Black (Thor Book 1)

by Mia Malone

  “Who was that woman?” the nurse asked curiously. “Pretty impressive lady.”

  “My mother,” Black said.

  “Ah. That explains a lot,” the nurse said with a tight grin. “Right. We’ll go and see if they’ve moved her. Wait here, and we’ll come to get you.”

  Ten minutes later, he stood by her bed, holding her hand in his.

  She was hooked up to machines, and there were tubes and cords everywhere.

  They had cleaned her up, but she looked exactly like what she was.

  A woman who had been kidnapped and shot, and almost died.

  “Oh, Mom,” Desi sobbed.

  “She’ll make it,” Black said for what felt like the millionth time.

  She had to.

  Then Desi left with his parents, and he sat alone in a corner of the waiting room. His sons had offered to stay, and his brother had clamped back a curse when also his offer to stay was rejected. Black had pointed at the door and walked away from them. He needed some time alone. Some quiet.

  He closed his eyes and figured he’d try to sleep for a few hours. The chair was uncomfortable as hell, but he’d be close if something happened.

  “Black?”

  “Yeah?” he said and smiled at the nurse, now in jeans and a sweater.

  “They’ve put an armchair in the corner of her room. It’s not... I’ve talked to them and no one will protest if you just walk in there and sit down. You’ll be more comfortable there.”

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s just a chair.”

  “No,” Black said quietly. “Thank you for looking past the vest and the tats. For seeing me.”

  “I might have been unduly prejudiced,” she said with a small smile. “Who knows, I might even get a license to drive a bike after this experience.”

  “Come on up to Rogan when you have time off,” Black said and got up. “We’ll teach you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alive

  Desiree

  Desiree Davis did not sleep well and spent the early hours of the morning in the lobby, waiting for Gee and Roddy to come downstairs to take her to the hospital.

  She tried to play games on her phone to keep herself from brooding, but her thoughts circled back to the same thing over and over.

  Her mom would make it.

  Because she had to.

  Because she was strong.

  And because Black said so.

  She’d cried a little when she was on her own in the small, impersonal room, but she felt calmer again this morning. She would manage another day of holding it together by pretending that she was calm.

  Black pretended too, and everyone knew it.

  Perhaps that was the only way to deal with a situation like this?

  Pretending you were fine until you were.

  “Hey.”

  Desi jolted and stared up at the tall man suddenly standing in front of her.

  Black’s son, Eirik.

  They didn’t look much alike, and he had Gee’s pale blue eyes, but the way he held himself was just like his father did.

  “Hey,” she said quietly. “I’m waiting for –”

  “I’ll take you to the hospital,” Eirik said calmly. “Let me just text Grandma, and then we can go.”

  “Your name is Eirik?” Desi asked when they walked outside, trying to pronounce it like she’d heard Gee do the night before.

  “Yeah. Most people call me Eye.”

  “Eye. Wh –” She cut herself off and grinned when he used two fingers to indicate the unusual color that seemed to run in the family. “Oh.”

  Then she was on the back of his bike and held on while he drove the few minutes to the hospital. He didn’t have a helmet for her, and she didn’t ask for one. Most of the men in Rogan went without one, which she’d thought was pretty stupid because the bandanas they used instead looked cool but wouldn’t do much good in an accident. As they drove along the empty streets and she felt the wind flow over her face and through her hair, she understood why they skipped helmets most of the time.

  A nurse glanced at them as they walked in, but straightened when her eyes met Eirik’s.

  “You’re related to the –”

  She cut herself off and bit her lower lip.

  “Yeah. That’d be my grandma,” Eye said with a crooked grin. “We’ll go on up and see how Cassandra Davis is doing if you don’t mind.”

  He put it like a question that wasn’t a question, and Desi had to stifle a giggle.

  “I do mind, but I can’t see how that’s gonna stop you,” the nurse sighed. “Her man? Is he your father?”

  “Yeah,” Eye confirmed.

  “They put a chair in her room, and he slept there. Woke up every time someone walked in to check on her but didn’t move. Didn’t interfere or bother them. You can tell him my colleagues appreciated that.”

  “He’s a good guy,” Desi said.

  She needed them to understand that he might look like a scary president of a motorcycle club, but he wasn’t one. Or yeah, he probably was, but he also wasn’t.

  “I’m sure he is,” the nurse said, but it looked like she was as sure about that as she was about the existence of the Sasquatch. “Go on now.”

  She waved dismissively, and they walked silently to the elevator.

  The door was slightly ajar, and they stopped to watch Black who had pulled up the chair next to her mother’s bed and was stroking her cheek gently.

  “It’s morning, baby,” he murmured softly. “You made it through the night.”

  Desi’s eyes started to burn when she saw his face, and she had to press her lips together when he carefully lifted her mother’s hand and put the palm against his cheek. It felt like they were intruding, and she was about to step back when he suddenly started singing quietly. It was a Springsteen song, one she knew her mother loved. Her throat felt too tight, and she knew they should move away to let him have this moment, but she remained frozen. Her Mom had said she loved him, and she’d been happy about it. Had thought it was cute.

  She hadn’t realized that love could be like this.

  That it could be everything.

  “And I get shivers down my spine, girl, and all I wanna do is hold you tight...”

  Eye put a hand on her shoulder and mumbled something, but she still couldn’t make her feet take her away from the scene in front of her.

  “I swear I’ll drive all night again just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charm...”

  They started to move, and she heard soft steps coming up behind them.

  “And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms –”

  “Jesus,” someone rasped out when Black suddenly stopped singing and leaned his forehead on the side of the bed in front of him.

  He shoulders shook slightly and he was breathing deeply. Desi wanted to walk in and put her arms around him, but a firm hand held her back. Then a tall man walked past them and into the room. She knew it had to be Ice, Black’s brother, because of how they looked just the same but mostly because of the way Black’s face changed when he saw who walked up to him.

  “Petter,” he said hoarsely and stood up. “Fucking shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Scared shitless,” Black murmured, and Ice put a steady hand on his neck.

  “We’ll hold you up, Einar.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You stumble, we catch you. That’s how it works.”

  “Yeah.”

  Desi saw Ice pull his brother into his arms, but then she was shuffled down the corridor.

  “Let’s give them a moment,” Eye said. “We’ll go get coffee, okay?”

  That was another question that wasn’t really a question, and she wondered if she should tell him that she didn’t drink coffee. She also wondered who would hold her up if her mom didn’t make it.

  Who would catch her if she stumbled?

  Her mother had been the one to do that all her life.

  “I don�
��t really have a family if Mom dies,” she heard herself whisper. “There’s Dad, but he and I aren’t really... Without Mom, I don’t have anyone, and she told me how it was, but I didn’t get it.”

  “Didn’t get what, sweetheart?”

  Sweetheart.

  Black called her that.

  “Mom was alone when she was my age, and I didn’t get how scary that must have been. How awful it must have been to be all alone.”

  “Desiree,” Eye said, and to her surprise, he grinned at her. “You have no fucking clue.”

  “What?”

  “You’re ours now. You’ll never be alone again. It’s a pain in the ass most of the time, but it’s... You have a family now, and with a family like ours, you’re never alone.”

  His words sent a burst of warmth straight through her core.

  “Just wait until you start dating,” Eye muttered.

  She knew he said that to stop her from bawling uncontrollably, and it worked because laughter suddenly bubbled up her throat, and she straightened.

  “Start dating?” she asked and raised one of her brows.

  “You’re dating?”

  “I’m eighteen.”

  “Is this something Dad knows?”

  “No clue.”

  “Let’s not tell him.”

  “Probably good.”

  Eye shuffled her toward the cafeteria, and muttered, “You’ll tell me, and I’ll check them out.”

  “What?”

  “Or Dagger. Lex is back in a few weeks, and he’s –”

  “Eye.”

  “Huh?”

  He was busy staring at the sandwiches as if they would tell him the secrets of the universe, and she nudged him.

  “Dagger?”

  “Dag. Younger brother. Also; good with daggers.”

  He’d pronounced it Daag, which meant it was another Norwegian name. And he was good with... knives?

  “Lex?”

  “Alexander. Older brother.”

  He apparently needed two huge bagels with cheese to start off his day and held a third one out toward her with his brows raised.

  “What’s he good at?” she asked, pushed the thing away, and reached for a cookie.

  “Everything.”

  Eye kept walking toward the cashier and Desi stared at his back.

  “Everything?” she called out.

  “Yup. Damned annoying if you ask me. Might come in handy when we sort out your dating situation, though.”

  What the heck was she supposed to say to that astonishing statement?

  “Move,” he ordered. “Not gonna wait here for-fucking-ever like a goddamned moron.”

  He turned toward the cashier and paid for his bagels, her cookie, and coffee for them both.

  Desiree stared at him, and his words from before sank in.

  “You’ll never be alone again.”

  Okay.

  Right.

  She apparently now had three self-proclaimed older brothers who were good with knives and everything, whatever that meant.

  Then they had breakfast. Ice joined them, and then Black who shared that the doctors were with her mother. His eyes were a little red, but he looked his usual calm self and shared that the docs apparently were pussies who didn’t want to give any straight answers but added that one of them had caved and told him that Cas’ situation had gone from shitty to pretty okay. Another man from Thor who she knew was called Brooks walked in with a huge man whose patch shared that he liked to be called Downer. They sat down, and Brooks told them that the others would be there shortly.

  They were worried.

  It was written all over their faces, and in the way Black squeezed his brother’s shoulder when he went for a refill of coffee. How they glanced down the corridor.

  But they also laughed, and there was comfort in how they sat there together, waiting for news about the woman who was upstairs, fighting a battle that didn’t seem quite so hopeless anymore.

  Oh, yes, Desi thought and took another sip of the disgusting brew in her cup.

  This, I can totally do.

  ***

  Cassandra

  I woke up slowly and wasn’t sure where I was at first. It felt as if I was dreaming, and I remembered what had happened, and how I’d been shot, but that felt like a dream too. My limbs felt heavy, and I focused on breathing slowly to steady myself. There seemed to be deep voices all around me, and I tried to sort them out.

  “You can have the patch back, Dad.”

  That was Black.

  “Hell no. I’m gonna sit on the porch and enjoy life. Wouldn’t mind some kids running around my feet but my damned grandchildren are taking their sweet time adding to the family.”

  Roddy.

  There was a brief silence, and then I heard Black murmur, “Eirik, what was that look?”

  Eirik. Black’s son. The one who had been on his bike to get pancetta to his dad.

  “Nothing.”

  “Boy,” Black grunted. “Don’t give me that shit.”

  I wanted to smile when I heard that voice. It was the voice he used when he wouldn’t give in. The steely one.

  “Um, so I might get married in a few weeks.”

  Who had said that? Eirik?

  “To who?” Black asked, and I heard surprise in his voice.

  “My girlfriend.”

  “We talked a couple weeks ago, and you didn’t have one.”

  “Do now.”

  “Eirik.”

  I wasn’t sure I followed the conversation correctly, but it seemed likely that Black would become a grandfather in a surprisingly imminent future.

  “This is none of your business.”

  A giggle bubbled up my throat when I heard the sulking voice of a young man who probably felt a little like a teenager again.

  “Ah, fuck,” Black sighed. “Did I not tell you about contraceptives?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So what the –”

  “Dad, don’t give me that shit.”

  Aha. Black’s son sounded as if he’d inherited Black’s temper. I tried to open my eyes because this was something I wanted to see.

  “Eirik, you –”

  “It’s your fault,” the young man snarled.

  “What the hell?” Black asked, which was what I wanted to ask too.

  “Well, if I hadn’t inherited your dick-size then the damned condom wouldn’t have broken, would it?”

  After that stunning statement, there was an equally stunned silence.

  I opened my eyes and looked straight into my daughter’s laughing ones, and rasped out, “I’m pretty sure Desiree didn’t need to know that.”

  ***

  Shooting a man in the crotch was apparently not a bad thing among the biker brethren. And even less of a bad thing with their women. The man was back in prison, and Black told me with a crooked grin that they hadn’t been able to save any parts at all of his genitals.

  The word eunuch was widely used and accompanied by grins and thumbs ups galore.

  I tried to tell everyone that I had been pretty desperate to stop him any way I could and hadn’t actually aimed at the area I’d hit, but they just nodded and grinned and talked about how he’d never stand up and pee again, not even when the bag was removed.

  So, everyone was laughing and joking, but I knew that they did it to hide how nervous they were. I was getting pretty annoyed with how they froze and watched me every time I coughed, but I also got it. I’d been out, so most of what had happened had passed without me having to actually live through it, but they’d been there.

  Ronnie cried when she came down to Boise to visit me, and when she’d gotten a grip of herself, she talked about Black’s drive to get to me. It was apparently something that the biker community viewed as even more awesome than my brutal maiming of Sheriff White, but I didn’t like hearing about the risks he’d taken, and Black hadn’t mentioned it.

  “Brooks called everyone,” Ronnie murmured. “Stopped at a gas station
and sat there for four hours coordinating shit until Black was off his bike.”

  I had thought Ice would be the one to look out for his brother, but of course, Brooks was a brother too, just not by blood.

  The doctors kept me in Boise for a week, but since I recovered well, they transferred me to a hospital closer to Rogan for a while, and the hospital staff looked relieved when I left, except for one nurse who walked up to Black and murmured something. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in a way that made her eyes widen, and I saw how he snuck a small parcel into her pocket. During the ride to the next hospital, he told me how she’d handled him and everyone else, and that his mother had gotten her a pretty necklace.

  Then they finally let me come home. Gee had wanted to celebrate and was pouting because Black had told her we would go away for months if she didn’t let me rest. I told them I was okay, but I was tired and didn’t even protest when Black carried me inside.

  Black suggested that he’d sleep on the couch for a while, and I nixed that because except for being tired, I was feeling fine. Or, perhaps not fine exactly, but okay. It had hurt to breathe and talk and pretty much everything else, but it didn’t anymore, so I was off the painkillers and also expected to make a full recovery.

  I’d have scars all over my ribs and shoulder, though, and that night Black was finally next to me, lying on his side and slowly trailing the marks with his fingers.

  “They’ll be ugly,” I murmured. “The doctors talked about procedures to have them removed, or improved, or –”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “They’re a badge of honor, baby. You’re a survivor, and now you have proof.”

  His face was hard, and I knew he was still angry about what had happened, but when our eyes met, he smiled a little.

  “They won’t turn you off?” I asked quietly.

  “Not much turns me off, Cas.”

  I chuckled and put a hand on his cheek.

  “This is true.”

  “These won’t. I’ll look at them and know how strong you are. What a fucking amazing survivor you are, and how lucky I am.”

  My eyes started to sting, and I suddenly had a lump in my throat. I hadn’t cried since I was on that couch with the Sheriff in front of me. Not since I decided to fight one more fight.

  “Baby...” I whispered hoarsely. “You did your bit. You sent Raz to help me, and if he hadn’t been there, the asshole would have shot me.”