by Erin Trejo
“I know, Quinn. It’s just hard. I didn’t think it would be this hard,” she cries softly.
“Wipe your eyes, babe. Don’t let this hurt you. You are strong. You can do this. They are your parents, Ariel. You can finally have that connection that those assholes ripped away from you.”
She sniffles once more. “You’re right. Thank you. I just needed to hear your voice.”
“You know where to find me,” I tell her softly before hanging up. I can’t listen to her tell me she loves me again. I can’t handle knowing that she’s never coming back. I promised myself that I would give it a week and then I’d shut this phone off. That I would cut off all contact with her, but fuck, that’s going to be harder than I thought. Her voice is like an angel singing to me. My demons hide when they hear something so pure. That’s something that is going to take time getting over. In the meantime, I can throw myself back into the club like I always have and get past this shit. I’m the goddamn president of Dark Savage MC. Why the hell am I letting her affect me this way?
Chapter 22
Ariel
“Was it weird once we were gone?” I ask our mother as we all sit around talking and getting to know each other. It’s been a week since we’ve been with them and I find myself falling into a routine.
“It was horrible. We cried every day. Your dad went back to work, but I just couldn’t. I knew you were both out there somewhere. The less leads the police had to go on, the more I felt lost. You were my world,” she says wiping the tears from her cheeks. Ava sits next to her. They have bonded quickly. She seems to have taken right to them to where I still feel much more guarded.
“I assume the police told you where we were, and I’m sure you have questions of your own. I just want you to know that I will answer them,” I say. Doing so will rip me apart deep inside but this is all a part of moving on with life, and I need to work past it with them. It’s a step toward healing and releasing all of the evil those people injected into my life.
“Were you with them the whole time?”
“Yes. We never fit in there. Ava and I were the only ones with blonde hair and green eyes. Everyone else, our brothers and sisters all had dark hair and eyes.” I swallow past the lump in my throat and continue. “We were told that we were special and pure, but as we got older the others would say things about how we were taken and didn’t really belong. Of course, we didn’t have any idea because that was all we were taught to believe. For a long time I thought I was special, but the more they came for me, for us, the more I knew something wasn’t right.”
Our mother is crying her eyes out as our father tries to console her. They already told us that the police filled them in on what happened to us, which is why I didn’t feel the need to tell them again. I watch them interact, wondering if that’s what normal is. I’d never seen our other parents act this way with each other. They never seemed to speak unless my father asked something of my mother. Mother pulls Ava in for a hug, but I lean back in my chair, just observing.
“What about the men you were with? Who are they? David mentioned that they found you two.” Mother asks after wiping her eyes once more. I would cry but I don’t think I have the tears. Tears hold our secrets closer to us and I think that’s where a majority of mine need to remain. I can see the look in her eyes; she can’t handle more.
“Well, Quinn stole us.”
“He what? I’m calling the police!” My father stands and heads toward the phone, but I leap from the chair and follow him, trying to halt his actions.
“You can’t do that! You didn’t let me finish!” Ava rushes up next to me, her eyes wide.
“No, Father! Please don’t do that,” Ava begs. My mother comes to stand next to us, resting her hand on his shoulder. He looks down but he doesn’t touch the phone. I breathe a sigh of relief as Mother leads us back to the living room. We all take our seats but I’m leery to tell them more. Ava and I share a glance, neither of us wanting the guys to get in trouble because of us.
“Does that man mean something to you, Ariel? I already know your sister has feeling for the one, but I was a little shocked to see the way you were with him after all that’s happened to you.” Mother’s questions are always right to the point. I’ve learned that quickly.
“I love Quinn,” I state firmly. My father hisses as I tilt my head to study him. Mother slaps his leg but he shakes his head.
“He just used you, Ariel. Don’t you see that? He took advantage of you. You don’t love him!”
I gasp at his words. He doesn’t know that. Quinn wouldn’t do that to me. I stand from my seat and glare at him.
“You know nothing about me and Quinn. How dare you say those things to me?” Turning on my heel, I run from the room and up the stairs to where our bedroom is. I close the door and drop onto the bed when I hear someone come in. The bed shifts and Ava pulls me into her arms tightly.
“They don’t understand us is all. They don’t know what we feel, Ariel.” As she tries to reassure me, I cry harder. I don’t cry from my past, I cry because no one knows what I feel for Quinn. I love him, I truly do. I sit up and wipe my eyes.
“Why don’t they want to understand us, Ava?”
“I don’t know. I heard them talking earlier. They are calling in the media. They are going to put us on television, Ariel. I don’t think I want to do that.” I shake my head knowing I don’t want that.
“No. I will not let them ruin our lives further. I don’t want to be a part of that. We were missing and now we are home. That’s all anyone needs to know.”
“You heard that part?” Ava and I both turn to look as Mother comes in the room.
“We don’t want our past on the television.”
“We already made the decision. Just think of it as helping though.”
“Helping who?” I ask.
“The others on the compound. Maybe this will bring light to what happened to you and they can do something about it,” she says sounding hopeful. I don’t share the sentiment.
“No. We are adults. We don’t have to do anything we don’t want, not anymore. Quinn told me enough,” I tell her feeling that anger racing through my veins.
“Quinn doesn’t have a role here, Ariel. He has moved on. We just nee-”
“We need nothing! You will not plaster our tragedy all over the world. It was us who was abused. It was us who had unthinkable things done to us. These scars are a constant reminder of what we endured there!” Screaming at the top of my lungs, I hold out my arms so she can see the scars on my wrists. Her eyes water but I’ve had enough of this talk.
“I would like to be alone with Ava if that’s alright,” I say softly trying to reign in what I’m feeling. My emotions are all over the place these days and I don’t know how to control them. Mother nods and walks out of the room closing the door behind her.
“Do you think they will make us?” Ava asks crossing her legs where she sits.
“They can’t make us do anything. Didn’t Stoney tell you that much?” I look over at her. She nods her head, a smile on her face.
“He said no one can force us to do anything anymore. If we don’t want it, we don’t do it.”
“Good. Quinn said the same. We don’t want to do it and we won’t, Ava. I promise.”
Chapter 23
Q
I’m so fucking drunk that I don’t know which way is up. We’ve already cased the warehouse. We have a plan worked out. Today was a bullshit day for all of us. We drank and partied more than anything else. It was a nice break from things, but my mind keeps drifting back to her. I try to drown the demons but those bastards just keep swimming back to the surface. I got rid of my phone just like I planned, although it tore at my insides to do it. I miss her like fucking crazy, but I’m sure she’s better off where she is. I stumble my drunken ass down the road not giving a shit about much of anything. I just needed out of the clubhouse for a while. I was going to take the bike and just ride, but I didn’t need a DUI charge on my
ass. So, yeah, I fucking walk around drunk in public. What the hell could David say? It isn’t like he would arrest me for it.
“You look a little unsteady on your feet,” a man’s voice booms ahead of me. I raise my head and see the man. He’s tall, taller than me. He has dark hair and even darker eyes. The motherfucker reeks of evil. I should know.
“What do you care?” I huff and walk past him only to be grabbed from behind. I start to struggle when I feel the pinch of a blade being pressed into my neck.
“Don’t make a sound. We want information,” another man hisses in my ear. Information? Fuck, it has to be those bible thumping assholes. I start to struggle, feeling the blade as it rips through skin. The warm trickle of blood slides down my neck.
“What the fuck do you want?” I slur as I’m yanked into the tree line.
“You had something that belonged to us and we want it back.” I know exactly what they want and fuck them. They won’t get shit out of me.
“Fuck you, man. You people are sick!” I grumble. I know who they are. As soon as I saw his eyes, I knew. I just don’t know how they found me.
“We are God’s chosen. You are the sick one. Now the reason for our visit with you is to assure you no harm will come to the girls or yourself if you bring them back safely.”
Has he lost his goddamn mind? The man must be insane if he thinks I’d hand them over to a sick fuck like him. When I laugh, I receive a kick to the ribs. More than one fist slams into me repeatedly and I take it all. I’ll keep taking. For her.
“You stole those girls!” The man raises his voice.
“So did you,” I chuckle, holding my ribs and spitting blood onto the ground at his feet.
“You ruined everything we worked for. You must return them now,” another man says. I don’t stop laughing, not even when I’m beat to hell.
“That is your only warning. If you don’t return the girls, we will hunt them down and kill their family. That will be on you.”
Another fist to the eye and I fall back in the grass. I close my eyes as the men walk away. Son of a bitch. I pushed her away to keep her safe and now she’s not. Or is she? They don’t know where she is. They said it themselves. They will hunt them down. I just need to stay away from her. That was the plan anyway. I pull myself up and wince at the pain shooting through my body. It hurts like hell but I force my drunken ass to walk back to the clubhouse. The party is in full swing as I stumble in the door, pulling all kinds of attention.
“What the hell happened?” Mini is the first to yell when she sees me. She rushes over, throwing her arm around my waist trying to keep me upright.
“Help me to the chair and get some ice, yeah?” She nods and leads me toward the chair when Stoney spots me.
“What the fuck?”
“They found out we had them,” I tell him. He stands there in shock at what I just said.
“Take the fuckin’ party out back!” he roars. I watch the room slowly empty and the music in here die out. Mini comes back with the ice and places it on my eye, holding another bag in her hand.
“My ribs, sweetheart,” I tell her while keeping my good eye on Stoney. Mini sits next to me, and I hiss when the ice pack touches my ribs.
“Sorry,” she mumbles.
“What do you mean they know? How the fuck do they know?”
“Don’t know. Said they wanted them back and I better deliver them or they will hunt them down, kill their family.” Stoney’s face reddens. I can see the pissed off evil glint in his eyes.
“We’re good, Stoney. They don’t know where they are. They won’t find them. We stopped all communication with the girls,” I remind him. Right when I said that I saw the look in his eyes.
“You didn’t stop talkin’ to her?” I growl so loud Mini jolts. Dropping the ice, I shove out of the chair and stand in his face. Man to man, this motherfucker is going to tell me the goddamn truth.
“Tell me you stopped talkin’ to her, Stoney? Tell me you did the right thing and let her go?” Stoney runs his hand through his hair and blows out a breath. I grab the front of his cut, jerking him closer to me. “What the fuck did I tell you?”
“Look, Q. I get it brother. You’re pissed. You let your girl go, man. I couldn’t do it. I don’t want to.”
Why the hell didn’t he follow directions?
“I told you to let it go, Stoney. I told you to cut the fuckin’ communication!” Shoving him back a step, I watch him for a reaction.
“Fuck you, Q! You wanna act like she meant nothin’ to you? That’s fine but I sure as fuck won’t do it. You can order me around as my fuckin’ Prez, but I thought better of you as my brother!” Another stake slams into my heart.
“Fuck, Stoney. They’re not one of us!”
“I know that, Q. That’s why I’m steppin’ down when she comes back.”
What the hell did he just say?
“You’re gonna give it all up for her? That what you’re tellin’ me?”
“If I can’t have them both, then yeah.”
“You’d throw away your brotherhood for her?” But I know the answer even before I get the question out. I’m impressed, but not exactly surprised.
“Yeah, brother. And I know you would too if she asked you to,” he adds.
He’s right. Deep in this fucked up heart of mine, I know he’s right. If Ariel asked me to pull the sun from the sky and hand it to her, I would do it. Running my hand over my face, I sigh.
“What the fuck are we doin’ man?”
“Fuck if I know, Prez. She’s comin’ back one day. Maybe not soon but one day.”
I know she is. I can feel it in my bones but I can’t let her be here. Not with those sick bastards out there looking for her.
“You gotta wait to bring your girl back until we can handle the fuckers who want them, yeah?”
Stoney nods his head, that evil smirk crossing his face.
“Now you’re talkin’.”
Chapter 24
Ariel
“What do you mean he’s hurt?” I squeal as Ava speaks to Stoney. My heart is thumping so hard in my chest it feels like it may burst free.
“He’s fine, sweetheart. Just a little banged up,” Stoney says when Ava puts him on speaker phone.
“That doesn’t make me feel better. What happened to him?”
“Not somethin’ I’m talkin’ about with you girls. Club shit and the club will handle it. You doin’ okay?” I don’t like how Stoney always changes the subject of what we’re talking about.
“I’m fine. I miss him, Stoney. I want to come back,” I admit. Ava wraps her free hand around my shoulder, pulling me into her side.
“She’s not the only one, Stoney. As much as I love having my family, it just doesn’t feel right. We don’t know these people.” I saw Ava smiling and sitting closely to our mother, but watching her as she speaks to Stoney, I know it was all fake. She is pretending to like them, acting as though she’s okay with this when we both feel it: We aren’t meant to be in this world of theirs anymore. That part of us is gone.
“I get that and I want you both here too, but there is a lot of shit that’s happenin’ right now and I have to agree with Q. It’s just not safe.” Stoney’s words slam into my chest like a lead weight. Quinn doesn’t want me there because it isn’t safe? It wasn’t safe before and he kept us. Maybe he’s moved on. Maybe he’s found someone else. The thought alone sends pain racing through my heart.
“When will it ever be safe?” Ava asks softly, no doubt feeling the same pain that I am.
“We’re gonna handle this shit and then I’ll let you know. I love you, Ava.” His words draw a smile across her face and I can’t help but smile with her.
“I love you too. Please be careful.”
“Always, babe. Ariel? You still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“He loves you. He’s stubborn as fuck and thinks that it’s best to push you away. You gotta know he’s never had somethin’ this real in his
life before and you kinda threw him off, you know? Give him some time to come to his senses.”
“I would give him all the time I have, Stoney,” I tell him as a tear slides down my cheek.
“Good. He needs a girl like you. No one’s ever loved him, Ariel.”
“I love him,” I add softly before heading into the bathroom. I close the door quietly behind me leaving Ava to talk to him alone. I know this is hard on her too. She misses Stoney but I didn’t realize just how much until I saw the look of agony and heartbreak on her face. I slide my phone out and dial Quinn’s number knowing that he isn’t going to answer it. He hasn’t answered it in a while. When the voicemail picks up, I sigh.
“I miss you, Quinn. I’ve never missed something so much in my life. I’m sorry that I messed up. I should have never left with them. Please forgive me.” Hanging up, I slide the phone back into my pocket and sigh. I wash my face and pull my hair up into a bun before going back to the room. Ava looks up from her spot on the bed, a smile on her face. I’m glad she has that. She deserves it.
“He will come around. Stoney said that he isn’t the same without you there.” I know she’s trying to make me feel better, but it isn’t working.
“I don’t know that that’s true anymore. He doesn’t answer the phone, he doesn’t want to speak to me.” My head hangs lower. It hurts after what we shared that he would do that to me.
“So, we go see him.”
“Our parents will never allow that,” I remind her. Ava smiles.
“We are adults, remember? Quinn said no one can tell us what to do.” Her smile is contagious.
“They said it was dangerous.” Ava shrugs and sits on the bed.
“We’ve lived with dangerous people all our lives. Why should that stop us now?”
“What if they get angry?”
“Then we leave. They can’t get angry, Ariel. They love us. You heard Stoney.”
“I know but that doesn’t mean Quinn will feel the same when he sees me there.”
