Page 35 of Rough Start

After all, that was the only option now. There was nothing for her left back in town. Nothing. And no one. Not anymore.

* * *

“Liana, Liana, get over here!” her father called as she and Kye, along with the teacher who’d located them, raced back inside the gym. Her father was stumbling through the crowd of students who were gawking with patronizing amusement. Their pointing and laughing only added to Eliana’s mortification.

“Dad, what the hell?” she asked as she pulled him to a corner of the room. Eliana didn’t know whether to take comfort in the fact that the principal and two other teachers were making their way over.

“We have to leave, now. It all went wrong. We have to go.” He grabbed Eliana’s arm and started pulling her from the room. They made it into the adjoining hallway that was lined with lockers before she ripped her arm away. Kye was faithfully at her side, but he looked just as perplexed as she did.

“I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re drunk, Dad!” she snapped, and Henry looked ready to explode.

“You don’t get it! They’re going to kill me and probably you. We have to go! Leave town, forever!”

“Who’s going to kill you?” Kye asked, sounding like the only voice of reason at the moment.

“You!” Henry said and shoved Kye into the metal lockers.

“Dad!” Eliana shrieked and stood between the two of them.

“I know what you are, you little shit!” Henry cried and pushed Eliana out of the way to grab Kye by the collar and slam him into the wall again. “You’re a damn Demon, and you’re the ones who set me up!”

“I didn’t do anything,” Kye argued and pushed Henry off of him.

“Mr. Granville!” the principal shrieked. “We’ve called the police. I suggest you get yourself home before they arrive.”

“I’ll take him,” Eliana said reluctantly to the three authority figures who were staring them down. She grabbed her dad’s arm and pulled him from the building out the front entrance before any more commotion was caused. “Give me your keys,” she demanded as she yanked them from the pocket of his overalls. Henry didn’t utter a single protest as he climbed into the passenger seat of his truck. “I can’t believe this is happening,” Eliana said to Kye, and she began to cry. He cupped her face and kissed her forehead.

“This doesn’t change anything,” he told her softly. “Get him home. I’ll meet you there, then we’re out of here. For good.” Eliana nodded wordlessly and kissed Kye before he helped her into the driver’s seat. He held her hand for an extra moment, pressing his lips briefly to her knuckles, before he closed the door and watched her drive off toward her house.

He had only just retrieved his suit jacket and Eliana’s handbag and made it back to his bike when he saw the lone rider speeding toward him. “What the hell?” he asked when the bike nearly collided with his. Recognizing Grier anywhere, Kye called out his name when he toppled off his bike and onto the wet grass. “Grier, what happened?” he questioned and knelt next to his friend who hadn’t even bothered putting on his helmet.

“We’re fucked,” Grier replied with difficulty. His face was a mess of cuts and bruises that were still swelling. His lip was split in two places, and his left eye was bulging from the broken blood vessels.

“Who did this?”

“Wayne, it was Wayne and Dean. They’ve been working together.”

“Dean? From Vermont?”

“They’ve been the ones defecting. Dean has had it out for you since our ‘interrogation’ a few months ago. Now that he’s gotten numbers in the Maine chapter, he’s hauled ass to get here. He’s in town, and he’s looking for you.”

“So let him find me. I’ll drag his bloody ass right into Max’s office and serve him on a platter,” Kye said, helping his friend to his feet.

“No, you don’t get it,” Grier said, clutching his ribs that were likely broken. “It’s bigger than that. Wayne and Dean have been smuggling supplies on the train line using stored box trucks from the lumberyard. They’ve got enough cash to recruit members. They’re wiping out all of their ties to cover their tracks before they overhaul our club. We’re not talking six or seven members—we’re talking dozens. You have to get to the clubhouse. All of the loyal Demons are making a stand.”

“Wait…” Kye said, forcing his mind to slow down. “What box trucks were they using?” Kye asked, feeling afraid of the answers.

“What does that matter?”

“Answer me!”

“I don’t know, lots of trucks. Probably ones from the steel and lumberyards. They had some sort of commission scam going with— where are you going!” Grier yelled as Kye was already racing toward his motorcycle.

“You idiot!” Kye hollered. “Eliana’s dad runs the lumberyard. He was in on that scam! That means Dean is after him.”

“Fuck, man,” Grier said, placing a hand on his shoulder to halt him. “I had to give them something,” Grier confessed, and his right eye conveyed his terror. “I told Wayne about you and Eliana. I had to give them something. They were hellbent on preventing you from getting in with Max. They were going to kill me. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Then they’re going to kill Eli too,” Kye breathed and revved the engine. Grier pulled the pistol out of the back of his jeans and handed it to Kye.