Shadow of Nevermore

by Lilly Black

  Surrounding him were fifteen women and four men with three more men hogtied and gagged in the corner while Austin held a gun on them.

  "What the fuck is going on here?" Aiden demanded as the entire group entered.

  "The prison is under new management. Isn't that right, Rundo?" Jax called out, looking over his shoulder at one of his prisoners. Rundo made no sound behind his gag.

  "You were supposed to wait for us," Aiden hissed through gritted teeth. "Why didn't you radio John and let him know we didn't need to bring the whole team?"

  "There are fucking zombies everywhere, and a lot of these people are in no condition to fight their way out of here," he said.

  "Where did all the zombies come from?" Liana asked.

  "Dead assholes," he said.

  "Can I talk to you in private?" Aiden demanded.

  "No," Austin butted in. "There is no need to talk to Jax in private. He did the right thing. He took out every rapist in this place, and we didn't lose a single good person from here or the Deadfall. There's nothing to talk about."

  "There's plenty to talk about, and we did lose someone on our way in. It was a 20-something kid that got bit by one of those zombies you created," Aiden spat, and Jax looked down at the floor.

  "I'm sorry, man. I thought with as many people as you were bringing..."

  "Don't be sorry," Mateo said. "I love Chase. He's like my brother, but he panicked. That's not Mr. Bonham's fault."

  "He's right," Alek added. "Chase was a member of my team. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

  "Stop! Chase wouldn't want any of you to blame yourselves," Mateo said, then to make sure nobody else tried to take responsibility, he turned to Austin. "So, just tell us how you two took out all the bad guys before we got here, okay?"

  "It was really just Jax," Austin said, and everyone looked to Jax.

  "I poisoned the meth and heroine," he admitted with a shrug. It's what he had gone to the witch for. Poison.

  "You were supposed to find out if there were any men in here worth saving," Aiden said, and when she heard the second accusatory thing come out of his mouth, Death Row survivor, Frisco had had enough.

  "Who do you think these men sitting here with us are?" she demanded as she stood up to face Aiden. "Jax Bonham is our savior, and there's not a woman or man in this room who won't kick your ass for trying to tell him he did the wrong thing. He didn't, and nobody worth saving died. I wish I could say nobody worth killing lived, but he promised me we were going to get to see the Bloody Queen crucify the fuckers who ran this place." She indicated the bound men. The two other men with Rundo were Brock, who had been his lieutenant, and the doctor Jax had seen throw the miscarrying woman out into the yard when he was on the recon mission.

  And she was right about how well Jax handled his own, personal invasion. When he arrived, he used the story that Olivia had scripted for him, and with his famous name and the drugs he handed over to Rundo, he was immediately accepted into the fold. He also talked about women like garbage, which earned him an invitation to Death Row much faster than Austin. Rundo took him there the first night where Alek's suggestion about him having syphilis had worked as planned. They all became fast friends with the rock star who had shown up with heroin and meth just when the prison's supply was almost depleted, and he was offered his pick of the women for a personal slave. He chose wisely. He chose Frisco.

  He was set up in one of the locked offices with her, and that first night, he learned that Austin wasn't the only man who ever faked his part. There were two more who had been recruited since Austin left, and along with two of the men who had been brought in that week to be turned over to the Sinner, Jax and Austin had four instant allies. The following night after the Death Row party ended, the two good members of the gang kept track of Rundo and his lieutenants, and Austin killed the Death Row guard and led the women safely to the cafeteria as Jax personally delivered a nightcap of poisoned drugs to every one of Rundo's men in their private cells, watching to be sure that at least some of them smoked, snorted, or prepared to shoot their preferred poison.

  It took about an hour for the poisoned men to begin dying, reanimating, and killing those who hadn't taken the drugs, and the only people who were safe were those who were locked in cages. Austin let the newly acquired prisoners out to help, and they quickly managed to free the women held in the private rooms after putting Rundo's lieutenants in chains, though one had to be put down when they realized he had been bitten. As for Rundo himself, Jax was able to capture him without incident. Once he realized that there was no one to back him up, he showed himself for the coward he was and immediately surrendered, begging Jax not to hurt him.

  "The man who had caused so many people so much pain cried like a baby for his own miserable life," Jax scowled.

  "Is that why you chose not to kill them?" Ravi asked.

  "No. I didn't kill them because a gun to the head would be too quick and painless. These women deserve justice."

  "Justice?" Aiden asked. "Or revenge?"

  "Do you believe in God, Aiden LaCroix?" Frisco asked suddenly, and he was less taken aback by the question than by hearing his name from the mouth of a stranger. It was the first time since he met Liana that anyone had recognized him, but he assumed it was because Jax had badmouthed him. In reality, Frisco had just been a serious hockey fan.

  "I don't know," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He had been Catholic as a child, raised in his aunt's religion, but long ago, he lost his faith.

  "Neither do I," she said. "But if there's even a slight chance that there's no hell for these men to burn in, I'm going make sure they experience it before they die because that's what they did to me. And Jax promised me your queen would make that possible."

  "She may be the queen, but we have a governing body that votes. Her power is not absolute," he said.

  "Then let's have their trial right now while we're out of your jurisdiction," she demanded, and all of the women cheered her.

  "It's okay, Frisco," Jax said. "Aiden's a good guy who wants to make the world a better place. He just hasn't accepted that we have to take out the bad guys before we can rebuild civilization."

  Aiden took in a sharp breath, but Alek stopped him, quietly asking him to save it for the debriefing because the women here had just been through a great deal of trauma and needed to see the Deadfall as a refuge. Arguing amongst themselves would only taint that image. Grudgingly, he agreed on the condition that he be a part of the group that would see the three prisoners home. Alek gave him the keys to the one minivan they brought, and both his and Ravi's teams left with the prisoners. The women would ride in the Hummer limo, or at least as many as would fit, and the others would go in the electric cars with at least one woman from the Deadfall in each for reassurance. Mateo and a few others went to retrieve Chase's body to be burned back at the compound, and they, along with Jax, John, and the passengers in their vehicles, were the last to leave.

  While waiting for Mateo's crew to come back out of the prison, Jax chronicled the day's events on the outside wall by the main entrance in thick, black, permanent marker, claiming the prison as part of their empire.

  You have entered the kingdom of Nevermore under rule of the Bloody Queen. This prison had been taken over by cruel men who raped, tortured, and murdered. On the 57th Day in the first year of Her Grace, the armies of Nevermore liberated the prisoners and crucified their wardens. And if such evil ever returns to this place, so shall we.

  Then in blood red paint, he used his finger to draw a symbol that Penny had designed with a B and a Q for Bloody Queen. As they cleared the world around them of malevolence, it would come to signify the reach of the kingdom Jax had just named Nevermore.

  Lastly, before leaving the grounds, they rounded up three zombies and erected the crosses from the flatbed truck that John would drive back to the Deadfall. They hung signs around their necks that all said both rapist and murderer, and they left their display as a threat to the Sinner, who woul
d be coming soon.

  Jax drove one of the electric cars home from the prison, accompanied by Penny, whom Liana had turned into a capable soldier after she was nearly kidnapped by the prison gang, and riding in the back of their vehicle were two women Jax was most eager to bring home. One was a doctor and the other a physician's assistant, both of which the Deadfall had been lacking.

  "Our general radioed ahead," he said as they got on the road, "and they'll have triage set up to take you all in as soon as we get there. We don't have a doctor, but we have a psychologist and a couple of ladies who have been taking care of our sick and wounded."

  "I'd be happy to help out," Dr. Gorely said. "I don't need medical attention myself, so I'm at your disposal."

  "That's fortunate," Penny said.

  "Not really. I was never involved in what the others had to endure. I was brought there along with the other doctor, and he claimed me as a private slave so he could keep me safe. I had no idea how bad the other women had it until you came in and rescued us."

  "I wasn't so lucky," said Michelle, the PA. "I got claimed early on, so I only spent a few nights on Death Row, but one night is all it takes to fuck you up for life."

  "I'm so sorry for what you've been through," Jax said. "And I want you to know that whatever happened to you at that prison will never happen at the Deadfall. You'll be safe there, and if any man tries to hurt you, he'll have hell to pay."

  "Our queen crucifies rapists," Penny said.

  "I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll do to Rundo," Dr. Gorely said.

  "Why are you so invested?" Michelle asked. "You never had to deal with what Rundo did to the rest of us."

  "You don't know what he put Hank through."

  "Who's Hank?" Jax asked.

  "One of your three prisoners," Hannah said. "But he really should have been one of the men you saved."

  "I doubt the women on Death Row would agree with you," Jax snapped at her.

  "Ask them. Hank never raped anyone. He's the doctor."

  "It's true," Michelle said. "I only saw him on Death Row when he was sneaking in supplies to us. They never even made him participate in their rapes. They just wanted him there because he's a doctor."

  "He's with Rundo and Brock for a different reason," Jax said. "This wasn't our first visit to the prison. We came with drones a few days ago to gather information, and I saw what your doctor did. I watched him put a woman who was hemorrhaging from a miscarriage out into the yard for the dead. I brought him back with us to throw him in the zombie pit to show him what he did to her."

  "You can't do that!" Hannah protested. "He told me about the woman you saw. He didn't want her put out there, but he had no vote. He couldn't sacrifice his life and mine for a woman who was as good as dead already."

  "Do you know how rampant drugs were at the place? You mean to tell me he couldn't have shot her up with heroin? Maybe stopped her heart before taking her out there to be eaten alive?" Jax realized he was shouting, and he felt terrible as he saw how it caused Michelle to retreat into a tight ball in the backseat.

  "He didn't have the option," Hannah argued. "He used to get drugs, which he saved for the women because he wasn't allowed to give them real medicine, but when the supply started to dry up, they began rationing. He was the first to get cut off. His hands were tied."

  "Then he could have slit her throat," Jax hissed.

  "No, he couldn't. He couldn't go against Rundo's orders, but I promise you he did everything he could for those women, and most nights, he cried in my arms because of what he couldn't do for them," Hannah said. "Just please don't hurt him. I'll do anything. Anything." She caught his eyes in the mirror, making it clear that she was offering herself, but as they sat in the car with a woman who had been a victim of repeated gang rape, the very idea of Hannah using her sexuality to get what she wanted made his stomach turn. As he narrowed his eyes and took in a breath to reject her offer, she suddenly cried out as her head slammed against the back of her seat.

  "What the hell just happened?" she wondered aloud, rubbing the back of her head, and with no lips to show it, Dani smiled in her mind's eye as she rode along with them, the literal air Jax breathed inside the car. And she did not care for Dr. Hannah Gorely. Not one damn bit.

  At the Deadfall, Reid and a small contingent of guards were waiting at the front gate to take charge of the prisoners, and he watched as June guided the women to triage, Rey directed the new men joining them to the lodge to await the decision of the council regarding their place in the community, and Olivia guided the council members to the war room for debriefing.

  Then Reid saw Mateo step out of Alek's vehicle without Chase, and the look on his face told Reid all he needed to know. He hugged the boy, and Mateo broke down into tears.

  "I'm sorry," Alek mouthed as Reid glared at him, and when Amina took Mateo and led him up to triage to get him something to calm his nerves, Reid approached Alek.

  "I told you they weren't ready," he said.

  "No one is ever ready for this," Alek said. "They did fine until Chase panicked. I couldn't save him."

  "They should never have been out there," Reid hissed at him.

  "They should never have survived this long," Alek countered, angry. He was the one with the death on his conscience, and the last thing he needed was Reid's sanctimony. "If not for you, both of those kids would have probably been dead as a direct result of their own stupidity, but that isn't what you told me. You just said they weren't ready. That's not the same thing." He scowled at Reid, and now that all of the women from the prison were inside the gate, Reid didn't say another word as the prisoners were finally taken out of the vehicles.

  Not wanting Rundo's victims to even have to see him, June hurried the women up the hill where she and Amina were overseeing triage, and once Penny arrived with Hannah and Michelle, everyone was grateful for their help. Michelle, of course, also needed to be examined because she had been on Death Row herself. Hannah was the only woman there who had escaped that fate altogether as even those slated for the Sinner had still endured their time with the team that kidnapped them. It was going to be a long road to recovery.

  In preparation for the influx of people from the prison, Olivia had sent out scavenging parties to bring what they would need from housing to medical supplies, including pregnancy tests and medications that would terminate them, though Amina was the one handling testing for pregnancy and doling out the pills as they were unsure how June would react. June and the rest of the medical staff were ready with things like antibiotics and antidepressants. They had also hoped to have their resident psychologist there because many of these women were going to need her more than anything. But no one had seen Dani in days.

  "Jax, I have something to tell you," Olivia began as they walked toward the war room. She didn't want to have to be the bearer of this news, but he deserved to know.

  "I have something to tell you, too," he said. "I named our little kingdom here. I called it Nevermore. It currently starts here in Pipestem and reaches all the way to the prison by interstate, and I think we need to keep expanding until even the Sinner walks in the shadow of Nevermore."

  "That's fine," Olivia said, only half listening to Jax's lyrical plan for domination of local territories as she searched for the words to tell him about Dani. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for feedback on his decision, but instead she finally blurted out: "We can't find Dani."

  "I'm right here," Dani said, incredulous as she suddenly appeared behind Jax, wearing the same clothes she had on when he left. He turned to hug her, giving no thought to what Olivia had said, and they exchanged I love yous before separating again, Dani heading for triage, Jax for the debriefing, walking beside Olivia.

  "So, Nevermore?" she asked, and he explained the warning he left behind at the prison.

  "I wanted the name to sound dark and foreboding like the Deadfall, and Nevermore seemed right because our people are never going to put up with anymore bullshit. Fuck the rapist
s. Fuck the murderers. Fuck anyone who isn't going to be a benefit to the few, good humans left in this world."

  "I like it," she admitted.

  "And the expansion?" he asked.

  "Maybe you'd better work with the general on that one," she quipped as they entered the chamber where everyone else was waiting, and keeping with what Jax had just said, she immediately began addressing Aiden. "Let's just get this out of the way right off the bat. The men they brought back from the prison are going to die, and they are not going to die humanely. If you have a problem with that, why don't you leave this meeting right now, go into the living room, and let those women tell you their stories. We both already know what those stories are, but if you think for one moment that those murderers and rapists deserve anything less than a slow, agonizing death, then maybe you need to hear them first hand."

  "I'm not going to fight you on this one, Olivia," he said. "But there is something I would like you to consider. Those women want to take revenge on Rundo and his henchman, Brock, and while he deserves the worst, maybe it would be best for the women in the long run if you convinced them not to do it personally. It might feel good in the moment, but ultimately, just knowing that he suffered should be enough. They shouldn't have to carry around the guilt of what they did to another human being even if that human being deserved it."

  Olivia was torn. While she felt like anyone condemning someone to die should be prepared to swing the ax, she did not want her people to see killing as pleasurable. Aiden had a point, and as he continued talking, it crossed her mind that maybe she should be the one to kill the prisoners. She was the one ultimately responsible for passing the sentence, and she believed she would never develop a taste for it.

  "As for the other man Jax had tied up when we got there," Aiden said, "I would like to know their specific involvement before sentencing them, but regardless, you won't hear any complaints about Rundo and Brock's punishment from me."