Maggie

 

“You’re going to do what with me?” I asked as I recoiled from Blade’s words.

 

“I already told you I felt like you might need to go somewhere safe for a little while. We have safehouses where you can hide out. No one will find you there,” he explained again.

 

“I know that, but why do I need to go to a safehouse? Why aren’t I safe under your watch?” I challenged him.

 

“Because I can’t be here all the time, Maggie, and you’re not anyone’s responsibility here except mine, so I’m going to put you somewhere where our people can keep an eye on you.” He talked slowly, patiently.

 

“I don’t like it. Where did you go this afternoon?” I asked him. “What’s going on? How did I end up at that auction? Who sent me there? I’ve been thinking about it, Blade, and it just doesn’t seem like the guys who run that show would be out looking for random chicks to toss up on that auction block, you know?” I paced the room as the words flew out of my mouth.

 

“Maggie,” he said sharply as he grabbed my arm and stopped me in front of him. “Listen, I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to get answers. It was no accident that you ended up there last night, just like it was no accident that the other girl ended up there. I’m sure your ex is behind it, and I’ve got to find him. I’ve got to figure out what game he’s playing. In order to do that, I need you to be somewhere safe, so I don’t have to worry about you, too. Okay?” His mouth carefully formed every word, as if he were trying to keep his cool and not say the wrong thing.

 

“Okay, I got it.” I pulled my wrist back. It still didn’t make any sense to me that I couldn’t stay at the clubhouse while he was doing this. It felt like he was kicking me out and making excuses.

 

I didn’t argue anymore. I didn’t say anything else about it. I dropped it and went with him when it was time to go. I felt strange walking back downstairs with him, with nothing in my hands, nothing that I owned at all with me. Even my clothes had come from the MC.

 

Was this my new life? Getting shuffled from place to place? At least I wasn’t going back to the alley to sleep on the asphalt under a cardboard box and crusty old blanket. I had that going for me, right? No one noticed me as we left the MC. They probably all assumed I was going somewhere with Blade.

 

Outside, the sun was already setting. Night had fallen and the city lights were on, though the sky still had the last little bit of orange and pink around the horizon. I put my arms around myself against the chill in the air and hurried behind Blade as we walked to the car.

 

Once inside, he cranked it up and got the heat going.

 

“The safehouse will be able to provide you with warmer clothes, toiletries, all that stuff. If you were staying with me at the clubhouse, we still could have gone by to pick up some things. But I really think you’ll be safer there,” he told me as we pulled away from the clubhouse.

 

I didn’t respond. I was content to ride in silence and stare out at the night closing in around us. Even with the heat on in the car, the cool night air crept in through the windows. The glass seemed to be more of an ally for the cold air outside than the warm air billowing from the vents. I wanted a strong pair of arms to wrap around me and make me feel safe again, but I felt like I was being tossed back out into the world I came from.

 

We pulled up to an old two-story house at the edge of downtown. There were lights on in several of the windows, and I could see a shadow sitting on the steps leading up to the porch, a glowing red cherry at the end of a cigarette in their hand. The cherry grew brighter as they took a drag.

 

Blade parked along the curb. “We’re here,” he said. “Before we go inside, I want to tell you how this works. You can come and go as you please. You don’t have to answer to anyone. But the place is staffed with the Marauders MC and some of our old ladies, so you’re with my people, just like you would be if you stayed at the clubhouse. They’ll take care of you.”

 

I forced a smile. “You don’t have to keep explaining it to me, Blade. I get it. I know what a safehouse is. I’ve stayed at one before.”

 

“You have?”

 

I opened the door to the car and looked back to wink at him as I got out. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” I teased.

 

“Let me walk you in so they don’t think you’re just walking in off the street,” he said, catching up with me and putting a hand behind my back.

 

I instinctively moved closer to him, trying to get some of his warmth. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him. I leaned my head against his side while we walked, letting his warmth envelop me.

 

He didn’t speak to the young lady wrapped in a blanket on the steps as we passed. I figured he didn’t know her. We reached the porch, and he opened the door to the house. As we crossed the threshold onto the wooden floor, a homey warmth embraced me.

 

“Hey, Blade, what’s up, brother?” A wide man covered in tattoos with a long thick beard embraced Blade briefly.

 

“Nothing much, just bringing this lost soul in from the cold,” he said. Then, he stepped aside to introduce us. “Maggie, this is Lights. He’s the head of this house.”

 

“I’m also what Santa brings you if you’ve been naughty,” this new guy said, looking me up and down.

 

Blade nudged him. “Keep your eyes in your head, kid,” he said.

 

He looked at Blade and then back at me. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” He threw his hands up to signify he was backing away.

 

“I didn’t either,” I chimed in. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lights,” I said, offering him my hand.

 

“The pleasure is all mine, Maggie.”

 

“All right, you two. Look, Maggie needs a place to stay for a few days. I’ve got to handle some business for her to make sure she’s not in danger. She’s got an abusive ex who’s trying to start some trouble for her now that she’s gone,” Blade explained.

 

“And, of course, unable to resist a pretty face, Sir Blade of the Roundtable is going to come to this damsel’s rescue,” Lights mocked him.

 

My face flushed as I laughed at the two of them. It brought a warmth to my cheeks and my heart to see Blade react to Lights flirting with me the way he did.

 

“Yeah, we got it,” Lights said, clapping his brother on the back. “Now, Maggie,” he said as he turned to me, “do you have any clothes other than what you’re wearing? Any personal effects?”

 

I shook my head. “I’ve got nothing. This is it.”

 

“Well, tell your lover boy here goodbye. You’ll see him again soon enough. Let’s go and get you set up with a bed.”

 

I blushed again as I turned to Blade to tell him bye. He took me in his arms and hugged me, picking me up off the ground as he did. He didn’t say anything until he put me back down.

 

“I’ll be back soon,” he said. “I’m going to handle this for you and make sure you’re safe.”

 

“I know,” I told him as he let me go and walked back out the door. Even though I knew he was trying to do what he thought was right and what he thought would keep me safe from Axel and whatever kind of bullshit he’d gotten me into, it still hurt to watch him leave. It still felt like he was abandoning me with more strangers.

 

“All right, then. Let’s get you set up,” Lights said, interrupting me as I stood there staring at the door.

 

“Sorry, yeah. Let’s do that. Thank you, by the way,” I said as I tried to keep up with him.

 

“No problem. It’s what we do. Not every MC is into crime and violence. Some of us try to give back to the community when we can. Hell, we wouldn’t be here if not for someone looking out for us. You ask any biker how he ended up in his MC, and the story will probably sound pretty much the same,” Lights said as we mounted the stairs.

 

“And how is that?” I asked, just a few steps behind.

 

“We were each lost in some way, and a biker found us. Some guys are already riding when they come in. Some find the love for it when they get here, but we were all looking for some kind of purpose, some place to belong. Those are the basic elements of damn near every biker’s story,” he explained. “Kind of like how you wound up here, you know? Nowhere else to go, so some guy with muscles and tattoos reached out to you and pulled you in.”

 

I nodded, as if he could see me. “You’re right.”

 

“Hell, I know I am,” he said gruffly, and suddenly he sounded ages older than he looked.

 

I followed him up to the second floor and down the hallway to a wooden door with the number ten on it. He gripped the doorknob and gave it a turn.

 

“Each of our rooms has been converted into something similar to a hotel room,” he said as he opened the door. “You have a full-size bed and a set of dresser drawers. We can bring you some clothes up from downstairs. Each room has a bathroom, so you can handle your business privately. There’s a closet and a fully stocked linen closet. Laundry is in the basement, and there is a stocked kitchen downstairs.”

 

“Thank you. Is there anything I need to do?” I asked. Getting all of this as part of a free ride just didn’t seem real.

 

“Nope. You’re fine. You can come and go as you please, and here is the key to your room. The door downstairs is always open, and there is always someone watching it. Welcome aboard, Maggie. If there’s anything you need, just let us know down in the front room.”

 

“Thanks,” I said as he handed me the key and marched off down the hallway. “Oh, hey, clothes,” I called after him.

 

“I’ll bring some up,” he said.

 

A little while later, he knocked on the door with a few shirts, a jacket, a couple of changes of jeans, a couple of bras, and some panties. He blushed as I grabbed the underwear from his hands.

 

“I had one of the ladies handle the underwear for you,” he said nervously. “But there you go. Have a good night, Maggie.” He backed out of the door way and closed it, not looking at me.

 

I laughed as I put up the clothes and went to lie on the bed. I wondered if Blade would keep his word and come back once everything was settled, or if he was going to be like every other man and betray me. I tried to shake it off, telling myself there was nothing to worry about. Blade was good people, just like Lights and Bre, even if she was a bit neurotic and overly eager.

 

I lay on top of the covers and stared at the ceiling. I had a TV in my room, and I fully intended to turn it on for some background noise, but I drifted off to sleep before I ever found the remote.