Page 17 of Blade (Spartan Watchmen MC #5)

T he steady beep of the heart monitor was both reassuring and nerve-wracking to Blade. Reassuring because it meant he was still alive. Nerve-wracking because it meant he was stuck in this makeshift hospital bed in the club's medical room, useless while others handled his responsibilities.

While others protected Lily.

He shifted, wincing as pain lanced through his chest. The bullet had missed anything vital, Doc had confirmed that, but he'd lost a lot of blood, and the wound itself was serious enough to keep him bedridden for at least a few days.

Days he didn't have. Days Lily didn't have.

"Stop moving," Savage ordered from his position by the door. "You'll tear your stitches. Again."

Blade scowled at his friend. "I need to get back to the cabin. To Lily."

"What you need is to heal," Savage countered firmly.

"Lily's fine. Rampage is with her, and the cabin's security has been upgraded.

Triple perimeter sensors, satellite uplink, the works.

Jay came out and ran it all for free. The highest tech you can get.

Valhalla wants your land secure for their own reasons and have placed extra patrols along the border.

No one's getting near her without us knowing. "

"Reynolds did," Blade reminded him darkly.

"Reynolds is dead," Savage replied. "Along with his entire team. Thanks to you and your little warrior princess."

Despite his frustration, Blade felt a surge of pride at the description. Lily had been magnificent in that firefight. Brave beyond reason, deadly when necessary, gentle in the aftermath.

"She saved my life," he said quietly.

Savage nodded. "I know. Doc says if she hadn't gotten those pressure bandages on you when she did, you might have bled out before we arrived."

The memory of Lily's hands, steady and sure despite the fear in her eyes, pressing against his wound, flashed through Blade's mind. Her voice, commanding him to stay awake, to stay with her.

He'd never had anyone fight that hard to keep him alive before. Never had anyone look at him with such fierce determination, such raw need.

It was... addictive. Terrifying. Precious.

"I need to see her," he insisted.

"And you will," Savage assured him. "Once Doc clears you. But for now, you focus on healing, and we'll focus on keeping her safe. She threw a pretty big fit when we didn’t bring her here. It’s too risky. We don’t know what contacts Zeb made, who stepped up to take his place and where they might be looking.

We are fairly certain that no one other than the men who were out there knew where your cabin was. "

Blade knew his friend was right, but that didn't make the forced separation any easier. It had been two days since the attack at the cabin. Two days since he'd seen Lily, touched her, assured himself she was really okay.

They'd rushed him to the clubhouse after Doc stabilized him at the cabin, the medical facilities there better equipped for his recovery. Lily had wanted to come with him, had argued fiercely against their separation, but Blade had insisted she stay behind with Rampage as protection. He’d threatened to spank her ass in front of all the men if she argued with him anymore, although everyone in the room knew he wasn’t capable of following through on the threat at the time he’d made it.

Savage was right, it was still the safest place for her. But being right didn't make him miss her any less.

"Any word on Zeb’s replacement?" he asked, changing the subject before his thoughts grew even more sentimental. A few minutes after he’d left to go to Lily, Jose had pulled up with several reinforcements.

Luckily, they’d left with Tim already. The surveillance the men had left behind picked it all up.

Jose’s reaction when he found the slain men inside and his vow to kill every last one of the Watchmen.

Turns out, Jose is Zeb’s first cousin and they grew up together like brothers.

Tim, a half brother, hadn’t the connection that Jose and Zeb had.

They had to get rid of him before he was able to put his threats into action.

Savage's expression hardened. "Jose is in the wind. Irish tracked him to a private airfield outside of Denver, but he was gone by the time we got there. Headed east, we think."

"East," Blade repeated. "To his compound? The one Hammer mentioned?"

"Possibly," Savage acknowledged. "We're working on pinpointing the location. It's somewhere in the mountains of North Carolina, based on what we could get out of Tim before he went into surgery."

"How is he doing?" he asked.

"Still critical, but stable," Savage reported. "Doc thinks he'll pull through, though he'll never be the same. Too much damage. Too much trauma."

Guilt twisted in Blade's gut. They should have found Tim sooner. Should have protected him better. Just like they should have protected Lily from the beginning, should have seen through the blackmail scheme before it ever got to this point.

"This isn't on you," Savage said, reading his thoughts with unnerving accuracy. "Tim made his choice when he helped Lily escape. He knew the risks."

"Doesn't make it any easier to stomach," Blade muttered.

"No," Savage agreed. "It doesn't."

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Irish poked his head in, his expression grim.

"We've got a problem," he announced without preamble.

Blade immediately tried to sit up straighter, ignoring the fresh wave of pain the movement caused. "What kind of problem?"

"Jose sent a message," Irish replied, stepping fully into the room. "Video file, delivered to the clubhouse email."

Something cold settled in Blade's stomach. "Show me."

Irish exchanged a look with Savage, who nodded reluctantly. Pulling out his tablet, Irish queued up the video and handed it to Blade.

Jose's face filled the screen, his eyes gleamed with malevolent certainty.

"Greetings, Spartan Watchmen," he began, his voice smooth. "By now you've discovered what happens to those who cross the Rejects. Tim was just the beginning. A warmup act, if you will."

The camera panned to show a room behind him, some kind of industrial space, concrete walls, metal support beams. And hanging from one of those beams, bloody and barely conscious, was a man Blade recognized immediately.

"Fuck," Irish breathed. "That's Kylie’s brother, Marcus."

Blade's blood ran cold. Kylie was the club's secretary, one of their most loyal members. Her brother wasn't a patch holder, but he'd always supported her involvement with the club. He was a civilian. An innocent.

"As you can see," Jose continued as the camera returned to his face, "I've acquired a new guest. Marcus here has been quite informative about your club's operations, your security protocols... and about a certain little blonde you're protecting."

Blade's hands tightened on the tablet, rage building in his chest.

"I want the girl," Jose stated flatly. "In exchange for Marcus's life. Simple trade. You have forty-eight hours to deliver her to the coordinates I'll send separately. Come alone, Blade. Just you and the girl. Any sign of your brothers, any hint of a trap, and Marcus dies slowly."

Jose leaned closer to the camera, his eyes burning with hatred. "And after him, I'll start working my way through every person connected to your club. Wives. Girlfriends. Children. No one will be spared."

He smiled then, a chilling expression devoid of any real humor. "Forty-eight hours, enforcer. Tick tock."

The video ended abruptly, leaving Blade staring at a black screen, his mind racing with implications and possibilities.

"When did this come in?" he asked, his voice deadly calm.

"Twenty minutes ago," Irish replied. "Lucky's already called an emergency church meeting. We need to decide how to handle this."

"There's nothing to decide," Blade said, already pushing back the covers, ignoring the pain that threatened to overwhelm him. "We're not giving him Lily."

"Of course not," Savage agreed, moving to stop Blade from getting up. "But we need a plan. A way to rescue Marcus without endangering Lily."

"And we need you at full strength," Irish added. "Which means you stay in that bed until Doc clears you."

"Fuck that," Blade growled, though he allowed Savage to push him back against the pillows when a wave of dizziness hit him. "I need to be at that church meeting. Need to make sure everyone understands that Lily is non-negotiable."

"No one's suggesting otherwise," Savage assured him. "She's under our protection. But Marcus is family too. We need to find a way to save both of them."

Blade knew he was right, but the mere suggestion of using Lily as bait, of putting her anywhere near Jose's reach, made something primal and protective rise within him. Something that went beyond his duties as enforcer, beyond his loyalty to the club.

Something that felt dangerously close to love.

Focus, asshole. This isn't about your feelings. It's about keeping her safe.

"We need more information," he said, forcing his emotions aside to think tactically. "The compound's layout. Security measures. Number of hostiles. We go in blind, we're all dead, and Marcus along with us."

Irish nodded. "Lucky's already reached out to some contacts. Former military guys who might know something about Jose's operation in North Carolina."

"And Jay is digging through property records, shell companies, anything that might give us the exact location," Savage added.

"Good," Blade acknowledged. "But Jose's not stupid. He'll be ready for a rescue attempt."

"Which is why we need something he's not expecting," Irish mused.

The germ of an idea began to form in Blade's mind. Something risky, potentially catastrophic if it went wrong, but possibly their best shot at saving both Marcus and Lily.

"What if we give him what he wants?" he suggested slowly. "Or what he thinks he wants."

Savage frowned. "You mean use Lily as bait? Not happening, brother. Even if you were in fighting condition, which you're not."