by Bo Reid
Ranger lets out a pfft sound as he rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I bet you are,” he mutters under his breath.
“Look, I get it, okay? I’m FBI, but so’s Holt,” he says, pointing at Emma. “And I’m all in with Morana, with you guys, with everything. Someone just has to tell me how this whole thing works,” he says, crossing his arms.
“However she wants it to work. Things aren’t up to you, and they aren’t up to us. If she wants you, she gets you. If she wants one of us, that’s who she gets. If she wants two of us that’s what she gets. If she wants all of us, that’s what she fucking gets. Are you willing to do what she wants?” Ranger asks, walking forward till he’s nose to nose with Talin.
“Yes,” Talin grits out.
“Are you sure?” Hunter asks, not bothering to get up from the chair. Instead, he pulls me closer to his chest and plays with a strand of my hair. “Are you willing to sit on the sidelines while she walks into that room with someone else?” he asks, nodding towards the hallway.
“I’ll do whatever she wants me to do,” he says, clenching his fists at his sides.
“We’ll see,” Hunter says, looking Talin up and down. “What do you want, Pretty Girl?” he whispers, running his nose along the column of my neck.
“You know I always want everything,” I whisper back, and I feel him smile against my neck before sucking on the place behind my ear.
“Then you’ll have everything,” he says.
“Okay, what else do we need to talk about?” Ranger asks as he pulls me from Hunter’s arms and walks over to the couch, sitting down with me in his lap.
“What the fuck, man,” Hunter curses and I smile, turning to pat the cushion next to us. Hunter gets up and moves next to Ranger, pulling my legs to rest in his lap.
For the next four hours, we talk about everything. I tell them about all the online classes I’ve taken, and why,-- In order to attempt to figure out what was wrong with my head. I still have no answers.
I tell them about the birthday trips. I can tell how much that hurts them, but it’s time to be honest. There can’t be any more holding back from here on out.
And Talin and Emma learn about The Reapers, and how sometimes the truth is scarier than the legends.
“Anyone else starving?” Nash calls from the kitchen as I hear him rummaging through the fridge and the cabinets. I snuggle closer into Ranger’s side as Hunter and Talin argue over some sports game. Ranger turns his head to plant a kiss on my forehead, pulling me closer into his side.
“Thank you for telling us everything,” he whispers.
I sigh. “It was long overdue.”
“Come on, guys, let’s go get something to eat,” Nash says as he steps into the living room.
“We could go to the grocery store and get some stuff to make dinner. Do you guys have a BBQ?” Emma asks. I don’t know how this became our life, planning a BBQ with two federal agents. But somehow, they work with us, and everything just feels right.
“Yeah, there’s one on the balcony. We can hit up Burk’s,” I say as I turn over in Ranger's arms.
“Burk’s?” she asks, confused.
“Burk’s Morana’s butcher,” Hunter says.
“You have your own butcher?” she asks, and I laugh.
“Oh, girl, you have a lot to learn. Come on, I gotta change. You can borrow something if you want to get out of that pantsuit.” I scrunch my nose up. “Not that it isn’t awesome, but can we tone down the fed vibe you guys have?” I ask. She looks down, and so does Talin.
“Uh, I don’t have anything else,” he says as Hunter slaps him on the shoulder.
“Come on, you can borrow something,” he says, and I smile. My heart feels like the Grinch's when it grows three sizes. Not because I did anything good, I can’t remember the last time I did something good, but because this just feels right.
Hunter, Ranger, and Talin each plant a kiss on my cheek as they exit the living room. I catch Emma smiling at me.
“What?” I ask.
“Oh nothing, I just don’t know how those three handle you.” She shrugs and I laugh, linking arms with her and walking down the hall to my bedroom.
I was never one to have many girlfriends, considering I am who I am. Piper’s the closest I have to any kind of female friend, but sometimes I wonder if that’s because she was born into this life and had to make due. I hope Emma Holt and I can be friends. It would mean the world to Nash, never having to worry about choosing between us. I’d never make him choose, and I hope she won’t either.
“Feel free to borrow whatever you want,” I say as we step into my walk-in closet.
“You have so much color,” she deadpans, and I smile at her.
“I mean, I am The Reaper.” She rolls her eyes and starts digging through the racks of clothes. I pull out some jeans and a tank top, throwing one of Ranger’s massively oversized hoodies over my head, then tying my hair up in a bun.
“Can I ask you something?” Emma asks as she tugs on a plain white t-shirt and some dark wash skinny jeans.
“Shoot,” I say.
“How much do you know about what Nash wants for his future? Uh, family-wise?” she asks quietly, dropping her gaze to the floor.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah of course,” she says.
“What do you want for your future, family-wise?”
“Marriage, kids, a white picket fence, dog, the whole American dream. We didn’t really have that growing up. I mean my family’s great, but big and the kids got lost in the shuffle. I want kids but only a few, and only as many as I could afford to give a good life to.”
“Well, for starters you could have two dozen kids and be able to afford it with Nash’s cut. You wouldn’t have to work if you don’t want to, or you could work from home,” I say shrugging. “I know what Nash wants for his future, but that’s a conversation you need to have with him, not with me. I’ll let you in on a secret though.” I lean in close to her. “Nash will give you whatever you want, you just have to tell him what that is. Don’t worry about it so much,” I tell her as a knock sounds from my bedroom door.
“Let’s go, Darlin', I’m hungry!” Nash calls from the hallway.
“You heard your man, let’s go,” I tell her, she smiles at the sound of his voice and I know in my gut they’ll end up okay. No matter what.
We all load up into the SUV. It’s a tight fit with so many large-bodied males in one car, but we make it work. I snuggle into Hunter’s shoulder as he wraps an arm around me. I listen to the conversations flying around the car, and for a moment I let myself imagine how our lives could be away from Sanorah.
Until our SUV is hit. The loud crash of metal against metal rings in my ears. Hunter wraps his arm around me tighter, but I’m thrown forward. I brace my arms on the seat in front of me, but I smack my head on the roof.
I feel the SUV spinning around until we’re hit again, forcing us off the road. The SUV tips onto its side in the ditch that runs along the road. I’m knocked around but manage to steady myself against the front seats.
Once we stop rolling, I reach up and grab my head to keep my ears from ringing. Looking around I call out to make sure everyone’s okay. Emma and Talin don’t answer but they’re both breathing. I reach out to check their pulses.
Ranger has a gash on the side of his head, and he is out cold. Hunter and Nash’s seat belts are stuck.
“You good?” Hunter asks, reaching his hand out to check me for injuries.
“I’m okay.”
I look around and notice the windshield’s smashed and pulled up in one corner. Moving around I crawl over the seats, careful to not hit anyone. I push on the windshield till it falls loose.
“What are you doing?” Nash asks as I start to crawl out of the overturned SUV and drop down to the ground.
“Making sure you guys aren’t going to catch on fire,” I say as I look around. I don’t see or smell gas or smoke.
Before I have a chance to figure
out exactly what happened, a hand comes around my chest and a rag’s placed over my mouth and nose. I’m assaulted with the unmistakable scent of chloroform before everything goes dark.
Chapter 16: Hydrocyanic Acid
Morana
Groaning, my eyes flutter open and I lift my head, rolling my neck to work out the kinks. I roll my eyes at the fact that I find myself tied to yet another chair. I really need to try harder to avoid these situations.
“You finally awake over there, Sweetheart?” I hear Malic Connors call from across the dark room.
“Yup, and I gotta say, this is the shittiest bed and breakfast I’ve ever stayed at. Really, the lack of service is astounding, one star, do not recommend,” I quip, cause even tied to a chair I’m funny as fuck.
I hear Malic moving around the room towards me. I hear him grab what sounds like a chair and slide it across the floor. He finally plops his ass down in front of me and smiles.
This whole cloak and dagger routine’s so tiring; the dark room, the single light swaying from the ceiling. The being tied to a fucking chair.
“We could’ve been great allies, Morana,” Malic remarks.
“Well, you never even asked,” I say, raising an eyebrow at him.
“True, but I’ve been watching. For sixteen years I’ve been watching. I saw it all. Everyone thinks Hades’ death fucked up your head, but the truth is you had a bloodlust coursing through your veins long before they took him from you,” he says. I force my face to remain neutral, not even giving myself away with micro-expressions.
“You’ve had your boys for a while, but they never really had you. Even once you accepted them into your bed, you never really let them into your heart,” he says and I fake a yawn, showing just how bored I am with this topic.
And he laughs. “Oh, come on, Sweetheart, don’t go mute on me now, our banter’s always been so fun,” he continues with his one-sided conversation. “You remember that day you and Hades drew your father some pictures? I was there, in his office. Your green eyes tracked all our movements while Hades couldn’t care less. I saw you thinking, retaining every detail in that smart little head of yours. That’s when I knew.”
“Knew what?” I ask.
“Knew that you were the Valdis future, not Hades. Shame they took him from you though. The Ashby’s never saw in you what I did. If they’d figured it out, they never would’ve taken the only thing keeping your bloodlust in check. You and Hades would’ve made a great team, him as the lead. The people person, he had such a personable approach about him. But you? You were calculating, always thinking, always assessing. And of course, bloodthirsty,” he says smiling.
“So, what changed? You get tired of waiting around so you killed off dad and tried to put me away?” I ask.
“Actually, I had other plans for you, but someone else thought it best you suffer. Being able to pin the murder on you would’ve just been a bonus, but I was counting on you piecing everything together,” he says as I hear another pair of footsteps enter the room.
And when he steps into the light, I smile. And the pieces start to fall into place.
Ranger
I hear yelling and feel my shoulder being jostled around. Groaning, I try to open my eyes and lift my head, but everything feels heavy. When I shift, I feel the telltale pain of a broken rib. I bring my hand up to grip my side where the pain’s radiating. I sift through my memories, trying to remember where I am and why everything hurts.
I vaguely remember Morana coming home with Talin, and Emma suggesting we go to the store for dinner. When it hits me that we were in a car accident I snap my eyes open and look around the overturned SUV.
“Wake the fuck up!” Hunter yells at me as he tugs on his seatbelt, trying to get it to come loose.
“Where is she?!” I yell frantically, looking around the car for Morana. Talin’s just starting to come to in the back seat. Nash’s fretting over Emma, who’s still passed out in the front seat.
Hunter gets his seatbelt loose and catches himself right before he drops onto my already-broken rib.
“He fucking took her!” Hunter yells as he looks around.
“What do you mean he took her? He who? What the fuck are you looking for?!” I demand. If someone took my girl, why isn’t he going after them!?
“A knife to cut you guys loose,” he says as he finds one of Morana’s blades under the seat. It must’ve fallen out of her boot when the SUV overturned.
“Why aren’t you going after them?!” I growl. Hunter stills his movements and fixes me with a glare.
“Because they sped out of here fifteen fucking minutes ago. So, I figured I should get you all out so we can go get her together,” he growls through clenched teeth.
“Fine,” I grit.
“Where is she?!” I hear Talin yell from the back seat when he finally comes to. I have slightly more respect for him now, considering the first thing he noticed after waking up is Morana missing. Our girl always comes first.
“Malic took her. He has to be the one who hit us and made us wreck,” Nash says from the front seat.
“Why didn’t you do anything?” Talin asks in disbelief.
“Don’t you fucking dare, new guy,” Nash growls. I know that I asked Hunter the same thing, but if there’s one thing you don’t do its question a brother’s loyalty or love for his sister. That’s what Nash and Morana are, bonded without being blood. Family in a way we aren’t.
Once we’re all free of the overturned SUV I call Marcus to come and bring us a new vehicle. Now we have to figure out where the hell Malic would’ve taken Morana, and why everything’s changed.
First, he wanted to pin Aeron’s murder on her. We don’t even know who actually killed him. Come to think of it, we don’t know how Talin was able to bring Morana back tonight. Or where he found her.
“Where did you find Morana?” I ask, turning to face Talin as we sit on the side of the road and wait for Marcus. The sooner we can formulate a plan the faster we can get her back.
“Delling,” he says.
“What the fuck was she doing in Delling?” Nash asks confused.
“She was sitting in a jail cell.”
“And she called you?” Nash asks.
“No. She wasn’t given a phone call. A deputy called me. Didn’t say anything other than to come to the county jail. So, I did. When I got there, I got a note that I figured meant she was there, so I demanded to take her into FBI custody,” he explains.
“And instead you slept with her and brought her home,” I deadpan.
“That wasn’t my intention,” he grits.
“What was your intention? Cause as far as I’m concerned, if it wasn’t for you and your shady as fuck boss I’d have my girl in my arms right now. Instead, I have no idea where she is or what’s happening to her right now,” I growl, getting in Talin’s face.
Nash steps between us, pushing us both back.
“Look, I get it, man,” Talin says, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I came here thinking that the whole town of Sanorah lived in fear of you guys. And yeah, maybe that’s true, and yes, you guys aren’t law-abiding citizens. And I don’t condone murder, but maybe the Valdis family did some good things too,” he groans. “I can't believe I’m saying this. Regardless of all of that, Morana’s the reason I don’t give a fuck about the rules anymore. I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t go back to my life the way it was before. I can’t go back to not having her,” he says.
“She’s the light. She just doesn’t realize it,” Hunter says as he leans his head against the SUV.
“She’s home,” Nash says, and Emma squeezes his hand and smiles at him.
“She’s a friend,” Emma says. This should surprise me considering Morana recently threatened her life, but something about the way she says it I know she understands it.
“She’s love,” I whisper.
“She’s everything,” Talin says and we all nod.
Morana’s always seen the worst in her
self, and maybe that’s why she needs people like us. People who see the very best. People like Hades, who saw she was the light when all she saw was darkness.
“Okay, why was Morana in jail in the first place?” I ask as we drive back to the apartment to regroup.
As much as we all just want to take to the streets and track down our girl, there’s no way we’re going to find her without a plan. And we can’t have a plan until we have all the facts.
“Something about trespassing,” Talin says.
“Where?”
“An old bar that the Fallen Angels MC own,” Talin says. Everything keeps pointing back to those guys. Malic has to be connected in more ways than just his adoption.
“What do we know about the operation as a whole? Their origins? Do they have any connection at all to Aeron?” Hunter asks.
No one says anything, and it’s clear we don’t know nearly as much as we should know about them. But Morana had to have figured out something or she wouldn’t have gone there.
“Hey, did you guys ever finish going through all that stuff from Aeron’s office?” Nash asks Hunter.
“Fuck, no we didn’t,” he says, getting up and pulling a box out from behind the couch. “She said there should be recordings from his office going back four years. We should be able to find out who exactly killed him as long as he was killed in view of the camera,” Hunter says, tapping on the keyboards.
“Fuck, I have no idea how to find the right date,” he growls running his hands through his hair.
“Here, let me,” Emma says, thrusting her hand out for the laptop. Hunter hesitates for a minute, but Nash nods and he hands it over to her.
A few taps of the keyboard later Emma is turning the laptop around to face us. Gathering around the coffee table, we watch the scene play out on the screen.
Talin and Emma look to us for any indication that we know the other person in the video.
“What. The. Fuck,” Nash says.
