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CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Moira

“Moira, wake up, we have to get dressed,” Hannah whispers, her voice sounding urgent as she shakes me awake.

I come awake slowly, stretching before rubbing my eyes with closed fists, and look at the little girl who is standing next to the bed we share, already dressed. I struggle to sit up, swiping the hair out of my face while looking at her in confusion.

“They’re here, we have to be ready. We have to be quiet, though, Moira, but everyone has to be ready when they get down here.”

Who’s here? I wonder as I sit on the side of the bed.

“Uncle Wrecker and Uncle Dragon, as well as many others I don’t know.”

Immediately, I’m fully awake, as if a jolt of caffeine has been shot into my veins. Whipping off my nightgown, I quickly put on jeans, a t-shirt, and my socks and shoes while Hannah waits at the door, fidgeting. One by one, we quietly wake up the other women as Hannah explains we’re being rescued. They get dressed, then they wake and dress the other children, anticipation humming in the air around us. The buzz has my body vibrating. I had prayed they’d come for us, and I’d taste freedom again, but like all things in my life, it was too much to believe would come to fruition.

While Hannah expectantly watches the hallway where the guards come through to bring us food, I help the other women make bottles and pack up diapers so we’re ready for whatever is about to happen.

My nerves are pinging wildly because based on other things Hannah has told me, I know that Kracken is with them.

He came to find me, to rescue me. Does that mean I’m his like he said several times when I was in Roanoke?

Hope blossoms even more as I hear the slight creaking of the door that lets the guards come down the stairs, especially when I see the soft glow of the LED lights that lead down the stairs and hallway.

He’s here.

Relief swamps me as he’s followed by several other Roanoke brothers. I scoop Hannah up and hold her close as they lead us back up the stairs. It’s all done quickly, but with proficiency. I want to run to Kracken, to jump in his arms and apologize profusely, but inside I recognize that this isn’t the time for that. Plus, I’m not sure I’m ready to rip the binding from my mouth off just yet, maybe when I’m feeling safe, I’ll give it a try. For him . Only him.

“Cover their eyes,” Kracken says. “We, uh, we had to make sure we could get y’all without any interruptions.”

Hannah pipes up and replies, “Mine are already closed, Moira. Please, take me out so I can see my mommy.”

While all the children old enough to see anything have their eyes covered against the sheer gore that is evident along our path, I’m impressed that they managed to take care of all the men who were guarding us. Actually, I wish I would have had a chance to get in a few licks of my own because of how they treated me and the other defenseless women guarding the children.

“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here, this place gives me the creeps,” Scythe replies, visibly shuddering.

“Thank you for rescuing us, Mr. Kracken,” Hannah sweetly says, her eyes still squeezed tight. “I’m Hannah, Selah’s daughter. I knew you’d come for us, my sisters told me you would.”

His eyes widen in shocked surprise before he shakes his head. He looks at the girl nestled in my arms, and a relieved smile encompasses his face. “Anytime, darlin’, anytime,” Kracken says.

We’re standing around, and Hannah is now in one of the Cedar Creek brothers’ arms when she suddenly yells, “Mama!” then I see Selah rushing toward her at a dead run.

“Hannah!” Selah screams and I watch in fascination, with tears flowing down my face, as Hannah leaps up into Selah’s arms and they tumble to the ground. “God, baby, I missed you so much,” Selah says, covering Hannah’s face with kisses.

Kracken’s arms tighten around me, and he says, “We’ll be going home to Roanoke once you get checked out. Since I don’t think you can handle that long of a ride on the back of my bike, we got a truck and a bike trailer.”

I’m busy watching as Selah and Hannah are moved to the van where a large man that I now know is Mammoth is sitting. He’s been beaten to hell and back, something I recognize, yet he comforts Selah as she cries over him getting caught because she took off.

“Fire in the hole!” Butcher shouts as the ground rumbles and the building explodes. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Crazy fucker,” Wrecker criticizes. “One day, he’s gonna blow us all up.”

I see Selah roll her eyes as she smacks her brother. “Stop. He will not,” she rebuts.

“It’s his job,” Hannah defends. “He’s a protector. Our protector, right, Mama?”

“That’s right, baby. He is,” Selah replies. “He always will be.”

I smile, seeing how happy my friend is now that she has her little girl once again, and she’s surrounded by her family. All of the men’s phones suddenly buzz, and I look at Kracken when he stiffens while looking at his screen.

“We gotta go. Now!” Banshee hollers. “Trouble back home. Y’all be safe.”

Orders are being shouted as Kracken leads me toward the other Roanoke brothers. “Ban?” Kracken asks as we all start jogging toward where I presume they left their bikes.

“We’ll get the bikes then we’re going to call and have Hawg set you up with a rental truck and bike trailer, Kracken. He’ll text you the coordinates,” Banshee replies. “We gotta head straight home, but Brick said y’all were stopping in Georgia.”

Georgia? Why are we stopping in Georgia? I muse.

“If we’re needed at home, we’ll head there,” Kracken says.

“No,” Banshee retorts. “Shit’s happening and with those fundamentalist fucks so close to home, we don’t want you to bring Moira back that way until it’s safe.”

“Fuck,” Kracken mutters. Seeing the look on my face, he quickly says, “It’s not you, roisin, but I’m the club’s Sergeant at Arms. It’s my job to be there to protect my president and vice president.”

“We got this, Krack,” Scythe replies. “You just get your ol’ lady to Georgia. We’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

Looks like I’m going to Georgia. And did he just call me Kracken’s ol’ lady? Does that mean what I think it does? Is it possible that I’m getting a do-over where he and the others are concerned? Hope once again blossoms in my chest. This time, I vow to fight harder to reclaim myself and build a life.