by E. C. Land
“You gonna lose that attitude?” he asks in return.
“Don’t have one but I promised Tins I would be in there with her until she has her baby. Now let me go,” I snap.
“Alright, but don’t try to run off. I’ll find you if you do and when I do it won’t be pretty I can promise you that. What I mean is your ass will be on fire and you won’t be able to sit for a fuckin’ week. Understood?”
“Whatever,” I huff, not wanting him to see the extent of what his words do to me. Guess it’s a good thing I’m in a hoodie and he can’t see my nipples. “Now go away.”
“Just wait until tonight,” Ranger mutters, the corner of his lip curling up into a grin.
Glaring at him, I move away from him and with a chin lift to Raven, Victoria, and some of the other ol’ ladies I know, I make way to the double doors leading to where Tinsley is. Last time I was here, had been shortly after she’d nearly been beaten to death.
Right after that is when I started working this job I’ve been on.
Stepping through the doors, I find out which room Tinsley’s in and head in that direction. As I approach the door, I take a deep breath and knock on the door while opening it.
“I’m going to kick your big ass for doing this to me.” I inwardly grin at Tinsley’s threat to Coyote.
“Luce Mia, you’ll be okay soon as little man is out of you,” Coyote remarks with a chuckle.
“I highly doubt she’ll be okay fully considering her vagina will be stretched to the max by your kid,” I snicker, making my way toward Tinsley.
“Where the hell have you been?” she snaps, narrowing her gaze on me.
“Doesn’t matter,” I shrug as I lean forward.
“Bullshit. Tinsley was calling you nonstop and you didn’t answer,” Coyote snarls, fury glimmering in his gaze. He’s more than pissed with me but honestly, I don’t give a damn I don’t report to him or anyone else. Tinsley knew there was a slight chance I might not have been able to make it today; however, I’m here and Coyote can shove his pissy mood up his ass. He doesn’t need to know my business just as no one else does.
“Harlow,” Tinsley groans as another contraction hits her. “Tell me at least why you didn’t answer the phone.”
“Didn’t have it with me when I went out last night,” I murmur honestly, meeting her gaze.
“Not smart, woman,” Coyote growls and I inwardly roll my eyes at him, though I get where he’s coming from. His sister went through some shit not long ago and now she’s happy with one of his brothers.
“Not smart? Right. Can we drop the subject about me and focus on this baby?” I suggest, icy feelings starting to seep in. I’ve never had a problem with Coyote but right now him being in super dick mode is starting to piss me the hell off.
“Yeah, we’ll do that for now but don’t think this conversation is over with. I don’t know what’s going on with you and considering you’re one of my best friends I’m not going to let it slide. I want to know what’s going on. You disappeared without so much as a word to any of us and Raven simply tells me you’re doing something she can’t talk about ‘cause she didn’t know all the facts. Well, woman, you’re gonna talk,” Tinsley grumbles, throwing her head back against the pillow, clenching her eyes shut.
Jesus H. Christ.
Tinsley can be fuckin’ demanding and bossy when in pain.
“We’re not talking about this now or ever,” I declare firmly. It doesn’t matter to me if we’re best friends or not. Which is news to me. I’ve never had a best friend, only my family.
“We’ll see about that,” Coyote states, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Damnit, someone get me the fuckin’ epidural,” Tinsley nearly screams, sweat beading on her forehead.
“You said you didn’t want it and that we weren’t to allow you to say otherwise,” I inform her before her man could give into her demands.
“I don’t care what I said then, this little dude is going to rip me a part,” she yells through her contraction.
“Babe, seriously, you can handle this shit so quit your bitchin’, breathe and let your hoo-ha do what it’s supposed to. You’ll be pushing that kid out soon enough. Now how about I go ahead and check you? See where you are,” I suggest, more than ready to get this show on the road so I can get away from everyone.
I have a job to do and as much as I love my family, I’m no one who feels what they do. It’s why I’m called the Harpy. Fury fuels my blood and I’ll never have what Tinsley is getting. What Victoria and Raven already have.
And I’m okay with that since at the end of the day I know the truth of it, it all comes down to I’m not worth the effort of trying to understand.
Ranger will figure that out soon enough and when he does he’ll throw in the towel as well.
Chapter Four
Ranger
“Brother, what the hell was that with Harlow?” Blaze demands, tightening his arms around his ol’ lady, Raven, who was perched on his knee glaring at me as I take a seat across from him. Blaze uses his foot to rock the infant carrier holding their son Mark. Their other son was sitting in a chair next to them with Jamie watching something on a tablet.
Most likely Paw Patrol or Blue’s Clues. With Matthew being a little over one, he pretty much follows Jamie everywhere along with Luca and Corinne, though all the boys seem protective over that little girl.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Victoria mutters from next to her ol’ man, my VP, Tracker.
Fuckin’ hell.
“Right now, I don’t fuckin’ know what’s going on, but I’ll tell you this now, Harlow is mine. Don’t try to stop it or stand in my way when it comes to getting her to come around,” I state more or less to Raven and Victoria than anyone else. Who knows what those two will try to do if given the chance.
“You don’t know what you’re up against,” Raven whispers, shaking her head.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll figure it out along the way,” I shrug.
“No, you can’t just figure it out along the way. Not when it comes to Harlow. You don’t know what happened to her and it’s not my place to tell you but forcing yourself into her life will not get you anywhere,” Victoria states, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Baby,” Tracker says warningly.
“Don’t baby me. Not when it comes to my family,” she murmurs, turning her glare on him.
“Maybe he should know,” Raven remarks.
“Ray,” Victoria snaps, whipping her head in Raven’s direction.
“Don’t Ray me. I know you hate what she went through and I’m not trying to sound like a bitch by saying this, but you weren’t there. You didn’t see the lights die in her the way Pitch Black and I did. Or Lynch. We saw it and there was nothing we could do about it. Not back then, however, I can now. Consequences be damned.” Tears spill down Raven’s cheeks as she furiously wipes them away.
Victoria seems to contemplate what Raven says and nods her head. “You sure about this?” she asks.
“Sure, about what? Somebody want to fill us all in?” I mutter, frustrated by everything they’re talking about.
“Brother, you need to calm down,” Shadow mutters, joining the rest of us. Luna takes a seat on his lap.
Seeing the way my brothers are with their women causes a pang of jealousy to filter through me as thoughts of wanting the same thing penetrate my mind even more so.
“I’ll calm down when I understand what they’re talking about in regard to Harlow,” I grumble.
“When Harlow was thirteen, she was attacked,” Raven announces and everyone around us tenses up at the news. I knew something had to have happened for her to get the scar on her face. “It wasn’t in the way you would think. She was attacked by several girls who beat her, sheered her hair off, and one of them gave her the scar on her face with a pair of scissors.”
“Fuck,” I growl, sitting forward bracing my hands on my knees.
“You can say that again. Pitch Bl
ack found her laying in the dirt at the park, he carried her to his truck and took her straight to the hospital. Harlow never told us which girls did it but I found out and when I did, I made sure they paid for what they did. Unfortunately, it was too late, Harlow had already moved up here and refuses to go anywhere near home again.” Raven’s face grows paler the more she speaks.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Blaze asks, knowing his ol’ lady like the back of his hand.
“What she’s not telling you is Harlow is the Harpy for a reason. You all know I shut my emotions down when I need to but Harlow’s are gone, she thrives off the fury fueling her and she won’t allow anyone close enough to get to her again,” Victoria declares taking over for Raven.
“I don’t believe that. I’ve seen life in her eyes,” I state.
“You might have, but it’s not much. If Harlow had an ounce of life left in her she would have been with us all this time, rather than being the lone wolf who goes out and does everything by herself. Even the fuckin’ job she’s working now,” Victoria mutters.
“What job?” Stoney asks, having joined us as Victoria spoke.
“I don’t even know. All Raven and I know is this job has taken a long time and I’m not getting a good feeling by it, especially after seeing her last night,” Victoria says, lifting her gaze to meet Stoney’s.
“Fuckin’ hell, we need to talk to her and find out what the hell’s going on,” Stoney declares, crossing his arms over his chest. A little while back right around the time Raven had Mark, him and his ol’ lady went on a trip and when they came back something was different between them. I don’t know how to explain it but they seemed whole again, I guess that’s how you can explain it. Plus, Stoney had called church and brought a lot of shit to light he was keeping under his hat. None of us blamed him for not telling us exactly what was going on but it didn’t mean we weren’t all pissed about it.
“Good luck with that. You won’t be seeing her again for a while. Once that baby’s born, Harlow will be gone,” Raven shares right as the doors open to the back and my body stiffens at the sight of Coyote grinning like a fool.
“It’s a boy,” he declares.
Cheers and congratulations filter throughout the waiting room.
“When can I see my nephew?” Cara asks from her spot in the crook of her man’s arms.
“Harlow still with her?” I ask right after Cara’s question.
“Tinsley told me to come get you all, and Harlow was still with her,” Coyote nods with a grin.
Nodding, I wait for everyone else to go first, I figured I’d wait near the door to make sure Harlow didn’t get away from me.
Little did I know in the short amount of time it took us all to get to Tinsley’s room to meet the newest addition to our family, Harlow vanished just as Raven said she would.
Fuck. Now what do I do.
Better yet, what job is it she’s working on that no one else knows about?
My gut tightens as I realize Harlow might not be the one after all. Not when she won’t even let anyone in long enough to help her.
“Ranger,” Tinsley calls my name drawing me out of my head.
“Yeah, Tins,” I say, clearing my throat and stepping forward.
“Um, Harlow asked me to give this to you,” she murmurs, holding up a folded piece of paper.
“Thanks,” I mumble taking it from her and reading it.
Ranger,
Sorry. Maybe in another life where I wasn’t who I am I could have seen where this was going. I wish that were the case, only this isn’t a dream world, and I must do what I started and in doing so I won’t take the chance with anyone else’s life. Good luck and I hope you find happiness where I never will. Enjoy your life.
Until the next life,
Harlow
I end up reading her message three more times as her words burn themselves into my brain. I might not know what she means about some of the shit she wrote in this note, but I do know one thing for sure.
Harlow isn’t emotionless, this proves it. She’s simply lost who she was in the dark of night and needs to be shown the way back to the light of day.
Chapter Five
Harlow
Present Day
There are days where you just want to throw in the towel and say fuck it. Then there are days when it’s just beaten out of you and you say just kill me now. Well right this moment, I’m somewhere well passed fuck it and kill me. More like put the gun to my temple and end the misery that has become my life.
The day Tinsley had her baby, Chase, I should have stayed and seen where things might have gone with Ranger. Only if I’d done that he would have been killed. I made the right decision by leaving. None of them deserve to be harmed in any way, besides they have their own problems to deal with where I have mine.
Hence the reason I’ve been chained to a wall for the past God knows how many days it’s been. I lost count after the first month they snagged me which was about three weeks after leaving the hospital. I’d been taken in by the organization, tested for STDs, and such and they found out I was a virgin, they changed course where I was concerned. Ezra, the head honcho, he decided I wasn’t to be sold but kept as his own little pet. When he realized I wouldn’t submit to him and spread my legs wide and let him take what he wanted, Ezra chained me in a cell he’d built into the basement of his three-story mansion.
I’d been brought out of my cell every so often and it was only to find out if I was ready to submit. When I refused, by either curling my lip up at Ezra and spitting at him or by fighting the men holding me, I was punished severely. If I thought carrying the scar on my face was horrible it’s nothing compared to having Ezra’s brand marking my hip and the lacerations covering the backs of my thighs and the entirety of my back with the cat o’ nine tails whip he uses personally while his guards held me down.
During the days after the beatings, I’m left alone without anything to eat or drink. No one is allowed to come in here until Ezra himself comes. As he says, I am his own personal pet and he will make me submit to him before he takes my body.
Groaning, I rock my head side to side with a sense of lightheadedness hitting me. Why did I leave that day again?
Oh right, to keep those I love the most safe from what goes bump in the night. Raven and Victoria nor any of the other women who belong to men of the Devil’s Riot MC should have to worry about anything else besides taking care of their families. I’d found out something very important the day they took me. Something I knew I had to get to Trevor, only I didn’t get to send all of what he needed, along with my location.
Yeah, you could say I was screwed up one side and down the other right about now. There was no hope in getting me out of here anytime soon.
I should kick myself for allowing this to happen.
Here I am the fuckin’ Harpy chained in a basement, starved to the point my ribs were showing and I’d lost my toned stomach. Honestly, were I stand now, I wouldn’t be able to hold my own against anyone who tried to force themselves on me.
The sound of the door creaking open causes me to stiffen.
Great, it’s time for my next beating.
The footsteps coming down tell me Ezra’s not alone. Normally when he comes down, he’s by himself. That is until I refuse to give in, then he calls up to his goon squad and has them come down to help him in making me suffer.
The lights come on as Ezra takes the last step blinding me against its brightness.
“Ah, my sweet pet, how are you doing today?” Ezra asks in greeting. Three men step behind him, two of them I know as part of his goon squad, the other one looked a little nerdy, with his black framed glasses, hair parted to the side, and a lab coat over a white dress shirt. To top off the guys outfit he had on a freaking bowtie.
What the hell? Who wears bowties anymore unless it’s with a tuxedo. Even then most of the time they have ties that go down the front.
Yeah, I’ve completely lost my mind now.
“Same as last time,” I croak, my head lobbing to the side focusing on Ezra.
“I can see you are in the mood to fight me this morning; however, I have other things in mind,” he states, clapping his hands in front of him.
“And that would be,” I probe sarcastically.
Instead of Ezra answering me, he instead steps to the side and holds his arm out in my direction. “Please, Dr. Bailor, administer what you must.”
“Yes, sir. Are you sure she will be a good candidate for this?” Dr. Bailor asks.
“She will but we’ll know for sure when the drug takes effect won’t we.” Wait what the hell are they talking about? What drug?
“Heavenly Rose hasn’t been tested but on one other person. I will not know the outcome of her actions without monitoring her and if it all goes the way we hope, I’d maybe suggest moving her within the hour to a room upstairs, clean her up, and prepare for what she’ll do,” Dr. Bailor states to Ezra though his gaze stays on me longingly.
Heavenly Rose?
Sounds more like the name of a flower.
“It’s already being arranged for her to be placed in my room as we speak. Now do your job before I kill you myself,” Ezra commands maliciously.
“Yes, sir,” Dr. Bailor murmurs, nodding his head enthusiastically while he pulls a syringe out of his lab coat pocket. As he steps forward, I weakly kickout at him, refusing to let him stick me with the needle of that syringe, shooting God knows what into my system.
“Darin, Randall, hold her down, so Bailor can do his job,” Ezra orders, his eyes never leaving me.
“Yes, sir,” Darin mutters stepping forward. Randall right behind him as they move to either side of me and proceed to hold me down. My fighting against their hold is pointless. Dr. Bailor removes the cap on the needle and leans down to find a vein in the crook of my arm before plunging the needle inside.
“No,” I protest, trying to snatch my arm away.
“You caused me to do this, pet. If you’d just submitted like the beautiful bitch you are, we wouldn’t be doing this right now,” Ezra declares, clucking his tongue.
