They slipped into the night like shadows, fading before I could get my eyes adjusted. I was told to stay put in my car, sitting there like a toad on a log. I got it. I wasn’t useful. That paired with Jackson’s evident disdain for me, I couldn’t really see how tagging along on their mission was going to provide anything positive. Still, I hated waiting.
I’d described the club to them in full detail, with the knowledge that came from nearly fifteen years in the same building without any changes. The brothers always got hammered and passed out around the main room in the early morning, so they were going to wait and sneak in to try to do the least damage.
My nerves chased my exhaustion away and I was staring into the night around me, so on edge and jumpy that I felt like I’d been chugging coffee. I was worried for the two men. They’d gone in against a club full of men with minimal weapons. I hadn’t even seen a gun on Jackson. I was worried for Micah, too. What would Raptor do if he caught Micah trying to get away? What had he already done to him?
I leaned my head against the headrest and blinked as I thought I saw movement in the trees. I sat up straighter and rubbed my eyes. It was so dark that it was oppressive and it wasn’t the first time I’d imagined something moving. When I opened them again, all was still. I sighed and yanked my hair out of its bun. I distracted myself with righting it on top of my head, looping the elastic around one more time in an attempt to keep it from falling over again.
A sound outside of my car startled me and before I had time to question whether or not I’d locked the door, it was yanked open and a big hand grabbed my hair and dragged me out. I yelped and found myself slammed against the side of the car as Bone, one of Raptor’s meanest soldiers, leered down at me.
“Look what I found. If it isn’t my lucky day.” His pock-marked face twisted until his teeth were completely exposed, his thin lips curling back into his face. “Raptor is going to be so pleased.”
I twisted and pushed at him, but he just tugged my hair harder until I felt like he would scalp me with the sheer strength of one hand. I tried to throw my knee into his crotch, but he twisted his hips and blocked it. He lifted me away from the car and then slammed me into it harder. I whimpered at the feeling of my teeth clanking together.
“What are you doing here, Cammie? Couldn’t stand to be away from real men for too long?” He lowered his face until he was spitting in my ear as he spoke. “Raptor is real pissed about Coke. Would’ve killed your rich friends if they hadn’t fled the country. He knows it was you, though. You killed his family, Cammie. Think of what he’s going to do to you.”
Yeah, I’d spent a lot of time thinking about that, which was why I wasn’t willing to be captured. Luckily for me, it seemed the Wolves were more intent on talking about themselves than actually looking around. Bone hadn’t even noticed Jackson’s truck.
Instead of pushing against his chest uselessly, I jabbed my pointed fingers into his throat and winced as I felt one of them snap. That didn’t matter. It worked to momentarily incapacitate Bone. When he let go of my hair to grab his throat, I threw my knee into his crotch and shoved him backwards.
The big man went down hard, swearing and choking. I tried to dive into the car to get to the keys but he was still alert enough to grab the back of my head and yank me backwards. I landed in the dirt hard and struggled to my feet again. Bone was trying to stand up, but he was still choking.
I circled around to the other side of the car and snatched the keys from the ignition. When I stood up, he wasn’t on the ground. A blinding pain shot through me as Bone’s hand smacked the side of my head.
He was fast. While I tried to get my vision working right, he shoved me to the ground and fell on top of me. “Bitch!”
I silently fought back, terrified of alerting more men. I had no idea how Bone had found me, but if I screamed, more would come running. It was hard not to, though, when he yanked my head to the side with my hair and then shoved his fingers in my mouth until I was gagged. He kept shoving until fear paralyzed me when I felt my jaw stretching past the point of pain. I waited for the sound of it snapping, but Bone moved on. He ripped my shirt open and I snapped back to action.
I bucked my hips and used the keys in my hand to stab him in the side of the neck. Blood dripped into my face as I bucked and shoved him again. That time, he fell to the side, holding his neck and cursing at me in an abused voice.
I kicked him in the face, trying to buy myself some time, before running to the trunk and fighting to get it open. My heart pounded in my chest so hard that I couldn’t hear if he was coming. It was too dark. He was quiet.
I couldn’t get it open. The keys slipped from my bloody fingers and I dropped down to pick them up. He was going to be on me at any second. I knew I wouldn’t get another chance. With a small cry, I slid the right key into the hole and turned it. The trunk popped open and I ripped the carpet up as I heard his swearing moving closer.
A scream built in my throat as my fingers fumbled with the zipper on the duffel. He was closer. I could feel it. I was about to lose my only chance at surviving. The zipper slipped out of my bloody fingers once more and then I caught it. Ripping it open, I slipped my hand inside and my hand closed on the knife just as Bone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.
I extended my arm and moved it through the air quickly, feeling it catch on something and then glide through it. It went through so easily that I knew I’d just caught his clothing, but what felt like a wave of warmth hit me in the face and I blinked open my eyes to see Bone grasping at his neck. A wide-open cavern had appeared there as Bone tipped his head back, eyes wide with panic as his blood sprayed out.
I wanted to tell him to put his chin down, that it would stop the blood from flowing so freely, but I realized how insane that was. I’d done that to him. I’d sliced his neck wide open. I couldn’t help him. Frozen in place, I watched as the life went out of his eyes and he fell to the ground. Blood continued to pool around his head and creeped over the ground, moving slowly toward my feet like a slow-moving accusation, pointing out his murderer.
I jerked away from it, dropping the knife as I fell and crawled away. Tears spilled down my cheeks and I couldn’t look away from his lifeless body.
It was worse than Coke. So much more violent. I felt sick. Only the worst people killed people the way I’d just killed Bone. My stomach lurched and I turned just in time to throw up bile beside me. It seemed like a strange time to think about it, but I realized I hadn’t eaten since leaving Ian’s.
I pulled myself to my feet and looked down at the scene again. Slowly the panic edged away and I felt some control slipping back into place, only it was different. Instead of the calm control I’d had at the Wolves’ clubhouse, it was a calm that I’d felt when I was younger, a calm that came with a lot of acceptance. There were things I couldn’t help. I couldn’t keep them clean and nice. There were things I had to do to live. To make sure Micah could live. I had to survive.
Like an old friend, I warmed to the adrenaline surging through my body, telling me to fight to live. I leaned over and picked up the knife. Wiping it clean on my jeans, I squeezed the handle and nodded once. I didn’t want to do anything like that ever again, but I knew I would if I had to. I would kill all of them if I had to.
I dropped the knife into the trunk and walked around to Bone’s head. I didn’t want him there when Micah showed up. I grabbed his arms and used all my strength to drag him out of the clearing and into the trees. I kicked dirt over the pool of blood until it wasn’t as noticeable and then quickly discarded my ripped shirt. I used it to wipe my hands and my face as best as I could, then I tossed it into the woods with Bone. I changed into an oversized T-shirt and another pair of jeans. The first jeans went with the shirt. I didn’t have another pair of shoes, so I found a patch of grass and scrubbed my feet into it until the shoes looked cleaner.
I slipped the gun from the bag and made sure the safety was on before slipping it into the back of my jeans. Then I put the knife back and readjusted the carpet, so it was covered again.
Closing the trunk as quietly as possible, I took the keys out and slipped back into the front seat. I shut and locked the doors and then sat there, cataloging what hurt on my body while I waited for Jackson and Thad to get back. I didn’t know how long it’d been, but fighting with Bone had felt like an hour earlier, already.
I kept my eyes on the woods around me, counting off the minutes. Finally, I saw a single flash of light ahead of me and knew that the men were back. Still, I waited in the safety of my car until I saw them emerge, carrying a small body.
I jumped out and ran over to them. They looked fine, completely fine, and like they’d just been on a light stroll while I’d been back at the car, having my entire world rocked.
“What happened?” I looked at Micah’s unconscious body in their arms and froze. “Is he okay?”
Thad grinned. “He’s fine. We scared him. He sleeps with a knife, apparently. Got a good lash into Jackson before I subdued him.”
“Subdued?”
“Completely painless. He’s fine. He’ll wake up in a few hours, feeling rested.”
I tried to take him, but Thad shook his head. “I’ll put him in the backseat of the car for you. He’s heavier than he looks.”
Jackson shrugged out of his T-shirt and looked at his arm. “Avoided the house full of gun-toting bikers, but got cut by a child. Figures it’d be your kid.”
I moved closer to his arm and helped him wrap his shirt around it to stop the bleeding. “Thank you, Jackson.”
He looked down at me, his black eyes appearing ghostly in the dark. His hand came up and he touched my forehead. “Blood.”
I swallowed and moved away. “Someone found me.”
“What happened?”
I met his eyes, losing a bit of myself in the pits. They were eyes that could devour secrets like black holes. “He attacked me. I killed him. His body is just behind the car, in the trees.”
After a beat, he nodded. “Want to leave a message for Raptor?”
I looked back at where Thad was loading Micah into the car and shook my head. “Fuck Raptor. It’s finished. I’ve got Micah and a place to go, money to live off of while I find work.”
Jackson nodded again. “Might want to shower before the kid wakes up. You’re still covered in blood. All his?”
For some reason, I found myself leaning into him. “I slit his throat. He was going to kill me. Or worse. But I still managed to be the worse one of the two of us. It’s all his blood. I just have a few bruises.”
His big hand moved to my neck and he lightly squeezed. “Not the worse.”
I was reeling from the fact that he was being nice to me when he spun away and walked to his truck. “Thank you.”
He held up a hand and called back. “I don’t want to see you again, Cammie.”
I bit my lip and nodded at his back. Still didn’t like me. Got it.