Blood & Bones: Cage (Blood Fury MC Book 5)

by Jeanne St. James

  Cage had packed Jemma back into the Volvo with Reilly in the driver’s seat. He ordered Reese’s sister to take her to the nearest urgent care center to get her examined, to stitch up the gash. To check for a concussion.

  Before they left, Dutch ordered Reilly to take her to the farmhouse as soon as they were done. All the women, including Daisy, needed to gather in one spot, to be protected. Cage’s father repeated the order which came directly from the sergeant at arms.

  Crazy Pete’s was shut down. The prospects took up posts at the farmhouse with the women.

  His brothers gathered in The Barn.

  All of them.

  Every single one.

  They were making a plan and Cage had no idea what it was.

  His focus was on one thing.

  Get his daughter back.

  That was it.

  What else happened he didn’t give a fuck.

  Sig could burn that fucking mountain to the ground.

  Shade could make a blood river by slicing all their throats.

  He didn’t give a fuck.

  Men. Women. Their spawn. All of them.

  Every last goddamn Shirley needed to be wiped from the Earth.

  And once the clan on that mountain was gone, he’d go with Sig to Ohio and wipe out the rest.

  The Shirleys and their kind needed to become extinct.

  A distant memory.

  But that wasn’t going to happen.

  Fuck no.

  They’d make a plan.

  That was what Trip said.

  That was what he was doing.

  Standing on top of the bar so everyone could see and hear him. Judge stood on the floor in front of their president, his thick, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. Formidable. His face an angry mask.

  The bearded giant watched Cage closely, carefully.

  Probably making sure Cage didn’t slip out undetected. Making sure Cage didn’t head up that mountain on his own.

  “Those motherfuckers kicked us right in the fuckin’ nuts again,” Ozzy yelled out and a chorus of agreement rose from everyone surrounding Cage.

  Trip raised a palm and his voice to catch everyone’s attention. “We need to decide, not if, but how we handle this. ‘Cause we gonna fuckin’ handle this. Not just get our property back, but—”

  “Dyna,” Cage muttered, cutting the prez off.

  Trip’s eyes fell to him. “What?”

  “Dyna. My fuckin’ daughter. Not property.” Cage jammed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets and snarled.

  She was a living, breathing part of him. Not an inanimate object.

  His baby could feel pain and discomfort, unlike the fucking wood bar Trip stood on.

  Judge’s gruff voice rolled over their brotherhood. “Brother, yeah, she’s your daughter, but she belongs to all of us. She’s Fury property and under our protection. Those hillbilly ass wipes need to learn to stay away from what’s ours.”

  Trip took over from there. “Yeah, so... This ain’t just about gettin’ Dyna back but finishin’ this once and for all.”

  “We warned them last time,” Sig growled, the cords on his neck tight and his own hands formed into fists. “Fuckin’ warned them. Should’ve burned that goddamn mountain to the ground. Took them all out.”

  “We gotta do this smart,” Trip reminded his half-brother.

  “We gotta do this now,” Cage screamed.

  “Brother, Trip’s right,” Rook said quietly next to him. “Gotta do this smart. What’s the point of us cleanin’ house up there if we all end up back behind bars? What will be left of this club? Who will be here to protect our women and children then? Who will raise Dyna? Think.”

  “They’re not gonna hurt her. They wouldn’t fuckin’ dare.” Dutch growled. “They took her to replace Levi.”

  “You don’t know that!” Cage yelled, his head feeling like it was about to spin off his neck like a top. “You can’t say that, ‘cause you don’t fuckin’ know. None of us do. They’re out for revenge. We killed some of their brother-cousins. Took out their leader. You don’t think they’re pissed enough to hurt Dyna? Maybe even fuckin’ kill her? To make a fuckin’ statement?”

  He sucked in a breath and continued before anyone could interrupt him.

  “Why didn’t they take Jemma? Why only Dyna? During daylight, in the open, in the middle of town where anyone coulda spotted them?”

  A quiet voice rose out of the crowd as the man moved forward. “Easier to snatch a baby than both a baby and her mother. Only takes one person to do it. Coulda been one of their women who did it. Someone unassumin’.”

  Cage opened his mouth to correct Shade about Jemma being Dyna’s mother.

  The man knew Jemma wasn’t his baby’s mother. Everyone knew who Jemma was to Dyna. So, why did he say that?

  Then it hit him that Shade was right. He was so fucking right.

  Jemma was as close to a mother Dyna could get.

  “They all gotta go. Every last fuckin’ one of them,” Ozzy stated.

  Dodge spoke up. “What about the kids? The babies? What happens to them if we wipe out all the adults? They didn’t ask to be born on Hillbilly Hill, born to these backwoods back-assed rednecks. We might not like it, but innocents live up there. We’re no better than them if we take out the innocent, as well as the guilty.”

  “Those kids will grow up to be just as depraved as their fuckin’ father-uncles and mother-aunts,” Sig said and spat on the floor.

  “We don’t know that,” Dodge stated.

  “They’ll know no different. They’re born up there and die up there. They never fuckin’ leave. They’ll never know there’s a broad world out there. Somethin’ other than what you call Hillbilly Hill. They’ll only live a narrowly focused life,” Cage shouted.

  “But who the fuck are we to decide?” Dodge asked softly.

  “The Fury,” Judge bellowed. “That’s who the fuck we are. They fuck us, we’re fuckin’ them back even harder.”

  A roar rose from all of them, giving Cage a little bit of hope. But still...

  Time was ticking.

  Every hour, minute, second that passed was another hour, minute, second that clan had Dyna and was doing who knew what to her. That had his fucking blood boiling to the point it was about to explode like a grenade in his gut.

  “Listen up,” Judge shouted. “Didn’t share this shit ‘cause it was on a need-to-know basis. Shade’s been doin’ some recon on that mountain. He approached me, I approved it, as did our prez. He’s been watchin’, makin’ a map of their compound, learnin’ their fuckin’ inbred ways.”

  “Also makin’ sure they didn’t kidnap any more women for breedin’ purposes,” Trip added.

  The floor went back to Judge. “He’s been watchin’ who stepped into Vernon Shirley’s shoes. Also, who’s now second in command. Who’s comin’ and goin’. Their numbers. Inventoryin’ their buildings. Their stockpiles of weapons. Where their moonshine stills are hidden. Where they’re makin’ meth. All of it.”

  Fuck.

  Shade had gone up on that mountain by himself, putting himself at risk. For the club. For the brotherhood. He had no woman or children to protect but he was doing it for all of them. Just like it should be. Like the old Fury motto:

  For one! For all!

  For our brothers, we live and die!

  A motto the Originals shouted but, in the end, never followed. If they had, they wouldn’t have turned on each other.

  The man named Shade, the brother with the long, curly brown hair, stepped up next to Judge. He didn’t like the spotlight, but preferred to remain in the background. Unseen, unheard. A quiet cornerstone of the Fury.

  He’d shown his loyalty the last time they went up the mountain. Enough so, he was patched in early.

  After that night everyone saw him with new eyes. Judge originally distrusted him, but apparently that changed if he sent Shade up to spy on their enemy.

  The group settled down and became really qui
et to hear the man speak.

  His voice was low but confident. His words were well-chosen before he spoke them. Like he had to pick each word carefully before saying it. Cage knew stutterers sometimes did that, but he’d never heard Shade stutter even slightly. “Got twenty-six women up there. Eighteen men. About forty kids under eighteen.”

  “Forty,” someone repeated near Cage and whistled softly.

  “Why more women than men?” Whip asked.

  Judge answered. “We took out some of their men the last time.”

  “Vernon Shirley also had three sister-wives,” Shade reminded them. “The male that took his spot—can’t figure out how he’s related—took those three wives. The youngest one,” he found Sig out in the crowd and spoke directly to the VP, “the one you forced to watch what you did with Vernon... She’s now knocked up by her new man. They live in the main house. Shit continued without a hitch, like Vernon Shirley never existed.”

  “After Sig chopped off the head of the snake, the fuckin’ thing grew back,” Cage grumbled.

  “Figured it would,” Sig muttered next to him. “They weren’t goin’ away quietly. They’re too fuckin’ stupid to do that.”

  “Now that fuckin’ snake’s wrapped around my baby girl’s throat. Time to chop that motherfucker up and burn the pieces.”

  “Need to break up into teams,” Judge announced. “Leavin’ Ry, Tater and Possum here with the women and Daisy. Got them tricked out with what they’d need to handle a threat. Only one not in that house right now is Reese.” He shot his cousin a look that spoke volumes.

  Deacon shrugged. “Just got a text. She’ll be here in twenty. But she’s fuckin’ pissed to be pulled away. She might take any threat out with her bare hands.”

  “She can be pissed all she fuckin’ wants,” Judge said, clearly not giving a fuck.

  “That’s what I told her. Didn’t like that answer. Sure I’m gonna hear about it later.”

  “Any-fuckin-way,” Judge said. “There’s twelve of us without Dutch—”

  “Fuck that!” Cage’s father bellowed. “They got my Duchess. My ass is goin’ up there to get her back!”

  “All right...” Judge continued, “There’s thirteen of us. Some are gonna head up and take care of business. Some are gonna sit down at the bottom of the lane, watch for pigs, watch for anyone comin’ and goin’. Prevent anyone from comin’ up our rear flank. Some are gonna spread out in the woods, make sure no one sneaks off with Dyna.”

  If his daughter was still alive.

  For fuck’s sake, she better be alive.

  A single downy hair better not be out of place on her head.

  If there was...

  Well, those backwoods motherfuckers would get what was coming to them whether there was or there wasn’t.

  But still... there had better not be.

  Because Hell hath no fury like the Blood Fury.

  Every last one of that clan would be begging for Cage to end it for them.

  Begging.

  His club needed to move.

  And now.

  They’ve jawed long enough.

  Judge quickly laid out in more detail what each group would do, using Shade’s intel. And when they were done, the stomping of boots against the wood plank floor and the hollers of warriors heading into battle rose to the rafters.

  “Got somethin’ to say first,” Cage called out, catching everyone’s attention before they filed out.

  No better time than now to resurrect the Original’s motto. It was the only one they had, it would have to do.

  “For one! For all!” Cage yelled. “For our brothers...”

  “We live and die!” came the answering roar.

  “Let’s fuckin’ ride!” shouted Judge and led them all out of The Barn.

  Chapter Twenty

  Their phones were on silent. Most of them carried the weight of at least one gun under their cuts. A few had knives strapped in various locations on their person.

  And everyone was on high alert.

  The sun had lowered behind the trees, giving them patches of shade to move between and remain undetected. The biggest worry as they traveled on foot was the possibility of booby traps.

  They went up assuming the rumor was true, that the mountain was littered with them. However, nobody knew where and what kind.

  It made for a slow go. And the darkness was creeping in like a homicidal stalker.

  Whip and Easy were posted at the bottom near the road. The rest were scattered in various locations, moving closer to the clan’s compound in the shape of a tightening noose.

  All kept an eye open on their surroundings and also their footing. Looking for trip wires. Disturbed undergrowth. Anything suspicious hidden among the trees.

  They searched for markings on tree trunks. Those fuckers had to mark the location of their own booby traps somehow.

  Cage was with Shade and Rook. They were the “team” tasked to locate and get Dyna out.

  No matter what.

  The rest were circling the clearing of the main compound, where the livestock barn, the large main house and a few outbuildings of various sizes were situated.

  It also included the shed where the Shirleys had imprisoned Autumn and they’d...

  Cage sucked dank forest air deeply into his lungs.

  The thought they could have snagged Jemma and what they could’ve done to her...

  They didn’t.

  But they did have their daughter. Jemma was relying on him to bring Dyna home safely.

  Dressed in camo from head to toe, Shade stopped behind a tree. All of them had shed their cuts before leaving and dressed in dark clothing. Black jeans, if they had them, and dark or black shirts. No one wore anything with designs or colors. Nothing that could catch someone’s eye.

  They needed to do this smartly. Not become targets themselves.

  The Shirleys had shot up Trip’s wrecker when he tried to repo one of their piece of shit vehicles a while back. If they did that for a rust bucket, they’d do worse to keep his baby.

  Shade pointed ahead and lifted both hands with his fingers spread. Ten.

  The edge of the clearing was ten yards ahead.

  The crack of a twig had Cage’s head twisting toward his brother, who had frozen in place and grimaced at his mistake.

  All three heads swiveled back toward the compound.

  Besides their own footsteps, their collective breathing and his heart beating in his ears, the mountain was eerily quiet.

  Cage took his cues from Shade who had learned the lay of the land—or, in this case, mountain. His club brother jerked his chin and moved forward.

  Rook and Cage followed him, stepping carefully and moving as quietly as they could.

  They were no Army Rangers, no Navy Seals, no Green Berets. Neither had time in the service, but they both had done time.

  They had no special skills other than being mechanics and good with their hands. But they both knew how to survive prison and they had a purpose. An important one.

  They could do this.

  Shade stopped again another few yards ahead, pinning his back to a tree and silently indicating for Cage and Rook to move closer.

  As they did, Cage noticed no movement in the clearing. No one was around. All the buildings in view were dark. They could see the main house on a ridge just beyond the barn and some sheds. Not one light was lit in any of the windows.

  It was goddamn spooky and set the fine hairs on the back of his neck on end.

  This scenario was unlike when they had recovered Autumn.

  “Somethin’ ain’t right,” Shade said under his breath.

  That observation twisted Cage’s gut.

  “It’s way too fuckin’ quiet. Not one damn light on in any of the buildings. Nothin’ rustlin’ but the livestock. Nothin’.”

  Fuck. “They’re expectin’ us,” Cage assumed, his gaze slicing through the compound again, searching for any signs of life.

  “Yeah. They didn’t s
nag Dyna to keep her. Those fuckers snagged her as bait,” Rook whispered, sidling up to them.

  “Fuckin’ motherfuckers,” Cage muttered under his breath.

  “If they don’t wanna keep her, then they might not think twice about hurtin’ her.” His brother said out loud what Cage was unfortunately thinking.

  “Goddamn ambush. That’s what this is,” Shade said. “They’re waitin’ for us. Not sure where. Never seen it this dead up here.”

  “Don’t say dead,” Cage growled.

  “Know what I mean,” Shade mumbled, keeping his eyes focused at the center of the clearing. “With the number of kids up here, quiet ain’t a thing. They took ‘em somewhere. Maybe one of the cabins higher up the mountain. One harder to get to.”

  “Ambush or not, we gotta find Dyna,” Cage said. “Ain’t leavin’ this mountain without her.”

  “Agreed,” Rook said beside him.

  “Can’t afford a gun fight without knowin’ where she is, either,” Cage added. He didn’t need his baby caught in crossfire. He glanced at his brother. “Text the rest. Warn them it’s an ambush and we need to regroup.”

  “Tell ‘em not to leave their locations. We’ll use text to figure out a new plan. We got this far, ain’t goin’ back,” Shade told Rook. “You two stay here for now. Gonna check some shit and will be back.”

  Within a blink of an eye, Shade was gone, following the shadows, tracking silently among the trees and brush.

  “That fucker can be scary. He’s gotta have some special ops trainin’ or somethin’,” Rook said as his fingers moved quickly over his phone, typing out a group text.

  “Or somethin’,” Cage muttered, looking for signs of where Shade went.

  The man had become completely invisible.

  “Just glad he’s on our side,” Rook continued. He lifted his head. “’Kay, message sent.”

  “Don’t know who’s on those inbred motherfuckers’ side, though. Don’t know their skills. They’re survivalists at worst. They live off this fuckin’ mountain. They’re resourceful.”

  Rook squeezed Cage’s shoulder. “They’re dumbfucks, brother. Too stupid to live.”

  “Yeah, then how are they breathin’?”

  “Won’t be for long,” his brother assured him.