“What the hell is going on?” I asked as I stepped into the main room.

Op rushed down the stairs holding his hands up. “Don’t worry, I’m expecting visitors,” he told us simply as he passed by and headed for the front door.

The low rev of engines was slowly coming to a stop, and I had to wonder just how many fucking bikes were out there. As I stood up, I heard two babies begin to cry upstairs, and Hadley was quick to leap out of her chair.

“Whoever it is, better have a good reason for showing up at the twins bedtime,” Hadley muttered as she rushed away to help.

I looked at Leo who was getting up from his seat. “I’m expecting visitors?” I mimicked our president as we walked side by side toward the door.

“I try not to be surprised by things he does, but no shit,” he replied, rolling his eyes.

As we stepped outside, I saw Op shaking hands with someone I recognized. They turned and walked toward us while the other twenty bikers who had filled the compound parking area climbed off their bikes and began to stretch their legs.

“Eagle,” Rivet said in greeting as he held his hand out to me. I shook it firmly but with a raised eyebrow. He just chuckled. “Sorry for invading your space, we won’t stay long, just needed to have a chat with you boys for a few minutes, and we were passing through, so thought I’d do it in person.”

“Let’s go to the meeting room,” Op instructed as we filed inside. Everyone in the club stared at us in curiosity and confusion as we passed through. Op stopped beside Jess who was standing behind the bar. “Anyone outside need anything, let them know where to find it.”

Jess nodded. “Sure.”

Blizzard was the only one who got up to follow us into the meeting room, shutting the door behind us as we took a seat at the table.

“Sorry to show up at such short notice,” Rivet apologized, pulling the bandana from around his neck and placing it on the table. “We have quite a few military men in the club, so we were heading to Nashville for a United Service Organization Ride when I got a phone call that you might be interested in.”

The way his eyes were fixed on me, I knew this had something to do with Skylar. “What’s her idiot brother done now?”

Rivet grinned. “You done the right thing by that girl and claimed her yet?”

I screwed up my nose. “I was actually about three seconds away from doing just that before you noisy bastards pulled in.”

His laugh was deep and right from the belly. Rivet was older, if I had to guess, probably in his early forties, but I swear the guy could probably bench press me without breaking a sweat. He was fit and ripped, and it was honestly a little intimidating.

“We had the DEA swarming around down there a couple days ago,” Rivet started, instantly making me sit a little straighter. “Called a friend of mine on the inside to see what the hell was going on. Turns out, they managed to get a search warrant for some of the buildings and homes owned by the Colony.”

Op sat back in his seat, tapping his fingers on the table. “Wrench said he looked into it and they’d been trying for years to get something like that.”

Rivet nodded, his face serious. “They have, far too fucking long if you ask me with all the shit those bastards do down there. But that wasn’t the part I found interesting.”

My gut sunk, and I was already making plans in my head about how I could protect Sky if these assholes came at us.

“My buddy said, that the info they got had come from the prophet’s daughter.” He let his words hang there so they could sink in. I was immediately off my feet and heading for the door.

I stepped out into the main room and quickly scanned it, finding Sky standing with Jess at the bar. “Sky!” I called, my voice a little on the sharp side, making her almost leap out of her skin before she turned to me with her hand over her heart. “Come here.”

She slowly walked over, I could see the trepidation on her face as she took in the seriousness of my body language and the tone of my voice. “What’s going on?” she asked as I pressed my hand against her lower back and guided her into the meeting room before throwing the door shut behind me. She tilted her head to the side. “Rivet?”

Rivet grinned, standing from his seat like a real gentleman. “Nice to see you well, darlin’.”

I put her in the seat next to Op while I stood beside her. She looked up at me and frowned before turning back to Optimus. “Okay, what did Abel do now?” she asked nervously.

“We’ll talk about him in a minute,” Op said, sitting forward. “Some places at the Colony were raided with search warrants. Rivet here has a source that told him the warrants came about because of the daughter of the prophet speaking with the DEA.”

I could tell that Op was trying to give Sky the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time letting her know that this was fucking serious. No one in the club was permitted to talk to any government groups or law enforcement without speaking with Op first.

Sky looked between each of us with her eyebrow raised. I could tell by how casual she was acting, that it wasn’t her. “Are you guys seriously forgetting that my father had six wives?” she asked, then sat calmly and waited for the rest of us to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“That fucking asshole,” I snapped, slamming my palm down on the table.

“Woah, what the hell man?” Leo questioned, looking at me like I’d grown two heads.

I could see the point in where it clicked in Op’s eyes, and he was ready to fucking put a hole in Deacon’s ass. “Deacon used to work for the DEA, remember? He showed up here, trying to get into Chelsea, trying to get information on the club…” They were all getting it now. “Then he just jumps at the chance to take in Emerald, acting like he’s her knight in shining armor.”

I had a feeling my suspicions I’d raised about Deacon having an ulterior motive were on fucking point.

Op was already out of his seat and heading for the door before I was done talking. “Where are you going?” Blizzard called worriedly.

“Going to talk to my woman about how she’s gonna have one less friend in about twenty minutes,” Op threw back.

“There’s more!” Rivet yelled, and Op froze in the doorway, clenching the doorframe tightly in his hand. “First, tell me who this Deacon guy is.”

“When Sky’s sister Emerald showed up after doing a runner from the Colony, Deacon, our friendly local policeman offered to home her until Sky could find them a place they could afford and leave the club,” I explained quickly before Op lost his shit. “Deacon worked for the DEA before he moved here. He’s had our back on a few things, but I’m pretty sure he’s just pushed his canoe into shit creek and left the paddles on the shore.”

“No shit,” Rivet said, shaking his head. “Turns out they found the Colony has been running illegal arms, buying them in from overseas, putting them together in a workshop and selling them off to groups like the white supremacists and the street gangs. Basically inciting a race war.”

“And what does that mean for us?” Blizzard asked.

I knew by the way Rivet was looking at me that this shit was about to get crazy. “There were a fair amount of guns missing according to the records they recovered, and Abel and his buddies were gone too.”

“Fucking fantastic,” Leo groaned, laying his head back against the chair. “So basically you think we could have a whole lot of crazy coming at us attached to a seriously large amount of stupid.”

“Members said that Abel and his men left to seek revenge and purity for the Colony,” Rivet responded saying all he needed to say.

Skylar had pissed them the fuck off, embarrassed them, and proved that you can live a happy life on the outside of the Colony, but her brother was never going to let her get away with it.

She reached up and grabbed my hand. “My brother is the leader of what they call The King’s Militia,” she grimaced, and I instantly got this sinking feeling in my gut as all the eyes in the room turned to her. “They don’t mess around. They train, like the freaking armed forces and they have the numbers and the weapons.”

“Why the hell do these guys need a militia?” I asked, my eyes wide and my hand gripping tightly to the chair.

“They say it’s to fight the government if they ever came for us. But really, it’s to keep people in line, make them fearful of running away, punishing people for their sins.” Skylar shuddered. “They all think they are invincible, that they are following the Lord’s word or whatever and protecting our path to heaven.”

Optimus turned to us with darkness in his eyes. “If they come for my family, the only place they are gonna be heading is hell, and I’ll make sure it’s a damn painful ride.”