Hawk leant against the wall next to the door his arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the Crow who was standing in front of him talking to him quietly. His brother frowned, tilted his head to the side and then he smiled. The smile that came over his bearded face and into his predatory eyes was evil.
Pure, unadulterated evil. They had all seen that look in his eyes once or twice before.
He gave a short nod as he straightened and reached up for the zip at the back of the leather mask that covered the Crow’s face.
Fuck.
She was going to do this without a mask.
Kid’s head jerked to the side to see the reaction from his brothers. They took it the same way he did. With shock.
“Boss, do you think that’s wise?” He had to ask.
Hawk laughed. “They aren’t going anywhere, Kid. They know it as well as what we do. And there’s no one here they can tell. It’s just us and them.”
With that he pulled the mask from her head, dropped his head and kissed his woman. Jane’s mouth hung open in shock as she watched Hawk kissing what she thought was another man.
Kid couldn’t stop the laugh that broke free and his brothers soon joined him.
They all fell silent when the kiss ended and after several seconds of silence the Crow turned and faced Jane.
The smile that curved her mouth was cold and a dark predator moved in her black eyes.
Jane stared at her in shock and slowly shook her head from side to side.
“It can’t be. No, I don’t believe you. This is a trick to get at me.” She laughed. “If you think I’m going to spill my guts for a fraud you have no idea who I am.”
The Crow gave that hissing little laugh he/she was famous for.
“No trick, Jane dear. Just a very well-kept secret that you and my little girls over there now share.” Crow’s cold hissing voice informed her. “And we know exactly who and what you are.”
“You wish you knew me.” Jane blustered. “But you don’t, none of you do, least of all that weak and useless brother of mine.”
Again Crow gave that hissing little laugh and shook her head.
“You and your mother are the ones who have no idea who your brother really is. You’ve always misjudged him, like your father did. You think the abuse he suffered at his hands and yours weakened him? Not at all. It made him strong, it made him one of mine.” Crow glanced over at him and smiled, a real one this time. “All these men are mine, my Murder of Crows.”
Jane snorted angrily and shook her head. “They are nothing, nothing I tell you. And soon all of you will be gone. Gone as if you never existed at all. You made a huge mistake by taking me. My people will never stop looking for me. By now they know you’ve taken me. I’ll be free soon and then you’ll regret even thinking of pretending to be the Crow. The Crow works for us, not you. I would know. I’ve been fucking him for years.” She finished proudly.
Amazed silence hung in the room for a few seconds before they all started laughing, even the little zombies against the wall.
Crow had her hands on her knees she was laughing so hard. Straightening she shook her head as she turned to Hawk.
“Damn that’s so funny. I wonder who this man is that she’s been fucking while he pretended to be me. That is so funny.”
“She’s never been very discerning about whom she fucks, little bird.” Hawk said with a shrug.
“That’s fucking true.” Beast growled from his post next to the Crow’s implements of torture.
“Ah, my Beasty, so very growly today. You’re impatient to get started, aren’t you?” Crow waved a hand when he would have answered and silence once again descended.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day since I broke your leg in my cage.” Crow was now walking around the plastic covered chair and Jane stretched her neck trying to keep her in sight. “I knew then that we would dance again one day. And here we are, about to enter the second stage of the dance we started not so long ago.”
“You’re crazy and all these bastards are crazy because they are enabling your madness.” Jane spat out. “You. Are. Not. The. Crow.”
Crow ignored her outburst.
“Would you like to tell us more about the Harrison Syndicate, Jane.” She asked quietly and she sounded so very reasonable.
They all knew that was when she was at her most dangerous. That predatory brain of hers was working at high speed as she circled the chair, then the room. She stopped to stroke the arms of the two chained to the wall and both whimpered softly. They knew the entity in the room with them was to be feared.
Jane did not. Or if she did she chose to ignore it.
Crow held out her hand and said one word. “Beasty.”
The long thin bladed knife was in her hand in seconds.
It took the Crow a few blinks of their eyes to have Jane’s clothes in shreds, littering the area around the chair.
“Ahhh.”
Crow tipped her head back and breathed in deep then slowly so very slowly brought her head back down until her chin rested on her chest. Her black empty eyes were focused on her prey in the chair.
“I smell you.” Drawing in through her nose she let out a hissing breath. “It’s such a wonderful smell, fear. One of my favourites.”
With the tip of the knife just touching the top of Jane’s foot she slowly walked around the chair. As she walked she drew the knife up her body, leaving a faint red line behind.
Jane panted nervously, her eyes darting around the room, looking for a way out. There was none.
“Laney, come over here.” Crow suddenly ordered.
The chains clanked as the woman shuffled over to the chair. With her head hanging down and her hair covering her face she waited silently for her next order.
“Who is this in my chair?” Crow asked gently.
“Jane, she is Jane.” She whispered.
“Do you like Jane?”
“No, Jane hurts us when we don’t want to fuck.”
“That’s not nice of her. Would you like me to hurt her for you?” Crow put the point of the knife under Laney’s chin and slowly lifted her head.
Blank eyes stared out at them but the minute they turned on Crow her eyes and face was suddenly filled with something so creepy Kid looked at his brothers. Silently asking the question. What the fuck?
What filled her eyes and face was an unholy fanaticism. It was uncomfortable to watch the woman they used to know try to rub herself up against Crow with soft little moans.
“Yeeeesss. Hurt, make it hurt.” She moaned.
Crow slowly drew the knife down her throat and down over her belly while the woman panted and moaned as if she was about to come.
Kid had never in his life been so fucking uncomfortable and he wasn’t the only one. All his brothers felt the same.
Except Hawk. He watched his crazy old lady with a proud smile. Which made all of them realise that Crow had been playing with her toys more than they thought. And her man had been with her every time she did.
Fuck. He really didn’t want to think about what they got up to down here.
She tapped the knife against Laney’s belly and pointing the knife at the wall the ghost of the woman they all used to know shuffled back to her place. Once there she again became like a statue, empty of any animation what so ever.
Crow smiled at a horrified Jane. “Do you like what I did with my toy?”
“You…you’re a monster.” Jane gasped them looked over at Hawk. “How can you allow this? We were yours. You promised you would protect us. Doesn’t your word mean anything anymore?”
Crow clicked her tongue and shook her head. “So stupid.”
Turning to Kid her black empty eyes seemed to spear deep inside him and he tensed. “Was she always this stupid or is it a recent development?”
Kid shrugged, he really didn’t know and didn’t care either.
The next moment she was back nex
t to the chair and meticulously cut several lines from beneath Jane’s tits to the top of her thighs.
“Beasty.” The hand was held out and Beast put the spray bottle of ink in her hand.
She liberally sprayed the ink over the cuts while Beast stood beside her with a thick wad of paper towels. She handed the spray bottle to him, took the paper towels and patted Jane’s belly.
Throughout the entire procedure Jane screamed and pleaded with Hawk. His brother leant against the wall and ignored her. He only had eyes for his Crow.
From when Hawk and DC had started to right this moment they had come a long way. From distrust and several terrible mistakes to absolute unity.
Kid wanted that, but it was something he knew he would never have.
“Tell us what we want to know and I might just allow you to keep your mind.” Crow hissed.
Jane chose not to comply.
Crow became a whirling, slashing and grinning mad woman. By the time she stopped Jane had stopped screaming because she had passed out. Her body was covered in shallow slashes. Her arms, legs, torso and face. Not a single place had been missed.
Strangely she didn’t spray the ink over Jane’s body. Instead she meticulously cleaned her up and smeared what he assumed was antibiotic cream over the cuts. When she was done she patted Jane on the head and whispered something in her ear.
His sister moaned and flinched away while Crow smiled and once again patted her on the head.
“You can take her back to her new accommodations. We’ll play with her again when these have healed up.” And in one blink of her eyes it was suddenly DC in the room with them.
“I hope you guys recorded the shit she was screaming out. She dropped a few hints and even gave us some answers in between the screams.”
Hawk straightened and smiled. “No worries, baby. Jagger got it all.”
“Good. Let me clean my knife and then I need a shower.” It was still DC but as she cleaned her knife Crow came back.
“My Murder of Crows, make sure she’s securely shackled and check her over for anything she might use as a lock pick. We don’t want her getting loose and injuring those who come to feed her, now do we?”
It was a warning they all took seriously. Very fucking seriously.
And what the fuck do you know. They found a hat pin disguised as a hair accessory in her knotted hair.
Kid couldn’t stay around a minute longer. He had to get out of there and breathe some fresh air. He was climbing the stairs to the office when he heard quick footsteps behind him and turned. Scar came racing up the stairs and stopped when he reached him.
“Anytime you need to talk you find me, brother. As far as I know I’m the only one with some idea of what you’re going through.” He said quietly and held out his hand.
Taking his hand Kid shook it and nodded. Scar was right. The two of them had both been betrayed by the ones supposed to love them and keep them safe.
They had a bond the others didn’t share.
“I will, brother, I will. Just not today. Today I need to ride, to breathe the freedom of the road.”
Scar nodded. “I got you. Let’s go.”
They left the compound with Buzz, Dizzy and Rider riding with them.
The road calmed him. Centered him. Brought him back to himself.
He could now face whatever came next.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Scar
He couldn’t believe it has been five weeks since he had almost lost Liah. After spending a week in hospital his girl came home four weeks ago and was starting to climb the walls with boredom. They had all tried to keep her amused but it wasn’t easy and that was why he came up with a plan to end the boredom.
She couldn’t go out taking photographs like she usually would because her upper arm was in a brace to keep it stable while the bone healed. She had very limited movement with the arm. At least it was no longer in the sling she had to wear at first. She could use her forearm and hand but it was the full motion of the arm that she missed. Plus she just didn’t seem to have the enthusiasm for it just yet. She had dabbled with stuff on her laptop but her heart hadn’t been in it.
When she first came home she had avoided seeing Leo and Wolf because she couldn’t handle being around Quinn. It was better now because Leo had decided she’d been given enough time. She arrived at their cottage with the baby and unceremoniously plonked him in Liah’s lap.
“I’ve got to go to work. You’re babysitting your godson today.” She dropped the baby’s bags and left before either one of them could say a word
It was the best thing that could have happened, to both of them. Scar hadn’t realised that he had had his own issues regarding the loss of his child. Looking after Quinn had forced him to face the pain he had shoved down deep. Plus it had forced him to accept how the little boy came to be. He no longer thought of him as his baby brother, he was now his best friend’s son.
He hadn’t realised how the thought of the boy being his fathers’ son had weighed him down. Letting it go had been freeing.
Looking at his girl relaxing on the big couch on the veranda with Brutus cuddled up next to her made him smile.
He hadn’t thought he would ever feel like this about a woman. It was unlike anything he had felt before. His ex, whose name he was never going to say again, had been a giant mistake. He had no idea what he had been thinking at the time. He should have insisted on taking her to a doctor he trusted for a second opinion before he tied himself to her. Believing she was pregnant had been a damned stupid mistake. He hadn’t been thinking with the head on his shoulders. That was now very clear.
What he had with Liah was different. It was like night and day.
Liah was the light he had needed in his life. She was young, true, but she had an old soul that shone through her eyes. Eyes that turned a dark honey gold when the sun hit them at the right angle. Absolutely beautiful.
He wanted a little girl with her mother’s eyes and according to the doctor they had seen a few days ago she had fully recovered. There was nothing stopping them from trying for a baby again.
But his Liah was wary and scared.
That’s why he had come up with the plan. A plan to give both of them closure. Their family had helped him to pull it off. All he had to do now was get her to go on a walk with him.
Smiling to himself he walked out onto the veranda and held a hand out to her.
“I have something I want to show you.”
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes before she nodded and slipped her hand into his. Pulling her up off the couch he led her through the house and out the open backdoor. Brutus was of course bouncing around with joy because he knew they were going for a walk.
“Where are we going?” She asked as he crouched down and slipped her hiking boots on to her sock covered feet.
“I’ve always wanted to climb the rocks back here and today we are going to do it. I’ve scouted a path that will make it easier for you. So no worries, you’re in good hands.”
Taking her hand he closed his fingers around hers and led her down the path she usually took with Brutus. The brute knew where they were going and had shot off ahead. They followed the path for a few meters before he turned off on to a new path, a path that hadn’t been there before. Brutus had waited for them again but once again he ran on ahead.
It was an easy climb and she gasped when they came to the top and she saw the rough stone bench. It had been built to take advantage of a large boulder as a backrest and looked out over the veld to the blue-green of the Magaliesberg in the distance. Brutus sat next to the bench, his tongue hanging out and a wide doggy grin on his scarred face.
“Oh my, this is amazing. Who did this?” She asked as he helped her over, leaving her for a second to pull the cushions from where he had hidden them earlier.
“Jagger, Crash and I built it for you, baby. We wanted to give you a place where you can be alone or not. Your c
hoice.” After he had her settled he crouched in front of her and took her hands.
“This isn’t all we’ve done. There’s one more thing.”
He was fucking nervous and hoped like hell he had done the right thing. The next part he couldn’t do on his own. Right then Jagger and Crash came up the path and joined them. Crash was carrying the bucket of cement they would need to finish his gift.
“What did you guys do?” She looked a bit worried as she glanced at the bucket.
They didn’t answer her, just grinned as Scar and Jagger walked around the big rock she was leaning against. It took two of them to move the huge fucking boulder they had carried up here. It had taken a lot of sweat and blood and several brothers to manhandle it up the path to the top.
Crash had already slapped cement on the place they had chosen to rest the boulder and they gingerly settled it in place. They rocked it to ensure it was secure and then Crash proceeded to cement the last rocks into place, rocks that would stop it from moving once the cement dried.
They stood back and looked at their handiwork then nodded at each other while Liah looked confused.
“Why would you put a rock wearing a rather large club bandanna over there? What’s the significance?”
Jagger and Crash kissed her cheeks, gave him a hard hug and a slap on the back then left without saying a word.
Now or never he thought as he took her hand and drew her up. “Close your eyes for me, Liah. Keep them closed until I say you can open them, okay?”
With a small worried frown she did as he asked and he led her to the rock, let her hand go and slipped the large bandanna Leo had had printed off the rock.
The plaque it revealed had been bolted to the rock. Turning around he took her in his arms and kissed her soft lips then turned her towards the boulder. “You can open your eyes now, baby.”
Her eyes widened then filled with tears as she gasped and put her hand over her mouth.
“I wanted something more than just the memory of the boy we lost. I wanted anyone who came up here to know how much he was loved. I named him for both of us.”
Liah was sobbing on his shoulder and Scar allowed his own tears to escape and join hers.
Mark Of A Scarred Warrior (Iron Dogz MC Book 5) Page 36
