Page 26 of Ember
“You ever been on a bike before?” Bolt asked Rebel. She looked the motorcycle over as though it somehow offended her and shook her head. She shoved the two plastic bags, with her stuff inside, into the saddle bags on his bike and took the helmet that he handed to her.
“It’s easy,” he insisted, “I’ll do all the work. All you have to do is hold on tight to me. We’re only about an hour from the club, so it shouldn’t be too bad.”
“I wish that you sounded more confident about that,” she teased. “But, if it means that I’ll get to see Jace, I’ll do it.” He wasn’t about to admit that she wasn’t going to be able to see herbrother any time soon. Jace was deep undercover, and that was where Bold should be, too, but he bailed out when his dad got sick. His boss told him to go home to be with his father, and he had to admit that he was thankful that he did as ordered. His father was terminal and didn’t tell anyone until it was almost too late. Bolt got to spend two days with his dad before he passed, and after he got past his anger, he knew that he had been given a gift.
The problem was, after he buried his dad, he couldn’t just go back undercover and pick up where he had left off. The guys in charge would ask him too many questions, and that would put not only him but also Jace in danger. Still, he hated leaving Jace all alone in that world with no backup.
They were working for human traffickers, and the thought of not putting them all behind bars made him sick. Every day, he watched the eyes of the women who had been brought in to be sold. Most of them looked to be underage, and the thought of any man laying a finger on them pissed him off. He and Jace were able to get some of the girls out of there and back home to their families, but they couldn’t save all of them without blowing their cover.
They got back to Savage Hell just past midnight, and a few of the Royal Harlots were still hanging around, talking about the new clubhouse that was being built for them. They were going over the final alterations, and he hated interrupting, but he needed to find Savage.
Banshee met him at the door, “We’re running a bit late,” she said.
“I’m not here to interrupt, Banshee,” he assured. “I have a meeting with Savage.”
“Oh, he’s back in his office,” she said. “I’m Banshee,” she said, holding out her hand to Rebel.
“Rebel,” she said, shaking Banshee’s hand. “I’m trying to find my brother Jace. Would you by chance know where he is?”
“No, sorry, love,” Banshee said, laying on the Irish accent a bit thick. She looked over at Bolt and sighed. “Guess you all have a lot to discuss. I’ll leave you to it then. Good meeting you, Rebel.”
“What did she mean by that?” Rebel asked. “What would we have to discuss? I don’t even know you.”
“No, but you will soon enough. We need to talk about Jace, and Savage can help fill in some of the blanks.” Bolt knew that she wasn’t going to like the fact that her little brother had kept the truth from her all these years, but that wasn’t something that he could help. He was going to have to break his rule about not getting involved in other people’s family business because Rebel had a right to know where Jace was and what he was doing. He’d start at the beginning, and hopefully, by the end of the story, he’d have all her questions answered—hopefully being the keyword.
Bolt led the way back to Savage’s office and knocked on the door. “Come in,” Savage growled from the other side of the door.
“Maybe we should come back another time,” Rebel insisted.
“His bark is worse than his bite, I promise,” Bolt assured.
“I’m not interested in experiencing his bark or his bite. Maybe this was a bad idea,” she mumbled. He thought it was too, but there would be no turning back now. When Jace called him and said that he needed a favor and that he didn’t have much time to explain, Bolt promised to help him with anything. He just never imagined that anything would be an anyone—namely, Jace’s hot, older sister.
They walked into the dimly lit office to find the big guy sitting behind a desk. “What is it with bikers having tattoos and beards?” Rebel whispered.
“It’s a look,” the big guy said. “I’m Savage.” He held his hand out to her, and she hesitantly shook it.
“Rebel,” she said. “I’m looking for my little brother, Jace.” Savage looked at Bolt, and he shrugged.
“How much does she know?” Savage asked.
“Nothing,” Bolt said. “Seems Jace kept her in the dark.
“Jace kept me in the dark about what?” Rebel asked.
“You might want to sit down for this next part,” Savage said.
“I’ll stand, thanks,” Rebel spat.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, she’s pretty damn stubborn,” Bolt said.
“Just like Jace,” Savage said.
“I’m standing right here,” she shouted. “Stop talking about me as though I’m not here. And I’m not stubborn. Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“Bossy too,” Savage joked. She sank into the sofa and sighed. She was really a handful, and although she was off limits to him, Bolt liked his women feisty.
“I’m sitting,” she said, “can one of you please tell me what’s going on?”
