by Breck, A. R.
She leans back. “You’ve been with her before, right? I could tell by how she was with you.”
I groan, running a hand down my face in frustration. “Ivy, she’s a fucking dumb Jessie that will sleep with anything that has a cock. Let it go.”I go in to kiss her again, but she pulls back.
“But you’ve slept with her, right?”
I roll my eyes. “Fucking yes. I have, okay?”
Her face wrinkles up like she’s got a bad taste in her mouth. “No, it’s not okay. Seriously, Aziel? She looks like a fucking prostitute. And I’ve slept with you! Oh, my God! Have you been tested? Do you have STDs? Do I have STDs now? Fuck!”
“Jesus, Ivy! No! I wrapped it up. With her and with you. I’m fucking clean. Who do you think I am?”
“Honestly, I feel like I don’t know you much at all!” She screams at me.
A pang hits in the center of my chest. “You know me better than anyone.” I grumble.
Her anger drains at this and she looks a little remorseful. “I’m sorry. I’m being a bitch. It’s just… really? That slut?”
I step away from her and turn around, giving her my back. “Fucking hell, Ivy. Give it the fuck up. You know I’m not a fucking saint. You want to keep dragging it out? Talk to the fucking wall about it. Because I’m over this shit.”
I don’t wait for a response, walking away and leaving her where I left her. I’m fucking pissed. I tried helping, I really did. What I mostly did was end up pissing her off more though. This is the exact reason why I never end up with girls. Why we don’t bring them into the club. Into our lives. All they do is start drama and skew up our minds into a clusterfuck.
I hear a thump, which makes me pause. Then Ivy whimpers out an ow. I turn around and see her rubbing the back of her head.
“Something hit me in the head.” She looks onto the ground, but it’s impossible to see anything in the dark. I slip my phone out of my pocket and turn my flashlight on, facing it towards the ground.
My eyes widen.
Ivy starts screaming at the top of her lungs.
There’s a fucking head laying on the inside of the gate near Ivy’s feet. She jumps away from it. It looks clean cut, straight through the neck. No body in sight, only the head lays severed, face down in the dirt.
“Is that a… is that a head?” Ivy panics, her voice shaky and terrified.
“Yeah.” I walk up to it, kicking it over gently so it lays face up.
Ivy starts screaming again.
“Oh my God. It’s Ms. Maria!” She starts sobbing as she falls to her knees. This time, her scream catches the attention of West. He yells to the others, and everyone starts walking this way to see what’s going on.
“Why?” She sobs. I pull her off the ground and away from the head.
“Shit.” Violet whispers. West steps in front of her to block the scene.
“Is there something in her mouth?” Jex says, bending over and pulling her jaw open. Ivy gags, and I snarl at Jex. What an idiot. This guy is literally a brick wall sometimes. “There is.” He pulls out a piece of paper that’s rolled up into a tiny scroll.
“What does it say?” I ask.
“I can’t read it. It’s in Spanish.” He sighs.
Ivy snatches it from his hand and reads it over. I watch her eyes trail from left to right, becoming more blank with each word. Once she’s finished, she starts over, reading it again. Then once more. She looks up at me with blank eyes and a pale face. “Fuck.” She looks wiped clean of all color and emotions. A beautiful colored painting left out in the rain.
“What does it say, Ivy?” I bend down and snatch it up. “What the fuck does it say?” I wave it in front of her face, panic and irritation beginning to boil over.
“Ivy, esto ha durado lo suficiente. Te has divertido. Ven a casa si quieres ver a estas personas para ver otro día. Si no vuelves a casa, esta gente soportará las muertes más brutales. Y sí, sé que dejaste que ese cabrón pusiera su polla dentro de ti. Tal vez lo mate de la misma manera que maté a tus padres...” She speaks in Spanish, staring at the ground as each word flows from her tongue like it was born there. Then her eyes glance up, locking onto mine with a fear so deep that chills crackle down my spine, each one digging to an almost painful depth. “Ivy, this has gone on long enough. You have had your fun. Come home if you want to see these people to see another day. If you do not come home, these people will endure the most brutal deaths. And yes, I know you let that fucker put his cock inside of you. Maybe I will kill him in the same fashion I killed your parents...” She translates.
She lets out a heavy breath, tears streaming down her cheeks in a steady stream, falling onto her black dress. “I want to kill him, Aziel. I want to drain him of every last drop and watch as he dries up. I want him to plead for salvation, and I want to laugh in his face while he does it.”
Her words, rasped out as her emotions run high. I grab her around the shoulders and pull her to me, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight. “We’ll leave tonight. By tomorrow night, he will be nothing but a memory.”
She cries against my chest, and I watch as every member of the club around me grows angry. They grow angry for her grief. Angry at her sorrow. Vengeful for her pain.
“Santiago’s breaths are limited.”
“Damn. Where the hell is Charlie?” My dad barks out.
“He’s watching Lilah.” Violet says.
“Then who the hell is manning the gate?” Pascal yells.
“Last I saw, Sage was keepin’ watch.” West says.
I stomp over to the gate and unlatch it manually, pushing it open. “Sage! The fuck you doing out here?” I shout. “Fuckkkkkk!” I groan.
Sage sits in his chair, his head lulled back and a bullet hole struck right between his eyes.
“Oh, hell fucking no.” West says from behind me.
“Santiago.” Pascal growls.
I look behind me, seeing Violet holding onto Ivy as she cries on her shoulder. “We need to head out. Now.” I say.
“I’ll get everything together.” West says, running back through the gate and heading inside.
“Niles!” I shout. He runs through the gate and his eyes widen when he sees Sage.
“Holy shit, Z. This is fucked up. Who you think did it?”
“The Mexicans. Ivy knows who the head belongs to.”
“Fuck.” He whispers, running his hand across his jaw.
“We’re heading out. I need you to take care of the body and the head before we leave.” I say.
His eyes widen. “We’re leaving, tonight? I thought we were leaving tomorrow.”
My dad walks up beside me. “Plans changed, Niles. We need to get them undetected. They might know we’re planning something, which is why they’re getting so ballsy. We don’t have time anymore. We need to act. And fast.”
Niles nods, walking to Sage and lifting him out of the chair. I rush over to Ivy and start pulling her towards the clubhouse. The last thing she needs is to see another dead body.
She glances over my shoulder. “Is Sage okay?”
I wince. Too late.
“No, he’s not. Listen, I need you to go change. Grab a couple pairs of clothes. Comfortable, dark clothes. Nothing that will make you stand out. Wear something that doesn’t seem like you. We don’t have much time. So, grab what you need, say goodbye to Lilah, and meet me downstairs.”
Her heels dig into the dirt, halting me in my step. “Wait. Tell me, is Sage okay?”
I sigh, running my fingers through my hair and pulling at the ends. “No, Ivy. He’s dead, okay?”
Her eyes go wide, her red-rimmed eyes spilling more tears. “D-dead? Did someone kill him?”
I nod.
She buries her face in her hands. “Oh my God. This is all my fault.”
I tap a cigarette out of my pack and spark it up. “No, it’s not your fault. This is our lifestyle. We all know every breath might be our last.”
When she looks up at me, her makeup has
smeared. The darkness around her eyes created a road down her cheeks of inky darkness. Her dark lips have turned to a washed out gray. She looks wrecked, and horrified.
“How can I trust Lilah to stay here if Santiago managed to kill one of your own? I won’t even be here to protect her. I might as well put a flashing light with an arrow pointing at her. Something could happen to her, Aziel!” She cries.
Smoke trails out of my nose in irritation. She still doesn’t trust this fucking club.
I take my cigarette and point it towards the gate where I watch Niles and Cassius carry a dead Sage to the back of the clubhouse. We have a large shed there where we hold hostages. It’s also a place where we have performed surgeries on our injured. They’ll leave Sage there until we get back and can hold a formal funeral for him.
“Sage was sitting outside those gates. Not once, in my entire life, has someone broken through those gates. Whatever happens is going to be outside those walls. Does Lilah go outside the walls?” Ivy shakes her head. “No, she doesn’t. She will be here with Haley and Violet and all the other guys who know what to do in a situation like this. My men are trained, Ivy. You can fucking trust them.”
“I do… it’s just, Santiago.”
Fucking hell.
I place my hand over her mouth, shutting her the hell up because I’m tired of that name coming off her lips. “Do me a fucking favor and don’t speak his name again. Don’t even think his name again. I don’t want you to hear you say his name. Ever. Again. Got me?”
She nods.
I take my hand off her mouth and take a step away from her. “Good. Now go pack. You can stress about shit on the way down there. It’s a long drive.”
She nods again, taking off for the clubhouse without another word.
20
Aziel
It takes a little over two hours to drive across the border and make it to Salvatierra. It’s around three in the morning by the time we arrive. Ivy has dozed on and off against my back. I held onto her hands wrapped around me, glad she could rest at least a little bit.
Once we arrived in Salvatierra, we drove through the city for a while to scope out the area. Salvatierra sits along the coast, small homes decorating the hills. Blue houses, red houses, and cream houses tuck between the roads, all small and square that lead down to the white sandy beaches of the Pacific Ocean. Deeper into the city lays larger homes and older buildings, some abandoned and crumbling to the earth. History is weird like that. Things get built and hold lives and memories for centuries, and over time, those memories become nothing but dilapidated stories that get lost and all but forgotten.
We pass an older building, tall and wide on top of a hill. Its white stone has large columns extending from it like arms. The rounded top of the building makes it look like a church or religious building of some sort. I look in the windows and see men in suits walking around. The way they hold themselves make me think they may be Santiago’s men. My eyes narrow, and I nudge Ivy awake.
“What? What is it?” She mumbles.
I nod my head towards the building.
She glances over at the entrance and her body instantly freezes. “This is it. This is where they host Día de los Muertos.”
I make a motion to the guys behind me and my dad in front of me, and we take off. We drive a few towns over to a touristy town where we will go unseen. The likelihood of Santiago having eyes and ears all around him is near certain, so remaining unseen is imperative. It’ll seem more likely for us to go to some run-down motel outside of town, but that’ll be the first place his men will be searching for us. They won’t assume a vacation spot, where families and women and men will be looking to hook up and drink their weekend away.
“I’ll go in and get us some rooms.” Pascal says once we park. He hops off his bike and heads inside. The rest of us get off our bikes to stretch our legs.
“How long were we driving?” Ivy asks, stretching her arms over her head. Her smeared makeup from earlier has been wiped clean, and her bared, sun-kissed face is fucking breathtaking as she looks at me. Her wavy hair is pulled back into a bun on the top of her head, and her tight black sweatshirt and black leggings make her look like she’s ready to rob a bank.
She’s about to rob my fuckin’ soul, is what she’s about to do.
“Over two hours or so.” Tapping a cigarette out and lighting it.
“So, what’s the plan?” She asks.
I shake my head. “Not here.”
She nods, understanding.
“We need to get some rest, then we’ll figure out our strategy. I’m fucking beat.” My dad says, slapping me on the back as he walks inside. Everyone follows him, leaving Ivy and I standing outside. I can hear the ocean in the distance, and the salty air is familiar. Different from California, a little drier, maybe. There’s an authentic scent in the air that’s different from the polluted airs of San Diego.
“I’m nervous.” Ivy says, stepping into my arms. I immediately wrap them around her and press my lips to the side of her head.
“Don’t be nervous, we all got your back.” I murmur.
She sighs. “I hope so. Not that you guys have my back. I realize that now. The not being nervous part… I hope you’re right.”
I lean down and give her a peck on the lips. “Trust me, yeah? This might not be my land, but you’re my girl, and I get pretty pissed when someone tries to mess with something of mine.”
* * *
“I don’t know.” Ivy sits on the edge of the bed, all of us surrounding her as we go over our game plan. “That sounds sketchy. I don’t like it. Not at all.”
I shrug. “That’s what we’re doing. If you don’t like it, you can stay here in the hotel.”
She stands up, even stomps her foot. “Fuck no! You need me. You—”
“Quiet the fuck down, Ivy.” I seethe.
She frowns, realizing how loud she’s been screaming. “I’m going with you. You don’t know that place. I know it like the back of my hand. I know when things are going to happen. They have it down to the minute. You need me there. Whether you want me to be or not. I need to go.” She whisper-shouts.
West grabs a notepad and paper from the bedside table of the room we’re in. It’s my pop’s room. Simple, queen bed with an ugly green printed comforter. Old, reddish carpet and cream walls.
“Write it down, every detail. Draw a map of the inside and outside. Write down what time everything happens. Z is right. This shit is too risky for you, Ivy. You walking in there is going to be a death wish. For you and for us.” He pushes the paper and pencil towards her.
She pushes it away from her. “I’m going.”
“Then you have to be okay with our plan.” I growl.
She looks at me with raised eyebrows. “You think that while you and me go in there while everyone else waits outside will be a good idea? You shouldn’t be going in there at all. You think it’s a death wish for me to go in there? You’re the son of the motorcycle club he is at war with. Everyone knows your face. What, you’re just going to walk in there with your cut, jeans, and biker boots and announce yourself?” She scoffs. “Fucking dumb idea.”
I grab onto her hair as she starts walking away, spinning her towards me and wrapping her blonde, wavy locks around my fist and pull, tilting her head back. “Watch your mouth, Ivy. You’re not the boss here. You don’t make the rules. We’ll listen to your input because you know the place, but you’re not calling the shots.” She swallows, her head tilted back allowing me to see her throat work with her effort. “We’ll go in, watch and wait. Once he’s alone, we’ll get him. We’ll take him out and shut the rest of the fucking place down before these girls get shipped out.”
“He’s never alone. Someone is always watching.” A tear leaks down the side of her face, landing on my wrist. I let go of her hair, and she yanks her head up, scowling at me and wiping her cheeks. “You’ll never have a good enough plan to get him out of there undetected.”
“We will.” I
emphasis.
“You underestimate us, girl. We’ve been doing this a long time now.” My dad says from beside me.
“You in or you out, Ivy? We’ve got only a few hours to get there, and we still have to get ready.” I fold my arms over my chest, preparing for another fight or roadblock. Ivy seems to put them up left and right.
“I’m in.” My eyebrows lift, shocked. “But,” Of fucking course, “how will we get in there without being noticed?”
“Niles.” I bark, and he goes to the coat closet and takes out two large bags.
“What is that?” Ivy points to it, her face twisted up in hesitation.
“This is like a Mexican Halloween party, right?”
She rolls her eyes. “Not really, it’s more of a celebration of the dead.”
I bat her answer away. “Whatever, same thing. We’re dressing up.” I gesture towards the bags.
She cracks a smile. “I thought you didn’t dress up.”
“Whatever makes my girl happy.” I wink, and I watch her melt into putty right before my eyes.
* * *
“Wow, Jex. I had no idea you were so talented.” I fought tooth and nail with Jex to get him to come down here, and I finally convinced him. He didn’t ride, though. He drove the van that we’re hoping to cart Santiago’s body away with.
Ivy sighs as she looks at herself in the mirror. I step closer to her with narrowed eyes, not liking the breathlessness in her tone. Doesn’t matter if it’s a brother or not, I don’t like her being too close with anyone besides me.
Yeah, I’m fucking petty.
“You know those tats you see on everyone?” He asks her.
Ivy nods.
“That’s me. I tattoo on occasion.”
Her eyes nearly pop out of her skull. “Holy shit, Jex. You’re like, super fucking talented.”
He shrugs. “Yeah.” He doesn’t smile or say thanks. He just picks up the shit on the sink and leaves the room.
Ivy turns towards me, “We look awesome.” She smiles, the dark circles around her eyes a startling contrast from her paper white face.
