Solace

by Raven Dark

  Damien had promised to return for me, and I knew he’d make good on his threat. Which is why I watched anyone who came too close, looking for any sign they were Damien’s J’nai, even if they didn’t look like them.

  The days crawled by, but we never set up camp. Instead, as Sheriff had instructed, the men took turns driving the carriages, the others sleeping in shifts right in their seats. No camping and the faster carriages meant that what had been a seven-day trip—longer since we’d spent time helping the Lone Rebels—on the way out to Delta was cut down to three on the way back.

  The only bright side of the trip back was that I didn’t have any nightmares. As Hawk had promised, he had Doc give me something to keep the dreams away. In the mornings, I drank my tea with iris root. In addition, Hawk meditated with me when he could, practicing the Don-shi, even if I didn’t need it to keep the dreams away. The Brothers of Brimstone watched us with fascination. Apparently, seeing a woman perform a Yantu practice was as much of a surprise to them as it had been to me when Hawk had first suggested that he teach me.

  None of the journey was comfortable, and while I slept plenty, it was never a deep or restful slumber.

  Twice on the trip, Sheriff had climbed into the back and questioned me about the one thing I’d forced myself not to think about, the strange name both Damien and Matais had mentioned.

  Julian.

  Sheriff asked me if I knew the name, if it meant anything to me. Had Damien ever mentioned it? I gave him the only answer I had. I’d never heard the name before that I could recall. While I’d wracked my brain for any time when Damien might have mentioned it in passing, I knew if he had, I would have remembered such a beautiful name.

  Who was Julian? And what did he want?

  After he’d questioned me the last time while we were stopping for fuel, Sheriff cupped my nape and leaned in. I put my hands on his chest, and he paused.

  “Master, wait.” I kept my voice low, since Diamond and Emmy were sleeping on either side of me.

  When he looked at me expectantly, I swallowed. Since the time we’d spent in those cells, Sheriff had hardly spoken to me, closing himself off from everyone. When I had seen him, there’d nearly always been others around, making it impossible for me to have told him what I needed to say now.

  “Master, I’m sorry about your mother. Damien is…” I shook my head. There were no fitting words to describe what Damien was. “I’m sorry.”

  His jaw clenched. The hardness in his eyes almost made me wish I hadn’t said anything; I could feel distance wrapping itself around him like a cloak.

  Sheriff sighed and squeezed my nape. He kissed my forehead. “Sleep, sweetheart. Won’t be long now.”

  I nodded and let my head drop against the window, listening to him climb back in the front seat with Hawk and start up the carriage. There was so much between us, so many messed up emotions, I still wasn’t sure how I felt about him. Right now, that chasm that always seemed to stretch between us seemed wider than ever.

  I understood so much more about him now, and while part of me wanted to give myself to him the way he’d asked me to weeks ago, he still kept me at too much of a distance to allow that. So much that I couldn’t let us move forward.

  Through the window on the other side of the carriage, the desert scrolled past, the hot, dry, cracked plains baking, even under a rare stormy sky. We’d touched down and started driving by land a short while back when clouds rolled in and lightning streaked across the sky. Longing for the only place I’d ever really considered home washed over me and I closed my eyes, savoring it.

  Sometime later as I dozed, Hawk climbed into the back compartment with me. He leaned against the wall and pulled me into his arms.

  I must have dropped off to sleep shortly after, because the next thing I knew, Diamond was nudging me with her shoulder and grinning at me.

  “Wake up, Setora. Wake up. We’re home.”

  I leaned over, following the gaze she’d cast out the front window of the carriage.

  The storm had cleared, and ahead of us, the tall, jagged rock formations that surrounded our secret home rose up like shadows in the sun’s glare. Hiding an oasis of green and growth, the Legion’s huge, city-sized lair.

  The Grotto.

  I should have been thrilled, filled with joy, seeing those cliffs. My heart should have exulted, knowing that a sanctuary lay beyond them, a place where no danger could find the two women who’d become like sisters to me, my masters, or me. Instead, an inexplicable dread unfurled in the pit of my stomach.

  When we drove close to the cave entrance that led into the Grotto proper, no less than six bikes roared out to meet us. Probably Hawk’s guards, sent out to see who we were, since we were in carriages they’d never seen and not on motorcycles. As soon as they saw Hawk sticking his head out the driver’s side window, they waved us on and followed. Someone opened the huge set of hidden gates from inside and they widened with a monstrous rattle.

  Sheriff and Hawk said little to each other as Sheriff drove into the shadowed tunnels beyond the gates, the other carriages following behind. Silence permeated the air, almost deafening, until it felt as if a dark cloud hung over us.

  As if our mutual grief had become a tangible thing, a shadow that enshrouded us, heavy and thick. Though I couldn’t see the rest of the men in the other vehicles, I had a feeling they felt the same shadow.

  Diamond and Emmy grinned at each other, then looked at the two men, then at me. Their smiles faded, the same quiet realization seeming to drain the momentary joy out of them.

  Both of them squeezed my hands.

  The Legion had returned, but the club was fractured. The journey had ripped us apart and beat us down, even while it built us up and brought us closer, all at the same time.

  We drove deeper into the tunnels. The familiar, dimly lit rock-faces, flickering with torchlight, whipped past the windows, the outside world effectively shut out.

  We were home, back in the sanctuary that was the Legion’s world.

  The carriages stopped, the engines cutting off. I drew a deep breath, my chest tight.

  Sitting beside me with his arm around my shoulders, Hawk squeezed me close. “Come on, Kitten. Let’s get out of here.”

  Hawk helped me out of the back of the carriage, then did the same for Diamond and Emmy. While the other two women climbed out, I looked around.

  The dark cave walls greeted me from all sides, strong and impenetrable. The torches gave off a warm, vibrant glow. Even the hum of electrical power from the solar trees, with bike batteries plugged into sockets around them, sounded soothing to my ears. Despite my misgivings about our arrival here, a sense of home wrapped itself around me like a warm blanket on a cold night.

  How strange that, only months ago, when Pretty Boy and Steel had stolen me from Damien and brought me here, I’d been so afraid of this place, feeling so lost and helpless, and now it felt more like the place I belonged than any other had before.

  All around us, everyone else was piling out of the other vehicles, stretching, yawning, sighing with visible relief. Relief that they were out of the carriages at last, relief that they were about to be united with friends.

  Relief that the journey that had wreaked so much havoc on us was finally over.

  For some reason, Steel, Pretty Boy and Doc were helping the Brothers of Brimstone out of the backs of the carriages, and it took me a moment to realize why. Reaper, Sinister and Savage had cloth sacks over their heads.

  Right, Sheriff had said they would have to be blindfolded back at the Summit like any other guests of the Grotto until they were patched in.

  As soon as Sheriff took the sacks off their heads, Savage tapped Sinister on the shoulder in front of him, doing hand-signs.

  “Savage says the air here is different,” Sinister said. “He asks why.”

  Sheriff grinned. “You’ll see,” he told both of them, patting them on their backs.

  Reaper glanced around. “Fascinating. It’s li
ke a whole other world, yes?”

  “Sure is,” Pretty Boy said. “Welcome to our home, guys. Yours too, we hope.”

  Footsteps, lots of them, raced down the walkway that led into the garage. Men and women piled in to greet the party. Bear and Crank hugged each of the men. Gretle took my hands and hugged me, Diamond and Emmy, twice each. So did the other women who piled in.

  “Ohh. Guests? Or prisoners?” Bear’s eyes twinkled as he nodded to the newcomers and then winked at me.

  “Ignore him,” Pretty Boy told our new friends with a teasing smile, shaking Reaper’s shoulder when he stiffened. “Putting his foot in his mouth is how Bear says hello.”

  “Welcome back, girls,” Gretle said. “You guys look terrible!”

  “I bet we do,” Emmy said. “I need a bath.”

  Sheriff introduced the Brothers of Brimstone, and the newcomers shook hands with the men gathered in the garage.

  “Hey, you’re missing a few people,” Crank said. “Did some of you stay behind?”

  Doc cleared his throat heavily and shut the driver’s side door of the meat truck. Sheriff’s chest rose and fell hard.

  “Where’s T-Man and Crash?” Bear asked.

  “T-Man and another of the Brothers of Brimstone will be arriving in a few days,” Sheriff said.

  I looked around, seeing no sign of the one person I at once dreaded and wanted to see most. “Gretle, where’s Cherry?”

  “She’s—”

  “Sheriff?” Crank said a little too loudly, the way one does when he’s being put off. “Where’s Crash?”

  “And Latch and Pup?” someone else put in.

  Sheriff met everyone’s gaze. “We lost them,” he said, his voice oddly monotone. “Latch, Pup. Crash. They’re gone.”

  Murmurs of disbelief and horror and strings of curses rippled through the room, but I only heard one. Across the room, a woman’s gasp seemed to carry over everyone else.

  Several of the men moved away from the door leading into the garage. Cherry stood in the entryway, the color gone from her face as if someone had sucked every last drop of blood from her. Her emerald eyes were large.

  “General?” Her voice cracked. She was looking right at Sheriff. “What did you say?”

  My heart battered my chest, my throat so tight I could barely breathe.

  Sheriff’s chest pushed out again. “Crash is dead, Cherry.”

  Cherry’s brows shot up further and her face went even whiter. She shook her head, her mouth opening, but nothing came out.

  I moved toward her, but she shook her head at me, her eyes bright as stars.

  I took another step, tears starting to fall. “Cherry….”

  Without a word, Cherry turned and fled.

  Chapter 10

  Meeting the Brothers

  Watching Cherry bolt out of the garage, my heart shattered for her. She was so much more than my friend, and like with Serena, I couldn’t imagine how I’d have felt if I’d lost one of the men I loved.

  I started after Cherry, but Gretle stopped me, shaking her head.

  “Give her time.” The old woman’s grandmotherly hand on my shoulder and the tenderness in her voice made my throat tighten more than it already had.

  I looked back helplessly at Sheriff, wiping my eyes.

  He winced and stroked my hair. “Damn it,” he muttered. “I never was good at the whole bearer of bad news thing.”

  If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he was stroking my hair to comfort himself as much as me.

  He closed the door to the carriage Hawk and I had climbed out of and shook his head at the Captain of the Guard. “I should have let you break the news, Hawk. You got that whole sensitivity thing going on.”

  Sheriff’s words seemed to be coming down a long tunnel, along with Hawk’s rumble in reply.

  “It’s never easy, General.” Hawk rested his palm on the small of my back and pressed his warm lips to my temple. “She’ll be all right, Kitten. In time.”

  I forced myself to nod, even if I didn’t believe him.

  “Pretty Boy, take our guests up and show them around while we unpack. We’ll find them quarters when we finish here.”

  “Sure, General. Come on, guys. You need to see the clubhouse. It…” He’d led Sinister, Savage and Reaper out of the room before I could hear whatever else he’d said.

  “Come on, Kitten.” Hawk took my hand. “Help everyone unpack.”

  I turned to help the women unload some of the supply boxes from the back of a carriage but froze when I saw Doc and Steel unloading the cloth-covered stretcher from the back of the meat truck.

  Steel jostled the back end of the stretcher. Crash’s bone-white hand dropped out from under the cover.

  “Sorry, Doc.” He reasserted his grip on the stretcher.

  Sheriff glanced at me, brows furrowed, and slipped Crash’s arm back under the white sheet.

  Everyone had stopped to stare. Or tried not to stare, until Doc and Steel carted Crash away.

  I shook myself, refusing to show the men any weakness. Especially in front of Sheriff, who looked on the verge of ordering Hawk to take me out of the room.

  “Where are they taking him?” I whispered to the women, lifting a crate of food out of the carriage.

  “To Doc’s morgue. They’ll keep him there until the funeral.” Diamond piled a second crate on top and grabbed a box filled with bags of powdered milk.

  “The Grotto has a morgue?”

  Gretle nodded, taking the ice cooler and ignoring Emmy when she tried to take the heavy box from her. Emmy shrugged and took a couple of boxes in her arms.

  “I’ve got it, dear. I’m not as decrepit as everyone thinks.” Gretle’s smile took the bite out of her words. “And yes, it does. It’s only a small one. Thankfully it doesn’t get used often.”

  Now that I thought about it, I supposed it was silly to think the Grotto wouldn’t have a place like that.

  “When will the funeral…I mean…um.” I felt my face pale.

  “Day after tomorrow, probably.” Diamond nodded for me to follow her, Emmy and Gretle up the steps to the main floor of the Grotto. “It’ll take time to set up, and the men will want to relax for most of the night. Grim has to get things ready for Crash.”

  “Who?”

  “Grim. He’s the Legion’s undertaker.” Emmy gave a shudder.

  My brows went up. I couldn’t fathom a life revolving around death, or what such a man would be like to meet. Though the Grotto was home to over a five hundred men, it still surprised me when I heard about people I’d never met or seen. Sometimes it seemed so much smaller, like a family.

  How would that family fare now, having lost three of its own?

  Over the next couple of hours, everyone unpacked anything that couldn’t wait, leaving the rest for later, after the men had a chance to regroup and spend time with the rest of the Legion.

  Cherry made no appearance. My gut churned with sadness and worry for her. While part of me knew I should give her privacy, part of me longed to go and find her, to offer some kind of comfort. I also couldn’t help feeling a twinge of guilt, dreading the inevitable conversation I would have to have with her.

  How would she react when she learned how Crash had died?

  Once we finished unpacking, Pretty Boy sent me for a bath with Diamond and Emmy in the slave pool. I luxuriated for almost an hour in the warm water, talking with the women while we washed each other’s hair and backs. Diamond washed out the dye in my hair until it shone with its natural lavender hue. Afterward, Pretty Boy took me to his cave, while Steel stayed in the clubhouse talking with our guests.

  Looking around the cave, with all its gold and jeweled finery on every table, the clothes strewn about on chairs, an intense feeling of home struck me, making me smile.

  “Come on, you.” Pretty Boy took my hand and pulled me toward his bedroom. “There’s going to be a party tonight. I want you to look extra special for it.”

  “A party? To
honor the ones we lost?”

  “No, that’ll be after the funeral. That’ll be a much bigger one. This shindig’s going to honor our guests.”

  “Ah. Beast will miss it, though.”

  While we talked, Pretty Boy chose a beautiful red cadris with gold tassels along the waist and gold trim along the bodice. The wide, billowy bottom half had slits up the sides to show off my legs when I walked. Gold toe rings drew attention to my bare feet.

  “Trust me, that’s a good thing,” Pretty Boy said, watching me with shameless lust as I pulled on my clothes. “He’d hate it.”

  “Oh. Right.” Sometimes when Beast was with those he was close to, he seemed so relaxed and laid back, it was hard to believe it was the same man I’d seen that one night at Lord Falnar’s dinner table. He was fine with small groups, but he hated crowds and noise to the point that he became dangerous.

  “How will Beast get into the Grotto when he and T-Man get here? He can’t drive a bike if he’s blindfolded.”

  “T-Man will drive him in on the back of his bike. He’ll send a prospect out for Beast’s bike later.” Pretty Boy looked me over once I’d finished dressing. “Turn around, Princess.” He made a circle with his finger. “Let me see you.”

  The possession in his pale eyes made my sex clench with familiar need. I turned around slowly, pride shooting through me at his approving gaze.

  “Perfect.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “So glad that damned black is gone. I’ll have Diamond do something nice with your hair before we go to the clubhouse. I want to show you off to Sinister and the others.”

  Knowing how rare guests were in the Grotto, much less new recruits, I was looking forward to seeing how the Legion would honor the newcomers. They weren’t ours yet, but I knew my masters wanted them to be, and the Brothers of Brimstone seemed eager to see how things played out.

  At the slave quarters, Diamond sat me in a chair in the dressing room. “I’m no Cherry, but we’ll have you looking spectacular before the party starts.”