Page 33 of T-Bone (Steel Demons MC #11)

Faith

I woke up with one hell of a headache, which should’ve been the first thing I noticed but it wasn’t.

I was moving, the starry night and treetops providing the view as my throbbing head smacked against rocks, overturned tree stumps and other debris that littered the forest floor.

I tried to look up to see where I was and who—or what—was dragging me.

“Stupid fucking bitch sliced clean through my skin.” That angry, muttered growl was familiar and just like that I remembered everything.

Leaving the clubhouse in the middle of the night.

My ridiculous plan to draw the Ghost Riders away from Gemma’s location. The shootout in the forest.

The two men I killed.

While Nate dragged me without regard for my pain, I took stock of my injuries.

My side was sore and still bleeding, which explained the nausea that had taken up residence in the pit of my stomach.

It was my head though that caused me the most pain.

There were black dots on the periphery of my vision, and everything was a little blurry.

When I remembered why, my anger bubbled to the surface.

I opened my mouth to yell at him about hitting me with his gun butt just as I pushed air from my mouth, I paused.

I needed to be smart right now, smarter than Nate.

With my side and head hurting he’d probably have a greater physical advantage over me, even with his own shoulder injury.

I clenched my abs and looked at what I could see of Nate.

His broad shoulders slumped forward, he limped slightly, and his breathing was labored. He was hurting as much as I was.

Good.

“You’re all alone now, Nate.” My tone was ominous despite the pain. “Completely alone.” I didn’t think he was scared, not really, but I knew he was used to traveling in a pack, so it had to be unsettling to be alone right now.

Nate just laughed, sparing me a quick glance without breaking stride. “I might be without backup right now but you’re the one being dragged on the ground.”

That much was true, but I wasn’t out of this fight yet. I laid back down and watched the sky, counting the stars in the sky and then the leaves that fluttered on the breeze until I was calm. Clear headed. “Yeah,” I sighed dramatically. “Thanks for giving me time to get my energy back.”

“You’re a smart-mouthed bitch, aren’t you?”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me.

“It’s not the first time an insecure man has called me that for not behaving the way he thinks I should.

Sorry, not sorry for not shaking in my boots just because you have a dick.

” I snorted in amusement, feeling mildly giddy all of a sudden. “Probably got a small dick.”

“You just don’t know when to shut the fuck up, do you?”

I really didn’t. I recognized the seriousness of this situation and the huge disadvantage I was in, but the likely concussion mixed with blood loss was getting to me.

“That’s rich coming from you, a guy ready to kill a child because his abusive, piece of shit buddy died.

Seems like you should just let it go and shut the fuck up .

Not me.” Stay calm, I told myself, even as Nate yanked my leg and my head knocked against a rock hidden beneath the brush.

“If it makes you feel better to lie about my brother, maybe I won’t trade you for the brat. Maybe I’ll kill you at the edge of the forest and leave your body for the vultures.”

His steps slowed in his defense of Marcus, but I heard the distant sounds of traffic, of eighteen wheelers chugging along a stretch of highway, which meant the road was close.

He was distracted. “Why would I lie? If he’d treated Chloe right, I wouldn’t have cared that he was a biker.

But putting his hands on my sister was my problem with him. ”

“Bullshit. You’re a stuck up, straight-laced cop and you looked down on him.”

“You mean like Maynard? Does he look down on you?” I asked, my words felt forced because it was getting harder to breathe. If I had a move to make, it had to be soon.

“What do you think you know about Maynard?” he laughed. His tone was condescending.

“I know more than you think,” I assured him, repeating some of what I’d heard. “I know he interfered with a crime scene for you, which is a crime as well. That makes me believe you’ve got him in your pocket.”

“Stupid fucking bitch,” he muttered.

“It really is unbelievable that you didn’t know Marcus was an abuser. Did you know that’s why Ashley broke up with him all those years ago, because he backhanded her during an argument.”

“Stop fuckin’ lying.”

“I read it in her journal. That’s why she agreed to look after Gemma, because she was one of the few people who knew what Marcus was like.” It was a half-truth, but he didn’t know that. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I believed it was exactly the truth.

“Seriously lady, shut the fuck up. I’m sick of hearing your fucking voice.”

I smiled to myself. “Then maybe you should just leave me here and go on your way, enjoy having another day or two to live.” I inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly, knowing that it was time.

Nate laughed. “You are fucking delusional.” He shook his head, slowing even further, giving me the moment I was waiting for.

I moved slowly to avoid drawing his direct attention, sliding my hand into my front pocket until I found the finger blade. I hooked my finger around the ring and slid my hand free, taking one last breath before I hoisted myself upright and slid the blade across the back of his knee.

The roar of pain he let out echoed in the forest, sending all variety of nocturnal creatures skittering up into the sky and heading in the opposite direction. “What the fuck, bitch?” He dropped to his knees and immediately fell face forward as the pain of his bent knee tore through his body.

“I gave you the chance,” I shouted and used the last of my strength to climb onto his back, burying his face in the leaves and the mud. “You should have just left me here, Nate.”

He struggled beneath me, nearly dislodging me from his back but I raised my blade and drove it into the tendons between his neck and shoulder.

“I didn’t want to do this,” I shouted and yanked the blade out before plunging it in again.

“You wouldn’t fucking listen,” I sighed, still stabbing him again and again until I was too exhausted and in too much pain to continue.

“Goddammit!” I rolled away onto my back, breaths heaving in and out dramatically.

Nate gurgled, eyes wide and filled with fear as he reached for me. “Please.”

That word hit me unexpectedly. He was a piece of shit who caused unimaginable harm to the people around him, but he was also human—mostly—and he was hurting.

“You want me to show you the mercy you denied Ashley? My sister?” I shook my head.

“As much as I’d love to slit your throat and paint this fucking forest red, you don’t deserve it.

Lie here and think about the fact that you’re here because you wanted to murder a little girl, a helpless child who has no mother or father.

” That was unbelievably cruel, and guilt sat with me as I listened to the sounds of death less than five feet away.

His breaths came out gurgled and gasping, the sound intensified before it faded completely.

I stared at the black night sky, the stars were so bright this far away from the city that they were mesmerizing.

I don’t know how long I laid there beside Nate’s body listening to the sounds of the forest but eventually exhaustion started to take over.

My lids grew heavy, and my limbs felt as if they were weighed down with steel.

“No,” I whispered and rolled to my uninjured side to reach into my pocket for my phone.

“Gemma,” I called out and tapped my phone screen with more energy than purpose, turning my phone back on.

I didn’t care that he was a biker or that he straddled the wrong side of the law. I didn’t care about all those things I told myself were dealbreakers because I felt things for him.

Things I’d probably never get a chance to tell him, which was probably a good thing because T-Bone wasn’t a guy who believed in romance and happy endings.

But he was a good man, and he would make sure someone, maybe one of his club brothers’ old ladies, would take care of Gemma and give her a good life.

That’s what I thought about as those damned black dots took over more of my vision than they should, the life Gemma would have, filled with love and laughter. She would grow up happy with or without me, and that’s what mattered most.

I smiled to myself as I scrolled through my contact list. I did it, Chloe, I saved our girl. Now I just needed to speak to T-Bone and let him know there was no more blood debt. We were safe…

And slowly everything went black.