Sniper (Devil's Shadow MC, Book 2)

by K. H. Kate

  "Mad Dog got to know. His original plan was to send your mother with the firstborn on a silver plate to Pedro. So he took her in. We saw her breaking apart day by day. Fuck! Those were golden days." He gives me a smirk. "Then your mother had to run again. The last we found her was two years ago. Now, here comes the interesting part."

  Do I want to hear more? But what choice do I have other than that?

  "You were the surprise. Boy, Mad Dog was surprised to see another child already alive. Guess what? She went back to Pedro willingly. Claimed she still loved him. You worthless piece of shit just had to come into this world."

  My lips tremble severely. I want to scream. In agony. In her pain. In ours. No! I refuse to believe it. Mom can't be...she can't be that stupid. Stupid enough to love a monster after running from him in the first place. But I know it, don’t I? After all, she sacrificed herself for him.

  "Our plan was to fuck you to death and then take Grace to her father. Too bad the neighbors saved your sorry ass."

  A small noise of protest leaves my lips. Too small to hear. Maybe it's a whimper or the pain of who I am by birth. How would Seth react if he knew? I imagine how he must've lived his teenage days. Drunk. Wasted. Lost.

  How did he live day after day like that? How did mom do it? How did I...

  "Fuck bitch! Look at me!" My spine goes tense the moment I feel his hand tighten around my neck, forcing me to look up. Brown eyes, cropped hair and that ugly smirk welcome me. "Ah...now that’s better. When I ask you something, you better answer it."

  "Does it go both ways?" I can't stop myself from blurting out. My fingers are throbbing thanks to Desmond's constant digging his shoe over my hands that even clenching them doesn't help. Stop. I've to remember, just stop talking. Keep silent as you did all those years ago. If you could do that then, you can do the same thing now.

  "What did you say?" He laughs, the haunting sound reminding me of that night. "Fucking say that again."

  "Does it go both ways?" The defiance comes so easily that I'm tempted to try that again just to see what happens. What more can he do anyway? The one person who I thought mattered turned out to be a liar and weak. Weak enough to go back to Pedro for the second time. But he doesn't give me the chance to. His rough blood filled hands seize a chunk of my hair painfully to drag me to the far end of the room. I know what is waiting for me there. I have to mentally prepare myself for the pain.

  Though still, I can't stop the gasp that leaves my lips feeling the cold water dripping over my face. Looks like the shade is filled with more water than yesterday. It drips at a faster speed making it hurt to breathe.

  "You should be happy you're not getting the same punishment as your lover boy."

  The flinch comes from nowhere. I think I would have staggered back or collapsed onto the ground if I was standing. I can't feel my face, the water going to wrong places, wrong pipes constantly. How many times have I choked on water by now?

  "Don't want to know how he's suffering?" He taunts jerking his head in my direction. "I heard he was injected with something deathly."

  No...

  I warily scan his face to find something. Any clue that will reveal that he's lying. Just playing with my heart. But unfortunately, I found none. He's dead serious.

  "N...o-"

  "Oh yes! He was even whipped. But that's not even the best part." What more can he do? I laugh at my own question. These people had no line, no barrier to cross. A part of me wants to hear, another doesn't give a shit. Seth has seen the devil in his glory and learned his tricks just fine. He can survive this hell probably far better than mine.

  He has to. For me. For us.

  "Ceaser is bringing a party for him. They have alcohol, plenty of them." My heart stops. He can't probably know, can he? Maybe the emotion of dread shows on my face as the asshole laughs. "That's not the end of it. Mad Dog slipped some information back then…you know. So, as Ceaser wanted a private party for his dealers, we thought to include your boy.”

  “A private party?”

  The seriousness of his jumbled words doesn't make much sense until the next ones hit me harder than I'd like to think. "Heard of gay clubs, yes? Nowadays it's harder to hide the identity of our married dealers, even the VIP's. The wives make too much hassle. So we thought to serve your lover boy up as a replacement. I heard he was such an obedient pet."

  No...

  Bile creeps up the back of my throat at thinking of what he's going to go through because of me. He wouldn't survive this. There's no way in hell it's ending without damaging him badly.

  "W...what if..." I trail off thinking of thousands of lies I can feed him. My dignity or soul? Seth has all of me anyway. It wouldn't matter if I lose some in the way.

  "What if I offer you a deal, in exchange for his safety?" I sound like a child whining about their favorite toy. The one they know they destroyed on their own and yet hoping to get patched up again by their parents.

  He looks interested though. His eyes narrow slightly but I have his full attention. Or he's just humoring me. “And what do you think you can offer that will save his poor life?"

  "Me." There's no hesitation. "You can keep me. I will do anything you all say. Just let him go. Otherwise no deal."

  "No deal. Looks like the club made you grow an extra spine, bitch. Listen here-" I'm not prepared to feel my hair tugged painfully. He has forced me to stand halfway awkwardly with the rope around me. "We were planning to hand you over after your lover got his punishment. Now it looks like you two may never meet again."

  "You can't do this!" Fear has wrapped its ugly arms around me. But for who? That I'm not sure yet. And it's starting to eat me alive the moment his filthy hands are on me, dragging me by my hair from the room to God knows where.

  "Leave me!"

  Desperate for escape, my hands search for anything that they can find. But all I can get is the dry blood from my fingers, the skin noticeably red.

  No gun, no knife. No Seth. No escape.

  "Where are we going!?"

  He doesn't listen. He only stops when we are standing near a jet. And when he opens his mouth, even my broken self has no idea how many cracks will be in them. "If you think we are bad. Then you'd personally know who Pedro Knight really is."

  "Oh yes." Please stop. "We're sending you to daddy Knight."

  CHAPTER 34

  SNIPER

  My entire body burns.

  A fact I want to avoid at any cost. I suppose I should have been dead by the time he got to lash number fifty, by the time I only felt fire touching my battered skin but guess I'm borderline on the drug to care about what's happening. Hell, I can't even remember how much time has passed since the bastard left me hanging in here. I wouldn't be able to tell even if I wanted to. My throat is dry as fuck, eyes swollen shut where he sucker-punched me to oblivion and my hands are still bound to the bloody hook.

  Even my hearing is coming up short.

  Fuck.

  "Psst! Psst! Hey, Sniper?"

  Did someone...

  "Fuck! You alive, Sniper?" My eyes open. Xavier?

  If I was my regular self I would have been surprised or relieved to see him on the floor next to my feet. But not alarmed. Not wondering if it's a joke or I'm fucking hallucinating.

  "Are you really here?" I ask hoping the answer is no. But he only gives me a deadpan look in return.

  "Of fucking course, I'm here." He scoffs spitting out the blood like me. "I only wanted some help to make my new club, but you Devils! All of you threw me at this asshole and now you have the nerve to ask if I'm here or not. Real mature, Sniper."

  I should be steady. Shouldn't take his words but fuck if he can get away with talking shit. "You think we threw you to them? You were only meant to be transported out of Southside, nothing else. Prez knows what’s best for us, our club and apparently your desperate self. Not my fuckin’ problem if you managed to piss off a drug cartel."

  "I wanted my club back!" His jaw clenches so hard that I'm
afraid he's going to break it. "I lost my club, my members, my business, my money. Of course, I was desperate! Desperate enough to recruit people for a new joined club. I mean Devil’s Hell would have been a pretty damn cute name of a club to exist, don't ya think?"

  "I don't know, Xavier." A laugh tickles out of me. "I haven't been that much in the clubhouse these days. Can't help you with that."

  Lethal doesn't know where we are. Grace still thinks Kitty is doing her dance classes in New York. Now if only Carter is smart or stupid enough to ask for help from the Devils, which I doubt he will have the guts to do, we're pretty much screwed.

  Again, Fuck.

  "How's Foxy?" His eyes narrow over the picture of Ceaser. "Did she look..."

  "For you?" I cut him off. "At first she did. Then she just stopped."

  I don't know why he doesn't say anything back. This is the point I should be worried about. Xavier always has something to say.

  "Where is this place?" If the drug doesn't kill me, silence will. And I can't have Kitty with them when that happens.

  "Middle of nowhere." His voice has that tinge of shame. For who though? "Look, I'm trying hard to stay sane after waking up in my birthday suit and beaten almost to death. In these couple weeks, I've been transferred to more places than I've ever taken a vacation. This is the closest I've come to hope that I can fucking get out of here."

  Get out of here? He flashes me a wicked grin. "You know, now that you're here, the Devils would do anything to save you."

  Oh, the fucking irony. He's hoping for a rescue party which is never coming.

  I can't stop the laughter. It has a dangerous effect on the fool at my feet. He looks confused, unsure of what's going on. I remember...I remember all those nights. The drug not only left me with a buzzing head, but also the painful memories on a silver platter. How fucking wonderful.

  "Why the fuck are you laughing? Did they mess your head up or what?"

  "Mess up my head!? I'm already messed up!" I'm shouting. Not at him though. My eyes are on the table where I can see a silhouette of that damned fucker. He laughs, I choke. He groans, I whimper.

  "N...o. Stop."

  "Lethal is coming, right?" Xavier's still onto that. Haha. Funny. Miserable fucker.

  "He's not coming. In fact, no Devil knows where we are." First blow. "You talked about that hope? It's practically non-existent."

  "What? Repeat that again, Sniper. I think I heard that, we are fucked." He snarls, digging his nails down my legs. It burns but basically everything is.

  "He's not coming."

  The words make me tug once again. My muscles burn, the chain clinks heavily but no hope whatsoever.

  "And you are still trying not to escape." He scoffs before shaking his head. "Please tell me there's a plan somewhere in that head of yours?"

  Plan? Oh, yes. I have one. A dangerous one in fact.

  "That look better mean that you have one?" Xavier answers his own question. Good for him. I wouldn't be able to answer anyway. So, I close my eyes and wait. Wait until the door opens with a thud. And if Xavier knows us as good as he thinks he does, he'll know the plan just fine.

  "Hey! Wake up!" The kick comes out of nowhere. The groan I try so hard to keep inside leaves my lips. Fuck.

  "He can't wake up, you asshole." I can hear Xavier mutter. "I saw him pass out. At least give us some food if you want us to be alive to torture. I can even teach you one or two tricks of torture myself, no?"

  Is it Ceaser or some of his lap dogs? I don't know if the bastard believes it or not, but I can feel the hook being undone, my legs collapsing in exhaustion. How many hours was I standing up like that? My head throbs in pain and uncertainty. I need the energy to escape with both Kitty and Xavier. I'd leave this idiot just fine but then guilt will kill me wondering how Foxy will react if she knew. The things I do for the Devils...

  "Where are you taking us!?" Xavier for once sounds afraid. "Fuck! Open your damn mouth!"

  "We have a surprise for you boys. But first, this young man needs to wake up. The dealers wouldn't love fucking a dead weight."

  I shouldn't have reacted. I should have just kept my mouth shut and acted like I really passed out. But the moment the words fuck and dealers were in the same sentence, I just snapped. I don't even have to look at Xavier to know that he realized that soon too. I struggle to understand how just my fist rises and slams down on the fucker holding me. I don't even see the gun in his hand. I don't feel the pain when he misses the shot.

  "Well, fuck!" I hear a curse above me before two hands are joined by another two. They punch again and again. Xavier takes the asshole's hair in a tight grip and shoves him to the floor.

  Splat!

  The sound feels heavier to me than my disoriented head. My legs wobble to just stand. Shouts erupt outside as if a thousand birds are chirping at the same time. Someone tugs me hard to...run?

  I'm running. To where exactly?

  "Fuck, Sniper! Run a little faster, will you?" Run. Escape. But Kitty...

  "Stop." The first time it doesn't reach his ears. I'm panting out of breath when somehow I manage to shove his hands off me. "Stop!"

  "What!? Do you want to stay here and be a fucktoy!?" Xavier exclaims waving his hands. He's angry and I'm pissed.

  I just killed the bastard. No dragging out. No long pain. I just handed him his death that easily. Ceaser...That fucker.

  My head throbs in pain, my body feels heavy suddenly. Then again, there had to be a cure for my poison.

  “In my pocket…”

  It doesn’t take me long to decide, running back to the bastard’s body, I look for any cure that he had. Shoving my hands into his pocket, I come up with a syringe filled with yellow substance.

  “What the fuck is that?” Xavier exclaims with a frown while I fucking hope it works. He lets out a small scream as I raise the syringe and dig it into my vein with a groan. Fuck, it burns!

  “Shit, Sniper!”

  “It’s ok.” I grit out half due to pain, half to be finally able to think carefully. Before I can say anything, I see two men running to where we left Ceaser's body. In a minute it will be absolute chaos. And if I don't get to her, she will get burned in the process.

  "Do you have the gun?" My hands are already reaching out to hold the shiny gun before he can answer. Years of practice comes easily when I aim at the shoulder and in a second a loud groan leaves the man's lips.

  "The fuck are you doing?" Xavier snarls looking at the wounded man. The fuck am I doing? I'm saving her. Literally and figuratively. Ceaser is dead and that only leaves Desmond. After that...

  She's free. And all mine.

  "Where is she?" I don't know the man who I ask. He's too damn cold.

  The asshole whimpers in pain and shakes his head laughing. "That bitch is dead."

  Dead?

  I can still feel her touch on my skin. She can't be dead. S-She can't be gone. My Kitty is stronger than that. Stronger than me even. So he doesn't expect it when my fingers curl and shove through his face.

  "Fuck!"

  "Tell me where she is?" I repeat. His flesh flashes in red paint. Xavier just watches. He watches the version of me, nobody other than her knows. The liar, the betrayer, the lover.

  "S...She...Desmond is taking her home."

  Home?

  The words make me grin. Home sweet home. The clubhouse is home. Not a cartel's definition of home.

  "And where is home?" Xavier asks scowling. Maybe even he knows not to stop me.

  A wisp of blood leaves his lips when he answers. "She's been transported back to Pedro Knight's manor."

  Pedro Knight?

  Something is not right. And I understand too when Xavier curses. "Fuck! Pedro Knight. That fucker! By any chance, this Kitty is Grace or Gwen Knight?" My mouth opens to protest. Xavier doesn't know my Kitty. None of them do. "Oh shit! She is! He's been looking for his daughters for years."

  Daughters? Gwen Knight...Pedro Knight.

  I want to laugh. But I
can't. I can only half-groan in pain when he reveals just what I could lose, if I don't hurry.

  "Desmond is taking her to Mexico."

  CHAPTER 35

  GWEN

  I was going home.

  But why does it feel like I was waiting to find a cage instead?

  Desmond didn't give me much choice to argue or actually try to escape. He just forcefully shoved a napkin over my nose and the next thing I know I wake up on the jet already in the sky. And the worse thing is, I was leaving Seth in the care of those people.

  When I knew how dangerous it was for both of us.

  Desmond's words about their plan still flash over me in small motion. They are planning a private party with enough alcohol to make him remember the horror of his teenage years. Not only that, he will be forced to be used as…My throat goes dry at the thought of not seeing that easy going grin on his face again. No joy on those blue eyes. Only a cold reminder of what he endured because of me.

  It was always because of me, isn't it?

  Mom, Josh, Grace, Seth...

  Will I ever get to save him? Can I even save myself from my own father?

  My nails dig into my skin breaking it. Tiny drops of blood sip onto the floor, yet like always I can't feel the pain, I can only feel his pain. The loath he will feel once he gets to know that I've left him to suffer alone.

  "Chin up, bitch. We are almost there." I want to ignore everything. Where I am. Where I am going. Where I want to be.

  But reality doesn't give me the solitude I so badly need. It comes in the form of Desmond. His hands are harsh on me, drawing my attention from the doom I'm walking into. "Enjoy your luxury while it still lasts. Pedro wouldn't love it if you walk up to him with that disgusting look on your face."

  "Well, I'm disgusted." I can't stop but retort. Maybe if I push him too much, he will finally throw me out of the jet. One can only hope.

  My freedom doesn't come that easily though. He only snorts at my words and turns back to do whatever he was doing. Apparently a dead woman like me doesn't have the right to mean something.