Page 11 of Jezebel’s Liberation (Hellfire Hackers #1)

“ W e’re waiting.”

I wince at Soul’s tone and disconnect the call. We’re crossing the desert to the clubhouse now, and the closer we get, the more on edge I feel. I’m in trouble with a capital T, and I know it.

“I told you I wanted to go home,” Jez snaps from the backseat.

“And you will,” Phantom tells her, his tone placating. “But you need to be checked out by a doctor first.”

“Besides,” I add. “You know you can’t hide from this forever.”

When we reach the mountain, the garage door is open, and Abyss and Soul are standing just inside. Both are sporting murder in their gaze and fury in their stance.

Fuck.

As soon as I park the vehicle, Soul yanks open the back door, but he hesitates when his eyes land on Jez. “Jesus,” he whispers. “What the fuck, Jez?”

Abyss nudges him out of the way. “C’mon, Jez, let’s get you inside,” he says softly, although his tone is lethal.

Jez is escorted through the garage, Phantom and Abyss supporting her weight and helping her into the elevator. I watch as they go, but there’s no ignoring the brooding man beside me.

“Not a very good way to start out having a patch,” Soul seethes.

Rage burns through my veins. “What? Saving your sister?” I snap and stride away from him, needing to be close to Jez.

We ride the elevator to the main level of the clubhouse in silence. As soon as the door slides open, I’m rushing to the medical wing. Abyss already has Jez lying on a bed, and Phantom is hovering at her side.

“I’m fine,” Jez snaps when Abyss starts to insert an IV. “I just want to go home.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Soul snaps as he shoves past me.

“Fuck off,” she bites out.

Soul stiffens, and Abyss glances over his shoulder. “Prez, why don’t you give me a little time to evaluate her before you rip her a new one?”

“Either you get out, or I do,” Jez tacks on.

Soul shoves a hand through his hair before whirling around and grabbing me by the bicep to drag me out of the room with him. I try to break free from his grip, but it’s no use.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” he barks when we reach the sanctuary, the room where we hold church.

I move to sit, knowing that if I don’t, there’s a very good chance I’ll knock his ass out. “I don’t know what you expect me to tell you.”

Leaning on the table across from me, he glares. “How about starting with what the fuck my sister was doing in Phoenix?”

I know I should tell him, but I can’t quite bring myself to give him details that Jez hadn’t already. If she wanted him to know, he’d have been the one to find her in that trailer.

“I don’t know, Prez,” I lie, hating the way it rolls easily off my tongue.

“Bullshit,” he snaps.

“It’s not bullshit,” I insist. “I wasn’t able to get a hold of her, and when I went to her house to check on her, Phantom was there. He knew where she was, so we went to get her.”

“Phantom,” he says, practically spitting the name. “Who the hell is that guy?”

I shrug. “He works with her sometimes.”

Soul snorts. “Yeah, to get in her pants. I saw the way he was looking at her. Shit, I saw the way you were looking at her.”

I bristle and shoot to my feet. “If you want to know about her personal life, that’s gonna have to come from her. I get that you’re my prez, but not everything has to do with the club.”

He stares at me for a long moment before straightening with a sigh. “Noted. But don’t think you’re off the hook. You chose to not call in the club when my twin was in danger, and that can’t go unpunished.”

“Do whatever ya gotta do, man,” I say, turning on my heel to leave. “I can take it.”

Ignoring his shouts that the conversation isn’t over, I stride through the common area and back to the room where Abyss is treating Jez.

Phantom is now sitting in a chair next to the bed, his eyes scanning her body like he needs her to breathe.

“How’s she doing, brother?” I ask Abyss.

“ She is right fucking here,” Jez snaps. “And I’m fine.”

Phantom rolls his eyes. “She’s not fine. And she’s also the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”

“I swear on all th?—”

“She needs to rest,” Abyss says, talking over Jez. “And if she doesn’t agree, I’m gonna sedate her ass so she doesn’t have a choice.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she seethes.

Chuckling, I move to stand next to Phantom’s chair. “Babe, do you really think he’s above doing whatever it takes?”

“I’m not you?—”

“Dammit, Jez,” Phantom bites out. “We get it. You’re not his babe, and you don’t want to stay here. But you’ll do whatever the doctor tells you because he’s the expert in medicine, not you.”

She whips her head in his direction, and groans at the pain it causes. “You’re fired.”

He smirks. “No, I’m not.”

Jez shifts her eyes to mine. “Are you seriously going to let them do this?”

“Yeah, I am.” I look to Abyss. “Sedate her if you need to.”

Abyss nods and moves across the room to get the drugs out of his locked cabinet.

“You’re gonna stay here and get the rest you need,” I tell the pissed off woman in the bed. “And as soon as Abyss clears you, Phantom and I will take you home. But Jez, not a fucking second before he clears you.”

She huffs out a breath and opens her mouth to argue, but she must sense that she won’t win, so she finally settles into the mattress and nods. “Fine, sedate me because that’s the only way I’m staying.”

Phantom and I exchange grins, and I ignore the way my dick twitches.

Fucking hell.

“Thank you,” he says to her.

Abyss injects the sedative into her IV before tossing the syringe into the hazardous waste container. “Just get some rest, Jez. Everything will look better in the morning.”

As the medicine starts to work, she struggles to hold her eyes open, but the moment they slide closed, I breathe a sigh of relief.

“She’s gonna be the death of me,” I mutter.

Phantom chuckles.

“You and me both, man. You and me both.”