Broken (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 1)

by Michelle Betham

He lets go of my hand and reaches into his pocket again, pulling out what looks like a small Swiss army knife and I watch as he crouches down and does something to the lock on the door, taking just seconds before he breaks it loose.

  ‘Done.’

  He stands back up and tucks the knife into his pocket.

  ‘Gimme a couple of minutes, baby, OK? I’ll get ‘em out front, then you go inside and wait for that bastard to come to you.’

  He tucks a finger under my chin and kisses me one more time; a rough, violent, beautiful kiss and I swallow every breath he breathes into me. I take it deep and I hold it there, because I need it. It’s what’s going to get me through this. His strength is my strength, that’s the way it was always supposed to be, I get that now.

  ‘We’re almost there, Izzi. Remember that.’

  I watch as he walks away, round to the front of the clubhouse, and I wait until I hear him shouting, hear a commotion start out in the compound before I go inside. And I reach around to touch my gun again, even though I know it’s still there, I just want that reassurance. And I’m still not scared. I can’t let the fear through, it’s too dangerous. Instead, I recall every painful, terrifying second of that night a little over a year ago. It’s what I have to do, in order to lessen the risk of any other emotion fighting its way forward. There’s no time for fear. I need to hate, like it’s the only emotion I’ve got left inside of me, and I know it isn’t. But I have to believe it is. I have to.

  ‘Going somewhere, beautiful?’

  He’s got my arm up my back before I had time to see him coming, and yeah, he took me by surprise but Sam taught me well, and it takes just a second before I wind my leg around his and in one swift move I turn and slam him back against the wall, drawing my gun on him. Jesus, my hand isn’t even shaking! All I can feel is a rush so fucking strong I can’t even describe it.

  And then I focus, and I see just who it was who almost had me there. And still I stay focused.

  I came here to finish a job. And he isn’t getting in my way.

  Mack

  ‘You don’t want to do this, Izzi.’

  ‘You don’t get to tell me what to do, Mack. Where is he?’

  ‘Jesus, come on!’ I start to lower my hands but she cocks the fucking gun she’s got aimed at my freakin’ forehead and I raise them back up. What the fuck happened to her?

  ‘Did you think I was spinning you shit, Mack? Hmm? When I told you I’d had to learn things and do things that were once incomprehensible to someone like me. Did you think I was lying? That I didn’t have it in me?’

  I’m kinda guessing she’s got it in her now. I’m not sure what I thought before. Maybe I didn’t really want to think about it at all.

  ‘This is fucking suicide, Izzi, d’you hear me, darlin’?’

  She ain’t breaking that concentration, she ain’t even looking away when the noise outside in the compound grows louder. She’s got her eyes fixed on me, and I ain’t ever seen a more beautiful, crazy bitch. She could shoot me down in a heartbeat and all I want to do is fuck her.

  ‘You’re on your own now, Izzi.’

  ‘Where is he, Mack?’

  ‘You looking for me, darlin’?’

  Her head snaps to her right as Viper appears, and she swings the gun from me to him, but he doesn’t raise his hands. He don’t even attempt it. And I lower mine but keep one hand on my own gun, watching as she raises hers slightly, Jesus, her hand ain’t even shaking! I need to get a closer look at her eyes, see if she’s on something, see if that crazy motherfucker she’s with has given her anything ‘cause she has no fucking right to be this calm. Viper could wipe her out in a second, and that’s his plan. I can feel my heart start to beat like hell and it hurts, ‘cause I have no fucking clue how this is gonna pan out. But I got one bad fucking feeling.

  ‘Put the gun down, sweetheart, before I do something I really ain’t gonna regret.’

  She laughs in his face, Jesus Christ, she really don’t give a crap. She’s either gotta be on something or she really don’t care whether she lives or dies. And I can’t stand here and watch her do this, I fucking can’t. I thought I could; she walked away from me, she signed her own death warrant. But I can’t stand here and watch her start something she ain’t ever gonna be able to control. She pulls that trigger, and the retaliation is gonna be fucking brutal. She won’t survive, and neither will her freak of a partner.

  ‘You don’t have to do this, Izzi.’

  Viper turns to look at me, then realizes he’s taken his eyes off her and his head snaps back. But she ain’t shifted an inch, she’s just standing there, staring at him. It’s like she’s fucking frozen.

  ‘She ain’t listening to you, Slayer.’ Viper moves a step towards her but still she does nothing. She’s got the gun aimed at him, and her hand still ain’t shaking any but she don’t seem any closer to pulling that trigger. Maybe she’s having second thoughts. I hope I’m right. Jesus, do I…

  ‘Izzi…’

  ‘Shut the fuck up, Mack!’

  She’s talking to me but her eyes ain’t shifting from Viper, and her voice, it’s stone cold and it has an edge to it that makes me flinch. It’s like it ain’t even her talking. And Viper laughs, and I want to lay the bastard out because he caused this. He started this whole fucking mess.

  ‘Don’t come any closer.’

  Her attention’s back on Viper, and I watch as he stops dead in his tracks. He might think he’s in control here but he ain’t stupid. He still ain’t taking no chances. ‘You got some balls on you, darlin’, I’ll give you that.’

  A slow, almost sinister smile crosses her face and she laughs quietly, and I just don’t know where the hell this is going. ‘Against the wall. Now!’

  Viper smirks, and stays right he is. And I feel my stomach sink. ‘Izzi…’

  ‘I said, shut the fuck up! And you, against that fucking wall.’

  ‘You need to learn some manners, baby.’

  She moves the gun a millimeter to the left and fires a shot into the wall, narrowly missing my head. ‘Jesus fucking Christ!’ She ain’t taking no shit, but Viper’s playing this one just as hard and I watch as she moves the gun back to him, and then it happens – what I always feared would happen. Viper pulls his own weapon, and we’ve got the kinda fucking stand-off nobody needs.

  ‘Izzi, you need to stop this…’

  ‘Don’t listen to him, princess.’

  Yeah, just what we need, her prick of a partner turning up. But even his arrival don’t distract her. Her eyes are fixed on Viper like they ain’t ever gonna leave, and that feeling of dread I got in my stomach, it’s growing…

  Izzi

  ‘You need to get that psycho bitch of yours under control,’ Viper hisses at Zeb, and I can’t believe the arrogant dick. I’m counting to ten then this low-life piece of shit is dead. I’ve hesitated long enough. I don’t even know what the fuck I’m waiting for anymore.

  ‘Talk to me, not him.’

  Now he looks at me, and his cocky expression just pokes at the anger that’s already bubbling away inside me. I don’t care if the fucker’s aiming his gun at me, I’m done. I’m ready. ‘So, he ain’t here to help you then, huh?’

  I hear Zeb laugh quietly, but I don’t look at him. I’m not taking my eyes off this prick. ‘This is her party, not mine,’ Zeb says, and I smile, because he’s right. This is all on me.

  ‘Izzi, baby, please…’

  ‘Jesus, Mack, just keep the fuck out of this.’

  He’s starting to irritate me now, and I can feel a frustration start to build that’s going to get in the way if I don’t shut it down. He’s distracting me, and I don’t fucking need that.

  I feel Zeb’s hand on my hip and he leans in to me, his breath warm as he whispers in my ear. ‘What’re you waiting for, Izzi?’

  I press my finger harder against the trigger, narrowing my eyes as I aim the gun at Viper’s head, but just as I pull back and fire Mack pushes Viper to the ground, meaning I
miss him completely and catch Mack’s shoulder instead and I watch as blood splatters the wall in front of me. ‘Shit! Jesus Christ, Mack, what the fuck…?’

  ‘He’s gonna kill you, Izzi, have you got that yet? Do you understand just what the fuck’s happening here? I mean, Jesus! My fucking shoulder, darlin’…’

  I ignore Mack. He shouldn’t have got involved, he got in the way and shit happens, when you get in the way. Shit fucking happens.

  I look at Zeb, and he nods and grabs Mack’s arm, yanking him back, and I step forward and kick Viper hard. I’m tiring of this whole crap situation now, I just want it done. ‘Get up.’

  He climbs to his feet and I quickly shove my forearm against his throat, pinning him to the wall, my eyes burning into his. Yeah. He’s not quite so cocky now. The shit Sam taught me, no one knows what I’m really capable of. I could kill this prick without a weapon, if I wanted to.

  ‘You don’t think I can do this?’ I press my gun hard into his stomach; push my arm tighter against his throat. ‘And no one’s gonna come save you. They haven’t got fucking time.’

  ‘Then do your fucking worst, darlin’ ‘cause, yeah, I killed your daddy. I killed your boyfriend. I did that. So feel free to collect your half-assed revenge, go on. I freakin’ dare you.’

  It was him. He did it. He was the one who’d fired those shots that tore my world apart. But I need to keep calm, I need to stay focused. I need to draw that curtain of ice up around me and do this. ‘You don’t deserve a quick death. You deserve to die slowly, painfully, with nobody there to keep you company on your journey to fucking hell…’

  He laughs, and I dig the gun even harder into his gut. I am fucking flying here, I haven’t felt a rush like this since… ever. I’ve never felt it, and I like it, Jesus, do I!

  ‘Izzi, baby, come on, darlin’… you can walk away from this…’

  For Christ’s sake! If he doesn’t shut the fuck up… ‘Get him out of here, Zeb, or I swear, I’ll fucking kill him too.’

  ‘Put the gun down, Izzi. You don’t know what the hell you’re doing…’

  I keep my forearm tight against Viper’s throat and push my body against his to keep him trapped as I swing the gun out and point it at Mack. All I’m feeling now is a blanket of something deep and dark engulfing me, and it’s beautiful. I see Aiden’s face; my father’s; the life I should have been living, all those images fill my head until the rage burns so fiercely I can feel it almost scorching me from the inside out.

  ‘You’d really do this, huh?’

  I look into Mack’s eyes, and I feel nothing. I can’t. I can’t let myself feel anything other than this anger and hate. And I glance over at Zeb and he tilts his head down, just a touch, a small nod to tell me it’s OK, we’re OK.

  ‘We’ve got this, baby.’

  And when I look into his eyes it fires me up all over again, and I thrust my arm back against Viper’s neck as I feel him start to move. ‘Get him the fuck out of here, Zeb.’

  ‘I’m going nowhere… Jesus, asshole, get your freakin’ hands off me!’

  I leave Zeb to deal with Mack, I need to concentrate on Viper. And when I turn back to face him he’s smirking, and I once more let those images of Aiden fill my brain; of him falling to the floor, blood pumping out from a single shot to his head. I let that image stay there, feeding my hatred just that little bit more.

  ‘Is this getting you wet, darlin’?’

  I yank my forearm up and knock Viper’s head back against the wall, digging my gun back into his gut. ‘I could break your fucking neck in a move you won’t even see coming.’

  ‘Y’know, this is actually turning me on, man, you are one serious freakin’ piece of work. Feel like giving a dying man one last look at heaven, huh?’

  He drops a hand and touches my thigh and that lights the touch-paper; this is fucking over now…

  ‘Put the gun down, Izzi.’

  Sam’s voice stops me before I can fire that fatal shot I’ve dreamed of pumping into this arrogant, worthless bastard. But I don’t pull away, I don’t move a muscle. And when he laughs in my face I stay calm. I don’t know what the fuck Sam’s doing here, or why he’s stopped me from doing what he knows I need to do, but he won’t prevent this from happening. Nobody, not even Sam, is taking this away from me.

  Nobody…

  Mack

  I swear to God, if this asshole don’t let go of me…

  ‘You’re really gonna let her do this?’ I hiss, although I fear I’m playing to a side of this dick that don’t exist.

  He looks at me, and he says nothing.

  ‘Not big on conversation, huh?’

  Zeb’s grip on my wrists tighten, and then he looks up, because someone else has joined this freakin’ straight-outta-hell party and I follow his gaze. An older, clean-shaven guy with close-cropped light-brown hair and eyes that won’t leave Izzi walks over to her and almost orders her to drop her gun. And she ignores him, of course she does, she’s in self-destruct mode, it don’t take a fucking genius to see that. And I have no idea what the hell’s going on now. This is some crazy fucking shit…

  ‘I said, drop the gun, Izzi.’

  He repeats his request, and I watch as Izzi continues to ignore him. She won’t take her eyes off Viper, and he’s taunting her with his silence and his smirks and that bad feeling I got just ain’t gonna go away.

  ‘Get out of here, Sam.’

  Sam? Oh, yeah, the dude who taught her all this shit. Don’t look like much of a fighter, in fact, his appearance is more accountant than assassin but there’s something about him that tells me he ain’t no pushover. Someone changed Izzi from ordinary girl to crazy-psycho-bitch because she didn’t get here all on her own.

  I feel Zeb’s fingers dig deeper into my wrists, which somehow makes me forget about the pain in my shoulder, and an uneasy silence fills the corridor. There’s no noise coming from out in the clubhouse either, although I never wanted everyone to get involved in this. This wasn’t supposed to end in more loss of life than was necessary. In my head it wasn’t going to end in any loss of life. How fucking naïve does that make me sound now, huh…?

  Izzi

  ‘Don’t get in my way, Sam. Don’t do that.’

  I don’t know what he’s doing but I don’t need this shit, I really don’t.

  ‘Guess the party’s over, sweetheart.’

  Viper grins in my face and I nudge my arm so hard against his throat he starts to choke, and I smile, because it feels good, to finally see a glimmer of weakness in him.

  ‘That’s enough, Izzi.’

  I finally turn my head slightly in Sam’s direction, but I’m keeping one eye on Viper. ‘It’s not nearly enough.’

  ‘Zeb!’

  He’s really doing this? He’s calling in Zeb?

  ‘No, Sam…’

  ‘Now, Zeb.’

  I keep focused, keep my eyes on Viper who narrows his as his smirk reappears and I dig the gun further into his flesh.

  ‘All you have to do is pull that trigger, darlin’,’ he drawls, ‘and you got me. Bang! I’m gone. Game over. You win.’

  ‘Get her away from him, Zeb.’

  I hear Sam’s voice but it’s like he’s miles away. And then I feel Zeb lightly touch my hip, feel his warm breath on my neck, his hand covering mine as the gun’s slowly pulled away from Viper’s stomach.

  ‘Come on, baby,’ he whispers, and I close my eyes and fall back against him, letting him take the gun from me. ‘I got you, princess. I got you.’

  It’s over.

  My dream, it’s dead.

  It’s dead…

  Mack

  What the hell am I looking at here? He touches her, and she pulls back? Just like that? Who the fuck is this guy? It’s like he’s got some weird and twisted hold over her, Jesus, I ain’t seen anything like that before. One minute she’s all evil Barbie and the next she’s in his fucking arms like he’s just flicked a switch or something. This whole situation just got fucking crazier
, man, I need a drink.

  Zeb’s whispering in her ear and he’s got his hand on her hip, his fingers splayed out possessively, gripping her just enough to clench up the denim of her skirt and I watch as she turns around in his arms and he pushes the hair from her eyes and, for Christ’s sake, he kisses her! Am I in a fucking dream here? Is this shit actually happening?

  ‘Is someone gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?’

  Viper’s voice makes me look away from Izzi and turn my attention to him, but this Sam guy seems to have it all under control, and that’s what’s making me uneasy. The calm he’s displaying, it’s almost inhuman, but it makes me see where Izzi gets it from. What the hell did those two crazy bastards do to her?

  ‘Izzi won’t be a problem anymore, I can guarantee that.’

  I almost hear the atmosphere suddenly shift. Something changes, in an instant, and that bad feeling I thought had subsided slightly, it’s back…

  Izzi

  I won’t be a problem anymore? What the hell…?

  I pull away from Zeb but his grip on me tightens and he yanks me back, and I swing around and fix him with a look that tells him I’m not doing this. It works, for a while, his control over me. But I’m done now. This is fucking wrong.

  ‘Calm down, darlin’.’

  I glare at him, and he knows I’m angry. He sees it, and I know he’s only trying to keep me from doing something stupid, but that blanket of anger and hate has swept back over me, frustration and confusion diluting that dangerous mix of emotions I can barely control.

  ‘What’s he doing, Zeb? What the fuck is he doing?’

  ‘I don’t know, Izzi…’

  From somewhere deep inside of me I find a new strength, and I manage to pull myself free of Zeb’s grip, and even though I don’t have my gun anymore I can still do damage. I can still rain a world of hurt down on that bastard, and Sam is not going to take that away from me, not after everything I went through to get here; everything he put me through.