Page 59 of Viking

Anger burns in my veins, a lit fuse I can’t extinguish. I never thought I’d be here again. The hallowed ground of this island, fed and anointed by the pain and tears of the Sisters. Consecrated by our virgin blood, by our sweat, and by terror. The place they raped me at ten years old.

I’ve walked this path a million times, and I don’t need to look back to know Vikings brothers are following me. Wolf, Lucky, Daydream, Meatball, and Blue stay close while the rest of the clubs peel off in different directions to take out as many men as possible.

Viking falls into step beside me and squeezes my hand. “Lead the way, killer.”

His words don’t fill me with shock or disgust, but with a new sense of longing. A craving to make the Brothers pay for everything they did to us, to hold the Mother accountable for allowing any of this to happen. I will not leave here until every one of the Elders are dead.

I set my jaw and pull the pistol from my leather pants.

“Safety off,” I echo Viking’s teachings. He smiles, but bloodlust snatches the softness from his features. A muscle pops in his jaw and I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

“Love you so fuckin’ much, babe.”

“I love you too, old man.”

We head towards the cages in the center of the village. As we round the corner between the temple and the great room, an armed guard comes into view. Viking throws his hand axe and hits the guard right between the eyes. His body falls in a heap on the sacred stone path and for a moment I just swallow and stare at the man I gave my soul, my heart, and my body to. He moves forward and retrieves his axe from the man’s head with a sickening, wet crunch.

Meatball leans in and whispers, “You doin’ alright, LM?”

I exhale a shaky breath, watching the guard’s blood spill over the white stone. “Y-yes. I’m fine.”

“You sure? ’Cause you look like you’re about to blow chunks.”

Bile roils in my belly, but I tamp down my nausea and steel my jaw. “Just one less for me to kill.”

He chuckles. “Thatta girl. Let’s fuck up these pedos.”

Beyond the great hall, the cages sit nestled into the rock wall. Rusty iron bars separate us from the Sisters. They’re dressed in the ceremonial white gowns of the rites, and they sit huddled together on the soiled floors. There are at least ten Sisters in every cage—triple what we’ve ever had before—some likely no older than five or six. I ball my hands into fists at my sides. The Brothers must have doubled their rites in my absence, but why?

Gunfire rings out from the west side of the island, Niko’s charter. By now, the Brothers will all have gathered in the temple. Those young enough will have taken up arms. They will protect the Elders and their new Prophet. A shrill cry comes from the cages as Viking and Lucky stalk toward them. I race past them and throw myself at the bars, reaching for Andrina, my blood sister.

“Ariella?” She cries in disbelief. Tears streak down her pale cheeks as we grasp one another’s hands through the bars. “What are doing here? Prophet Ulf will kill you if he finds you.”

“Who are these men, Ariella?” Attina chides from further back. I release Andrina and hold out a hand to my eldest blood sister. Her face is gaunt, and she’s rail thin. “And what in the name of the Mother are you wearing? What did you do to your hair?”

“These men are the Seven Knights MC, and they’re here to save you.”

“I will not go with them. They are sinners. They do not walk our path. These men have corrupted you.”

My heart plummets into my stomach, but I inhale slowly through my nose and glare at my sister. “These men are the only reason I’m alive after the brothers married me off to a pedophile.”

“You stabbed him, Ariella. You killed the Prophet.”

“It’s Arie, now. And he deserved to die.”

She claps her hands together and falls to her knees in prayer. “Mother, save us.”

I squeeze Andrina’s hand through the thick iron bars. “Everything will be okay. I promise, we’re going to get you out of here.”

She gives a small nod. I smile, but it quickly disappears when Attina storms forward and pulls my younger sister’s hand from my grasp. “You will not touch her, and we will not go with you. You are tainted. We must pray for you, Sister, pray for your mortal soul.”

Meatball removes a tool from his backpack and starts it up. The sound is so loud I want to cover my ears, but he presses the circular blade against the metal and the heavy lock falls to the dirt with a thunk.

Lucky slides back the bolt and pushes open the door to the cage, but the Sisters do not rush to move through it. In fact, they shrink back further against the rock wall. All except Andrina, who looks at me with tears streaming down her face and takes a tentative step forward.

Attina yanks her out of my reach. “Do not touch her. The outside world has tainted her with its evil.”

I hold out my hand to my sisters, to all the Sisters, but they stare at me and the MC as if we are the great evil the scriptures warned about.

---