by Evelyn Glass
And Dawn had to wonder why her blood brother hadn’t risen to the challenge, and if the late Harold Whitaker was little better than a coward.
“However it happened,” he said. “I…”
His voice trailed off, and Dawn touched his arm, as he eased Nicole to her feet.
“I…this is Dawn,” he said. “And she is not the enemy.”
“She your girl?” Nicole asked. Cade said nothing else, but Dawn didn’t need the words, as she pushed past his body and nodded.
“I…I just want to get the real story,” she said. “Why did the Alphas leave Plainfield? If…if Cade saved you, then why—?”
“You really want to know?” Nicole asked.
“I want to understand,” she said. “Maybe if I know, I can help.”
“Probably not,” Nicole said. “But if you think you can take it, here.”
CHAPTER TEN
Pulling up her sweater, Nicole revealed a scarred torso that was marked with a series of circular burns. Dawn pressed her hand to her mouth, wincing at the thought of flaming cigarettes pushed into the girl’s flesh, the fire held in place to leave mark after mark as she screamed.
“It was a dark place,” she started. “Just a little light passing through the boards. I smelled roses, but it wasn’t any kind of sweet.”
Dawn searched her mind hard, but she couldn’t connect these dots as easily as she knew where and how to find Hayek’s. Flowers aside, it sounded like a sinister place, and she watched Nicole’s face contort as she continued.
“I… I tried to run. They just tied me down tighter. And they wanted to know how to take my Daddy out. Like they thought I would tell them where he made his plans.”
“But didn’t you know?” Dawn asked.
Nicole’s eyes locked on hers, and Dawn felt like the Alpha’s daughter could shred her in two with the force of her glare.
“I knew,” she said. “But like I was just going to tell them? They’d have to break me down first.”
“And did they?” Dawn asked. Cade pressed a stray finger to her lips, and Dawn fell silent as Nicole’s fingers trailed down the lines of her scars, and she slightly lowered her pants, more burn marks dotting her waist.
“They tried,” she said. “But I never told them. I am my father’s daughter. I stayed strong. Even when…even when they tried to…”
Dawn cringed at the thought that the fire might have burned lower still when Cade pressed his hands to her hips and nodded into her eyes.
“That’s enough,” he said. “I think she gets the picture.”
Dawn wanted more, but she held her tongue, as Cade dressed her quickly and pushed her back to Mona’s waiting arms.
“Okay, honey,” Mona said. “I’ll take care of you. Like always.”
“So someone else did crime, others did nothing, and I get the life sentence,” Nicole said. “How the hell is that fair?”
Dawn looked into Cade’s eyes, and he eased her into a corner as he whispered into her ear. “Okay?” he asked, the concern in his tone betraying the tightness in his jaw.
“I… I wanted to know,” she said. “So this is why the Alphas laid low.”
“Harold wouldn’t risk his kids again,” Cade said.
“But why didn’t he go after her?” Dawn demanded.
“Had to keep his eye on his boy,” Cade continued. “That was the way his mind worked. So it fell to me to find Nicole.”
And despite the horror of the story still hanging in the air, Dawn had to hold him.
“Now I’m the one who’s impressed,” she said.
“Mona’s always been good for looking after strays,” Cade said, as he slipped away from her. “Better to keep her here and away from the old man.”
“But now he’s gone,” Dawn said. “And her brother’s out for blood.”
“Sort of,” Cade said. “But mostly he just wants the territory back.”
“Guess that’s something,” Nicole said, as she pushed away from Mona. “All you did was tell me to hide.”
“He does that when he cares about someone,” Dawn said, smiling softly as she touched his arm.
“Kept you out of harm’s way,” Cade reminded her. “And Reese will get a kind of justice for you.”
“Reese?” she sneered. “He just likes to think that I’m long gone, and he’s suddenly the oldest. You sic me on those freaks, and this gets done. No more slinking around the Pub and just waiting for them to make their move.”
“How did you know…?”
Cade looked back at Dawn, and he kept his hands as his sides, his nostrils flaring as his eyebrows arched.
“Was I onto something with you?” he demanded.
“Let’s not start that again,” she groaned.
“You were ready to head to Hayek’s. If you knew how to ride—”
“I was doing fine until you grabbed the bike,” she said.
“My bike!” he said. “And how does she know about the Pub?”
“Cade, I just met her,” Dawn said. “I barely know you. Why don’t you look to the smoking lady if you want a lead?”
“Hey!” Mona cried. “I’m on your side.”
“So there are sides,” Cade said. “I should have been more careful.”
“Christ, that’s enough, Cade!”
Nicole pounded her fists into his chest, and Cade started to fall away when she pushed him into the bed, her lips curving into a smirk.
“Lenny keeps me informed,” she said. “He’s expecting me at the party.”
Cade’s face fell in confusion, as he barely stifled a laughed against the pillows.
“The little guy?” Cade laughed. “That’s your in?”
“Make no mistake,” she started. “He’s loyal to me. And whether your girl comes or not, I’m making myself known tonight.” She coldly kissed his lips and reached for Mona’s hand, as she started to fly from the room. “You always said I could count on you,” Nicole said. “Make it happen now.”
“Honey…” Mona started to protest when she simply hung her head, puffing on her pipe again as she looked back over her shoulder.
“Girl has a point, Cade,” Mona said. “I am just the hired help.”
The women disappeared, and Cade started for the door as he muttered under his breath.
“Not going to work,” he said. “This is like the fucking worst call. I…”
“Hold up!” Dawn brought him back to her eyes. Cade stiffened under her hands, but Dawn wouldn’t let him go. “I want you to say out loud that none of this was me,” she said.
“Dawn, I don’t have time for—”
“Looks like Nicole needs a minute,” Dawn said. “I want you hear you say that this isn’t my fault.”
“Dawn—”
“Say it, Cade.” She was stunned by the feel of tears falling from her eyes as she gritted her teeth. “I…I need you to tell me that you don’t blame me for whatever’s going to happen next. I just…I just wanted…”
“Your story,” he said. “Now you have it and then some. What more do you want?”
Dawn fell silent, as he started to turn away. Maybe that’s all there was. No way he would relinquish his bike after a few quick repairs and give her the way out. Now she’d have to take off on foot, and she had a story. Might even be a way to spin it for Michael and provide an ending, cryptic, but a closing all the same.
“Guess I’m out,” Dawn said. “Sorry if I cramped your style or whatever.”
She nearly left the bedroom, starting to remember the pain in her head and feeling it creep towards her heart when Cade grabbed her arms and lowered his lips to her neck.
“Wait. Don’t go.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Dawn looked up to see the blonde’s suddenly sheepish stare as he sighed heavily.
“You…I know you’re not like that.”
Seizing hold of his face, she peered into his eyes, breathing hard as she focused on his sad blue stare.
“Maybe I wasn’t always honest with you, but I did
n’t set this up. And I never lied when it came to…when it was just about us.”
Unable to finish and not wanting to cry, Dawn turned on her heel, ready to take off in any direction of the night when Cade gathered her back in his arms.
“Let me—”
“I don’t want to,” Cade said. “Not again. Not ever.”
He kissed her, and Dawn slipped deeper into his arms.
“Sorry I’m an ass,” he said. “I’m trying to keep so many promises that I forgot my promise to you.”
“And what’s that, Cade?” she asked.
He folded her close, and Dawn savored the feel of his lips on her neck when he stepped back, his fingers still pressing into her arms. Cade started to look away when she pressed her hand under his chin, giving him no choice but to meet her gaze.
“You are…you are my girl,” he said. “My lady. And I want you along for the ride. I think that… no. I know you’re strong enough for it.”
Dawn’s heart swelled in her chest, and she returned to the dream of their bodies racing through the falling snow. She nearly asked him if they could still make that move, but she knew that he wouldn’t leave the road now. Not when he was so close to a family reunion that had the potential to twist and turn in more ways than she could fathom.
“So…so Lenny,” Dawn said. “Guess you’ll have to have a talk with him.”
“I’d rather have a talk with you.”
Cade crushed his mouth to hers, and Dawn flowed into his lips as they fell back to the bed, his fingers curling through her hair, as he gazed into her eyes and pressed his hot palm to her suddenly smiling face.
“Just talk?” she asked. “Seems to me you want so much more.”
“Dawn…”
He kissed her again, his tongue painting her teeth as she forgot her fury, pulling him closer until he pushed back, his tender touch on her face as he spoke. “So you are impressed?” he asked. “Like for real?”
“You’re nothing if not loyal,” Dawn said. “And at the end of the day, that’s a story in and of itself.”
His passion came to a stop, as he curled to his side, his fingers running down her neck as he sighed into her hair, his touch just working its way around the buttons covering her breasts. Dawn moaned, but he stopped again, staring into her eyes as he started to slip away.
“Don’t go,” she implored him. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” he asked.
“It was your bike,” she said.
“One of these days I’ll teach you how to handle it,” he said. “You down?”
Her lips lifted into a smile at the thought that they would race to the moon together, maybe push past Plainfield and find a hill that kept turning up with no threat of ever crashing down.
“I like the sound of that, Cade.”
Their shared kiss, as she held him tighter, her legs spreading to feel him again when Cade inched away and bit down on his lower lip.
“But for real, Dawn. You come with me now. It’s not just about a story. You…we got to play this through. Didn’t figure on Nicole being so sure.”
“It might not be a bad thing,” she said.
“Maybe. Maybe not. But you…”
Collecting her in his embrace, Cade turned to his back, keeping her close to his chest, as he reached under her shirt. Dawn was grateful for her unmarked flesh and the feel of his hands.
“Just play it smart,” he whispered.
“I think I can do that,” she said with a smirk.
“Got no doubt that you can.”
Their lips nearly locked when the sound of someone approaching brought them to their feet. Mona cocked her head as she entered the room, her eyes seeming to swirl with the knowledge of what they were about to do when she clicked her tongue and wagged a single finger in the air.
“Time for that later,” she said, and Dawn hoped that later was a lock and not just a possibility. “Right now, you are running way behind schedule, and you need to make up for lots of lost time.”
Cade nodded his head, taking Dawn by the arm when another figure appeared behind Mona.
“What the hell?” he asked.
It was still Nicole, her perfect pale face and big blue eyes. However, the girl had swapped her baggy costume for skin tight leather, accentuating her perfect form even as it still concealed her scars. The sound of her boots smacked against the floorboards, and she tied her red hair over her neck before pressing her hands to her hips.
“Been waiting for this for a long time,” she said. “You ready, Cade?”
Dawn could sense him wanting to try to talk her out of it, his mind probably spinning with all the ways this could go wrong. However, she stepped in front of him, her hand on his arm, before the man could speak.
“He is,” Dawn said. “And so am I.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Dawn! Run!”
“But I don’t want to leave you!”
“I said move! Right now!”
Doing as she was told, Dawn Sawyers took off on foot amidst waves of complete chaos. Voices cried loudly for vengeance and bandages, and her eyes focused on a narrow path out when she whipped her head back around. Dawn peeled through the crowd and endured a series of elbows slamming into her sides when a pair of strong arms took hold and hoisted her up into the air.
“I told you to get out!” The voice belonging to Cade Everett was harsh and cold—even as she caught a hint of his warmth in his crisp blue eyes. For a moment she was able to drown out the noise and the confusion and focus on nothing but the memory of his hands exploring her wanting flesh. A sharp crack rang through the air, and Dawn startled at the thought that it was another shot fired when she saw the dark-haired woman that Cade had referred to as the healer slamming a chair aside and pushing past them, between them.
“Is she going to help us or what?” the woman asked.
“She’s on her way out,” Cade insisted.
“I never agreed to that,” Dawn said.
“Why can’t you just listen to me?” Cade demanded. “This is not what I wanted for you!”
The woman—the healer—rolled her rich brown eyes and stepped surely towards the perfect point of carnage.
“Let’s say the two of you take it someplace else?” the woman spat. “I have work to do.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Cade answered. Tugging sharply on her arm, the biker brought her to the precipice of a large door suddenly off its hinges. Again she turned and tried to take hold of his neck.
“Dawn, don’t play it like this,” he said. “Danger’s too real now.”
“And you’re not safe here either,” she said. Cade laughed darkly and ran a hard hand through his golden hair.
“Story of my life,” he muttered. “I can handle it.”
“Can you?” she challenged. “This is handling it?” Before he could speak another word, Dawn flung her arms around his neck and clasped him close. He stayed tense in her arms, but his hands started to melt into the small of her back when she slowly looked up into his eyes. “Maybe… maybe we can get back to Mona or call on someone else for—“
“Not happening,” Cade countered, as he pulled away from her, his mouth fixed in a straight steel line. “No outside influences.”
“Then what do you call the party crashers?” Dawn said.
“Price of doing business,” Cade said. “And I already got you in too deep.”
“Thought you wanted me to stick close,” she reminded him.
“Yeah, well, nobody’s right all the time.”
Hurt and biting down on her lip, Dawn started to turn away from him when a hard fist absent-mindedly slammed into her side. She watched a burly man slam to his knees, as he tore his cheek on a stray nail.
“Oh my God!” Dawn screamed. “He’s bleeding. We have to help him.”
“We does not include you right now!” he said.
“But Cade, I can’t just—”
“You can, and you as sure as hell will.”
>
She tried to avoid his touch, as more bodies tried to push past the sawdust and broken bottles of beer. A quick glance to the corner and she saw Lenny bleeding profusely, as blood poured through the healer’s hands. Nicole kept the small man’s quivering head on her lap. The other woman tore at her blouse and applied much needed pressure to a gushing wound.
