Page 60 of Saving You Losing Me

They meet in the middle and he forces her to the ground as the men retaliate. Somehow through the madness they crawl for shelter before the door slams and the plane’s engines squeal and as it taxis away, Jet yells, “Hold your fire!”

The noise is deafening and as the engines scream and the aircraft starts taxiing to the runway, Jet and Lucy make a dash for the bike and as soon as they reach it, Jet grabs his gun, saying darkly, “Cover your ears and keep down.”

I waste no time and pull Lucy to the ground and lie on top of her as I hear Jet fire a round of shots before yelling, “Stay down!”

He flings his body over the two of us as an explosion rocks the night sky and by the time we look up, all that’s left is the memory.

I stare in disbelief at the fireball lighting the night sky, my sister raining as ash into the night sky. For a second, our life together flashes before my eyes as I remember a time when we were innocent of the horrors that life was about to throw at us. She looked up to me and I liked it. I would have done anything to protect her. To keep her safe and yet somewhere between childhood and now, that all changed.

I failed her, me, my grandparents and mom and dad. My sister was lost a long time ago, and I prayed that one day I would find her again.

There is a sickness clawing at my frozen heart as I come to terms with my part in this and I blink the tears of the damned away and take a deep breath, muttering my silent farewell to the fallen angel who never got to catch her star.

Jet’s voice reminds me I’m not alone as he whispers to Lucy, “Are you ok, darlin’?”

Once again, my heart twists in pain when I hear the emotion in his voice, reminding me what it’s like to love. To feel anything. Not bitterness and hatred for people who should have been my world.

“I’m heading back.” I say gruffly. “I’ll meet you at the clubhouse.”

It’s as if I lost part of me in that explosion and as I ride home to the Darkside, I try to come to terms with what just happened. Tanya always made me weaker and now she has the final laugh because I will never have the chance to save her. I failed. I always fail because, for some reason, the people I love choose to pull away from me rather than let me care for them. I am not good enough. I willneverbe good enough and as the wind whips away my tears, I resign myself to a life alone.

When Jet and Lucy return,it’s as if Lucy has fought a war single-handedly from the look of her.

Candy, Diesel’s girl, rushes over with concern and Jet tightens his hold on his woman and says darkly, “She’s going nowhere. This time, she stays close to me.”

Candy puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. “Then you’ll have to come too, because this poor girl needs tending to.”

I can tell we’re getting nowhere with this and Candy is right. Lucy looks fucked.

“We’ll go to the meeting room. You can sort Lucy out there while we talk.”

Candy’s eyes widen and she says incredulously, “You sure, Atom? I didn’t think you liked the women in your meetings.”

I growl, “I don’t, but I’d be the same if my girl had been through what she has as a result of our hospitality. Sometimes you have to peer past normality and make an exception.”

Candy appears a little stunned but takes Lucy’s hand and says gently, “It’s ok, honey. I’ll soon have you feeling like your old self.”

As they follow me to the meeting room, they’ll soon realize why women aren’t invited. It’s a large room with no frills. Just a wooden table and a few chairs around the walls. A single bulb hangs from the ceiling, illuminating the blood stains on the floor.

One glance at the room causes Jet to say hastily, “Candy, take Lucy somewhere more comfortable and if anything happens to her, you’ll pay the price.”

Lucy obviously notes the worry in Candy’s eyes and says with a smile. “Don’t worry, his bark’s worse than his bite. Let’s get out of here.”

They leave and as Razor kicks out a chair and I do the same, I shake my head. “Things got a little heavy back there.”

Jet says with concern. “Are you ok, man? That must have hurt shootin’ your sister.”

Razor looks up, startled, and I growl, “Fucking bitch was no longer any sister of mine. She deserved everything she got. I shot out her kneecap for pleasure because if she got away, I wanted a permanent reminder of what she left behind.”

Razor says with concern. “What happened?”

“Well, let’s just say she headed out on a one-way ticket to hell, thanks to the Reaper. What I don’t understand is what the hell she was doing there in the first place?”

We are interrupted as one of the members knocks and brings some beers in. He says in a hard voice, “Sunny sent these. She thought you could use them.”

I throw one at each of the guys and nod. “She’s right, as always. Tell her I need her later and to wait up.”

If I need anything other than this beer right now, it’s the soft scent of a woman reminding me that there is some good in the world.

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