Page 75 of Freeing Souls

“A torture room?” I question.

“Perfect for me, right?” He grins manically.

“Why did you have it at the Dirty Sinner anyway? Wouldn’t it have been better to have it here?” I wonder out loud.

“Because of us,” Ryker comments as he throws an arm around my shoulder.

Noah nods in agreement. “I didn’t want the enforcer side of me anywhere near these punks before they were old enough to be around it.”

“So instead, we just found our own trouble.” Ryker smiles.

Noah shakes his head as he drags a metal chair in the center of the room. “Who’s first?” he shouts and claps his hands together.

“Killer,” Colton demands as he walks into the room with the other ranking officers.

Noah and my guys, the prospects, brought them in here, and now it’ll be us along with Axe, Stone, Nerds, and Colton.

“Give me a hand, prospect,” Noah says to Cayden, who helps him drag Killer back out of his cell and plops onto the chair. They get him tied to it before Stone pulls something out from the cupboard below the counter and waves it under Killer’s nose.

I must look confused, because Ryker explains, “Smelling salts. They’ll wake him right up.”

Suddenly, Killer starts coughing, trying to get out of the chair.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Noah grins.

His nostrils flare as he takes in everyone standing in front of us before his eyes land on me. A slow smile stretches over his lips. “Did I break you, little girl? Couldn’t handle watching your poor daddy die?”

Ryker tenses, but I lay a hand on his chest before I step forward. Mimicking his smile, I punch him in the cheek as hard as I can. When he grunts and glares at me, I lean in close and sneer, “You can’t break me,grandfather.”

Stepping back, Ryker is quick to wrap his arms around my waist as I tilt my head at Killer. “Why is Zero so important to you? Who is she?”

Killer’s eyes widen as he tries to glance back behind him into the cells. He must be able to see enough, because his shoulders drop for just a split second before he tenses again and tries to look unaffected. “She means nothing to me.”

I glance at Colton, who steps forward. “You used to be a much better liar. What happen? Old age gettin’ to you?”

Apparently done with the topic, he just presses his lips together and falls silent.

“Fine. Don’t tell us shit. We already know what we need to know. You are a low life piece of scum, and it will be my honor to send you to hell.” Colton clenches his fists at his sides, his chest heaving with each word.

“I don’t know if you remember, with your old man brain and all,” Axe begins, “but you did gift me my name, so I might as well use that gift to show you how much I appreciate you.”

My eyes widen slightly as Axe comes from the back of the room with a fuckingaxin his hand. “They aren’t going to hold back. I know you are strong and can hold your own, but are you ready to see these guys with their demons splayed wide?” Ryker whispers in my ear.

I nod immediately as Grayson steps up next to us and takes my hand. “I’m going to head back to the club. I’ll be back when it’s time, but I don’t particularly care to see this side of them.” He tells me hesitantly. His eyes are pleading with me to understand.

Pulling out of Ryker’s arms, I step forward and wrap mine around Grayson’s shoulders while I go up on my tip toes and lock eyes with him. “There is nothing wrong with that. I need to see this after what I had to see when I was gone, but I understand not wanting to see them like this. I love you.”

“I love you too, beautiful.” He kisses me gently before pushing me back towards Ryker and leaving the room.

Cayden takes his spot, standing next to us and intertwining our fingers as we watch everything go down.

Axe raises a brow at me, and when I stare straight back at him, he smiles and moves forward, raising his ax.

Killer, the bastard he is, doesn't beg or cry. He clenches his eyes shut as Axe swings it down right onto his wrist. When hishand falls to the ground with a soft thud, we all watch it bleed until someone sighs dramatically from behind us.

Glancing back, I spot Doc coming in with a long metal rod like one used on me that he immediately presses to the stump left on Killer, causing Killer to scream even louder. “If you’re going to torture, call me so I can at least keep them alive long enough for you idiots.”

“You got out of all of this a long fucking time ago,” Colton remarks.

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