by Bella Jewel
“I bet you’d have a sweet little pussy, too.”
I cringe and my skin prickles.
I might not be able to escape death, but I will fight as hard as my weak body will allow when it comes to him trying to take something that is absolutely not his to take. If he even tries to remove my clothes or put his filthy hands on my body, I will do everything I can to stop him. I don’t care how much it hurts. Hell, I don’t even care if it kills me, because god knows they’re going to try and kill me anyway. I won’t go down letting their greasy hands touch me.
Never.
Not fucking ever.
“I bet,” I croak, my voice hoarse from lack of water, “that if you even try and put your filthy hands on me, I will make it burn, one way or another, I’ll make it burn.”
He snorts and crosses his arms. “How do you suppose you’ll do that when I’m holding you down?”
“I don’t know, but I assure you, I will.”
“You’re getting a bullet in” —he glances at his watch— “eleven hours and forty two minutes. Does it really matter what happens before that?”
I glare at him, and my eyes don’t waver when I say, “Kill me, suck the life out of me, but I won’t go down without a fight, I promise you that. If you put your hands on me, I will do everything I can to stop you.”
He grins, evil and sick. “I like a good challenge. I like it even better when they fight, it turns me on. So, fight away, little lady. We’re going to have some fun with you.”
I will fight. God dammit. I’m so scared I can’t feel my own body, my heart is racing, and the fear is clutching my heart like a damned pair of angry hands, but I will fight.
If I’m going to die, I’m going to do it knowing I gave it my all.
Because that’s what I do. I give everything my all.
I’m Saskia.
And I do not back down.
Ever.
~*~*~*~
MASON
“We’ve got twelve hours, because when they find out Enzo has done them wrong again, they’ll kill Saskia without hesitation,” I say, crossing my arms. “We told Enzo we’d have the cash, which means they’ll inform whoever has Saskia, the money is coming. If they spare her, that’s our timeframe, we need to move quickly.”
“We’ve got names, we’ve got all our men out on the street lookin’ for a location,” Malakai tells me, “We’re goin’ to find her.”
“And when we do, we’re takin’ this bitch with us,” I growl, glaring at Yolanda who is cuffed and sitting on the sofa at the club. “They might like the idea of a trade.”
Her face whitens, just a touch. “You wouldn’t give an innocent girl to someone, to die…”
I grin at her, and I know it’s cold and heartless. But, when it comes to Saskia, I’d happily hand this bitch over. Without even blinking.
After what she did, she deserves nothing.
“You underestimated this club, that’s going to come back and bite you, Yolanda. Because, we will, happily, hand you over. If you think that the fact you’re a girl makes any difference, you’d be wrong. It means nothing to me, or anyone else in this room. You choose to cross us, then you choose to take the risk that you might have to suffer the consequences. When it comes to Saskia, do not doubt your life means nothing.”
Her mouth drops open slightly, and she looks to Malakai, then to Maverick and Koda, then finally to Boston and three of the other club members standing in the room. Nobody flinches. Nobody defends her. They all just stare at her, in full agreeance with me. She’s nothing to us. We’ve done far worse for the people we love. Saskia, she’s one of us now, and this girl didn’t think twice when throwing her in front of a bus.
“But…but…” Yolanda stammers.
“Hope you learn somethin’ from this, if you live to tell the tale. That’s your sister. Your fuckin’ twin sister. What you did to her, is the lowest of the low. It makes you scum. It makes you one of the ugliest people I’ve ever come across, and I’ve come across a few in my time.”
Shame washes over her face, the first I’ve seen from her. I hope she finally feels remorse for her actions. I hope, if she lives through this, she learns something about being a good person, because the things she’s done to Saskia, are disgusting. It’s not the actions of a kind human, and especially not of family.
She deserves nothing.
No pity.
No sympathy.
Nothing.
“You don’t…you don’t know the full story. You don’t know me. You don’t know our relationship.”
“I know,” I say, stepping closer and holding her eyes, “that Saskia would never do that to you, no matter what your relationship is. And that’s all I need to know. She wouldn’t fuckin’ do it to you. Makes you a piece of shit, that you’d do it to her. End of story.”
Her cheeks flare red and for a split second, it gives her a look of innocence, and she looks exactly like Saskia. And that hurts, it slams me like a fist to the chest, because I should have been better to Saskia, I should have seen what I had right in front of me, because now she’s in danger, and I could lose her. That thought terrifies me.
To my fuckin’ core.
I want her.
And if I get her out of this alive, I’ll fuckin’ well have her.
Forever.
Mine.
One of the club members, Ramon, comes walking through the front doors. He’s an older member, who mostly just joins in for times like this, when he gets some action. Otherwise he spends most of his time at the club house, drinking beer. He has full respect for Malakai, and always does good by us. He’s been out, helping with the search.
“Think I got a lead,” he says, walking over to me and handing me a slip of paper. “Big shipment got delivered here, not too long ago. Managed to get the address after some gentle persuasion,” he grins.
I grin back.
By gentle, he means he fucked someone up until they gave him what he wanted.
“Think it could be where she is, big house, out of town, not many people know where it is. Gotta be at least a place to start.”
I stare down at the address. “Let’s ride, if she’s there, we don’t want to waste a second more of our time. Fuck knows what they’re doin’ to her.”
Malakai nods, and waves a hand, giving everyone the go ahead to move. We all do, Koda grabbing Yolanda and hauling her up to her feet.
“No! You’re not taking me to that house, it’s awful there, no.”
Her voice is high pitched, and hurts my fuckin’ ears.
But it’s her words that hit me the hardest.
I stop and turn, staring her right in the eyes, then I lunge forward and grab her around the throat. “You know where she is?”
She gasps, and then shakes her head. “What? No. No.”
“You just said it’s awful, which means you know. All the more fuckin’ reason’ to throw you in the dragons pit, you bitch. You’re comin’ with us, your time is up.”
“No,” she struggles when I let her go, but she’s no match for Koda. “No please. I’ll tell you anything you need to know, just don’t hand me over to them. No.”
Nobody listens to her.
She knew. All along. Just like we suspected she did.
And she still chose to let Saskia suffer.
So now, it’s her turn.
It’s her time to burn.
~26~
SASKIA
I try to fight them off.
I try so hard my body aches. It burns. It screams.
I squirm, I bite, I thrash, I do anything I can to stop the filthy hands groping at my body. I’ve connected my teeth with flesh more times than I can count, but it hasn’t stopped anyone. I’m helpless, I’m bound, and they’re going to take what they want before they kill me in the morning.
There is nothing I can do.
The agony in my body is out of this world, but my determination is so much stronger. I’ll keep fighting, no matter how much the pain threaten
s to take me down.
Sweat coats my body, and runs down my face, from the sheer willpower it is taking not to pass out. I am slowly weakening, my body begging me to just stop, to let it rest, to let it sleep, to let it go and give it a break.
But I know if I do that, I’ll never wake up again.
And my strength, everything I’ve ever fought for, will die with me.
I won’t let that happen.
A hand grabs my breast, squeezing angrily, so hard it burns. I spin my head to the side and latch onto the hand that is groping at me, trying to touch what is not okay to touch. My teeth sink into flesh, and I bite so hard the roar that fills the room gives me a small moment of satisfaction. Just a small moment. Blood pours from the wound on the man’s arm, and it feels good. It feels good to know I caused that.
Another hand grabs hold of my shoulder, trying to force me down onto my back. I swing my head the other way, trying to bite, but the arm is too low. A man leans over me, and I slam my forehead into his, hitting him so hard I nearly knock myself out. It deters him, but only for a moment. Blood runs down my forehead, I know I just split my skin, but I don’t care.
“Get off me,” I hiss. “Get off.”
“You’re a fighter,” Blondie says, standing, watching it all happening. “I’m impressed by that. You’re stronger than any other girl they’ve played with.”
The fact that they’ve done this to other girls, makes me so angry I launch both my bound legs up and hit someone, I don’t know where, but a pained grunt fills the room. I thrash and squirm, until a fist connects with my eye, sending my head spinning to the side. I scream out in pain, and more blood coats my vision. I’m weakening, and I’m so damned afraid of what’s going to happen next.
If I stop fighting, that’s it. It’s over.
A hand reaches for my pants, and jerks them down, until my panties are exposed.
No.
They’re too close.
My heart is racing.
I can’t breathe.
Someone help me.
I thrash and squirm, kick and bite, but the hands keep tugging at my clothes, pulling and jerking, tearing and ripping.
Then there are voices, out of nowhere. My blood-filled eyes open when all the hands suddenly leave my body, and I’m being launched upwards. Blondie has me, there is a gun to my temple, and I’m trying to blink past the blood to see what’s happening. There is yelling, gun shots, and then, a voice I know.
A voice I’ve dreamed of.
A voice I’ve wanted to hear for the last twenty-four hours, so desperately.
I focus, and I see him.
Mason.
Standing in the doorway with Malakai, Koda, and Yolanda.
But he’s all I can see.
Just him.
“Let her go, right fuckin’ now, or I put a bullet in your skull.”
Mason’s voice is terrifying, and brutal, and so very real.
Blondie laughs. “You even attempt to pull that trigger, and I blow her brains out.”
“Got your money, and got the girl you want. You give me her, you can have the real one.”
My eyes move to Yolanda, and she looks terrified.
Utterly terrified.
My heart races. He wouldn’t honestly give her over, would he?
I mean, she deserves hell for what she’s done, but nobody, not even her, deserves this kind of hell.
“So she wasn’t lying,” Blondie murmurs. “There are two of them.”
“Yeah,” Mason snarls. “This is the one you want. This is Yolanda. She’s got the cash, we made sure of it. Take her, do whatever the fuck you want to her, just give me Saskia.”
Blondie grabs my hair, jerking my head back, and I scream from the pain. Mason roars something, but I can’t do anything but stare at the man looking down at me. “So you didn’t lie to me. No wonder you put up a good fight. I wonder what I should do with you? You’ve been fun…”
He lets my hair go, and looks to Yolanda. “But she’ll deliver the same message. You want the broken one, you can have her. I’m not lettin’ this one go, however, until you pass me that one and the cash.”
No.
They can’t do that.
Koda releases Yolanda and she shakes her head, stepping back. Two men grab her by the arms, and drag her to the side, shuffling through her coat pockets until they come out with a massive bundle of cash. The man counts it, and then nods.
“Do we have a deal?” Mason asks. “You take her, and the cash, and give me my girl back.”
“We have a deal, but you can drop your guns first,” Blondie says.
No.
They’re not going to do this.
No way in hell.
Yolanda is a lot of things, but she’s my sister, and damned if I will sit back and be as cold and as heartless as her.
I’ll never allow it.
Never.
Not for a single second.
So I move without warning. Blondie is paying attention to Mason, and not to me. I slam my head backwards, smashing into his nose. He roars and the gun falls from his hands. I turn around, not sure how my body is still functioning, and I smash my bound fists into his nose again, sending him toppling to the ground.
He’s roaring in pain.
Hell breaks loose.
Blood spurts from his nose. Gunshots are fired. Someone is grabbing me.
There’s blood everywhere.
And yelling.
And I’m being dragged out.
I have no more fight left in me.
The moment I’m out of the house, with whoever is holding me, my legs give way.
I’m swung up into a set of arms, and a voice fills my ears, husky and warm, “Stupid, stubborn, strong girl.”
Mason.
He’s got me.
“I’m not the same monster she is, Mason. And I never will be. I’m sorry,” I croak, before my eyes start fluttering closed.
“No,” Mason murmurs, and I’m not sure if it’s a dream, or if it’s really happening. “You most certainly are not. Brave, beautiful girl.”
Then everything in my world goes black.
And my body finally stops fighting.
~*~*~*~
SASKIA
I wake to the beeping sounds of a machine.
For a moment, distress fills my body and I think that I’m still with them.
The monsters.
But after a few terrifying seconds, I realize I’m in a bed, and I’m warm, and there are machines around me.
I’m in a hospital.
Mason came for me.
He came for me after everything.
And he saved me.
He saved me.
Panic quickly returns when I remember the gunshots, and the blood, and I immediately fear for the lives of the other bikers there.
Did any of them get hurt?
Or worse?
My heart starts racing, and I can hear the machine start to beep more rapidly. My eyes start to clear, and my vision becomes less blurry, and I see a woman walking into the room, her eyes on me. She’s wearing a light blue uniform, and stops at the side of my bed, staring down at me. “Hi there,” she says, reaching over and clipping something onto my finger, “how are you feeling?”
I blink a few times, then in a croaky voice I say, “I’m mostly numb. What…what happened to me?”
Well. I know what happened to me. But I mean, how bad is it.
She doesn’t know that, and starts rambling, “We’re not sure. You were brought in by some local,” she looks left, then right, “bikers…they said you had been attacked by an ex-boyfriend. They didn’t know where he was, refused to talk to police. Scary men, they were. We suspect they had something to do with it…”
“They didn’t,” I croak, as quickly as I can. “They had nothing to do with anything. They’d not hurt me. Are…are they here?”
“Well, yes, they haven’t left. We took you right into surgery, you had some substantial injuries,
broken bones, internal bleeding, and a lot of cuts and bruises.”
Yeah.
I remember the pain my body endured at the hands of those assholes.
“Can I see them, please?”
“The bikers?” She asks, scrunching her nose up a little. “Well, yes, but I need to have you looked at before I can allow visitors in here.”
I don’t know why she’s so shocked that I’d want to see them.
No wonder they spend so much time at the club house, people are judgy assholes.
The doctor comes in, and checks me over, telling me that the pain medication from surgery will wear off soon, and I’ll be sore, but that they think I’ll make a full recovery. When he’s done, they finally go and let whoever is out there waiting, in.
Mason is the first one to walk through the door, and the moment I see him, my heart pounds. It just pounds.
Everything about him sparks me to life.
And I ache.
Everywhere.
Behind him is Malakai and Amalie, followed by Maverick and Scarlett.
I don’t move my eyes off Mason, though, until he reaches the bed and leans in, getting close and murmuring, “Tell me you’re fuckin’ okay. Two words. I’m okay.”
My heart swells, and I whisper, “I’m okay.”
He presses his forehead to mine, and I exhale, closing my eyes, feeling him, breathing him in. He came for me. He risked it all to come for me. He didn’t have to. Hell, two days ago, I wouldn’t have wanted him to. But sitting in that room, wondering if I was going to live or die, made me realize the petty things don’t matter. He was wrong, for doing what he did, but I also understand how it could have happened.
And, I’ll make sure he makes it up to me.
Without a doubt.
He stands up straight, eyes still on mine. I hold them, and ask, voice hoarse, “Yolanda?”
Malakai is the one to speak, and when he does, it’s gently. “She got shot.”
I flinch, and my blood runs cold.
I might not like, or even love, my sister, but the fact of that matter is, she’s still my sister. She’s still my blood. And unlike her, I’d never wish anything to happen to her.
“Is she…” I whisper, rubbing my arms, “dead?”
Malakai shakes his head. “No, but she’s in a bad way.”
