Page 97 of Bad Luck, Hard Love
“Fucking do it!” Terrance shouts.
The gunshot is deafening in the enclosed space, but it doesn't come from inside the room. The door explodes inward in a shower of splinters, and figures pour through the opening like avenging angels.
“Incoming!” someone roars. “Get down!”
The room erupts in chaos. Gunfire strobes in the darkness, illuminating frozen tableaus of violence. The guard's head snapsback, a crimson mist painting the wall behind him as he crumples. The second man manages to fire twice before bullets riddle his chest, sending him sprawling across the concrete.
Terrance lunges for me, switchblade glinting in the chaos. “If I can't have her?—”
The massive figure tackles Terrance, and suddenly the room is filled with strangers in leather—not Heaven's Rejects, but something else. Their patches blur in the chaos as they storm through the shattered doorway. The only thing I can make out is a hooded figure in black.
“Clear her restraints!” someone shouts—a tall man with a salt-and-pepper beard.
A woman pushes past him. She rushes to my side, her hands surprisingly gentle as she works at my restraints.
“I'm Hanna. Medic. I'm going to get you out of these, okay?”
I can only nod, lost somewhere between terror and hope. Her fingers are nimble as she picks the locks on my cuffs. I don't know her. I don't know any of them.
“Thor,” I croak, trying to see past the bodies filling the small room.
“Focus on me,” Hanna urges, finally freeing my wrists. Blood rushes painfully back to my hands, pins and needles shooting up my arms. “The boys have him. Can you stand?” Hanna asks as she works on the ankle restraints. The metal clanks against the bed frame as it falls away.
I try to push myself upright, but my muscles betray me, trembling uncontrollably beneath me.
“I've got you,” Hanna says, sliding an arm around my waist. She shrugs out of her leather cut, draping it over my exposed skin. The leather is warm from her body, smelling of tobacco and something floral.
Through the chaos, I catch glimpses of Thor. Someone has cut his zip ties. Blood streams from his wrists as he lunges forTerrance, who's pinned against the wall by two bikers. Even wounded, even barely able to stand, Thor moves like vengeance personified.
“Get her out of here,” a deep voice commands. “Now!”
Hanna nods, pulling me toward the door. “Come on. Let's get you somewhere safe.”
“No,” I resist, digging my heels in despite my weakness. “I need to see?—”
“You don't want to see this,” Hanna says firmly, her grip tightening. “Trust me.”
But I can't look away. Thor has reached Terrance now.
Thor's massive hands wrap around Terrance's throat, lifting him clear off the ground. Terrance's designer shoes kick uselessly at the air as his face turns purple. I should look away. I should let Hanna lead me from this room of horrors. But I can't move, transfixed by the raw fury in Thor's face.
“This is for Charlotte,” Thor growls.
The scarred man—clearly their leader—steps forward. “Thor. Enough.”
Thor doesn't acknowledge him, his focus entirely on Terrance, whose struggles grow weaker by the second. His fingers dig deeper, and I hear the wet crackle of cartilage giving way.
“Thor! Not like this. Not here.”
For a terrible moment, I think Thor won't stop. That he'll crush Terrance's windpipe right here in front of us all. Part of me wants to see it happen. Wants to watch the life drain from the eyes that have haunted my nightmares for years.
But then Thor releases him, letting Terrance crumple to the floor like discarded trash. He gasps and chokes, hands clutching his throat as he struggles for air.
“Get him up,” the leader orders, and two men haul Terrance to his feet. “Take him to the van. Special cargo.”
Thor turns toward me, and I see something in his expression that makes my chest tighten. He's barely holding himself together. Blood drips from his split knuckles, and his breathing is ragged, harsh. He takes a step toward me, then another. The leader puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
“Easy, brother. She's been through hell. Give her space.”
