expression of shock on Spike Lawler’s face just before it exploded into rage.

 

She smiled.