Page 225 of Malice and Surrender
“All the newer images on the laptop, the lighting is the same. It is as if they wait until the exact same time of day.” My left hand shook and I squeezed it into a fist to keep my shit together. There was so many other things they could do to her in that amount of time. “We will get her back alive, is that not what is most important?”
He was right. I slammed the door on my fear so I didn’t do something stupid. “Fine. What’s the plan?”
LOST SOULS CLUBHOUSE - 2:04 AM
Kaivan
The five of us stood around a large map of the property as Wilder placed pieces from a Risk game on the paper. If the situation were different, I might have laughed at the man moving tiny game pieces around dressed in full camo. His face was painted, and Wilder was strapped with everything from knives to grenades.
I truly thought Avro and Jace would back out, but neither had wavered in their conviction, which earned them points in my ‘They’re not terrible’ book.
Leaning over the table, I focused on my entry point as Wilder reviewed the plan for the last time.
“What the fuck?” Chase’s voice echoed as he slammed the door open. Chase, Mannix, Beast, Tanner, and some of the other guys walked into the room and stared at us. “What the fuck are you doing?”
I pushed myself up straight and squared off with my Prez. He wasn’t keeping me from going, and I was taking whatever weapons I wanted. I’d earned the right after all the blood, sweat, and hours I’d spent keeping this place safe.
Chase’s eyes were narrowed as he glared at me. The muscle in his jaw was twitching as we squared off.
“Answer me, Snake. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He turned his head to look at Jace and Avro, and even though he knew who they were, he didn’t comment.
“I’m going to save Raine. She’s been taken, and we’re going to get her back. You can’t stop me from going, and I’m taking what I need for weapons. If you try to stop me, Chase, you can consider this my official resignation.”
Chase shook his head, his brows knitting together. “Why the hell would I try to stop you from going and getting your old lady?”
“The way you came in here, I thought…”
“Well, you thought wrong. I’m fucking pissed off that Roach was the one who texted me what was going on and not you. We’re your fucking family. Get that through your head. If your girl is in trouble, we’ll all get her back.” Chase stepped forward until he could put his hand on my shoulder. “I promised you that I’d prove I was back for good, but more than that, you need to believe that not everything will go to shit. We’ll get her back safe. Now, what’s the plan?”
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything as the room filled with people. Mannix gripped my shoulder on the way past, his eyes locking with mine. He gave me a single nod, and emotion clogged my throat, making it hard to swallow. The world felt like it was painted with blood when it came to my life, but a glimmer of hope sparkled among the gore.
Words that Mannix had said over the years played on a loop in my mind. Even though I’d been part of the MC, it wasn’t until now that I felt like I belonged. I turned to see Wilder jump up on the large table and hold up the map as he organized groups to hit the target locations.
“Sorry, but as soon as I saw what we were up against, I texted Chase and told him what was happening. I knew you never would,” Roach said.
“Thanks, man.”
“We’ll get her back,” he said before walking away.
I once saw a quote that said love was stronger than revenge, and I spit on the sentiment. I called it a false truth, a fake fact that people liked to say and hide behind when they were too weak to take care of their business.
Tonight, I realized I may have missed the true meaning behind the quote. It wasn’t that love was stronger than revenge…love fucking fueled it like gasoline to a naked flame, and I planned on scorching the earth to get back what was mine.
Raine
I shivered, my body cold. The kind of cold that seeped into your bones and made you ache from the inside out. I tried to move or even open my eyes, but my body wouldn’t respond. Not my arms, legs, or eyes. My brain raced through the fog as I tried to remember what happened. Was I in an accident? Was I paralyzed?
That didn’t make sense because everything hurt. My toes to the top of my head felt like I’d been beaten. The last thing I remembered was going to my house with Avro and kissing him on the couch. We were going to be packing...I think. Pieces of our time and conversation were coming back to me like little images floating by, and I had to grab them, or they would disappear again.
“You got her?”
The remaining fog was instantly wiped away. My heart stopped and then pounded so hard that it felt like it would rip from my chest. I knew that voice. I could never forget that cold and calculating rasp as sharp to my ears as the steel blade he shoved into my stomach. My body trembled, or I thought it did. I still didn’t feel like I was moving except for tremors under my skin.
“Yes, but I don’t know if anyone saw me. It was a shit time of day to take her, but she was with some guy, and I had to wait for a good moment.”
Dave.
It all came rushing back. The doorbell rang, and Dave stood there in tears apologizing for tracking me down, but Irene was in the hospital, and her dying wish was to see me. I didn’t want to go without Avro, but when I turned to grab my phone to call him, something sharp stabbed me in the side of the neck, and everything went dark.
