Knight (17 page)

“She should know how to behave when she’s kidnapped.”

His voice scraped, a blade against pavement. “I wasn’t planning on her getting kidnapped anymore.”

“Then you’re lucky I found her.”

“Am I?”

“She’d be worse off if Priest got in her panties.”

Rose choked, but Thorne swore a vengeance that wasn’t dignified with a lady present.

“You’re going to bring her to Pixie,” Thorne said, his words rasping on the edge of total fucking war. “And she’ll be safe and unharmed. If one goddamned freckle is out of place—”

“—I’m not going to hurt her—”

“There ain’t a place in this world or hell you’re gonna hide from me.”

“You gonna threaten me, or you wanna listen?”

“I’ll do more than threat, Lancelot.”

Yeah, and that’s why I needed a bit of insurance. “I’m gonna return her, un-fucking-harmed, and I’ll expect a little courtesy for being so goddamned magnanimous.”

“You want courtesy?” Thorne spat the word. “I’ve let you
live
for the past goddamned year.”

“You want to keep her alive? Do as I say.”

“You don’t get to make demands.”

“I have your girl. You’ll do anything I want, and you fucking know it. I don’t have you by the balls, I’m squeezing something better.”

He snorted. “What the fuck could you possibly want?”

Rose pretended to submit, but I watched her creep across the bed. She was the type to grab a lamp or chair and take a shot at freedom. I wasn’t a guy who tied a gash to the bed, but I knew how make a solid knot that’d keep her in place. I pointed at her to sit still and listen.

“I want an audience,” I said. “I’ll bring her to Sorceress. Nine, tomorrow night. We’ll make a deal. No guns. No war. She’ll sit on my goddamned lap until I think I’m safe, and our clubs will talk like men.”

“Only one of us has the right to call himself a man.”

Yeah, and it was me, if only because Thorne acted more like a goddamned demon than human when his girl was in danger.

“You want her in one piece?” I asked. “Meet me there. Provided she behaves, she’ll be yours again in less than a day.”

Thorne said nothing. I didn’t like his silence. He never quieted and rarely took the time to think about his actions. At least he hadn’t when I was still a part of his club. Nice to see a leader evolving.

“Those are my terms,” I said. “You can either deal with me or you can peel her out from under Priest, Bounty, and Lash, if she’s still alive.”

Rose gripped the comforter. Thorne’s profanity muffled as he threw the phone down, and the roar of a passing truck didn’t muffle his temper. He was too far from the Valley to help Rose. He was fucked, and he knew it.

Better him than her.

“Tomorrow at nine,” he said. “But I find your ass anywhere else, any other time? You’ll be dead so quick you won’t know who pulled the trigger.”

Fair enough.

I hung up. Rose’s eyes widened. She wasn’t threatening. Hell, she was little more than a trapped baby bunny waiting for the weed-whacker. But I wasn’t foolish enough to trust her. A Darnell thrived on danger, and they survived more than their fair share of shit. They knew how to twist and turn, fight and cheat to get themselves out of trouble.

Until it didn’t work for Blade.

I was surprised Brew hadn’t survived.

“You’re a jackass.” Rose ripped open her book bag and tossed me my cut. I braced for a gun, not a math book with more letters than numbers. “I have class in the morning. An
exam
.”

“Nothing I’d want to deal with. You should be glad to skip it.”

She frowned. “You do realize I’m trying to make a life for myself outside of these godforsaken clubs? I want an education and a chance to earn a living that isn’t Thorne smuggling cigarettes.” She ran a hand through her hair. “The harder I try to get out of Anathema, the deeper I get sucked in.”

 “Sorry, sweetheart,” I said. “Next time I’ll find a way to kill myself that doesn’t involve you.”

“Don’t get smart.”

“Likewise.”

“Why are you doing this?”

No sense lying. Rose had gotten fucked in every way by the club. At least this time I could use her to end the insanity.

Or incite the asylum.

“I’m trading you to Anathema so I get safe passage to talk to Thorne. You’re easier to wrangle than any other member of the club, and you’re better to look at.”

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

Apparently not. “You’re not better company though.”

“Why do
you
want to talk to Anathema?”

“Have my reasons.”

She sat on the bed, legs crossed. “I think I deserve to hear them.”

“I thought you didn’t want to get in the middle?”

“I don’t seem to have a choice, do I? But if you want to have a conversation with Thorne without getting killed, convince me first and I might help.”

Christ. She was right. She was a better ally than bait, but I didn’t feel good about it.

“I never thought Brew would get labeled a traitor,” I said. “Didn’t think Thorne would actually kill him.”

Rose tensed. “Neither did Brew.”

“I wasn’t expecting Blade to die too.”

“You don’t expect me to mourn?”

No one would, especially if they saw the same pictures from her childhood as I did. “Temple wants me dead because they think I killed Blade, but The Coup knows it’s bullshit. Priest is moving on Anathema. He says he wants to find the real killer. But that’s not it. They want to fight.”

“So you’re…what? Protecting Anathema?”

I didn’t flinch. “Yes.”

“
Why
?”

“Because Temple won’t stop with my death. The only way we survive them is if we band together.” I paused. “I’m trying to reunite Anathema and The Coup.”

“Oh my god.”

“I can’t risk Priest finding out. If his guys realize I went to Anathema willingly, they’ll start a massacre, even if Temple’s lurking in the shadows.”

Rose paled, every freckle sticking out. “What do you really want with me?”

“You’re my decoy,” I said. “You’re the reason I can talk to Thorne without raising suspicion.”

She held her head in her hands. “Jesus, Luke.”

“You’re not gonna get hurt. I’ll get you there in one piece. Then we’ll find a way to protect the Valley from the club who was always coming, no matter what bullshit deals me or Blade made.”

Rose dropped her books into her bag. Her words escaped before she could harden them into accusation. Instead, she seemed genuinely curious.

“Why the hell did you betray Anathema in the first place?”

Good fucking question. I sat on the bed and counted my mistakes. “Who the hell knows anymore? The club wasn’t focused on the future. Smuggling cigs and exhorting the fuck out of Lyn wasn’t going to protect us.”

“From what?”

From the same demons we fought now. “From bigger clubs. From each other. I didn’t want to start a fucking war. I got the gun pulled on me, and I defended myself. The split happened after that. I didn’t cause it. I just separated the cracks.”

“You think you can bring us together?”

It would have been easier if my theory was correct and she was the one sending me the messages from inside Anathema. But she wasn’t involved. That was probably for the best. She was fucked enough because she was Anathema’s queen, but she wasn’t in as much trouble as the club’s princess, twirling around stripper poles and stomping on all the blue balls she could conjure.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“What happens if you don’t succeed?”

A lot of things. None of it painless. “If I’m about to die, I’d rather owe my life to the man getting his revenge than the monster waiting in the shadows.”

Her eyes widened. “Glad you’re so optimistic.”

“Brew said that. If it was a good enough motto for him, it’ll work for me.”

I claimed the other bed and put in a call to Grim about the meeting. Priest would be pissed he didn’t get to hurt the girl, but I cock-blocked that pervert at any opportunity.

I wasn’t gonna sleep, not with a walking, talking liability strutting around the hotel room. Rose kicked the comforter down and nestled in the sheets. I kept guard.

At least she was safe. I owed that much to Brew.

By four AM, I ran out of PG movies to watch on the TV. The coffee pot in the bathroom trickled only hot, brown water, but I could pretend it was decent. I downed half the pot if only to wake myself up. I was hungry, and Rose would need something to eat. The vending machine was enough for now.

The flash from the window caught my attention. The headlights cruised by once.

Then twice.

Thorne was good, but there was no way he found us that quick.

The shots crashed against the siding before blasting through the window.

“
Rose
!”

Either instinct or experience guided Rose. She screamed as she dropped to the ground. I dove to her side, hauling her into my arms as I kicked the mattress off the bed for shelter.

It did nothing.

The stuffing and springs immediately shredded. The automatic weapon fire blasted the window, ripping through the curtains and punching through the motel’s shitty paper walls.

Rose shrieked, but I slammed a hand over her mouth. Temple wasn’t just outside. The gunfire stopped, but the real danger stormed through the halls. Men kicked opened doors in the hallway with a profanity and burst of gunfire.

Our door splintered under a launching kick. The dresser delayed them, but we were stilled fucked.

I pushed Rose to the window and ripped the tattered curtains from the rod.  The glass shattered. Not enough. I covered my fist with the comforter and punched out the bigger pieces. It’d have to do. Not like she hadn’t bled before.

I padded the comforter in the window and shoved Rose over the sill.

She bolted.

I lunged after her, tearing my jeans on a shard of glass. The cut stung, but Rose sprinted through the parking lot. I tore after her, realizing too late she wasn’t trying to escape.

The little bitch was going to steal my bike again.

Our shadows led Temple into the alley, but Rose was already on my motorcycle. I jumped into the seat. She wasn’t so terrified of packing now.

“
Go, go, go
!” She tucked against me. “Take seventh! It’ll take you through the city!”

Back-seat-fucking-driver. I started the bike and jammed the throttle, bursting from the alley in a rumble that’d fuck us over for two blocks. Rose clung to me, peeking behind us as the answering thunder of bikes heralded their charge.

“How many?” I shouted.

“Two—three!”

Fuck. “How far?”

The gunfire answered for her. Entirely too fucking close, especially now that she was exposed and vulnerable to the guns aiming for me.

“Luke! Another!”

She pointed ahead. I took a hard right, but she forgot to lean. The bike wavered and wobbled, letting the asshole gain on us.

She hunched against me, but I could do nothing to protect her while four of Temple’s men shredded the road and stalked in the shadows after us. Another right and then a quick left. She squeezed my shoulders.

“Take Washington!”

Christ, that was the widest street and main thoroughfare in the city. Did she want to get us killed?

But my bike was fast enough to burst the wrong way up a one way street and dump us on the boulevard. Temple slowed, unfamiliar with the roads where I cut my teeth and other parts of my body.

Rose pointed. “Down here! Take the alley!”

God only knew where she led us, and only the devil understood why.

“Adams Street!” She shouted again.

I turned, blasting down a narrowing street that dropped us behind the high school. Her nails dug into my jacket.

“There’s a hidden left, here, here,
here
!”

The road was half-dirt, mostly gravel, and the biggest fucking mistake I might have made, but I followed her lead. Another two quick turns, and she dumped me a block closer to the river and gained distance on Temple.

Heading into Anathema territory was idiotic, but so was tangoing with Temple. I whipped onto the bridge and gunned it, burning the engine and hating every fucking time I ever stressed the bike while taking a joyride. Should have known I’d need it in peak condition to escape the crazy motherfuckers gunning me down and framing me for murder.

Only one of Temple’s riders kept up. Rose shouted. We didn’t have a choice.

“Gun in my belt!” I yelled.

Her hands squeezed.

“Get the gun, Rose!”

“I can’t!”

“You’re a fucking Darnell! You learned to shoot before you could walk!”

“Luke—”

A bullet struck the pavement near my bike. I jerked, and Rose nearly tumbled.

“Now, Rose!”

She dragged the gun from my belt. Her arm looped over my waist, digging into my skin hard enough to hurt. I’d have stapled her to my chest if it meant she wouldn’t fall.

I slowed to help line her shot. The Temple asshole snuck in right behind us.

My mirror flashed and the blast of the gun rang in my ear.

I tensed.

The biker fell.

The motorcycle skidded hard against the pavement, scattering sparks and dumping the rider. Didn’t matter how hard he hit the ground, he was dead before the bike wavered.

It was the same bridge where Exorcist died.

Rose shuddered. I eased the throttle and took the gun, replacing it in the hostler. She hid her face in my jacket.

Fuck.

I told Thorne I wouldn’t hurt her. Pretty sure she bled from the spray of glass, and I nearly got her shot. If that wasn’t enough, I traumatized the ever-loving-fuck out of her. She killed her first man under my watch.

Thorne would be pissed. I’d be dead.

Even worse now that only one safe place for her existed in the city.

She recognized the path but didn’t offer me any condolences. She’d have enough to say if she gave my eulogy.

I twisted the streets in pure memory and let my tensing muscles lead the way to Pixie. Sure as hell, every light blazed on the street. I pulled up, and the gates opened. Rose leapt from the bike.

I didn’t have that luxury.