by Ali Parker
I decided not to call her.
She might hate me for it, but it was better than her rushing into the fray.
I did, however, call the mechanic shop. A young woman’s voice answered. “Hello, this is Jamie. How can I help you?”
“Hey,” I said as I reversed out of my stall. The call transferred to the car stereo via Bluetooth as I raced up the ramp to street level. “This is Angela, Sabian’s—” I paused. Was I telling people I was his girlfriend now? “It’s Axel’s sister.”
“Hey,” the girl said. She sniffed into the phone. “If you’re looking for Sabian, he’s not here.”
Damn it, I thought as I slammed the heel of my hand into the steering wheel. I pulled out into traffic, not caring that I cut off a lifted pickup truck. The guy laid on his horn as I put my foot down on the gas and wove in and out of taxis and sedans. “When did you see him last?” I asked.
“Yesterday, I think. Everything’s been a blur since… since…” She broke off. I could hear that she was distressed.
“Listen. Lock up the shop. Whoever is working there with you, don’t let them leave. Stay there together. Is Ellie there? Or Axel?”
“It’s just me and Ellie right now. What’s going on?”
I took a sharp right turn. “Something is about to happen, Jamie. I don’t know what it is, but please stay where you are. I’m going to make sure everyone is safe. And I’ll call you as soon as I find them.”
There was a long pause on the phone. For a moment, I thought she hung up. Then she spoke again. “Is this about what happened to Hyde?” She sniffled again.
“Yes.”
Another long pause. “Angela you shouldn’t get involved. Ryder and the others know how to handle this kind of thing.”
“I wish that was true,” I muttered. “Lock the shop. Stay where you are. I’ll call.”
“And if you don’t?”
“I will.”
I hung up the phone and placed one more call. I called the only people I knew would get there in time. The only people who might be able to end this thing once and for all:
Reporters.
Chapter 25
Sabian
“Ryder, let’s get the fuck out of here!” Axel yelled as he rushed to the front door.
Ryder had just gotten off the phone with Dani and was standing in front of the living room window.
“Ryder!” Axel yelled again.
“They’re already here,” Ryder said. His voice was so low, I had to strain my ears to hear him. “Fists up, boys. Things are about to get real messy in here.”
Axel stopped with his hand on the door handle. He looked back at me like there was something I could say or do that would change our current predicament. There wasn’t. We were up to our necks in shit, and from where I was standing, there was only one way out.
We had to fight.
Axel retreated back from the door and came to fall into line beside me and Jax.
“How many?” Jax asked beside me.
Ryder never turned from the window. “A dozen. Maybe more.”
“Fucking Hell,” Jax grated.
“We’ve been a step behind at every turn,” Axel said. His hands were tightening into fists, and his eyes never left the front door.
Ryder finally turned to face us. “There’s no going back from here. They’re coming in here to end us. We’re going to be fighting for our lives. Protect yourself first. You’re no good to anybody once you’re dead. Let’s give them hell. For Hyde.”
“For Hyde,” I said.
Jax and Axel stood their ground beside me as Ryder fell into line beside us. My phone started vibrating in my pocket. I knew instinctively that it was Angela. Every vibration against my thigh made me thankful that she wasn’t anywhere near this mess.
It also reminded me that I might never see her again.
Ryder’s front door suddenly blew inward and slammed into the wall. The drywall crumpled beneath the impact and sent a cloud of dust into the air as men started streaming into the house. They all looked like identical duplicates of one another, with bald heads and sunglasses. They were dressed all in black, and their boots thudded on the floor as they filed in, one after another. All twelve of them hung back in the entrance to the living room.
For a moment, my brain was overrun with comical thoughts. These bastards looked like they belonged in a low-budget mafia film. All that was missing was a ring leader puffing on a cigar who, when he spoke, would be impossible to understand due to his thick Italian accent.
When I realized why they were all waiting in the entranceway with the toes of their boots lined up with the line between the carpet and the tiles, everything became less comical.
They were waiting on her.
Another man stepped through the front door. He was barrel-chested, and the thickness of his arms put Ryder’s size to shame. There was a manic grin contorting his severe features as he stopped and drew to his full height. He stared each of us down, and I felt Jax tense beside me. He was ready for a fight.
Then she came in.
Ruby Johnson stepped around the massive man who had entered last. He offered her his hand, which she accepted as he guided her to stand in front of him. She was dressed much the same as she had been when I saw her in the coffee shop. Her skirt was skin tight, white, and down to her knees. Her white shirt was sleeveless and slightly transparent. Her heels were also white, as were the toenails that peaked out of the tip. She looked pristine as she folded her arms under her breasts and wrapped her fingers around her bare forearms. Her eyes and her smile passed over me before she let out a low chuckle.
“My my,” she said sensually, “I’ve been waiting a long time to get you all alone like this. You have no idea how horny this makes me.”
Ryder let out a bark of laughter, drawing her attention to him. “You and me both, sweetheart. I’ve been thinking about getting my hands around your pretty throat for days.”
The big man beside Ruby growled an ominous sound, low in his throat. Ruby rested a hand on his chest and patted gently. “It’s all right, my sweet. They won’t get their grubby hands on me.” Her blue eyes sparkled as she squared her shoulders and faced Ryder. “You and your pathetic Lost Breed mutts have seen their last days, Johnny Moretti. It was easy snuffing out your last member. I doubt the four of you will pose any more of a challenge than he did. What did he say his name was again?”
She wasn’t asking us. She was asking the big man beside her, the one she called “my sweet”. He grumbled with laughter that didn’t touch his face. “His name was Hyde if I recall correctly.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” Ruby pressed her forefinger to her chin. Then her red lips peeled off her white teeth in a sharp smile. “It feels good to be using past tense. His name was Hyde.”
Ryder exploded.
It was like I was standing next to a firecracker when he went off. A yell burst out of him as he sprang into action. He propelled himself forward, swiping a lamp off one of the side tables next to the couch on his way, and slammed its ceramic base into the side of one of Ruby’s goons’ head.
He was lying in a crumpled heap when the rest of us followed our fearless leader into battle.
It only took seconds for me to forget about everything else going on around me and narrow in on keeping my head on my shoulders. All I knew was that Ryder had gone for the big guy, and the rest of us had scattered to take on the others who had tried to get to Ryder when he made his move.
As I met my first man, I tuned out the sounds of the fight around me. I let the yelling, the growls of pain, and the laughter from Ruby Johnson fade away as I buried my fist into the gut of a man who tried to use my face as a punching bag. He doubled over in front of me, and I drove my knee into his nose. As he made to move up, his hands already clutching his face, I let my elbow descend upon the back of his neck.
He fell in front of me, and I stepped over him to take on the next in line.
Goon number two was bigger and someho
w faster. He ducked in low when I moved to strike, and my swing sent me off balance. I staggered forward as he went for my knees and tackled me to the ground.
I fell backward with his arms wrapped around my thighs. Something slammed into the back of my head and little white lights danced behind my eyelids, which felt suddenly heavy.
I couldn’t give in to the temptation to black out. The pain was intensifying in my skull, and I knew I had hit my head on something when I fell. Probably the corner of the coffee table. I lifted a hand to the back of my head, and my fingers came away bloody.
Then goon number two was climbing on top of me, and his knuckles collided with my jaw.
My teeth bit into my cheek, and blood coated my tongue. I spat a mouthful out on Ryder’s carpet and thought dimly that when this was over, I would have to scrub that out.
Then he hit me again, and all thoughts were temporarily lost to me. My ears rushed with the sounds of the brawl around me, but it sounded far away, like I was under water. Then I was swallowed by silence.
When I came to, someone was pushing me up to my knees and holding me in place. I swayed on the spot, and a pair of hands on my shoulders stilled me.
“Sabian?” I wasn’t sure, but I thought it was Axel’s voice beside me.
I managed to open my eyes, which felt like someone had tried to glue them together. Blood coated my lashes and framed my vision in red. But I found my friend’s face. He was on his knees beside me. He looked to be in rough shape too, with a split eyebrow and an already-forming black eye.
“You all right?” Axel asked.
I nodded and looked past him. Jax and Ryder were also on their knees. The four of us were lined up on the living room floor with the window at our backs. I swallowed, still tasting copper, and turned to look in front of us.
Ruby was standing about five feet in front of us with her hands on her hips. She wore a smug smile, and I noticed that red blood stained the side of her white skirt. I also noticed she was wearing a pair of brass knuckles, which, of course, had been painted white.
She pulled them off her fingers and spun them around in a loop as she regarded us coolly. “This did not take nearly as long as I expected it to. I’m a little disappointed, to be honest. I thought I’d get more of a pre-show before we got the real entertainment underway.”
“Come a little closer,” I heard Ryder say. “I’ll give you some real entertainment.”
Ruby threw her head back and laughed mirthlessly. “You are cute, Johnny. I’ll give you that. But there’s something about tall dark and handsome that makes my knees weak.” She moved in on me like a viper. She came close enough to lift her foot and rest the heel of her shoe on my thigh. Then she leaned over, the heel digging into my muscle, and stroked my chin with the brass knuckles. “You shouldn’t have turned me down, Sabian. I would have granted you a sweeter end than this.”
I jerked my chin away from her, and she followed my retreat. “Come now, don’t play hard to get. You’ve already been… gotten.” She grabbed my chin and turned my face back to her. I was so close that when she smiled, I could see red lipstick staining her front teeth. “I can play so much better than that little rich bitch you’ve been running around with. What’s her name? Angela?”
Axel went wild beside me. Ruby laughed as two of her men moved in and subdued him by restraining his arms behind his back and pushing him forward so his cheek was almost touching the carpet. Then she turned her icy stare back to me. She never broke eye contact as she addressed her personal goon.
“Kill them, my sweet. Start with this one. Save Johnny for me.” She released her grip on my chin and stood back as someone grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back. I let out an involuntary snarl against the pain as I found myself staring up at Ryder’s ceiling. His brown ceiling fan, straight out of a nineteen seventies interior decorating magazine, was spinning lazily in the middle of the ceiling.
Something cool and sharp was pressed to my throat as a stern, evil face filled my vision. The biggest goon was leaning over me, and he had his knife pressed to my neck. He applied more pressure and smiled a truly joyous smile as I felt blood leak out of the fresh cut and pool in the divot between my collar bones.
I heard Ryder yell for them to leave me alone. Ruby laughed harder. Then all three of the other Lost Breed members were writhing and shouting and doing everything they could to get to me.
It was no use.
I swallowed against the blade, and it cut deeper. The goon above me looked up at Ruby. He was nothing more than an obedient dog, awaiting the command of his master.
“Do it,” I heard her say.
I closed my eyes and waited for him to slit my throat. I waited for the pain, the burn, the sputtering—but it never came.
Instead, my ears were assaulted with a surprised shout and the sound of something—or someone—falling to the floor.
My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring at another brawl. Confused, I snapped my head to the right. The others were still on their knees. The big goon behind me let me go and rushed around me to get to Ruby, who was hurrying away from the new fight that had just begun.
I spotted a flash of two familiar faces.
Derek and Caleb.
Dizzy and disoriented, I got to my feet. Axel yelled out a warning, and I ducked, narrowly missing a swing to the back of my head from one of the men that had been subduing Angela’s brother. I took him down with a punch to the jaw, and Axel was able to handle the other one.
Then we moved to free Ryder and Jax as Caleb and Derek worked on bringing down the others.
Ruby’s manic laughter told me they were not on the winning side of things.
A blade flashed in the corner of my vision. I tried to get out of the way but didn’t move fast enough. The knife sliced across my chest, and as I retreated, a big hand gathered the front of my shirt and yanked me forward.
I found myself face to face with the man who had nearly managed to kill me seconds earlier. He had a bloody nose now, which appeared to have only made him angry. He lifted the knife high above his head. His grip was so tight on the hilt that his knuckles were white.
I tried to pry his fingers open that clutched the front of my shirt. His hand with the knife came down so fast I thought I heard it whistling through the air.
He sank it into the right side of my chest just below my collar bone. The pain stripped the air from my lungs as he wrenched me off my feet and tossed me over the coffee table. I rolled onto my side and gripped the hilt of the knife imbedded in my chest.
The big man stepped over the coffee table.
“Stop trying to fight me,” the big man bellowed. “I am your death.”
Chapter 26
Angela
Ryder’s house was surrounded with reporters and news crews when I parked in the street. I launched myself out of my car and didn’t bother to close the door. I ran full speed across the street, up the driveway, and plowed through the throngs of people who were setting up cameras and getting sound equipment out of their van.
Police sirens were whirring in the distance, but I already feared we were too late. As I tried to get through the reporters, I could hear some of their reports as they spoke into the cameras.
“Sounds of a fight broke out about fifteen minutes ago according to neighbors who came to check on the residence.”
“This house is known to be a home of a gang member.”
“No gunshots have been fired, but there has been violence inside the house of a known gang member on this residential street.”
“Neighbors speak of seeing a woman in white entering the residence before sounds of a brawl were heard.”
A woman in white. I swallowed. Ruby Johnson was here, and by the sounds of things, had been for at least fifteen minutes.
Did Sabian and my brother have it in them to hold her off for fifteen minutes?
“Move!” I yelled as I continued pushing my way through. Some people tried to hold me back when I reach
ed the end of people and burst free of the confines of the crowd. Someone caught the back of my shirt, which tore as I kept running toward the front door.
They needed me. I couldn’t be scared now. I had to act.
Angela Cooper was not a snobby rich girl who lived with her head in the sand anymore. I was the woman who loved Sabian Delgado. I was the sister of Axel. I was a Lost Breed at heart now, and they needed me.
I rushed up the porch steps and blew through the front door.
The scene before me made me freeze in my tracks. I gripped the corner of the wall as I stood at the cusp of Ryder’s living room, soaking in the disastrous sight.
Ruby had her back to me. She was dressed in all white and was not aware of my presence. Several men dressed in black lay across the floor. Some were on their sides, others were face first. All were unmoving.
I ran my eyes over more familiar faces.
Jax was on his back. A man stood over him with a boot under his chin. He was pressing down. Jax’s face was turning red.
Ryder was still on his feet, throwing punches at a massive man who was grinning like a fool. His hands were coated in blood.
Axel was on his feet, too. His fists were up, and he was fending off three men. He was snarling and swiping at whichever one of them tried to get too close.
Then I realized he was standing in front of someone.
Someone who was on their hands and knees on the ground, clutching their chest.
Sabian.
I had to do something. Anything.
“Hey!”
The word exploded out of me in a shrill scream. I got the attention of everyone in the room. My brother looked over at me, and his eyes widened with horror. He moved to come toward me, but the three men he had been fighting off went to try to slip behind him to get to Sabian. Axel fell back a step, swung a right hook, and decked one of them in the jaw.
Sabian looked up at me from where he was on the ground. His hairline was soaked in blood. There was a cut on his throat, and blood coated his neck.
