Emerald

by Rebekah Thompson

  “Where’s my bride?” Snake’s voice calls out, making me cringe. Seconds later, the imposing door at the front of the room opens, revealing the devil himself. I wipe away tears I didn’t know were falling from my face and raise my head. I thought his brother was the devil, but he was nothing compared to this monster.

  Snake grins down at me and takes my arm, hauling me off the floor. He forces his nasty lips to mine and holds me tight against him as he kisses me. I force myself not to gag and push at him until he pulls away with an angry expression on his face.

  “Time to get ready for our wedding, baby,” he says, walking and pulling me along with him. Just kill me now. I limply follow along as Snake drags me upstairs to yet another room, this one nicer than the last. He pushes me into the room and the first thing I see is an adolescent girl, probably no older than seventeen or eighteen, in a maid’s uniform.

  She looks underfed and injured. Her cheeks are sunken in, and there are purple bags under her eyes. She almost looks like she can’t hold herself up. Like she’ll fall over any minute.

  “Alexa, get her ready for tonight. You know what to do and you know what will happen if you don’t do it,” Snake growls. He pins her with a glare as he inches toward the door. His eyes fall on me at last, winking.

  Disgust rolls through me, so I look away. I don’t want him to see the effect; however, I’d rather him see my disgust than my fear. Because no mistake, the fear is there, simmering right under my skin.

  The girl whimpers and nods her head, saying, “Yes sir.”

  With her confirmation, Snake leaves the room, slamming the door. What fresh hell is coming?

  Chapter 20

  My hand slips from the doorknob. Snake locked me and the girl, Alexa, in the room. I sigh, lay my forehead on the door and force the tears back.

  “Your bath is ready, Mistress,” Alexa walks out of the bathroom. I look up at her with a grimace and step toward her. I never want to hear that word.

  “You don’t have to call me that. I want no part in this,” I tell her. Her eyebrows pull together in confusion. She shakes her head and entwines her fingers in front of her.

  “B-but you’re marrying him,” she stutters, her eyes narrowing. Ah. She thinks I want to be here. I look her over again. From her appearance, she’s treated poorly. Her clothes are dirty, hair cut in a choppy bob, like she did it herself, and her shoes have a hole in the toe.

  Sighing, I lean back against the door. “Not by choice,” I tell her. Her eyes widen, understanding flashing through them.

  “He’s forcing you,” she murmurs with a frown. I nod and watch as her bottom lip quivers. Leaning forward, I take her hands in mine, making her look up. She frowns, looks down at our hands, then frowns deeper.

  Alexa stares and stares but says nothing. So, to break the silence, I ask, “Why are you here?” It’s not really any of my business, but with the way she looks and her young age, she shouldn’t be here. Like I said, she only looks to be a teenager. No one, especially a teenager, should be around these men.

  She looks down to hide her face, but I hook a finger under her chin and lift it. “He t-took me and my br-brother from our house one night,” she answers. A tear escapes her eye, rolling down her cheek, and she wipes it away. “He k-killed my brother, and I-I haven’t left this compound since.”

  My heart breaks for the girl. From experience, I know no one should have to go through something like that. It seems Snake and his brother aren’t so different in that category, although I never thought they were much different. It’s clear; they’re both awful, sadistic bastards.

  She sniffles and nods, pulling away from me. “We should get started,” she says, pulling me towards the bathroom. It’s only then that I remember I’m supposed to be getting ready to marry Snake. I swallow the bile, nod, and follow her into the enormous bathroom.

  “If I ever get out of here, I’ll take you with me, Alexa,” I tell her as I pull my dress zipper down and shrug it off.

  “Wow,” I hear Alexa breathe. I glance over my shoulder and see she’s looking at my wings. I give her a friendly smile at the common reaction and explain.

  “My dad was an MC President several years ago. My name is Angel, so I got the wings” I tell her. I go through the explanation of my mom and dad picking my name as well as growing up in a club. At first, she looks at me like I’m crazy, so I explain how different my father’s club was.

  While I bathe, I relay the story of my parents falling in love. It was somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet story. My mom’s parents and my father’s parents didn’t like each other because they were from the opposite sides of the tracks as people say. Mom was from a wealthy family. Dad was from a family that lived comfortably and only sometimes stretched thin.

  Dad always told me meeting Mom was a miracle. If they hadn’t met at a concert, he believed they would’ve never met. He said they met at the food table while they were waiting for barbeque sandwiches. During a conversation, they found out they lived in the same town, just on opposite sides.

  After that, they secretly dated and eventually married. Two years after Dad got out of the military, they had me.

  “They sound like they found true love,” she says, pouring water over my hair.

  “Yeah. Dad always said he’d never find another woman. Mom was it for him,” I tell her, biting my lip to stop it from quivering. “He- he said she was the one. She was his soul mate.”

  My mind turns to Dominic. I feel the same way about Dominic. I won’t ever find another man I love more. Dominic is the only one. After what happened with Viper, I never thought I’d find someone. I just wish I could get back to him.

  “I’m sorry that you won’t get to have what your parents had,” she tells me once she’s done with my hair.

  “How did you-”

  She smiles a slight smile. “I may be young, yet I know that look,” she points at my face. “My mom used to look at my dad that way.” She blinks rapidly and looks away, pouring more water over my hair.

  I sigh then look up at her as she moves to the end of the tub to help me shave. I shake my head. “Alexa, I can do this. You are not my slave,” I tell her. I hold my hand out palm up. After a second, she nods, hands me the razor, and crouches next to the tub.

  Leaning over, I shave. My legs are prickly from not shaving for days, so I gladly run the razor down my legs. I’m not happy to be marrying a monster, but there’s nothing I can do. There isn’t a phone in the room, or in the bathroom, and Snake would never give Alexa a phone.

  “So, what happens now?” Alexa asks as I finish shaving. I shrug and stand up, rinsing the bubbles off my body. Alexa hands me a towel, and I wrap it around myself. Once I’m dry, I wrap a towel around my hair and pull on a black, silk robe.

  With a sigh, I head into the room and sit on the edge of the bed. What now?

  Again, I realize my body is shaking not from the cold… from the fear racing through my blood. “I don’t know what’ll happen, but I will never stop trying to get out of here,” I tell Alexa. She nods and walks over to the closet where a large white bag hangs over the door.

  This is happening. I’m about to be forced to marry a monster, and not the kind of monster in Rosaleigh’s favorite movie Beauty and the Beast. Tears well up in my eyes and my breath speeds up. I’m about to be made to marry Snake, and my mind turns to Dominic. Will they come to avenge me? Will they come soon and possibly save me?

  What am I thinking? They’ll come to avenge me. Blood for blood. Family is everything in a club, especially when you’re an Old Lady or a member.

  “I know this is a stupid question, but are you okay?” Alexa questions, kneeling in front of me. I shake my head and the damn finally breaks, tears falling. She was right, it is a stupid question. How could any of this be okay?

  “No, I’m being forced to marry someone I don’t love, while the man I love thinks I’m dead,” I cry, burying my face in my hands. A small hand rubs my back, trying to comfort me. It helps a bit,
but nothing will completely help except getting out of here, wherever here is.

  “The man you love?” She asks, making me look up. I nod and brush at the tears on my cheeks.

  “Yeah, his name is Hawk. He’s the President of the Black Hawk MC, and I love him more than anything,” I tell her. She smiles at me again, and I look at her. If you look past the dirty face, messy hair, and maid outfit, Alexa is pretty. She has short brown hair and light greenish blue eyes.

  Alexa squeezes my hand and looks up at me. “Well, maybe he’ll come for you. For now, you have a new friend. I’ll be here as long as you want or need me to be,” she says. I nod and pull her into a tight hug. Having her here while we’re both trapped here will make it a little more bearable.

  “Okay, we should get you ready, so he doesn’t come up and get angry with us both,” Alexa speaks up, pulling out of the hug. I nod as she leads me to the vanity where she pulls out a chair and motions for me to sit. As Alexa works on drying and then curling my hair, she tells me what she knows about the wedding.

  Apparently, Snake wants a proper wedding with witnesses, vows, the preacher, a fully dressed bride, makeup, and decorations all over. Snake wants this to be legit and that scares me because if I ever get out of here, I’ll still be married to this monster.

  Sitting in the chair, I close my eyes and let Alexa work. I don’t want to be the reason that she gets in trouble. While I’m here, I’ll try to help her stay out of harm’s way as much as possible. Maybe if I distract the men, Alexa can get free.

  Staying still, I steady my breathing as she applies makeup and pulls a curling iron through my hair. I feel her carefully bounce my hair, so I open my eyes. If this wasn’t a horrible situation, I’d be thrilled to look like this on my wedding day. I touch my hair and give a brief smile at the light feeling. My makeup is light and natural, in light brown tones, but pretty.

  “You’re great at this,” I murmur, turning to look at Alexa. Pink creeps up her cheeks as she smiles proudly.

  “Well, I’ve always loved doing makeup. When I was young, I used to ask my mom if I could do her makeup, and when I got in high school, I watched tons of makeup tutorials and did my friend’s makeup for sporting events, dances, dates, or anything else they wanted,” she explains, and I nod. I freeze and look up at her, “Wait a second. How old are you?”

  I realized that I never asked her. I think she’s maybe eighteen, but I’m not sure.

  Alexa’s hands slow, then stop.

  “Oh, I was sixteen when I was taken and my brother was eighteen, so I should be seventeen,” she answers. So young, like I was when I was taken by Snake’s brother. Shaking the thoughts away, I give her my best comforting smile.

  “I’m so sorry that this happened to you.”

  Banging on the door makes both of us jump. A second later, the door flies open, and Snake stomps in. “Why aren’t you dressed?” He yells, glaring at both of us. His eyes flicker over to Alexa, and I step in front of her.

  “I made her start over because- I didn’t like the way she did my hair, so it took longer than it should have. It was my fault,” I lie, hoping he will believe it. I want to protect her as much as I can. If that means getting hurt physically or verbally, I’ll take it. She’s too young for this.

  Snake huffs and pushes me aside, grabbing Alexa, ordering her to leave, and pushing her out the door. When she looks at me, I nod. Snake slams the door behind her. His eyes rove my body, a smirk pulling at his lips. I watch as he walks to the big white bag and pulls it off the door.

  “Get dressed, it’s time to get married,” he tells me, shoving the dress into my hands. I lay it across the bed, unzip it, and hold in a gasp. For all the horror, the dress is beautiful. The dress has long laced sleeves and a sweetheart neckline with beading on the bodice. The skirt is puffy and made of tulle with lacing starting at the small of the back and going up to right below the shoulder.

  “Get on with it!”

  I jump and look back at Snake. He’s standing there staring at me. He can’t possibly think I’ll strip and change in front of him. Can he?

  He can.

  He inclines his head toward the dress, and I sigh. I slowly untie the back of the dress to delay the inevitable. Maybe if I take too long, he’ll leave.

  It doesn’t work though, so I- keeping my robe on- step into the dress and pull it up my legs. I’m careful to keep all my parts covered as I pull the dress up past my waist and to my breasts. Once everything is covered by the dress, I drop the robe to the floor. I can feel Snake’s eyes on my body, roaming up and down, hoping for a peak or eyeful of my… assets.

  Once I’m dressed, with the back of the dress tied up, I feel Snake’s hand clamp down on my arm. Before I can put my shoes on, he drags me out of the room, and this time, I get a glance at the clock. 7:48 pm. I must have slept in and taken a long time getting ready.

  When we get out in the hallway, we pass a window, and because there weren’t any windows in the room, I didn’t realize it was so late. The sun is barely there, meanwhile the moon climbed high in the sky.

  “Everyone is waiting to see us married, baby,” Snake says, sounding just like his brother when he says that word. I shudder at the thought. I block it out. Finally, Snake stops us in front of a set of doors. A giant of a man, ugly with a beer-stained shirt and a stench that made me gag, steps up next to me. Snake nods at the man, then turns to me. “This is Ray, and he’s walking you down the aisle.” I open my mouth to protest, but he gives me a narrowed glare that tells me I better not speak.

  Defeated, I nod and look away. “Come in when the music starts,” Snake orders and walks through the door, letting it close behind him. Rolling my eyes, I keep my head down and concentrate on my breathing. The man, Ray, tries to start a conversation with me, but I don’t answer anything he says which makes him huff in annoyance. I don’t bother looking up at him though.

  The only thing that makes me react is the booming organ music on the other side of the large doors. My heart kicks into a gallop. My stomach does somersaults. My brain screams for me to run.

  Then my fear spikes to an all-new level as Ray grabs my arm in a painful grip and commands me to, “Move.” The doors open, revealing a room filled with rows of seats and those seats filled with bikers, no doubt from Snake’s club. Snake stands at the end of the room, down a makeshift aisle, standing beside a preacher man with what is probably a Bible in his hands.

  This is officially the worst day of my life.

  Instead of walking down the aisle, I’m pulled down the aisle. My eyes stay on the ground. I know it will probably make Snake angry, but I can’t help it. I’ve always wanted to get married, just not like this.

  When I was young, I pictured a beautiful wedding with flowers everywhere, people I love, and a faceless man who is no longer faceless. Now I picture him with Dominic’s face, but I’ll never get to marry him because of Snake.

  As I reach the altar, several loud gunshots go off. My eyes shoot to Snake, and I see his eyes widen and something in them that makes me happy- his fear. He darts forward, grabs me, and throws me over his shoulder.

  “Go! Find them!” Snake yells to his men, pointing in the direction opposite of the hall he’s carrying me down. They all jump up, pulling out guns and other weapons. With that, he runs out of the room, me bouncing on his shoulder.

  As he runs, his shoulder digging into my stomach, we pass Alexa whose face is frozen in fear. “Alexa! If they have black hawks on their vests, tell them you’re my friend!” I scream as Snake carries me away. His hand comes down hard on my butt, making me shriek from the pain. She doesn’t have time to answer because Snake turns a corner and starts going down a set of stairs.

  “Help!” I scream, hoping someone will hear me over the gunshots and yelling. Realistically, it’s so loud that I’m sure no one will hear, but it’s worth a shot. We reach the bottom of the stairs, and Snake throws me down.

  “Shut up,” he growls, pushing me into the cell from yesterday
and putting a chain and cuffs around my wrists. I kick out at him, but he already has them locked around my wrists.

  Hurriedly, he grabs something from his pocket. I jerk my head away as he tries to tie it around my mouth. Through the cloth, I bite his hand, making him curse. In a quick movement, he slams his fist to my face, sending me sprawling to the floor. I groan in pain at the hard contact, and he takes this chance to gag me.

  “They won’t take you from me. You’re mine,” he tells me, rushing to the door, pulling it closed, locking it, and putting the key in his pocket.

  Chapter 21

  After several hours of driving, I lead the way, pulling up to the trail that leads us right to the Hell Rider’s warehouse. My brothers and I pull over, parking our bikes in the tree line so patrols won’t see them. Once everyone parks and climbs off their rides, we split up and make our way towards the compound.

  I send half my men around back and the other half come with me to the front. Wolf, from beside me, whispers, “This is the place. I got a quick glance of it when they dragged me in before they knocked me out the second time.” I nod, pulling my pistol from my jeans, load it, and click off the safety.

  Nodding, I motion my half of the team forward. Sniper is in the trees somewhere, but Reaper, Beast, Wolf, Ink, and I move to the front. “Weapons ready,” I call out. They pull out their various weapons, including pistols, knives, and sawed-off shotguns.

  Looking back at the front of the warehouse, I see six men standing guard. I motion for my men to take them out, and we charge. The guards seem surprised at first, then start firing their weapons. We fire back, and I hit one guy in the shoulder, while others go down from hits from my brothers. The guards fall to the ground one by one, and I grab the door handle, pulling it open.

  The first thing I notice when we enter is the nearly empty space. There aren’t any men lurking. My first thought is they’re hiding, but then I hear the loud instrumental music. The familiar dun dun da dun rings through the building, sending confusion spiraling through me.