Page 27 of Viking (Dixie Reapers MC #24)

Karoline

I watched Viking gear up inside his house as pale moonlight slanted through the blinds and painted shadows across his face.

His movements were precise, methodical -- checking each weapon before securing it to his body, testing straps on his tactical vest, counting spare magazines before slipping them into pouches.

The Lief I’d known as a teenager had been golden and invincible in my eyes, a hero from some Norse legend.

This Viking, preparing for war in the quiet of his bedroom, was something else entirely -- a man of flesh and blood who could bleed, who could die.

The thought sent a chill through me despite the warmth of the room.

“The safe house has good sightlines,” he said without looking up, checking the action on his pistol before holstering it at his hip. “Tank and Tempest know what they’re doing. You’ll be safe there.”

I sat on the edge of his bed -- our bed now -- watching his ritual of preparation. “I’m not worried about me.”

His gaze flicked to mine briefly before returning to his gear. “You should be.”

I studied his profile as he worked. “How many times have you done this? Geared up like this, knowing you might not come back?”

His hands stilled momentarily before resuming their task. “Too many to count.”

“And you’ve always come back.”

A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “So far.”

He slid a knife into a sheath at his ankle, then straightened. The man who stood before me now was transformed -- leather and steel and deadly purpose. But his eyes, when they met mine, were still Viking’s eyes -- blue and deep and filled with everything he couldn’t say.

He crossed to where I sat and knelt before me, bringing us eye to eye. The position should have diminished him somehow, this massive man on his knees, but instead it only emphasized his strength -- that he could make himself vulnerable before me and still remain unmistakably powerful.

“I need you to promise me something,” he said, his voice dropping to that gravelly register that sent shivers across my skin. “If anything goes wrong, you take Athena and you run.”

I started to shake my head, but he caught my chin with gentle fingers, holding my gaze. “I mean it, Karoline. The club has resources -- money, IDs, safe houses. Wire has it all documented. If this goes sideways, you don’t wait, you don’t try to help. You grab Athena and you disappear.”

His voice cracked with worry on the final word, the first sign that his calm preparation was a facade covering deeper fears. I reached out, brushing my fingertips along his beard, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath.

“Nothing’s going to go wrong,” I said with a conviction I wished I truly felt. “You’re coming back to us.”

His eyes closed briefly at my touch, his head turning slightly to press his cheek more firmly against my palm. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” I insisted. “Because you promised to protect us. And you never break your promises.”

He caught my hand in his, turning it to press a kiss to my palm that sent heat spiraling through me. “There are some things even I can’t control.”

The fear I’d been holding at bay surged forward -- fear of losing him just when I’d found him, fear of Athena losing another protector, fear of being left alone to finish what Kris had started.

“I know,” I whispered, my voice catching. “But I need you to come back. Because…” I swallowed against the lump in my throat, gathering courage for words I’d never said to any man. “I love you. I think I’ve loved you since I was just a kid.”

His eyes widened, surprise and something deeper washing across his features. His grip on my hand tightened.

“It’s different now. It’s not that schoolgirl crush anymore. It’s…” I struggled to find words adequate for the feeling that had been growing inside me since I’d arrived at the compound gates. “It’s knowing who you really are. The man who fights for his family, who sees me -- really sees me.”

Viking brought his hands up to frame my face. For a heartbeat, he simply looked at me, his gaze searching mine as if making sure I meant every word. Then he crushed me against him with that familiar fierce, desperate kiss I’d come to crave.

“You and Athena are my family. And I love you both.”

The simple declaration hit me with more force than any elaborate profession could have. Family. The thing Athena needed most, what I’d lost with Kris’s death… he offered it freely, even knowing the danger that came with claiming us.

“Come back to us,” I whispered. “That’s all I ask.”

He nodded once, pressing his forehead to mine for a brief moment before standing and holding his hand out to me. “It’s time.”

We walked through the house together, my hand in his, both acutely aware of the minutes ticking away. Outside, brothers were already mounting their bikes, engines rumbling to life in the early morning air. Viking’s Harley waited, sleek and powerful, fueled and ready.

I pulled him to a stop before he could swing his leg over the seat. The locket gleamed in my palm as I pressed it into his hand, closing his fingers around it.

“For luck,” I murmured.

His throat worked as he stared down at the silver heart that had brought us to this moment -- Kris’s final gift that had become so much more. He slipped it into an inner pocket of his cut, directly over his heart.

“I’ll bring it back to you,” he promised. He pulled me close one last time, his kiss different now -- not desperate but determined, a promise sealed in the press of his lips against mine. When he drew back, his eyes were clear, focused. “I love you.”

Then he was on his bike, the engine roaring to life beneath him. I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself as he pulled away, joining the line of motorcycles heading toward the compound gates. I watched him until he disappeared from view, riding toward danger.

For me. For Athena. For the brother who had known, somehow, that Viking would be our salvation in more ways than one.

* * *

Viking

The rural compound came into view as we crested the hill, a collection of dilapidated buildings hunched against the darkness.

I signaled for my brothers to cut their engines, the sudden silence pressing against my ears.

Prophet pulled up beside me. The silver locket pressed against my chest beneath my cut, warm from my body heat and heavy with promises I couldn’t break.

“How many?” Prophet whispered, his voice barely audible over the night insects buzzing in the tall grass.

I raised my night vision binoculars, scanning the perimeter. “Two at the main entrance. One roving patrol, northeast corner. Probably more inside.”

We’d left our bikes, covered with camo tarps in a dense copse of trees. Six of us had made the final approach on foot -- me, Prophet, Sarge, Bull, Saint, and Flicker with his still-bandaged thigh. All willing to die for this but hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

“No dogs,” I murmured, continuing my scan. “Two cameras on the main building. Blind spot on the west side.”

Bull crouched beside me, checking his silenced pistol with practiced movements. “Guards change every twenty?”

“Seems like it.” I lowered the binoculars, mentally mapping our approach. “They’re sloppy. Complacent.”

“Good for us,” Saint said, tightening the straps on his tactical vest.

The compound sprawled across a clearing in the woods, an old logging operation according to Wire’s intel.

Three main buildings -- the largest most likely being the administrative office where the servers were kept.

Two smaller outbuildings that could be barracks or storage.

Chain link fence, rusted in places. A single dirt road in and out.

I checked my watch. 02:17. We’d timed our arrival between guard shifts, when attention would be at its lowest. The digital readout glowed faintly green against my wrist, reminding me of Athena’s nightlight.

The thought of her sleeping peacefully back at the compound, Karoline watching over her, sent a surge of determination through my veins.

I pulled my team closer, our shoulders forming a tight circle as I sketched a quick diagram in the dirt. “Prophet, Bull -- you take the west fence. Sarge, Flicker -- east side, by those storage buildings. Saint, you’re with me through the north approach. We move on my signal.”

I met each man’s gaze in turn, seeing nothing but steely resolve reflected back at me. These were my brothers. Not by blood, but by something deeper -- by choice, by loyalty, by a code that ran bone-deep.

“Primary objective is the server room. Secondary is intel -- anything that ties the senators and anyone else high up to Operation Ghostwalk. We’re in and out in fifteen minutes, max. Questions?”

No one spoke. We’d been over the plan a dozen times back at the compound, run through every contingency Wire and Atlas could think of. Now it was time to execute.

“Comms check,” I ordered, tapping my earpiece.

Each man responded in turn, their voices clear in my ear despite the whispered tones. Our equipment was top-of-the-line, courtesy of Wire’s connections and the club’s deep pockets. Nothing but the best when lives were on the line.

I reached beneath my cut, fingers brushing against the silver locket nestled against my heart.

For luck, Karoline had said. But it was more than that.

It was a reminder of why we were here -- why I was here.

Not just for vengeance, though God knew Kris deserved that much.

But for protection. For family. For a future where Karoline and Athena could sleep without fear.

I thought of Karoline’s face in the dawn light as I’d ridden away, her copper hair catching the sun, her eyes filled with a mixture of fear and determination. I thought of her words -- I love you -- and how they’d hit me like a physical blow, cracking open something I’d kept sealed for years.

“Two minutes,” I murmured, checking my watch again.