Page 99 of Reaper and Ruin

VIOLET

By the time we got back to Saint View, the clubhouse was chaos. Kids ran riot, in and out of the doorways, laughing and full of excitement about all being together.

But the vibe amongst the adults was very different.

Rebel sat surrounded by a pile of suitcases, scowling at Fang who didn’t appear any happier. Bliss had baby Ridge on her hip, trying to distract him with a teething toy, but she seemed distracted herself. Kara walked over to her and took the baby, plonking him down in a playpen with her youngest daughter, Wren, and Rebel’s little one as well.

The room was full of big men in motorcycle jackets, all of them as worried as the three men who stood behind me.

I waited on War to say something, seeing as he was the president, but it was Grayson who spoke up. “As you all know, some members of my support group—”

“You mean, Murder Squad,” X interjected.

Grayson sighed. “X, haven’t we talked about not calling it that?”

X shrugged.

Grayson continued like he hadn’t spoken. “As you all know, some members of my support group have been receiving threats for some time now. We had hoped it was limited to the group and wouldn’t extend to the rest of you—”

Scythe held up a piece of paper. “I got one yesterday.”

X held out a fist for him to bump. “One of us! One of us!”

He was the only one who found it funny. His chanting died off. “You have been coming to meetings a bit. Maybe they thought you were a fully-fledged member, out hunting down targets at night.”

Bliss looked at him sharply. “Have you been killing again?”

He shook his head. “No. Just…watching.”

Bliss, War, and Nash all stared at him.

“I swear! I haven’t stabbed anyone!’ His voice lowered. “Today.”

War scrubbed a hand over his face. “That’s all well and good, but we’ve still got one of those fucked up rhyming letters. To our house. Hence why we’re all here. And why we won’t be leaving until this is sorted out.”

I grimaced. No wonder Bliss and Rebel were so unhappy. Kara didn’t seem as bothered, but she lived here on the MC grounds in a home they’d built within the safety of the fences but away from the clubhouse.

Bliss and Rebel were stuck here in this communal building with their kids, not enough space, very little privacy, and a group of bikers watching their every move. I couldn’t blame them for being pissed off. This sucked.

But I couldn’t blame the guys for wanting them here, where there was twenty-four seven protection.

I knew the alternative. Knew what we were up against. Now that we had ruled out Nyah’s family as a suspect, I had to believe she had been lured into some sort of trap, the way Toby and I had that night at the warehouse.

I didn’t believe for a second she would just leave without even saying goodbye. If it had just been me, maybe.

But she was in love with Dax. They might not have said it to each other, but I’d seen it in the way they were together. Seen it in the complete and utter state of devastation he was in now.

As much as Bliss and Rebel might hate being in lockdown, it hadn’t been called for no reason.

But how long could that last? The kids needed to go to school. Everyone would go stir-crazy locked inside these gates with no release date in mind.

All I could think about was that this whole thing was my fault.

“I don’t get why we’re suddenly getting letters,” War said. “Why now?”

I swallowed thickly, hating that I could answer that. “It’s because of me.”

All three of my guys were quick to jump in and disagree, but I shut them up with a look that clearly said: Let me speak.