“I’m talking about that bitch you had in your grasp and let slip through your fingers. You want to know the truth, then you find her. Bane had nothing to do with that shit, and you fucking know it.”
“His father owes me a debt.”
“No, a dead man owes you a debt,” the man countered, leaning back in his chair, glaring sternly at the man before him.
Morpheus’s jaw ticked, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the arm of his chair. “His father’s debt is old blood. You know what that means here.”
The man’s lips curled into a tired, bitter smile. “Yeah, I do. But maybe it’s time you started collecting from the right ghosts, Morpheus.”
The air in the room grew dense, thick with old grievances and secrets none of them were willing to voice just yet, and I shifted in my seat. The silence stretched, broken only by the distant hum of the club brothers beyond the door, a reminder that the world kept spinning even as they clung to grudges best left buried.
Finally, Morpheus broke the silence, voice cold as steel. “Find her. Bring her to me. Maybe then we can talk about forgiving debts.”
The man didn’t move. His eyes never left Morpheus as he revealed. “I don’t have to look for her. She’s in the mailroom at the Soulless Sinners’ clubhouse.”
Morpheus’s gaze flicked toward me, unreadable. “Fuck!”
The man nodded once before glancing at me with something like regret etched across his features. “And the man you’ve beaten the hell out of is the only man who can get her to talk.”
“August?” I vaguely heard his voice as I slowly gained consciousness. The second Morpheus learned I was the key to getting the information he needed, he reluctantly let me go, much to the annoyance of Zephyr, who was eager for another round of torture.
Sadistic bastard.
“August, I need you to wake up.”
Groaning, I could barely move as I slowly woke to find myself in a hospital room. The machine’s annoying beeps let me know I was still alive, even if every bone in my body wished otherwise.
“The doctors said you will survive, but it’s going to take time. That motherfucker did a number on you.”
“Where am I?”
“Brian Medical Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.”
“Amber?”
“She’s safe, brother. Reaper has her and Massacre locked down in Purgatory. Dante is with Sypher here in Lincoln. They are at the Lincoln clubhouse getting everything up and running again.”
Slowly shaking my head, I grunted, “Not safe.”
“Don’t worry about them. Ghost is with them, and my brother is keeping a close eye on them. Trust me. They are safe.”
Opening my eyes, I looked at the club brother I declared dead last year and asked, “Tell me you found her, Shame?”
His smile told me everything I needed to know.
He found her.
Gripping his hand tightly, I demanded, “Tell me.”
“She’s alive, brother,” Shame admitted, pulling up a chair. “She’s being held at the Lyssa Asylum for the Criminally Insane in upstate New York. She’s been close to us all this time, brother. Right under our noses. That fucking bitch had Diana declared mentally insane and dumped in our own backyard.”
Trying to sit up, I growled, “Get her the fuck out of there.”
Pushing me back down on the bed, Shame nodded. “We will, brother, as soon as you can walk out of here. Right now, you are of no use to her. She’s going to need your strength, August.”
Gripping his hand tighter, I slowly shook my head. “No, Shame. You need to get her out now. Morpheus has a traitor in his club.”
“He knows.” Shame grinned. “It was what got you out of there. Gotta say, brother, I don’t envy Zephyr right now. With the way Morpheus was looking at him, my bet is Zephyr has a lot of pain in his future.”