Page 50

Chapter fifty

I’m just getting off the phone from checking on Lyric when my phone goes off with a message. I almost ignore it when I see it’s from Rachel, but something compels me to open it.

The video is grainy at first, but it quickly clears up and the voices come through clearly.

My body tightens when I recognize Heather and Rachel’s voices. Then I focus more on the screen and what’s being recorded. Bile rushes up my throat when I see the state my woman is in. I keep my eyes on the video as I rush through the clubhouse, needing to know what hell my Hummingbird is going through at the hands of her captors.

She stands so strong and defiant even as her body hangs lethargically in the chains. The burns on her body, the cuts, the tub of water under her, and the way water drips from her body gives testament to the nightmarish hell Killer has put her through.

Rage seethes under my skin as Rachel and Heather laugh at Bailee’s screams from the torture Killer is inflicting on her.

They’re dead.

They’re all fucking dead.

Once I’m in the common room, I call out for Wraith. He must see the mess of emotions on my face because he gives his Old Lady a kiss and hurries to me.

I don’t waste any time, turning the phone toward him. “Fuckin’ Rachel and Heather are workin’ with Killer. Need to see what we can get from this.”

Bailee’s been missing for nearly sixteen hours. As soon as I learned what that stubborn woman did to protect my girl, I started to hunt for her. Killer’s clubhouse was empty when we all weaponed up and rolled to them. He’s moved them somewhere else, knowing it would be the first place we’d search for him and Bailee. Emmy Lou, Tweek, and even Em’s FBI contact, Max, have been on the hunt looking for any property belonging to him or any of his members, but so far, we’ve hit a dead end. Not knowing most of their given names has made it harder than it typically would be for them. The places they were able to come up with have led us to more dead ends, either empty and rundown or housed relatives who were terrified with no idea where anyone is. As much as I doubted them, I didn’t want to resort to harming innocents in our search. That’s not who the fuck we are.

I’ve been slowly going out of mind and blaming myself for her being in his clutches. If I wouldn’t have been a dick and let Heather fucking manipulate me again , Bailee would be here with me right now, safe and sound.

Why the hell did I let that happen? Why did I doubt Bailee for even a second? I told her I love her, and that came with the expectation that I trusted and believed her, so questioning her meant I was questioning my feelings for her.

It gave Heather the opening she’d been aiming for to get Bailee out of the picture, and now, my goddamn woman is being tortured because of it.

Anger pours from Wraith as he puts his index and thumb in his mouth and lets out a shrill whistle. “Church,” he bellows.

My brothers read the urgency in his tone, and the officers hurry to follow us into the chapel. Wraith doesn’t waste time getting us started since time isn’t on our fucking side right now.

Killer has my woman.

My fucking black heart and gritty soul.

He’s not known for keeping his victims alive for long, so who knows what time frame we’re working with. She’s already been gone too fucking long.

“Already know Bailee is missing. We’ve been running in fucking circles trying to find where Killer has moved his clubhouse to. Without the location of our enemy, we’re swinging in the cold air with our shriveled dicks out.”

Wraith sets my phone in the middle of the table and peers at me for approval since the video shows Bailee in such a vulnerable state. Now is not the time to worry about fucking modesty. She’d rather be saved to continue breathing than worry about who the hell saw her naked.

My brothers aren’t those types of men, anyway.

“Rachel and my ex, Heather, are workin’ with Killer. Got a video of them torturin’ my woman and laughin’ about it. Place don’t look familiar, but hopin’ you, Jagger, and Chimera can find something. Fuckin’ anything we can use to find her,” I address Tweek before reaching over to press play. “Shit’s not easy to watch.”

My brothers watch stoically, their faces carefully blank as my woman goes through a hell that most fucking men would have already folded at.

At the end, Rachel turns the video around on herself and smiles at the camera. “I did this for you, baby. We needed her out of the way so you’d finally see me.”

“Fucking crazy bitch,” Phantom growls.

“Can I bring Jagger and Chimera in here, Prez? That way, we can continue planning our war as we dig for a location,” Tweek asks.

Wraith gives him a sharp nod. “Bring them in. We’re running out of time.”

“Your woman is fucking strong, brother,” Blade says. “Those wounds,” he pauses and shakes his head, “she’s gonna need you when she’s home. It’s the scars you don’t see that are going to get her the most. The demons that chase you after something like this, they’re scary as fuck.”

There’s a weight of experience in his words and his eyes.

“Got her,” I tell him gruffly.

“Know you do, brother. But if you need a hand, reach out.”

“‘Preciate it.”

Tweek hurries back into the chapel with Jagger and Chimera on his heels, laptops in each of their hands. “We have a better setup in the security room, but we’ll get it done with these.”

“Night Skulls aren’t a small club. They fight dirty, and it’s going to be one of the biggest wars we’ve taken on since I’ve taken over as President. We’ve given them too much leeway, and now, they have one of our women. They’ve hurt her, damaged her in ways that will take her years to heal from. She’ll always have a reminder of the time we failed her. I’m tired of our goddamn women getting hurt. No enemy walks away from this alive. People seem to be forgetting who the fuck we are. They’re assuming that because they fight dirty, we don’t know how to get dirtier. It’s time to remind the motherfucking world who the fuck we are.”

My brothers start banging their fists on the table as growls fill the room at Wraith’s forceful words.

“We have contacts that Killer would give his left nut to have. We’re bringing our allies in, brothers. The kings of Bourbon Falls are about to return the favors they owe us,” Wraith says.

“I’ll call in Kaito,” Crow announces.

Kaito ‘The Serpent’ Castellano, new leader of the Castellano Cartel, also known as our VP’s long-lost blood brother.

“We’ve fucking got them,” Tweek yells, smacking his hand on the table.

Things move quickly after that. Wraith puts calls in to Reed and the others while Crow gets his brother on the phone. Kaito tells him they have another contact in the States that they’ll bring on board since Killer seems to be wanted in connection with some sex trafficking rings his contact is searching for. He said his contact will make sure we have the help we need until they get here. I don’t miss the whispered words before Crow ends the call.

Venatori Nocturnus.

Fuck. Even here, we’ve heard about the ‘hunters of the night’. They’re feared with good reason. No one knows who they are, and the rumors are wild about them, talking of masked figures who seek vengeance in the night. If bodies are left, they carry the mark of the hunters—a brand of a skull with a knife going through it and a snake wrapped around it.

The fact that Killer is on their radar is shocking seeing as he’s still running around and kidnapping people.

As restless as I am to have my woman back, there’s reassurance that we’ll have the power at our backs to make sure we come out the victors of this war. I just hope we don’t lose too many of our people in the process.

I fucked up with Bailee too many times. There’s so much I have to get on my knees for, to make up for the shit I’ve put her through, but I’ll fall to them gladly because she’s worth every bit of hell I’ll have to walk through to make us right again.

Wraith calls an end to Church, and we all clamber to our feet and march out to strap up.

The war is here, and I’m ready to get dirty.