by Faith Gibson
“You have a mate?” Ryker searched his memory and couldn’t remember hearing Sultan talk about any one particular female.
“Had. My situation was like Mayhem’s only without having my kid returned to me. Crystal and I were together for ten years. She wanted the house and kids and dogs. Everything that comes with being in a long-term relationship. But she also wanted me to give up the club, so maybe War’s situation is mixed in there too. She wanted me to park my bike and get a nine-to-five job. In the ten years we were together, I never told her the truth about us. About what I am. I kept telling myself I should come clean and claim her, but something – namely my Gryphon – held me back. Deep down, I knew she wouldn’t accept it. She gave me an ultimatum, and I let her walk away. What I didn’t know was she was pregnant with my kid. I saw her one day a few months later, her stomach round with a baby. Unless she cheated on me, it had to be mine because we hadn’t been broken up that long.
“I was torn, man. I wanted my kid in my life, but at what expense? I wasn’t happy with Crystal. She was miserable with me. I knew having a baby together wouldn’t change that because I wasn’t going to change who I was. Couldn’t change. But fuck, I wanted to be a father. I sat on the knowledge I had a baby on the way while trying to figure out how to approach her. I wanted to be in my kid’s life, that much I knew. It took a couple weeks to make up my mind to approach her with a plan to co-parent without getting back together. By the time I had figured out what I wanted, she had gotten into a wreck. It was bad. Her folks were the ones who called me. They didn’t understand why the hospital had called them and not me. Crystal must have taken my name off her contact list. I had been on a three-day job, and by the time I got back, her parents had agreed to putting Crystal on life support, keeping her alive trying to save the baby. Crystal wasn’t far enough along for the doctors to take the baby. Long story short, Crystal deteriorated quickly, and the baby was suffering. Even though I didn’t have the right to make a decision on her behalf, her parents told me the decision was mine since it was my child. They didn’t know we weren’t together. I didn’t tell them any different. In the end, I made the decision to pull the plug.”
Sultan didn’t try to hide the tears. “That’s been fifteen years. Crystal might not have been the perfect female for me, but I loved her. Loved that little baby. The child who never had a chance because I was a selfish bastard. Then again, if I had given in to her and parked my bike, gave up the club, got a different job, it would have slowly killed me. I would have resented her, and the kid would have suffered for it. But I remember how good things were in the beginning, and fuck if I don’t want that. I want a female to come home to. The kids and dogs. I want someone to look at me the way Rhi looks at you. Someone strong who knows I’m a Gryphon and doesn’t care. Someone who gets excited when the bikes start up and the rumble hits their chest. You have a shot at a second chance, and I’d give anything to be in your shoes.”
“I’m sorry you went through that, Brother. And I pray you find your perfect female.”
“Me too, but first we have to rescue yours. With the feds on our asses, we’re going to have to lay low ‘til Lucy and this Henry find a way to help, and I know just the place to do it.” Ryker trusted Sultan with his life, so he followed the Hound back to the SUV. Sultan opened the back and pulled out their packs. “I don’t trust David not to fuck with the car again, so we need to fly.”
“What if Lucy gets a lock on Rhi’s location?”
“I’ve got that covered too.” Sultan led Ryker back down the same path until they came to the thickest part of the woods. He made his own trail through the trees. They both scanned the area, and when they were certain no humans were around, they stripped, putting their clothes and phones in their packs, and shifted to their eagles. Ryker’s blue wings stretched out alongside Sultan’s white ones, and they flew west.
After about an hour, a small cabin nestled in a forest came into view, and Sultan guided them to the ground. They shifted back, and Sultan spread his arms. “Welcome to my home.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rhiannon
Rhi sat up and looked around. She was still in her childhood bedroom. “So not a dream,” she muttered. Her stomach rumbled, but she ignored the hunger pains. She had to find a way out. Rhi stood and shuffled to the door, twisting the knob as silently as possible. Everything was as she remembered. Her photos still hung on the wall of the hallway, showing her age progression from a tiny baby to an awkward thirteen-year-old. She stepped into the bathroom to pee. Hygiene took a back seat to stealth. Forgoing washing her hands, Rhi took stock of herself in the mirror. She seriously needed to do something with her eyebrows. Hers were bushy where all the other females she’d met in the last few days had sleek brows instead of caterpillars. Rhi headed downstairs, subconsciously keeping to the right to avoid the squeak of the third and fifth steps. The first place she went was toward David’s office.
Not finding him there, she searched the rest of the first floor. She called out to her captor, “David?” When he didn’t answer, Rhi rushed toward the front door. She didn’t know where he was or when he’d be back, but if she could slip out now… Rhi tried the knob but the door wouldn’t budge. She next went to the window, only to find black wires crisscrossed over them. “What the…?” Rhi didn’t know if the wires were an alarm of some sort or a bomb. She wouldn’t put it past David to set the place to blow. The door leading into the garage opened, but there was no remote to open the rolling metal door. The back door had the same black wires running around it as did the windows. She didn’t bother going upstairs.
Since she didn’t want to take a chance on setting off an explosion, Rhi decided to look around, starting in the kitchen. The fridge was stocked with plenty of food and all her favorite sodas from when she was a teen. Rhi grabbed a grape drink. Since she couldn’t cook, she searched through the pantry. If she was going to be a prisoner, at least she wouldn’t be a hungry one. She chose a cup of instant mac and cheese and tossed it in the microwave after reminding herself how to prepare it.
While she waited the three and a half minutes for it to nuke, she walked over to the back door and looked out over the yard. Her breath caught at where the garden should have been. Weeds and tall grass had overtaken the area, and that hurt her heart. It should have been preserved in her mother’s honor instead of being forgotten. That was another reason to hate her father. The microwave dinged, pulling Rhi away from the window. She tore open the pouch of fake cheese and squeezed the gooey mess into the noodles. After stirring it with a spoon, she blew on the first spoonful before taking a bite. She swallowed a moan at the memory of her favorite food. Her mom had once made a dish of homemade macaroni and cheese, but Rhi preferred the fake stuff. At least she had as a kid.
Rhi ate in silence, save the ticking of the grandfather clock in the living room, contemplating how screwed up her life was. She stood with the spoon in her mouth, her eyes unfocused, when the garage door groaned as it opened. Rhi briefly considered running upstairs, but too soon, the door leading into the kitchen from the garage opened and David walked in carrying a pizza.
“Oh, good. You’re awake. I brought your favorite – pepperoni and extra cheese, although I see you’ve already found something.” He placed the box on the counter and opened the cabinet beside the microwave, grabbing some paper plates. “Help yourself if you’re still hungry.” The longer he spoke, acting as though he hadn’t drugged her and kidnapped her, the madder she got.
Rhi tossed the empty cup in the trash and threw the spoon in the sink where it clattered loudly. David turned, a slice of pizza hanging in midair. “There’s no need to pitch a fit, Rhi. Why don’t you have a seat so we can talk?”
Rhi crossed her arms over her chest, scowling. “You want to talk? Fine. Start by telling me why you abandoned me at Haven. Tell me why you put tracking chips in my body. Tell me why one of those chips was used to manipulate me. Tell me why this house looks the same as it did ten years ago.
Tell me why you think it’s okay to drug me and kidnap me. Why it’s okay to work for someone evil like Josiah Talbert. Helping him keep people at Haven against their will. Promising them cures for all their money. Tell me, David, how you think it’s okay to kill two men and blame it on someone who’s innocent.”
“Rhi, I didn’t kill anyone. As for those men being innocent, they were holding you captive. I had to get you away from them.”
“Captive? They rescued me from James. You’re the one holding me captive.”
“I brought you home. I thought you’d appreciate the gesture. You can pick up in the garden where you and Daisy left off. As for the chips, I needed a way to track you in case Josiah moved you. It was for your own good.”
“My own good? How is zapping me into a semi-conscious state for my own good? How is manipulating me into using my gift without my knowledge for my own good? A gift I was told was of the devil? Do you even hear yourself? What happened to you? When did you become this monster?”
“There are things you don’t know. Things you couldn’t possibly understand. If the wrong people found out about your powers… Rhi, everything I did was to protect you.”
“The only person I need protecting from is you! I’ve seen how real fathers treat their kids. They don’t use them, hide them for ten years in a cult. They don’t kidnap them while tormenting the people who are actually doing the protecting!” Rhi sucked in a breath. “I’m not thirteen; I’m an adult. I am plenty old enough to make my own decisions. Decide who I want to live with and where. I don’t know what you have against the Lazlos, but they’re the good guys. The ones who help people like me get away from people like you.”
“You know nothing about them. Tell me, Rhiannon, did you know the man you’re so set on defending is a cold-blooded killer? His whole family is a group of vigilante mercenaries who kill people for money. And you call me a monster. I won’t have my daughter living with that kind of people.”
Rhi didn’t let her father see she was shocked by his words. He could be telling the truth, and if he was, she would decide later how she felt about that. “As opposed to living with someone like Josiah who lies about who he is and what he stands for? Someone who kidnaps innocent victims and puts them in solitary cells? He stole a married woman, a woman who was pregnant, and gave her to his brother as a gift. Then that man turns around, takes the baby, and gives it to someone else to raise so his followers wouldn’t know the truth. A man who allowed one of his guards to rape a young girl then sold her baby. Yes, David. The man you’re working for is sooo freaking good all because he claims he’s doing God’s work. You disgust me. I’m glad Mom died because it would break her heart to see the kind of man you really are. The Lazlos might be mercenaries, but they’ve shown me more love in a week than you have in a lifetime.”
David dropped the pizza slice on the plate, glaring at her. “You know nothing about me, and your mother would understand why I’ve done the things I needed to. You think you’re an adult, but until you’re faced with life-altering situations, having to make decisions for the greater good, you won’t understand the pressure I’ve been under.”
“Oh no? Being forced to try and cure someone of cancer by laying hands on them isn’t life-altering? Being forced to live in a community nothing like the way I grew up isn’t life-altering? Being told the deity you believe in is wrong isn’t life-altering? Having a grandmother who—”
“Okay, I get it. You think what you’ve been through was rough. You don’t know the meaning of the word.” David ran a hand down his face. “I’m not trying to make light of what you’ve endured, but believe me, it’s nothing compared to what I’ve been faced with. Maybe one day you’ll understand, but for now, you’re just going to have to trust me.”
“Trust you? I will never trust you. I can’t stand to be in the same room with you. I want nothing to do with you, and I’m leaving. With or without your permission.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you go, Rhi. You don’t understand the danger you’re in.”
“The only one dangerous to me is you.” Rhi took off running back to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She leaned against it, closing her eyes, trying to get her breathing under control. Her father – no, David – was mental if he thought she was staying there with him. But he was smart with all sorts of things she didn’t understand at his command. She would need to bide her time. Get him to let his guard down. Then, just as she had with James, she’d make her move.
Rhi walked over to the window and looked out. The house next door hadn’t changed much over the last ten years. She wondered if Jimmy’s parents still lived there. If they did and she saw them outside, maybe she could get them to help her. Rhi was looking for any type of movement outside when her bedroom door opened. David had a plateful of pizza in one hand and her grape soda in the other. He placed them on the dresser.
“Just in case you get hungry.” He didn’t say anything else before leaving her alone again.
She was hungry, but did she trust him not to poison her? He said he was protecting her, so that had to count for something. But it didn’t mean he wouldn’t drug her. He’d already proven that when he knocked her out. Rhi had already decided to bide her time, so if he did drug her and she passed out, that would make her time there in her old home go by quicker without her having to interact with her father. Rhi picked up a slice of pizza and sniffed it. It didn’t smell funny, and there didn’t appear to be any type of powder sprinkled on it. She shrugged, then took a bite. Rhi moaned around a mouthful of extra cheese. God, how she’d missed pizza. She devoured the three slices and downed the soda. Never again would she take greasy food for granted. She wiped her hands on the paper towel David had brought, then resumed staring out the window.
Movement next door on the second floor caught her eye. Was that… Jimmy? It was! Rhi reached for the lock when she felt her body getting numb. “Son of a bitch.”
Ryker
“I thought you lived over on Beecher Street.” Ryker took in the cabin as they both got dressed. It didn’t look like much on the outside. The surrounding woods were what captivated Ryker. “You can shift here without worrying about someone seeing you.”
“I can. There isn’t a neighbor for miles. While I do have a house on Beecher, it’s not home. This place? It’s where I come when I need to clear my head. When I need a little downtime after a contract. I don’t come here as often as I’d like since it’s three hours from the clubhouse. Come on. I’ll show you the inside.”
Ryker was much more impressed with the interior. One large room housed the living room, kitchen, and dining area. There were two doors other than the one they had entered. Ryker assumed one led out back while the other was for the bathroom. It had a homey feel with bright-colored pillows scattered across the tan sofa, while a worn quilt rested on the back of a matching recliner. There was a ladder leading to a loft bedroom.
“No TV?”
“No. I like the quiet so I can think. If I want noise, I go outside and listen to nature.”
“This is a great place.”
“It’s been in our family for hundreds of years. For whatever reason, each male in our family only has one offspring, and it has always been a male. Each father passes the cabin down to his son and so on. My father gave it to me about forty years ago. I updated the bathroom and made minor repairs, but for the most part, it hasn’t changed. There’s a well about twenty yards out the back door that supplies the water, and there’s a propane tank on the west side of the house that runs the water heater and stove, but there’s no electricity. Another reason for not having a television. There is a cellar with an ice box, but usually when I come here, I bring a cooler to keep beer in. There’s a firepit out back where I cook whatever I catch if I don’t want to heat the house by using the stove.”
“I’m impressed. I can see why you’d want to stay here.”
Sultan went around opening windows, letting the crisp air flow through.
Ryk
er walked over to one of the windows and looked out. “I didn’t see a driveway as we flew over.”
“That’s because there isn’t one. There’s a break in the trees on the back side of the property large enough to drive through. I park in a small clearing, then I hike the rest of the way in. I don’t want outsiders knowing about this place, and a driveway would tempt someone to check it out.”
“Makes sense. What about cell phone coverage?”
“It’s spotty at best here at the cabin, but if we walk toward the clearing, there’s a small area where the signal is strong. Since we’re waiting on Lucy to call, I’d say we need to head that way. I have a satellite phone, and I’ll give her the number so she can reach us when we’re at the cabin.”
The path Sultan took was worn, but not enough to be detected from above. If Ryker owned the place, he’d be hard pressed to leave. Then again, he had a club to run and their merc business to oversee. That would be hard to do out in the middle of nowhere. When they reached the clearing, Sultan called Lucy from the sat phone. She and Judge were almost to her home, and she was still waiting on Henry to get back in touch with her. She promised to call as soon as she knew anything. Ryker borrowed the phone to call Sutton and ask about how things were going at Haven. His dad didn’t answer, so he left him a message with the number. He relayed how David had gotten the jump on him and had managed to take off with Rhi.
With nothing else to do but wait, Sultan offered to hunt for their supper while Ryker took the phone back to the cabin. He was glad for the chance to be alone for a bit. As he walked, he let his thoughts drift to Rhi. He wondered how she was faring, wherever she was with her father.
The satellite phone buzzed, and Ryker answered it. “Go ahead.”
“Hey, Son.”
“Pop? Tell me you got them.”
“I wish I could. When Xavier and his men arrived, Josiah and most of his guards were gone. The ones who remained were more than welcoming when Xavier asked to look around. There are no guns anywhere on the property. I went in and asked everyone to meet me in the church. When I explained what was going on, I was met with a lot of disbelief. There was a handful of people who decided to leave now that Josiah had abandoned them, but most decided to remain where they were. David Spencer’s wife was the most vocal out of all of them. She said, and I quote, that I was a messenger from Satan, sent to deceive the good people of Haven. She defended both her husband and Josiah. She didn’t have anything good to say about Rhi, either. It was all I could do not to backhand her.”
