by K E Osborn
“You’re not going anywhere, Prinie. So, don’t you dare start saying your goodbyes.”
“This is sweet and all, but I’ve had enough. Time to make you suffer, brother dearest.” Sava presses the knife into my throat, the same time Wraith drops the machine gun to the floor, pulling out his Glock. He dives to the side, into the pews.
It all happens so fast.
The knife cuts me, it’s enough for blood to run down my neck but not enough to kill me, at the same time a bullet lands straight in Sava’s skull. It explodes right against me, forcing Sava’s brain matter to splatter all over my face and neck as I let out an unholy scream.
Someone yanks me, pulling me with them. Suddenly, bullets whizz through the air, going off in all directions as an assassin pulls me to the floor behind the organ. We duck down as the Defiance brothers burst in through the church stained-glass windows. The religious pictures smashed to smithereens as my brothers barge in to help bring the Triglav down.
I bring my hand to my throat trying to stem the bleeding. Shock is setting in—I can tell by the uncontrollable shaking and tears welling in my eyes, not knowing which is my blood or Sava’s. The thought disgusts me as the assassin cowers over me. I’m not sure why he’s doing that considering his third in charge just tried to kill me.
The loud bursting of bullets resonating through the old church sends shivers down my spine. I peek out a little to see Wraith chasing after Vlatko. I’m not sure if he is Damir and Sava’s father, or just the leader of the Triglavs. If Wraith kills him, we’ll probably never know. Wraith unloads a couple of rounds at Vlatko, but he slides down into a pew. Wraith jumps over the pews in search, and as Wraith comes to the pew Vlatko’s hiding in, he stands aiming the gun directly at Wraith’s head.
I tense.
My hands shaking violently.
I can’t make out what Vlatko’s telling Wraith. It seems to be in detail, but going by his posture, he’s shocked. My hands move to my mouth as tears fall over my lids and run down my cheeks.
“Wraith,” I scream, but no one can hear me over the gunfire.
Vlatko cocks his gun.
My heart slams in my chest so hard I want to puke as I clench my eyes shut tight.
I can’t watch this.
The gun fires, once, twice, three times, and my stomach lurches. I fall to the floor, tears streaming from my eyes.
I can’t believe Wraith’s gone.
I’ve never felt pain like this in my entire life.
“Fuck,” the assassin calls out, who’s sitting with me.
Sobbing, I slowly open my eyes.
Luc’s in front of Wraith. Vlatko’s lying on the ground, blood oozing from his back.
So much blood.
I blink rapidly, my eyes not truly believing Wraith’s still alive. He grips the prospect, Luc, on his shoulder and turns, his eyes obviously searching for me.
Oh my God, Wraith’s alive.
My feet move faster than I can, trying and fumbling. I stumble as I attempt to get up, but it’s hard when your hands are tied together.
“Not so fast,” the assassin with me calls out, pulling me back to him.
I struggle in his grip, my eyes finding Wraith’s as he starts bolting toward me. “He’s going to kill you if you don’t let me go.”
The assassin grumbles under his breath. “Damir will kill me if I don’t keep hold of you.”
“Your men are outnumbered. Go, now, before you can’t.” I’m not sure why I’m helping him. Maybe because the less people Wraith kills, the better it is for him. The assassin groans, lets me go, then takes off out the side door.
Wraith and Luc barrel toward me as the fight continues around us while I run straight into Wraith’s arms. He lifts me up against him, his strong arms holding me tight as I loop my restrained arms over him and hold on. “I’m so glad you found me.”
“You’re my home, Prinie. Wherever you go, I’ll be there.”
He slides me down his strong body, his eyes fixating on my bloodied neck, and for the first time, he doesn’t look at it like it excites him. Instead, the sight truly terrifies him. His hand rushes to the wound, and he presses hard. With his other hand, he rips his shirt sleeve off, and then wraps it around the wound “We need to get you taken care of. Now! Keep pressure on that wound with your hand.”
The gunfire slows around the completely mangled church. Dead bodies litter the aisles. The pews are blown to pieces. The old organ has bullet holes in it. I feel like I should light a candle and send a prayer up to God apologizing, but we don’t have time for that. We need to get our wounded home. Plus, I need to check on Koda.
“Is Koda okay?”
“I left him with Chills. They knocked him out pretty good.”
My body goes numb at the thought. “They hit him because of me,” I whisper.
“You want someone to blame, princess? They hit him because of me, not you. This was all about getting back at me for killing their mom. This was a long laid-out plan. They have been waiting for years for me to care about someone enough that I would be scared of losing them.”
I put my hands out in front of him, and he unties my restraints, then he rubs my welted wrists. “Take me home?”
Wraith leans in, pressing his lips to mine gently. It’s tender, full of care and adoration. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again. You’re not allowed to go anywhere.”
“Well, that goes both ways, Wraith. You have to learn not to run away when it gets tough.”
He pulls me to him as our brothers all rally around us.
“Sorry to interrupt, pres, but I have Chills on standby at the clubhouse waiting for us to get back. I’ll send in a clean-up crew when we leave, but we should do it soon. The gunfire might have drawn attention,” Kevlar tells me.
I look up at Wraith whose eyes are taking me in, they’re drowning in me.
“Okay, we move out. Get this place clean. No trace of us being here. If there’s any of these assholes left, I want to give one of them a message to send back to Damir. Because shit just got real, and now he’s gonna be even more pissed. That puts Zero in a real line of fire.”
“I’ll go hunting for any stragglers,” Luc calls out, taking off with a few brothers to search the surrounding areas.
My stomach clenches. “You think Damir will take this out on Zero?”
“If he couldn’t get to you, he’ll go for the next person I care the most about. He tried once and failed, I’m sure he’ll try again, especially now I’ve taken out the rest of his damn family.”
It clicks into place. “Vlatko was their father?”
“Yeah, and mine. Sava and Damir didn’t know I was their full brother. Apparently, Vlatko was still sleeping with my mother even after they kicked her out for her drug addiction. She got pregnant with me, and they knew I was his. He paid for a test… a ninety-eight percent DNA match. But Vlatko was too ashamed to tell anyone he’d still been sleeping with her, especially since she was now a whore. So, I was his dirty little secret, left to wallow in filth while my brothers lived the good life, getting all the love and attention from her because our father loved them.”
I cuddle into his side, being the only one here who knows how horrific his past truly was. This is just one more hit from his mother that he didn’t need. “I’m so sorry, Wraith.”
“Don’t be… I’m not. If I grew up with them, I’d be a part of the Triglav Clan. I wouldn’t be part of the Defiance, and I would never have met you.”
“Sorry to break this up, but if you want the clean-up crew to get here, we gotta get this underway,” Kevlar interjects.
“Right, let’s go. Everyone back to the clubhouse. Kevlar, you know what you gotta do.”
Kevlar nods as I walk with Wraith out the back of the church. Sava’s dead body catches my attention. It’s sad Wraith won’t get to know his brother, but considering they were just going to keep coming after Wraith for something he did years ago, then that’s not a family Wraith deserves to h
ave.
We make our way out to where a bunch of cages are all lined up. No bikes. I guess riding up on a Harley does give away the element of surprise. Wraith walks me over to a black pick-up and hoists me into the passenger side. He leans over doing up my belt, then plants a gentle kiss on my cheek. “Keep putting pressure on your neck, baby.”
His caring side is shining through, plus, he called me baby. Swoon.
“Okay.”
Wraith closes the door and walks around to the driver’s side. He says something to Kevlar and Texas before jumping in.
Just us.
Alone.
Tension fills the air as he starts the pick-up.
I told him I loved him.
I wonder, did he truly take those words in?
For some reason now, it’s all I can think about.
Did I scare him by saying them?
Does the fact he didn’t say it back mean something?
“You okay over there, you’re thinking pretty damn hard.” Wraith starts the truck, reverses out, then takes off back to the clubhouse.
“I’m okay… a little overwhelmed by all this. But this isn’t about me. How are you feeling? You just found out about a whole other family you had no idea about. That Damir is your brother. That’s gotta make you feel some kinda way?”
Rolling his shoulders like a weight is weighing them down, he exhales. “I don’t know how it makes me feel. Knowing that in juvie he knew who I was the entire time, and all that time that’s why he bullied, harassed, and made my life a living hell, and now I know that’s why he tried to kill me, it’s fucked up.”
“I can’t imagine what you must be going through. Just know I’m here for you. If you wanna talk, or unload, or hell, if you need to just lay with me and sleep. I’m good for that, too.”
Wraith glances across at me, the hint of a smile breaking through. I love seeing him smile. “You’re so fucking good to me. I don’t deserve you.”
“Stop saying that. We deserve each other, Wraith. When we’re not sabotaging this…” I wave my hands between us, “… we’re good together. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I do. And we are. I just need to figure this shit out with Zero and get him home before Damir fucks him over because we fucked him over.”
“Do you have any ideas?”
“Nothing at the moment. I’ll put in a call to Finley when we get back to see how shit’s moving with her. See where we’re sitting ‘cause whatever it is, we need to move quicker now.”
“Wraith… when I thought Vlatko was gonna shoot you tonight…” My chest squeezes as I reach out grabbing his hand on the gearstick.
His eyes shift to meet mine briefly before turning back to the road. “I know I scared you. I’m sorry it came close. I realize all of this is triggering for you. I just wish they didn’t know you were my weakness.”
I squeeze his hand tighter pulling it up to my chest. “I’m just so fucking happy you’re alive.”
Wraith pulls my hand over to his mouth, kisses the back of it, then presses it to his cheek. “For you, Prinie, I’m not going anywhere.”
For the first time, I believe him.
And for the first time in as long as I remember, I don’t feel like running.
I want to tackle this head-on with him.
I want to run into whatever’s coming our way, and I want to face it as part of Defiance with my brothers and sisters around me. Because they fought like hell to get me—so it’s time I started fighting like hell for them too.
No. More. Running.
PRINIE
Arriving back at the clubhouse, I was swarmed as soon as I entered. Wraith was dragged off, probably to deal with club business and to make that phone call we all know is so important. But the ladies of the club surrounded me, welcoming me back with open arms. Especially Cherry. I knew she cared for me, I guess I just never realized how deep our friendship was until she sobbed when she saw me enter.
But after all the commotion died down, and I was finally allowed some space, I am now sitting with Chills as she tends to my neck.
“He got you good, a quarter of an inch further in, and he would have done some serious damage.” She injects the numbing solution into my skin, I grimace as she exhales. “I’ve seen a lot of shit between Chicago and Houston. Seen a lot of men fight for their women, seen men die for their women, but Wraith… he’s so damn complicated.”
I let out a small scoff as my neck begins to numb. “You’re telling me. We have the weirdest relationship. He’s so guarded. Problem is he doesn’t want to do wrong by Zero, but he also has issues, control issues, and it scares him.”
“But not you?” She pokes around my neck. “Feel that?”
Chills pulls out her suturing utensils, and I shake my head. “No, can’t feel anything. And no, I’m not scared of him. He’s the one who’s worried about what he might do to me. But, to be perfectly frank, the only damn time he hurts me is when he rejects me.”
She leans in to start work. “Let me know if you feel anything other than pressure, okay?” I nod. “Hopefully, now, seeing you going through all this, will put things into perspective for him. The Zero thing, though, that might be tougher to combat. Zero is super protective of you. He made it pretty clear he didn’t want Wraith near you.”
I scrunch up my face. “Well, Zero can’t dictate my life for me forever. He needs to get the hell over it.”
“I’m glad you think that way because I’ve seen the way Wraith watches you when you’re not looking. He adores you. The same goes in reverse. Anyone can see you’re crazy for each other.”
She continues to suture my neck as I exhale. “I told him I love him.”
Chills bites down on her bottom lip, her face brightening with excitement. “I knew it. What did he say?”
“He didn’t say it back.”
Chills’ happy expression falters. “It doesn’t mean anything. It might not have been the right place or even the right time. Where were you?”
I purse my lips. “In the middle of a gunfight.”
“Well, then, you can’t blame the guy for being a little pre-occupied with other thoughts.”
“I know, but we were alone on the car ride home, he had a chance to say it then… but he didn’t.”
Chills places her instruments down on the tray and looks me in the eyes. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel it. You yourself said he’s complicated. Give him a chance. Wraith will tell you when he’s ready. Don’t push him for it.” She smiles then says, “All done! You’re as good as new.”
“Thanks, Chills, appreciate the counseling session. How’s Koda?”
She sits back in her chair and crosses her legs. “He’s okay. Gonna have one hell of a shiner, though. He has a stage three concuss—”
I interrupt, “Shit! That sounds bad, is—”
“Stop! I already took him to the hospital and did a scan on his brain to make sure there was no swelling or bleeding. There’s not, but he might have a fracture to his eye socket. I have to wait for the swelling to go down to check that further. The main thing is… he’s gonna be okay.”
Tears well in my eyes as my hand covers my mouth. “Oh God, my poor little brother.”
“He’s strong. He’s in bed recovering.”
“I should go see him—”
“Koda knows you’re okay. He has been told. The best thing you can do for him right now is let him rest. I’ll be going in and monitoring him all through the night, so don’t worry, he’s in safe hands.”
“Thanks, Chills, for looking after all of us the way you do. We’re lucky to have you.”
She starts cleaning up. “I’m just doing my job, but I’m glad to be here, too.”
“Do you miss Chicago?”
Chills exhales like she’s living a thousand memories. “I miss the people. I miss my parents more than anything, but I love it here. Everyone has been so welcoming, and if being in Houston means the best possible chance for baby Kobe, then that’s what I
’m gonna do. Because he’s my world… him and his daddy.”
“When did you know Chains was the one?”
“Well, that’s a whole other story I’ll have to tell you over drinks, but in a couple of days when you’re feeling better, okay? No drinking until then. Keep up the pain meds, the antibiotics, and rest. I also want to take you to the hospital tomorrow to run an antibody or antigen test, just to test for things like HIV, hepatitis, the things we would test for if you were accidentally pricked by a needle. We need to cover our bases. I don’t want to scare you, Prinie, but your blood mixed with Sava’s. We simply want to be on the safe side. We will need to keep testing every few weeks as HIV can take up to six months to show itself.”
My whole body begins to shake as I think about the repercussion. “So that means…”
“It’s best not to have sex for the next six months… until you get the all clear. I mean, you can use a condom, but the best way to protect the other party from possible infection—”
“Is to abstain.”
Chills reaches out, placing her hand on top of mine. “You and Wraith have a lot to work through, but once you tell him why, he will support you, Prinie. I know he will.”
“I will support you in what?” Wraith asks, moving in behind me.
Dizziness washes over me as I peek over my shoulder.
How can I possibly tell him this? I’m not sure I’m even grasping it myself right now.
“I’ll give you guys a little privacy,” Chills murmurs, then stands and walks off.
Wraith moves into the chair Chills vacated as I glance to my hands in my lap. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No, I just…” I trail off not even knowing how to start.
“Prinie...” he reaches out grabbing my hands in his, “… you know you can tell me anything.”
Slowly, I peek up at him through my lashes. “Chills wants to test me, you know… like they do when you get pricked accidentally with a used needle.”
He scrunches his face. “I’m not following.”
“When Sava’s head exploded on me, and I rubbed my neck…” I inhale, close my eyes, and slowly let it out while opening them again, “… his blood went into my wound—”
