by Jamie Magee
“Well, then I suppose I’ll have a beer, and wait until you find the need to listen to me.”
Reveca rolled her eyes looked up at Steele. “Come up with me so I can cleanse this the right way.”
“Sure that sounds like a great excuse,” Tisk said as she sauntered closer to Talon. “You’re very trusting,” she said with puppy dog eyes. “Letting that big bad wolf go with your woman upstairs.” She moved her hand up his chest. “I could keep you occupied.”
It wasn’t Reveca’s energy that had Tisk pinned to the wall, spread eagle, arms out wide, it was Talon’s. He strolled right up to her, let his lethal gaze ease down her like she was a steak dinner. He leaned in nice and close and said, “You wouldn’t survive it.”
He meant that, in more ways than one.
“Promise?” she gasped.
Tisk was a human witch, and wanted desperately not to be.
Talon shook his head and walked away leaving her pinned there. “Get this cleaned up,” he said with a nod to the druggies. He glanced to where Reveca was, wanting to know what she wanted them to do with Tisk, but she was gone.
Didn’t really surprise him. Reveca had a calm temper for the most part, but druggies in the club, sent to hurt her boys, followed by the uninvited appearance of Tisk was enough to stretch her limits. She needed space to think right now. It was going to kill him, but he was going to give it to her.
Chapter Four
No wound lasted long on any of the Sons or Reveca for that matter. Their flesh could still tear, they’d feel that pain like any human, but near instantly the pain would numb, the wound would begin to heal. The more serious ones, like bullet holes, they took longer, a solid night in some cases.
Her wanting to clean Steele’s wound had more to do with her protective nature than it did with any fear that cranked out girl could have hurt him.
Reveca was in the second floor bath with Steele holding leaves against his already healed flesh. The herb purified, pulled toxins from the skin. If that girl did pass anything into his bloodstream with that bite this would help his body fight it off all the faster.
She was doing her best not to laugh at what he was saying to her. She wanted to be mad but every one of the Sons made it a point not to let her stay that way.
“You should kill that twisted bitch, Tisk, then like botch how you bring her back, hell don’t botch it—nature will have its way. I bet she comes back as a horny nymph. Screw the name Tisk, we’ll just call her Cock, you know, because she’ll be mad craving that all the time but no will give to her because they’re afraid they’ll fall in the massive black hole her—”
“Shut up.”
“What?” Steele asked clearly amused by his words.
Reveca was too, but she heard something, a pounding, then a curse.
Right as she charged out of the bathroom, Shade came out of the room down the hall yelling her name. That was the room mystery girl was in.
Reveca all but propelled herself there.
The girl was in the bed soaked with sweat. Her body was jarring forward violently. Her stomach jutted up then her shoulder slammed back, then finally her head. The same places she had been shot before.
“What the hell is happening?” Steele yelled.
“Run a bath, Steele. Strip her down,” she said to Shade.
Reveca started pulling things out of the chest that carried all her natural meds and cussed when she saw she was all but out of three of the living herbs she needed.
Seconds later Shade was carrying her down the hall, Reveca was running after them.
Inside the bath Shade clenched the girl to his chest hiding her from Steele. “Out,” he growled.
“I’m helping,” he argued.
“I said OUT.”
Steele grunted then left. Reveca adjusted the water to match the temperature the best she could then went through the process she had done when she brought this girl home, and at least once a day since then.
“Put her in.”
The girl went lax in the water, at ease once again.
“What’s going on with this girl? Why is she not coming out of this?” Shade asked with a gravelly voice.
“When she can’t rise, her mind pushes her back to before she died. It’s trying to tell her to let go.”
“I’m going to rip Holden’s flesh off of him slowly,” Shade said through gritted teeth.
“She went quickly,” Reveca offered.
“No, she didn’t,” Shade said as he caressed her forehead. “I can’t figure out if he raped her or not.”
“What are you talking about?” Reveca asked, hesitating placing the last of the leaves she had on the girl.
“I watched her last night, and tonight. About an hour before she reenacts the shots, her hands clench, like she’s holding a gun, then she falls back, tears come out of her eyes, then she holds her hands before her like they’re bound, stays that way for a moment then spreads her legs wide,” he clenched his jaw. “She stays that way for a long time, then flails like she’s running. The shots come ‘bout five minutes after that.”
Reveca put her hand on his shoulder. “He didn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’ve been caring for this body for days. I know she was not hurt that way.”
“I’m still ripping his fucking flesh off.”
“Okay, buddy,” she said patting his shoulder.
When she stood he looked up. “Where are you going?”
“I need to get some more stuff from the garden. Tomorrow I should have what I need to break her out of this cycle.”
“I’ll go.”
She shook her head. “She rests more calmly when you’re here.”
Shade lowered his head.
“What is it about her? What’s with you?”
“I don’t know, Vec, I don’t fucking know. It’s just a hum.”
Reveca tensed but he didn’t see it. She had to get out now. She could feel her very own hum not far off. There were one too many emotions roiling through her right then.
When she went outside she saw that half the bikes were gone. It looked like only Club members were left, and they were all sealed in the lounge with loud music.
She roared her bike to life, meaning to sling gravel all over Tisk’s Honda as she pulled out.
Her garden was at the edge of the Boneyard, miles away from where she was, close to the river. Normally it was her sanctuary. In all truth, if it were any other night, feeling the way she was, she would linger there for hours, meditating her building emotions away. But tonight she didn’t understand what was going on with that mystery girl, wasn’t entirely sure that she would make it until Jamison gave her the herbs she needed, so she grabbed what she came for, packed her saddle bags, then made her way back.
She’d barely made it on the road when a truck came up behind her. She twisted her throttle trying to get out of its path. It charged on, barely missing the back of her bike. It was instinct for her to use magic to tell this ass to go on, but her lawmen buddies were parked in their regular spot and the last thing she wanted to do was give them a show. She was too amped up and she knew with her luck one wave of her power would cause an explosion that would bring all kinds of people she didn’t want to her doorstep tonight.
She twisted the throttle once again, weaved on the road just to dodge the truck. It stayed right on her. “You after me?” she thought. “Fine. Follow me.”
She raced forward then turned into the gravel lot. Her turn was too sharp and the bike slanted to the side. Reveca closed her eyes and prepared for impact, but then all at once she felt a body encase her. She felt a deep throbbing hum drowning her adrenaline.
The bike spun, keeping its near parallel angle with the gravel ground. Three complete sharp whirls occurred before it came to a halt. The truck had swerved. It plowed into the ditch then dug its way out and burned rubber as it peeled off down the road, apparently deciding it didn’t want to play anymore.
Reve
ca felt the bike balance, its engine thundering along as it sat at idle.
She felt strong hands ease up her legs, past her hips then her chest, only to fall back to her leg once more. She had all but laid this bike down, her leg had been thrashed against the gravel, the heat of the bike had burned her as well.
King, he was astride the bike behind her, he’d stopped the bike from spinning, from crashing. The how and why was something that Reveca could not process at that moment. No, that hum it was penetrating, concentrated on her leg that had felt an instant sharp pain in the middle of that drama. She felt her flesh healing more rapidly than it ever had before.
Against her ear, she sensed his heated breath. “When a vehicle is crashing, a soul as powerful as you, should vacate said vehicle.”
That powerful hand of his was sliding up her leg once more, moving to her hip, easing up her side, carefully grazing the side of her breast before it rose to her shoulder then eased down her arm. She couldn’t feel anything right then but the pain of want, her body, her soul reaching for what felt like a life force. Her mind, it was the barrier holding her back, the one thing demanding that she held on to who she was that day.
“If I did that it would’ve crashed into the wall, could have burned.”
“And?” he nearly growled against her ear.
“And I like my bike.” Her speech was lazy, near seductive. Her eyes were hooded, the bike was humming between her legs, hot, and full of power. The body she was pressed against, his long legs, his strong chest, those arms…they were putting that bike to shame.
His long arm reached down to her leg once more. This time her skin felt smooth, like nothing had happened seconds before. She couldn’t feel a damn thing. Nope, nothing but the aching want right at her core. She had no idea what he was doing, needed him to stop, but sure as hell didn’t want him to. She was out of it, so much so that her head naturally fell back on his shoulder.
“I don’t have idle hands, Reveca. I would have repaired your bike, made you a new one.”
No, those hands were not idle, she thought to herself as he followed that same path once more, reaching his hand to her calf then sliding forward, all the while his other hand kept her pressed against him like a vice. He may have sounded like he was in control, the tone of his words may have said as much, but she felt his want growing against the base of her spine.
Her hooded eyes glazed over as her mind took her back to the first time she’d explored him, how she’d hated that water barrier. She didn’t know how good she had it then. Now, they had far more clothes, and entirely too much time and emotion between them.
“I don’t get you,” she said as her body acted on its own and rocked back against him.
He let out a hiss, his hand that was just passing her chest clasped over her hardened peaks. That one grasp sent a shiver down her body.
“Why?” he breathed as she felt his lips graze her neck. “I thought you liked the quiet ones.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. Felt an eruption of emotions fighting to explode within her. The very idea that some part of her Kenson was within him still, and that part thought she had moved on, had some life with Lorecan, it was agony.
Before she could find the will to openly face their end, her beginning in the life she was in now, and deny his words, she heard another bike rumbling into the lot.
King’s energy that was encasing her slipped back, giving her some sense of clarity. When she opened her eyes she saw it was Cashton.
King braced his arm around Reveca, then moved the bike they were on, placing it back where she always left it.
Cashton took his time parking his bike, keeping his glare firmly on King. Without looking, the tension in the air told Reveca that King was returning that glare. She felt him dismount, then did so herself.
She was a bit wobbly, surely looked like she had been to hell and back, but she was ready to stand between them if she had to.
King breathed in as Cashton approached. The ice cold blue shade of King’s eyes was murderous. “Have fun tonight? Too innocent out there? Come back to get your kicks here?”
“You want to get that look off your face?” Cashton said pulling his shoulders back.
“You going to make me?”
“Look, mate. I don’t remember shite I do in the Veil. And when I’m there I only vaguely remember any of this. So if I’ve fucked you over, you might want to wait until I remember doing so. Otherwise, whatever satisfaction you want to get out of this rumble your asking for isn’t going to mean fucking shite to me.”
Right then they went chest-to-chest, glare-to-glare. The tiny rocks across the ground started to move with the force that was in the air. Seconds later it was too much for the metal bins lined up against the garage. They all started to bang against the wall.
“Call it off,” Reveca said through gritted teeth. “Or I will march you both back into the grip of death and let you have at it out there. You’re not destroying my Boneyard over some petty shit that clearly happened long ago.”
King lifted his chin. “Right. Because around here, the past doesn’t mean shit.”
Right then all the Sons came outside, surely wondering what the sound was, why the air felt dense all at once.
Judge and Echo wasted no time coming to King’s side, Thames and Thrash to Cashton’s, edging them back, all of them laughing their asses off.
“I won that bet!” Steele yelled.
“Not yet, you fuck! They didn’t hit each other,” Echo shouted back, trying not laugh. He patted King on the shoulder. “Do me a favor, buddy, don’t hit him for another two days. I’ve got a lot riding on it.”
King didn’t bother to respond.
Talon was looking all over the lot at the obvious damage from Reveca’s near accident.
Tisk, she was pissed. “What did you do to my car?”
“I did that,” Reveca said with a cool gaze.
“You bitch.”
That comment broke King out of his glare with Cashton. Now it was firmly placed on the Goth wannabe immortal witch. That sharp gaze shifted to Talon who was just before her. “She almost laid her bike down.”
All the rumbling jokes and back and forth from the other guys halted right then.
“She was chased here. Fix that.” And with that King walked away not even bothering to look concerned that he’d just given a command to the president of the most lethal MC in existence.
“You left?” Talon said with a furrowed brow. He pointed to the lot, “You spun your bike—you were fucking chased here?”
Reveca glared at King’s back as he made his way to the main house. “A truck came up behind me, stayed close, I turned in, and that’s it.”
“You think I can’t read what happened out here? That I can’t tell how fast you were going when you ‘turned’ in?” Talon said, fury flaming in his dark eyes, literally. The biggest part of all his enhancements was a Phoenix. It gave him his strength, his speed, and a host of other fun elements.
“Why didn’t you use magic, Vec? What the fuck? Outrunning a truck that was gunning for you? What were you thinking?”
“I didn’t want an audience,” she bit out.
“I don’t care what that those fuckers in that van would have seen. We would have dealt with that.”
She stepped up to him and leaned her head back just to meet his hard gaze. “The way I’m feeling, that truck would have exploded on sight. We don’t have time to clean up bullshit like that. I wasn’t outrunning them, I was luring them in for a silent kill.”
“That worked well,” he said as his jawline flinched and those dark eyes moved across her face.
If looks could kill, the one Reveca was giving Talon would have had that effect for sure. She turned sharply, went to her bike, retrieved the herbs from her saddlebags, then stormed toward the house, plowing her way through the others like they weren’t even there.
Hours later, Reveca was slouched against the far wall in the guest room. Across the way, she an
d Shade had placed the mystery girl back in her bed. Shade was perched in the wide windowsill, staring down at her.
The only light was from the array of red and black candles that were burning in their place on the floor, the rhythmic flames outlining the bed in dancing shadows.
Talon slowly opened the door. He’d shed his kut, his shoes. His dark stare found her in the glow of the room, and silently he made his way to her. Not hesitating, he slid down the wall next to her.
“You come first, baby. No matter what.” His whisper was deep, calm, yet still full of that edge in him that had her falling head over heels for him when they first met.
“It’s not like I can die.”
“No, they couldn’t have killed you, but they could have hurt you. If you’re in pain for a second that’s one second too long.”
He reached his long arm around her and effortlessly pulled her onto his lap, cradling her against his chest. “I don’t know what we’re up against here, babe. What kind of arts these people are playing with. Right now we need to stop worrying about what we look like to others and defend ourselves first and foremost. Even if that means you have to blow up a truck. I can deal with anything but you being in pain.”
She shifted her head against his chest, looked through the window, out at the moonless night, out at the stars. “We have to figure out who Newberry’s followers are, what the hell they’ve been doing with the Rouges, what they think they can do with a drop of our blood.”
He glided his fingertips across her arm, further easing Reveca to the null state she had found. She had to space out, had to take that time not to think about anything because she couldn’t process King right then, could not understand any of the hell around her. Clarity, in some part, always came after she’d find her way out of these states. She could only hope to find the same outcome this go ‘round.
“I talked to Thames when he got back from taking care of those girls. He said when he was in those girls heads…the shit he saw was twisted. There’s other girls locked up with them, but he said it looked like they were experimenting on them, draining and adding blood through a shoddy IV.”
