Thirty

Haisley

“AJ isn’t answering his phone,” Tick said, walking back into the sanctuary of the abandoned church he’d left me in with the other guy who had been in the back of the van, who I now knew was Skid.

They had blindfolded me until we were out of the van and inside, but I could clearly tell this had been a church. The cross over the pulpit, the broken church pews scattered about, and the stained-glass windows with depictions of Jesus’s life in them all made it an easy guess.

Skid shrugged. “Acid is almost here.”

Tick sharply jerked his head to the side three times. He did that a lot. I figured that was where he had gotten the name Tick.

“I need a hit,” he said, clawing at his arm.

The wooden doors swung open, and a tall man with dark hair and eyes and a wide mouth, almost like Steven Tyler, along with a snake tattoo covering both his arms and going up his neck walked inside. His eyes locked on me, and he smiled.

“So this is AJ’s sister,” he said as he got closer to me. “He mentioned you were pretty, but he was definitely holding back.”

“Fucking hot is a better description,” Skid added.

“Hmm,” the man said, walking around me, as if inspecting me completely. “AJ believes she will draw them out?”

“Yeah. She belongs to one of them,” Tick told him.

“Which one?”

Tick and Skid looked at each other. They had no idea.

“Take her gag off,” he said to them. “We need to know who we pissed off. How many they’ll bring. If Blaise will be coming too.”

“I got it, Acid,” Tick said, hurrying over to me.

This was Acid. I should have guessed. He had more snake tattoos, and the other two seemed to be nervous around him.

Once the gag was gone, I glared up at Acid. I wasn’t telling him anything. His gaze was appreciative as he took in my face now.

“Those lips,” he said softly. “You have a lovely, full bottom lip. It’s incredibly tempting.”

I said nothing.

He sighed. “I’m going to have to keep you safe. I don’t want you hurt. Now, who do you belong to?”

“I don’t belong to anyone,” I replied.

He grinned. “Defiance. I like it. I should have known you’d have some fire in you. AJ is your brother after all. We have time. They aren’t going to find us here,” he said, holding out his hands. “We can wait it out. Get to know each other.”

The way he said it, like he meant something more by that, made me cringe.

“I know you’re not Gage’s. I’ve met Shiloh. Then, the new boss is married, so you don’t belong to Blaise. The two scariest fuckers are checked off the list. There’s the younger Hughes.” He glanced over at Tick. “Do you know if he has a woman?”

Tick shrugged. “No clue.”

Acid sighed. “I could get Destiny here, but she’s so damn bitter about all of them that she would go for your throat.” He leaned in closer to me. “My sister used to be a stunner. Got mixed up with that family and pissed off Gage. Had Shiloh abducted. She is now a carved-up monster, I’m afraid. But he did let her live. That’s part of my revenge. They ruined her life. It’s time someone takes them down a few pegs,” he said, sitting down beside me. “Besides, when I kill off the family, then the Vipers will have power. I want power.” He smiled at me as if I understood him.

I continued in my silence.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What? You aren’t going to tell me how they’re going to slaughter me? Take out everyone in their way?”

I shook my head. “They don’t know where I am,” I finally said.

My throat clogged as I let myself accept that. Saxon wouldn’t find me. I had to survive this without him.

He grinned. “You don’t have much faith in them. Tell me, how long have you been involved with the family?”

“Not long enough,” Tick said with amusement.

“I’m not involved with them,” I corrected him.

He made it sound like I participated in their business.

“Oh, you are. You’re fucking one of them,” he informed me.

I looked away from him, fighting back the tears in my eyes. I was tired. My body ached from being tied up, but more than anything, I missed Saxon.

A loud thud made me jump. Then a crash. Acid shot up, turning around as he pulled a gun from his waist. I tried to scoot my body over, but couldn’t manage to get far. Just enough to see Tick lying facedown on the floor with blood pooling around his head.

“Where the fuck are you bastards?” Acid asked, turning around with his gun ready as he scanned the room. “I’ll put a bullet in her pretty head,” he warned.

He didn’t get a chance to say anything more before he let out a loud shout and his gun fell to the floor while he grabbed his wrist. Blood trickled down his arm. He hurried over to grab his gun, but then he cried out, and he fell to his knees on the ground. More blood oozed from his leg.

I looked from him to search the room again. Was I next? I wanted to cover my stomach to protect the baby, but my hands were still bound behind me. Tears were streaming down my face as I waited to see where the silent bullets would go next.

AJ came stumbling from behind a wall. I gasped as he tripped, hitting the floor. Blaise Hughes walked in behind him. His eyes found mine just as the wooden doors swung open. The sight of Saxon coming through the doors with Trev and Kye behind caused a loud sob to tear from my chest.

Saxon broke into a run until he was in front of me. His eyes scanned my face and body. “Did they hurt you?” he asked.

“No, just the ropes,” I said to him, and he let out a sigh of relief and began untying my legs.

“He’s new. Y’all came out blazing for the new kid’s woman?” Acid’s voice was pained as he held his good hand over the shot on his leg.

Saxon tensed up as he untied my arms. When I was free, I stared up at him. He touched my face.

“I love you,” he whispered, then stood up in front of me, facing Acid.

“FUCK!” AJ roared as Blaise kicked him.

“Stand up,” he said, looking annoyed.

“You led them here?” Acid accused my brother.

AJ was bruised and bleeding. One of his eyes was completely swollen closed.

“They tortured me,” he said in a raspy voice. His open eye swung to me. “This make you happy, bitch?! Seeing what they did to me?”

I covered my mouth to muffle my cry.

He glared at me as if I had done this. He had taken me. I hadn’t done anything to him.

“Stupid trash. You’re one of their whores now.” AJ spit blood as his hateful stare held me.

“AJ,” I choked out. “Why are you doing this?”

I felt my heart breaking. Where was the brother I’d grown up with?

“I’m not doing shit! You did this. Used your pussy, just like our slut mom. Got knocked up like the white trash you are—” He didn’t get to finish the horrible words spewing from his mouth.

Saxon had moved so quickly that I missed it. I opened my mouth to scream when Saxon’s gun was pointed directly at AJ. The click of the trigger, and then my brother crumbled to the floor. I thought I heard myself scream. Everything seemed to be locked in a haze. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

Acid fell facedown with a heavy thud, and I didn’t even see who had pulled the trigger that killed him. It was all happening so fast. There was a rush. Gage and Levi were there, and Gage walked over and kicked Acid with the toe of his boot.

“Bye, fucker,” he drawled.

Saxon was in front of me, then pulling me up and into his arms. I felt numb. I couldn’t make my feet work. I just stared at the scene in front of me. AJ unmoving. A pool of blood around his head.

Images of us as kids flashed through my mind. We had survived that life together.

Now, here I was, the reason he was dead.

“Haisley, baby, look at me.” Saxon’s voice seemed so far away, but he was right here.

I shook my head. I couldn’t. I took a step back and stumbled. He reached to steady me, and I held out my hand to hold him away.

“No!” I cried out. “Don’t.”

The pain in his eyes sliced through me on top of the other agony I was already enduring. I couldn’t comfort him though. How could I? He’d shot my brother. I couldn’t just let him hold me. What kind of person would that make me?

“Haisley.” Trev’s voice surprised me. I hadn’t known he was so close. He placed a hand around my arm. “We need to get out of here.”

The bodies were everywhere. What would they do with AJ? Would my mom get to bury him? She’d have to bury another child. A sob tore out of me, and I had to grab Trev’s shirt to hold on to him. My knees buckled. This would destroy my mom.

“Baby, please,” Saxon begged, taking a step toward me.

I shook my head frantically. No. If he touched me, I would cling to him. I wouldn’t let go of him. I couldn’t do that. Not with AJ right there.

“Let me get her,” Trev said gently.

I couldn’t look at Saxon. Any more emotion, and I was going to crack. Maybe I already had.

“Come with me,” Trev told me with his arm wrapped around my shoulders. “Lean on me if you need to. Let’s just get you to the car.”

We walked out of the church, leaving AJ’s body bleeding out. I didn’t look back. Seeing him like that was going to forever be burned in my brain. When we stepped out into the darkness of the night, a black SUV pulled up, and Trev walked me over to it, opening the back door for me to climb inside. He held my hand and eased me inside. When he turned, I heard him whispering. Saxon’s voice was a little louder than a whisper.

“She’s fragile right now.” Levi’s voice carried over theirs. “She needs some rest and time. Don’t push her.”

“I’m not letting her leave without me.” Saxon sounded angry, but there was panic laced in his voice.

“Trev, go with her. Take her to Trinity,” Blaise’s voice called out. “Sax, we have business to handle. You are seeing this through.”

There was silence, and then Trev climbed in beside me and closed the door. I looked at the front seat to see Kye and a guy I didn’t know.

“Ready?” Kye asked.

“Yeah,” Trev replied.

As we pulled away, it felt like my soul was being torn from my body. And not because I was leaving my dead brother in an abandoned church. But because I was leaving Saxon.