Page 38 of Property of Necro (Kings Of Anarchy MC: Illinois #1)

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Pacing the apartment, hands threaded behind my head, I wear a hole through the floor.

I’m antsy because I have an idea, and it’s a terrible one.

It came to me last night after another nightmare.

Don’t worry, it wasn’t about them. Well.

Not exactly. It was Ted. They’re almost always Ted.

Now they’re Ted and them. They’re fighting, and Ted kills them, which is why I woke up drenched in a cold sweat, shaking.

In my post-nightmare shower haze, a lightbulb went off.

I can’t see them.

They don’t want me there.

They sent me away.

But I miss them.

I know that’s weird and clingy, and I should really see a therapist about it, but I’m not ready to talk to a professional just yet.

I need to talk to Cell, our resident computer genius, who knows all there is to know about the dark web.

She may already have links to Necro’s Red Room or at least know someone who does, or someone who knows someone who can get us in.

Chewing my thumbnail, I square my shoulders and march over to Cell’s corner. It’s an old hallway she’s converted into an insane computer setup. Rot would kill for this much fancy tech. She’s got everything and then some.

I stop at the opening to her nook.

The click, click, click of her computer keys gives me pause. She’s busy. I can always come back later.

“What’s up, Sola?” she asks like she has two eyes in the back of her head.

“How did you know I was here?”

She taps on a tiny box on the corner of one of her screens. Ah. Yes. There I am. She has a camera. That makes sense.

I wring my hands in front of me, not sure how to ask what I want to ask. I’m even more worried she’ll tell Kali or Till, and I don’t need them meddling. This is about me. Not them.

“I need your help.”

“Doing what?” She clicks a browser closed.

“First, you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Till or Kali, what I’m about to ask.”

Curiosity piqued, Cell rolls her expensive computer chair out from under her desk and spins to face me. “That’s a tall order.”

“I don’t want them to interfere.” They will ask too many questions, and that’s the last thing I want to talk about. Them. Living with them. My feelings and all the other icky stuff that comes with those feelings .

She drums her fingers on the arms of her chair. “Is this about Necro?”

“Yes?” I squeak, eyes rounding in surprise. “H-how did you know?”

“You’ve been moping around here for weeks. You’ve never been a moper. Mopey?” She waves off the turn of phrase. “Anywho,” she chirps, slapping both hands on top of her thighs. “You’re not yourself. The only explanation is the biker dudes you went to live with.”

“And you talked to Kali,” I guess, because I’m pretty sure Kali’s been speaking to everyone about me. By the constant check-ins from sisters who aren’t overly social, there’s only one explanation for that—our overprotective sister.

“Of course, I have,” she sings. “We’ve been taking bets on when you’ll crack.”

“What? Since when do we place bets?”

Cell quirks a mischievous brow. “Since you came home reeking of heartbreak.” The resounding duh she says with her scrunched-up face, not her lips, is clear as day.

“Reeking? Really?” That’s a terrible word. I don’t reek. My hygiene is top-notch, thank you very much. “And I’m not heartbroken.”

Cell steeples her fingers under her chin. “Sure. Sure.” She nods along, with her lips pressed together like she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. Honestly, I’m not sure I believe myself either. I don’t necessarily think I’m heartbroken, but I am… sad.

“Well. Are you gonna help me or not?” I’m ready to get this over with or to walk away. I’m already embarrassed enough as is, having to ask for her help. Any help, really .

“Duh.” Cell rolls her eyes so far back in her skull that her eyes turn white. A flash of Necro’s blue-white gaze slams to the forefront of my mind.

Ugh.

Not now.

Cell taps the unused part of the L-shaped desk. “Hop up.”

Following her lead, I sit where I’m told, and she rolls back under the edge of her desk.

“Now what am I looking up?” she asks, fingers poised on the keys.

“Have you heard of Red Rooms before?”

Cell spins her chair enough to look at me and her screens at the same time. “Does a bear shit in the woods?”

Um. “Yes?” I shrug, hoping that’s the right answer.

Smirking, with her eyes trained on me she click, click, clicks on her keyboard. Just like something you’d see in a movie, a chat room pops up with a black screen and green lettering.

“What is that?” I ask.

“My thread with Bongo. One of our Texas guys.”

“Should we be involving the Sacred Sinners?”

“They’re already involved, sister.”

Sighing, I drag a hand down my face. I know the Kings of Anarchy are friendly with the Sacred Sinners.

Why else would I have been handed over to them so easily?

But that doesn’t change the fact my allegiances, as fucked up as it may be, lie elsewhere.

I don’t want to get them in trouble. Or share their secrets, or whatever.

“Whose Red Room are we wanting access to?” Cell spins around and types seven hundred miles an hour .

“Necro’s?” I stammer, afraid to say his name out loud.

“Is that a question?”

I shrug, even though she’s not paying attention. “Yes. No. I mean… I don’t…”

Cell lifts a hand to silence me. What feels like a million years later, when it’s maybe fifteen seconds, she wiggles in her chair and raises the roof. “Oh yeah,” she croons. “Looks like naughty boy Kade is already a longtime subscriber to a certain someone’s Red Room.”

“Necro’s?” I ask, sounding far too hopeful to my own ears.

“Yep. The very one.”

A few clicks later, one of Cell’s screens fills with a familiar green screen and bloodied smiley face emoji with the promise to return soon. That was fast.

“Looks like there’s another live stream planned in about an hour,” she explains.

My heart gives a nervous wallop.

“Oh. So soon?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Yes. I… Yes?” Do I want to catch a glimpse of Necro? Absolutely. Am I prepared for that? Probably not. I figured we’d gain access and eventually I’d gather the courage to watch him in action, even though I’m not the biggest fan of watching him kill. But if that’s the only way, then so be it.

If things weren’t already awkward enough, Kali decides now is the best time to make a grand entrance. Slipping into the alcove with us, she takes one look at me sitting on Cell’s desk, at the screens, and the meddling bitch smiles from ear to ear .

Kali grips the crystal hanging around her neck. “So, this is why you’ve been sad, huh?”

Ugh.

I don’t wanna do this now. Or ever, for that matter.

“Why are you here?” I groan. “Don’t you have a man at home?

” She has an insanely hot man at home who worships the ground she walks on.

One who has never and would never send her away.

One who’d burn the world to the ground to protect and love her for always.

Now that I think about it. Gross. They’re just… gross.

Okay. That’s a bit harsh.

They’re not gross. I’m projecting. See. Progress. I’m self-aware.

“Actually, my husband is out cleaning up one of your men’s messes,” Kali explains.

One of my what?

My face scrunches in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“Coffin.”

“Oh.”

Kali tilts her head to the side and gives a friendly grin, trying to coax me into a false sense of security. “Now, do you want to talk?”

No. I don’t. But it sounds like she’s more aware than she’s let on.

“How much do you know?” I rub my hands up and down my thighs to give them something to do.

“More than I let on.”

I snort. “Obviously… How did you find out?”

“When my sister leaves to do a job for Dark, and we haven’t heard from her for months, apart from random emails from a man named Necro, I get suspicious.

Dark assured me you were okay. That was after he confessed that he gave you to these men under the pretense that you were working a job.

Which, of course, ended up being a lie. Then there was something about owing them a debt. ”

“He whored me out,” I explain.

“Which is not okay,” she growls in full mama bear mode. “Once I found out, he’d been trying like hell to get you back.”

It’s nice to know someone paid enough attention to give a crap.

“To get back in your good graces,” I guess. Let’s be real… I’m expendable to Dark. I’m just another woman he can use. Kali, on the other hand, he loves in his own warped, ex-husband way.

She grips her necklace tighter. “That hasn’t happened. I poisoned him.”

“You didn’t.” I giggle, loving this far more than I should. It serves him right for messing with a sister. Something warm unfurls in my belly at the thought of Kali sticking up for me. Sure, I know she’s protective of us, but this is a whole other level.

“I sure as fuck did. It’s been a long, long, long time coming, and this was the last straw.”

“What did you do?”

“I made him a special tea.”

“But you didn’t kill him.”

“Unfortunately, no. I’m never going to actually kill him. Even when he deserves it. He’s still my ex-husband, the father of my sons and Lily, and… He’s also Sunshine’s son. ”

I get it, and I’d probably feel the same if I were in her shoes.

“Marrying your ex-father-in-law isn’t complicated or anything,” I tease.

Kali rubs the center of her chest and stares off with a dreamy look in her eye.

“He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

Ex-father-in-law or not. He’s worth it.” Her tone is wistful, and for a sliver of a moment, I’m envious.

Not of her and Sunshine, but their love and connection. The devotion.

“I’m so glad you’re happy with your daddy dick.” I grin like a wacky cartoon character to escape the icky emotional waters and into a place far less deep and depressing.

Cheeks turning a pretty shade of fuchsia, Kali swats my arm. “Stop it.”

“What? His daddy dick not doing it for you?” I waggle my brows.

“Sola!” Kali gasps in mock outrage.