Page 23

INDIANA

“The Dragons have declared war and I’ve accepted,” Rip starts, addressing the room immediately after banging his gavel and calling church into session. “You guys know usually I bring this to the table for a vote and put out feelers to the other presidents of the Kings. However, they didn’t give me a choice in the matter.”

“How’s that?” I ask him, leaning forward in my chair and giving him my attention.

“They took Sphinx’s sister and have used her to keep him in line,” he informs us through gritted teeth. “I don’t know how they figured out he was a King, but they have and they sent me back a piece of him.”

“They sent you back a piece,” Icer gnarls. “What ‘piece’ did they send you, pres?”

“His eye,” Riptide says, his skin growing white. “And a picture of him holding a news article with the date on it as proof of life, zeroing in on his socket that had blood dripping down his face. We accept the war or we continue getting him back one chunk at a time.”

My gut clenches at what my brother went through for the club. We’ve gotta get him back before they cut anything else off of him. I’m sure they’re not worried about proper medical care, so the likelihood of a massive infection is strong.

“What else do they want?” I ask, my jaw locking because I’m afraid I know the answer to that question.

“Elodie,” he reluctantly answers. The entire room blows up and Icer tosses his chair across the room where it splinters into fragmented pieces.

“They aren’t getting my princess!” he roars, and the room goes deafeningly silent. “They’re out of their fucking minds if they think that’s gonna happen. We need to save our brother without giving them one fucking thing.”

“If it’s war they want, it’s war they’ll get because they aren’t going to lay a single finger on my daughter!” I thunder.

“Agreed,” Riptide agrees. “But now we need to put the word out that we’re officially at war with the Dragons to the rest of the Kings and start doing some recon.”

“Who’s going?” I ask.

“Since it’s your daughter, Indiana, and your niece, Icer, I thought I’d let you two pick who is going to man this operation for you while you two stay behind here at the clubhouse keeping her safe,” Rip briefs us. “I won’t be standing on the sidelines, but you two are the ones who are knowledgeable on who can get the job done quicker and stealthier.” It’s our place in the club to train the men, and who’re intimately aware of what they can do and what they can’t.

Icer and I glance at each other and he nods his head, already knowing who I’m going to pick. “Shade, Ozzie, Rebel, and Renegade.”

Rip nods his head and glances around, making eye contact with the men. When they all accept the decision by bobbing their heads, he turns back to me and says, “Sounds good to me because that’s who I’d put in those positions too. Time is crucial here, guys. We need to know where they go, who they see, and where they take a shit. I want to know every goddamn gruesome detail.”

“Everyone else is dismissed,” Slayer says, his chin pointing toward the door. When the rest of our brothers file out, he runs his hands through his hair. “I don’t want to lose another brother, fuck knows we know what we sign up for when we put on our cut, but Sphinx was this close to being patched.” He holds his fingers up where there’s hardly a space between them. “We need to find out where they’re holed up. I don’t give the first fuck if you take Patrick’s mother or Jerome’s father into custody if it brings them out from their hidey hole.”

“I agree with our VP,” Icer grinds out. “And since we found out that Zoey’s parents are in on this bullshit, we could bring them in too and interrogate them.”

“Was going to suggest the same thing,” I convey. “They know more about the happenings with the Dragons than what they let on.”

“And that church they’re involved with, there’s something fishy going on there too,” Renegade reminds us.

“We can’t take the entire congregation,” Slayer chuckles. “Although, it’s not a bad idea. If we get the leaders, Patrick’s mother, and Jerome’s father, that’ll leave them without any connections.”

“They’re probably the ones financing them being underground,” I add.

“Then we have our game plan and a place to start. Does anyone have anything else they want to bring up before I wrap up?” Rip asks.

“You reaching out to any other chapters for help?” I question. “We might need it since this situation is far more convoluted than we initially thought, Rip.”

“I’m gonna inform Rio we may end up needing some backup from him since he’s already aware of our situation. I’m due to head back that way with Gage’s ashes, so I may wait and tell him about how severe it is in person.”

“Do we need to go with you for the funeral?” I broach, wanting to go.

“I’ll get back with you on that,” he states. “They’re dealing with their own shit and I don’t want to overwhelm them. It may be a small, private ceremony since they’re going to give him a sendoff later. That’s something that I expect us all to attend.”

“We’ll be there,” I tell him as the rest of our brothers nod their heads. Not everyone knew him, but he was a good friend to most of us so they’ll come along to support us.

“That all?” Rip asks, scanning us. “Church dismissed.” He turns my way in his seat and tells me, “Zoey’s cut will be here in time for the barbecue we have planned for this weekend. We’ll let you do the claiming ceremony then.”

“Thanks, Rip.” I leave the room and head to the bar. When I see my woman sitting there with a bottle of water in her hand, I walk up behind her and lean over her, nipping her neck. “You look good sitting in the clubhouse, Zoe.”

“Get used to it, Harrison. I’m going to be here a lot,” she returns.

“Thank fuck for that,” I say, swiveling her around in her chair and claiming her mouth. “Where’s Elodie?”

“Icer took her to the zoo,” she explains. “He came out of the room, plucked her out of my lap, and hauled ass. I only know where he’s taking her because he had the decency to holler they were off to see the gorillas over his shoulder.”

Renegade, coming in on the tail end of our conversation asks with a chuckle, “Family reunion?” The entire bar erupts into laughter as Zoey shakes her head.

“I’m totally telling him you said that,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.

I know he wouldn’t take her unless he was one hundred percent positive she’d be safe, but it still concerns me that with the war we’re now in with the Dragons, maybe he should’ve had back up. “Did anyone go with them?” I query.

“As if he needs backup,” Renegade inserts.

“He bought out the day,” Booker announces. “Asked me to set it up so that he could take her without anyone else in attendance.”

“Of course, he did,” Zoey says, laughing. “His princess gets the world and it doesn’t matter if it costs him an arm and a leg.”

Rip comes running into the room yelling, “Everyone, get out! Just got a call from a confidential informant that there’s a bomb somewhere in our clubhouse. Get out!”

Terror fills Zoey’s eyes as I grab her and start running for the door, with the brothers who are around following me. I hear a click and then… the whole building shakes and walls start tumbling down. As we fall, I protect Zoey the best I can with my body.

“Elodie!” she screams as a beam lands on the back of our legs.

“She’s safe, Icer has her, babe,” I whisper, pain coursing through my body.

As darkness starts coming closer, my last active thought is… if the Dragons wanted a war, they’ve definitely got one because nobody fucks with the Kings!

Slayer lifts himself up and lowers his hand to pull Riptide up. Pres looks at his VP and growls, “That’s the first declaration of war. It’s time for us to react, brothers!”

“Indiana’s down!” I hear shouted through the haze of darkness. My body isn’t listening to my mind, I can’t react but I can hear everything around me. I feel my body lifted into the air and a hand clutching mine. The skin is soft and smooth so I know it’s my old lady’s.

“You’re going to be okay,” Zoey whispers as I’m placed into the back seat of our van. Soon after, I feel the abrupt departure of it as we speed through the club grounds.

“Don’t worry, brother. They’ll pay for injuring you,” I hear Rip announce. “Their day of reckoning has come.” With that last declaration, it’s lights out.

THE END