Chapter 12
Zoey
I felt Rider stiffen against me as the sounds of motorcycles revved off in the distance. The crowd crew on both sides as men in red leather cuts rode up on multiple motorcycles. They looked mean. Like they had come for blood that ran the color of their coats. Fallen Reapers were pouring from the bar, surrounding me as Rider pushed me behind him.
I looked around for my brother and found him standing at my side. I looked up at him, seeing the fear running through his eyes he tried to keep stoic. This was bad. I knew it was bad. If my brother feared anything, it was the loss of someone he loved. Someone he cared for he felt the need to protect. And if he was fearful of the men riding up onto his property, then it confirmed my worst fears.
This group was, in fact, out for blood.
Milo’s parking lot was full of people. Black cuts on our side, red cuts on theirs. It was like an old war standoff. Like two countries fighting over a piece of land, they both wanted to claim as theirs. One of the men turned around and exposed the logo on his back. A horse of the apocalypse parting the skies as the man on its back threw red lightning bolts down to the ground.
The Red Horsemen.
I’d heard of them.
There were murmurs about them in the community. How they were new and trying to establish themselves. They’d been around for a couple of years, and in that time they had robbed, pillaged, and even set fire to a few businesses. They thought they way to get what they wanted was through intimidation and fear. They thought they could keep people underneath their thumb by charging them exorbitant rates for their ‘protection.’
Which really only meant The Red Horsemen wouldn’t set fire to their fucking businesses.
They were the modern-day mob. A group of assholes that didn’t bring any benefit to the community. At least The Fallen Reapers were guns for hire. Protecting those that needed it if they were willing to pay the fees. And the protection my brother and his club gave them was top notch. Around the clock surveillance. Private escorts to anywhere in the country. A higher premium if someone wanted to be escorted outside of the country. Their club had people who were trained with sniper rifles and staying up for days on end. People who were good at tracking and people who were good at fighting. If you wanted them to snoop out who was doing what, they could do that. If you wanted one of them to protect someone you loved, then they were up for the job.
That was the benefit they brought to the community.
All The Red Horsemen did was shoot shit up, rob small businesses, and charge them insane amounts of cash just to keep those assholes from burning shit to the ground.
Suddenly, I felt Rider push back into me. The entire group was moving in slow motion. A snail’s pace as The Red Horsemen dismounted their bikes. They were slowly moving back towards the front door as Rider reached back, shoving me further away from him. I grabbed onto his hands, not wanting to be parted from him as my eyes connected with the men over his shoulder.
But then I felt someone’s arms wrap around me as they slowly bled me through the crowd.
The members of the group kept slowly pushing me backward. Reaching for me and maneuvering me back into the bar. Rider kept getting farther and farther away as I reached for him. Clawing for him and trying my best to get back to him. I didn’t care what anyone thought. I didn’t care what my brother saw. All I wanted was to hold his hand and bring him with me.
All I wanted was for him to be safe.
Just as Bruiser grabbed onto me and pulled me towards the front door, gunshots rang out. Bruiser pulled his gun as bullets whizzed by my body, taking out the glass doors of the bar. I saw Doc fall to the ground and then move quickly behind a set of bikes. Rider appeared in an instant, grabbing onto my arm and tossing me behind a bike. I went down with a crash as his body landed on top of mine, his muscles pinning me to the ground as I curled up into a little ball.
Then, I felt his lips on the shell of my ear.
“No matter what happens, don’t you fucking move.”
I felt Rider pull away from me and I reached for him. I didn’t want him to go. I wanted him to be safe with me and not out there with all of those bullets. I watched him dip behind bikes as gunshots ricocheted, darting every which way as he drew the gunfire.
That was what he was doing.
He was drawing the gunfire away from me.
I looked around for my brother and saw him dipped down behind another bike. He pulled a gun from behind his body as his eyes found Rider. He was watching his friend, noticing all of the bullets following him as he perched his gun on the seat of the bike.
I watched my brother pop off a few rounds before his eyes connected with mine.
They were terrified. Dripping with adrenaline-laced panic. I’d never seen my brother like this. I’d never seen him so comfortable and yet so blatantly out of place. I peeked up over the bike as another bullet came flying for me, and I dipped down just in time for it to lodge into the brick behind my head.
But when I spotted Rider again, I understood why Colt was panicking.
Rider didn’t have a gun to defend himself.
Gunshots came in every which direction as Rider continued to dart and dash between bikes. Every once in a while he would jump up, waving his hands to get someone to shoot at him. I saw him take down a few people, ringing them around the neck and disarming their guns from their bodies. But never once did he pick up the gun and ammunition himself.
Instead, he kept kicking all of it towards other Reapers.
The sounds of motorcycles struck back up, and a few of the Horsemen rode away. I could tell some of them had been shot, their groans audible and their screams of pain piercing. They were leaving blood trails as they sped off into the distance, dirtying the concrete as Rider continued to sneak up on unsuspecting Horsemen. This was what he did. This was his specialty. He was trained in close-up fighting stances. Taking people down without the need for a weapon. I watched him disarm eleven different people, giving Reapers more guns and ammunition to work with as he filtered his way through the crowd.
I was watching one of the reasons why he had become a prospect.
He made it almost look like a dance. A fluid dance of a military-bred man whose skill set was defined by his need to protect. He choked the air from their necks before kicking their guns away from their hands. He wrestled a couple to the ground and dislocated shoulders, disarming them with pain rather than with lack of oxygen. And every time someone would shoot at him, he would duck behind one of their bikes. Ruining their rides instead of ours.
It was beyond impressive, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
The mangled doors of Milo’s crashed open, and the cooks came out with guns. Automatic gunfire sounded, chasing the rest of the Horsemen away. They were covered in grease and sweat as they unloaded into their bikes, chasing them off and running some into a ditch up the road as their tires blew out. I could hear their muted screams of pain and agony as I kept myself crouched behind one of the bikes, hoping this nightmare was over so I could get back to Rider.
Get back to feeling his lips against my body.
The gunshots stopped, and the motorcycles were driving away. I looked over at the cooks standing in the doorway, and they nodded towards me, letting me know it was okay to come out. But when I looked over at my brother to rejoice for him, he was nowhere to be found.
Then, I heard his voice.
“Rider!”
I shot up from the bike and darted my eyes around. I saw Colt barreling down the sideway before he dropped to his knees. My legs took off as fast as they could go, dodging men who were reaching out to me. I could hear Jax and Grave yelling behind me. Telling me to stop as I sprinted down the sidewalk.
There was so much blood. So many small rivers of blood that had soaked into the concrete.
I saw Colt hovering over Rider as he grimaced on the ground. Blood was seeping from his shoulder as he held onto it, his face contorted in pain. I ran around to his head and fell to my knees, gathering his body and placing it on mine. I didn’t care that I was getting his blood on my jeans and I didn’t care that Colt was yelling at me to get back. I swatted at the men grabbing for me as tears rose to my eyes.
Rider had been shot.
Rider wasn’t opening his eyes.
“Just look at me,” I said in a whisper. “Just open your eyes, Rider.”
I brushed my fingertips along Rider’s forehead as I smoothed the dirt and sweat away from his skin. I could feel my body trembling as his blood soaked into my jeans. I started massaging his temples, looking for something to calm his shaking body as Colt peeled off his leather jacket. My brother pressed it into Rider’s shoulder, eliciting a moan of pain from between his lips as tears began to trickle down my face.
I watched one drip onto Rider’s forehead, prompting his eyes to flutter open.
“Zoey,” he said.
“‘Bout damn time you opened your eyes,” I said.
Colt pressed his jacket farther into Rider’s shoulder as he wailed in pain.
“Bullet’s through and through,” Colt said as he began wrapping Rider’s shoulder. “He’s gonna need the doctor.”
“I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay?” I asked.
“Bit hard to do that,” Rider said.
“You’ve done hard. You keep those fucking eyes open for me, okay? You don’t have a choice.”
“Guess things could be… worse…”
Colt kept applying more and more pressure as the guys began to gather around.
“Will someone call a fucking doctor!?” I asked.
“Jax?” Colt asked.
“Already on it,” Jax said.
I smoothed through Rider’s hair as my other hand massaged his chest. He was trembling so badly, and I was scared he would lock up. I massaged any stiff muscle I could get my hands on as Colt watched me carefully. I could feel the tension growing. I could feel the worry mounting. There was so much blood, and Rider was growing weak, and I was helpless to help the one man that had helped me.
That had helped me tap into a part of myself I refused to acknowledge for years.
“You gotta stop bleeding, Rider,” I said. “You only got so much.”
“Not sure I got control over that,” Rider said. “Sorry.”
His teeth started chattering as my eyes rose to Colt’s. I could see the questions and confusion running through his eyes, but I didn’t have time to answer his questions. There was so much that had to happen in order to save Rider, and I wasn’t sure if whoever Jax was calling would get here in time.
“I can take it from here,” Doc said.
“I’m not leaving him,” I said.
“Zoey, look at me.”
I rose my eyes as my brother’s voice beckoned to me.
“Why the fuck do you think we call him ‘Doc’?” Colt asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Doc’s wife is a doctor.”