Page 31 of Scythe's Salvation
She’s been busy with Chance’s practices, as well as clients, and I find I’m missing seeing her more than I thought would be possible. Tomorrow, though, is Chance’s first game, and I’ll be there, by her side to cheer him and the other little boys on his team to victory. Or not, depending on how well they play against the opposing team. Still, ice cream has already been promised, as well as pizza. And then? He’s going to spend the night with Callum, which will give Tamara and I a chance to be alone.
Desire courses through me and I groan as I remember the kisses between us while watching the movies last week. I want her witheverything in me, but she needs to understand that once I slide into her body, she’s going to be mine. Forever.
I shake my head as I put on a fresh pot of coffee in the breakroom. All of us are running on caffeine, and for the few who smoke, nicotine, at this point. Even Chloe has gotten in some of her apprentice hours, working on some of the brothers who don’t mind that she’s just now starting out in regard to tatting. I know it’s because she’s got ‘the touch’; everything she’s tattooed so far has been fantastic, and Cuda and I have been encouraging her to draw whenever she’s at the front reception desk so we can turn them into flash tattoos and put them on the walls for display since we’re always looking to expand what we offer. We’ll pay her for any that are chosen by a client. Those smaller tats are sometimes a pain in the ass to do, but the younger crowd, who don’t always know what they want, like being able to select something from a book so they can get tattooed by ‘real life bikers’.
“Did you hear we’ve got church?” Cuda asks as he walks into the breakroom.
“No, I haven't heard anything,” I admit.
He leans in and murmurs, “Something happened while Saber and Roxy were on their little getaway. She called while I was with Wrecker, Butcher, and Dragon and it was determined we’ll have church when they get back to discuss it because it involves all of us somehow.”
“Well, damn. Wonder what it is?”
I mean, I know we’re still ferreting out information on Tamara’s ex so she’s prepared for court, and that those fundamentalist fuckers have seemingly gone underground, but outside of that,there’s nothing looming on the horizon. Tamara’s court date is set for next week, and luckily, she has been assigned Judge Connors, who recently presided over Saber and Roxy’s adoption.
“They want us all there at six sharp, so we need to let the others know they’ll be on their own,” he replies. I suspect he knows more than he’s letting on seeing as he heard the conversation, but I’ll patiently wait to find out what’s going on at church.
Nodding, I make a point of stopping in each of the other artists’ rooms and letting them know that Cuda and I will be out by five. It doesn’t take us long to get to the clubhouse, but I have a suspicion I’m going to need a beer or two beforehand.
“Shut the fuck up, we’ve got shit to discuss,” Brick bellows, slamming the gavel down. He looks over at Dragon and nods. “Dragon’s got some stuff to share that’ll impact everyone, but we need your help to figure out some of it.”
The room is crowded as fuck since the members of both chapters, except for Saber, are present and accounted for, and I know how serious it must be because the prospects delivered several trays of beers and passed them around.
“Roxy called the other day when Saber was out with Canyon. They were kayaking,” Dragon begins. “She got Wrecker on the line, but he was with me, Butcher, and Cuda, so he put it on speaker phone. Apparently, Egypt went into a trance and said some things, which Roxy thankfully had the presence of mind to jot down.”
“What was it that Egypt said?” Brick questions.
Wrecker clears his throat at a nod from Dragon and says, “The man wanting the star is going to bring war to the knights. They must be brave and stand tall or they will fall. Be careful, not everything is as it appears. The tricksters with black in their hearts have sent out a soldier to infiltrate the men with swords. Keep the boy safe and hold the woman close, danger is on their doorstep and the town will crumble and surrender if they are not kept safe.”
What the fuck? I’m clueless except for the part about the knights. I listen intently as I watch my president mull over what Wrecker just said.
“Okay, I get that ‘the knights’ is a reference to us,” Brick slowly murmurs. “Why don’t we try breaking it down line by line and see if we can puzzle this out.”
“I think ‘not everything is as it appears’ is a key phrase,” Hawg adds. “Beast, Selah, and I keep coming back to the fact that Jones’ wife got a massage from Tamara. The question is why? Their financials indicate normal woman things like nails, hair, that sort of shit. She’s never had a massage in her life that we’ve been able to find. So why now? And not to disparage Tamara, but why her specifically? There are at least a dozen massage therapy studios in town that’ve been around longer than Tamara’s been open. If Portia was going by a friend’s recommendation that’d be one thing, but I don’t see anything to indicate that any of them even know Tamara to suggest her services.”
“So, you think it wasTimthat put it in Portia’s head to make the appointment?” I question. “To spy and try and gather whatever information she could from my unsuspecting woman?”
I’m positively livid right now, my whole body vibrating in anger. That bastard fucked Tamara over so many ways and now he’s seemingly doing it again. Well, not on my fucking watch!
Hawg nods then continues, “Selah found a text message between Portia and Tim where he told her she was looking stressed out and that maybe a massage would help. Then, he gave her Tamara’s office number. So, it’s highly likely that he’s got ulterior motives. The problem is, when we went to Tamara’s suite, we found multiple listening devices in her therapy room. So, Tim might’ve given Portia the push, but she’s not as innocent as it looks.”
“What about the next line?” Banshee questions. “Who the fuck are the tricksters?”
Wrecker takes a deep breath and after glancing around the table, says, “The fundamentalists. Before y’all say anything otherwise, hear me out. We know they went underground after we managed to bust many of their locations up and free those women. But what they’d been doing has been happening for a very long time. Not only that, but we rescued both Selah and Moira from their clutches, and y’all know that me, Selah, and Mammoth grew up in that cult. They’ve adapted to the changing times quite well and have people in pretty much every facet of society. They hide in plain sight and then after they kidnap women for their breeding program, they move on.”
A bang on the door has every single one of us grabbing our guns while Banshee goes to the door and opens it. When we see it’s Selah, who looks even bigger than she did the day before, I watch Dragon and Brick both open their mouths to say something to her. She’s heavily pregnant but thankfully, she’s not due yet since both Roxy and Saber are still out of town and Roxy’s her doctor. She waddles into the room, holding up her handsand says, “I know y’all are in church, but I promise you, this is important. Something about seeing that woman in Tamara’s business that day has been niggling at me, because I recognized her but couldn’t place from where. Wrecker, we grew up with her. She’s one of Prophet Abraham’s daughters!”
“What the fuck?” Wrecker seethes out through clenched teeth. “Are you positive, Selah?”
She nods while moving to where Hawg’s sitting and motions to his laptop. “Can I?” she asks. Hawg stands and motions for her to sit down. “Okay, where’s the button to lower the screen?” she questions, looking at Brick.
“I’ve got it, Selah, keep going,” Hawg states, walking over and pushing a button that’s on the wall. As the projector screen comes down from its ceiling enclosure I watch as Selah mutters under her breath.
“I know you remember how browbeaten she was, Wrecker,” she says, as her fingers fly over the keyboard. “Always with ‘yes, sir,’ and ‘no, sir,’ around her father. He was such an asshole.” Her tone of voice turns dark, almost violent. “Ah, here it is,” she crows, and I watch as two different pictures flash on the screen. “On the left is one of the pictures while she’s doing something at the commune.” Then with a flourish, as though she’s a gameshow hostess, she adds, “And on the right, she’s in the waiting area of Tamara’s suite. Same woman, just a few years older is all.”
Murmurs of ‘damn’ and ‘fuck’ reverberate around the room. Meanwhile, foreboding rolls through me at what this could mean for Tamara, Chance, and the club as a whole. While I have no abilities like the Cedar Creek brothers and some of thewomen have, I’ve learned to trust my gut over the years and somehow, my woman and boy are at the center of all of this.
“Okay, let’s get you back out of here, sister of mine,” Wrecker states as he waves Butcher off as he helps Selah up and walks her to the door. Even though he’s quiet as he speaks to her, his voice is still deep enough that I’m able to hear him when he says, “Good job, See. Thanks for barging in, even though you were nearly shot. I think we’ve got it from here.”
