Page 23 of Freeing Souls

Chapter Eight

Ryker

“Ready, little flame?” I grin at her, bouncing on my toes, more than ready to spar in our gym. After being banned from the gym until I healed fully, I make sure to get down there every day. It feels damn good, and being hurt was just a reminder to not take it for granted.

After our meeting earlier today, where we learned about the website for the Black Night Ball, everyone has been on edge. I’ve done my best to not think too much about the people suffering right now. We will save them, and dwelling on it doesn’t help anyone. I’d prefer to go hunt down the bastards who think trafficking is okay and rip them limb from limb, but that will have to wait.

So for now, Cade, Harley, and yes, Grayson, are downstairs in the gym, getting ready to spar like our lives depend on it while Rage holds church with all the members.

It’s crazy to think that in just a week, I will be a prospect, and a year from now, I will be sitting in that room with Rage and all the other guys. I can’t fucking wait.

Without responding to me, Harley meets me on the mats, her hands wrapped, determination set in her stiff shoulders and serious expression. I know she overanalyzed all those pictures on the website. If I had to guess, she was memorizing every single one, wanting to make sure we save them all.

Cade gets in the boxing ring with a sullen Grayson, who most definitely doesn’t want to be in here right now, while I focus on Harley.

“Come on, babe.” I wiggle my brows at her. “Come at me.”

Without even a twitch of her lips, she comes straight for me, nailing me in the gut. Grunting, I move on my toes to keep her in my line of sight, and we begin to trade blows back and forth. After what feels like seconds, but I’m sure has been much longer, Cade joins in, and we team up against Harley.

Pushing all her rage to the front, she doesn’t give up. Even as sweat drips down her face and neck, she continues to push forward, doing her best to not let either of us get the upper hand.

“Enough,” a booming voice says, and we all pause. Rage stands at the end of the mats, his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the three of us. Grayson, who had been watching the whole time, brings us each a water bottle, and we chug them down.

“You know when it’s time to break, Ryker. Don’t push it,” Rage tells me.

I attempt to hide my grimace, but I know he’s right. Cade almost called it once, but I shook my head at him. Our girl has been a silent volcano today, and she needed the extra, but he’s still right. I know when it’s time to break.

Harley, on the other hand, isn’t okay with that and spins around to face him. “Itbeing me, right? Don’t push me? I can handle myself just fucking fine.”

“I know you can. Doesn’t mean you should push your limits. Take five and then get in the ring,” Rage demands as he walks away from a seething Harley.

I walk up to Harley and wrap a hand around the nape of her neck. “Want to talk?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she snaps.

“Alright, babe. Go kick Rage’s ass,” I say and kiss her forehead before releasing her. Her body softens for a split second as her eyes fall shut, but then she shakes it off and walks away.

“Think she is shutting down again?” Cade asks as he and Grayson come to stand on either side of me.

I shake my head. “No. I think she is frustrated about what we learned today, but also—”

“She isn’t dealing with Atlas,” Grayson finishes.

I nod. “Yeah. I think we are going to just have to force it out of her. Maybe she’ll be tired enough after we finish here that we can talk with her upstairs. But she needs to talk about it. It’s been months now. The longer she holds it all inside, the worse it’ll get.”

Cade wanders back over to the mats to spar with Noah while Grayson and I go to watch Harley and Rage. Normally, I would want to keep going myself, but there’s just something screaming at me to watch Harley, to stay close.

While we wait for them to get ready, I wrap an arm around Grayson’s shoulder and study his face. “How are you doing after this morning?”

Sighing, he leans on me more, and I have to bite back a smirk. “Alright, I guess. I mean, I am really glad I was able to get onto the site with no issues, but seeing how it’s all set up—it was like a reality check. This is all very, very real, and it’s been happeningfor who knows how long. I mean, even if we take down the ball like we did the warehouse, there's still so much more out there, more than we could ever do anything about.”

“Gray, baby,” I murmur, “don’t go there. What we are doing is enough. What we have done is enough.”

“How do you know that?”

Bringing our foreheads together, I tell him something I have thought a lot about since the warehouse take down. “Because look at us. Noah saved Cade, you, me. Rage took this club and turned it into a haven after his dad died. He’s made it safe for the women who come here. Look at Harley, everything she has been through, and how much she has healed. Look at all the people we saved from the warehouse. Those lives, our lives, are all better because of what we have done. Look at those things instead of everything we can’t do.”

“When did you become so wise?” he whispers.

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