Page 8 of Viper's Salvation
I check my watch. "We need to move. Blade and the girls have been waiting, and those police sirens are getting closer."
We navigate quickly back through the fence and across the compound, staying low to avoid any remaining Vultures MC. The fires have spread, consuming most of the buildings now. Good. Fire destroys evidence.
"Set the final charges," Reaper orders as we reach the edge of the compound. "Nothing left but ashes."
We work quickly, placing the remaining explosives in strategic locations. Three minutes later, we're sprinting down the road toward the rendezvous point, the compound a safe distance behind us.
"How far to the bikes?" Wilder asks, pace steady despite the weight of his gear.
"Quarter mile," I respond, scanning ahead. "Should be just around that bend."
Reaper triggers the detonator as we run. Behind us, a series of explosions rocks the compound, far larger than the controlled blasts we set earlier. The shock wave rushes past us, hot air pushing at our backs.
We round the bend, and I spot them. Blade is standing guard with Ace while the Stone sisters huddle together nearby. Our bikes wait, partially hidden among the trees. Relief floods through me at the sight of Amy, battered but upright, alive and free.
"About time," Blade calls as we approach. "Started to think you boys got lost."
"Had to make a stop," Reaper says grimly. "It's done."
Kelly steps forward, eyes wide. "Charles?"
Reaper nods once. "Dead. All of it, finished."
Chapter 5 - Amy
"Dead."
Charles is dead. The bastard who ordered my beatings, who planned to "make an example" of me, who treated women like we were just items on a shelf—gone. I should feel something. Relief. Satisfaction. Anything. But all I feel is numb, like someone took sandpaper to my emotions and wore them down to nothing.
Kelly squeezes my hand so hard it almost hurts. I wonder if she feels this weird emptiness too. Shouldn't endings feel more... final? Instead, I feel like I'm standing at the edge of a cliff in the dark, no idea what's waiting at the bottom.
The bikers are all business now: checking weapons, mounting bikes, exchanging brief words. No high-fives or backslapping. Just men who did what needed doing and now need to disappear before the consequences come knocking.
I catch Viper looking at me. He's filthy. Soot on his face, blood splattered across his leather cut, but somehow still striking. Our eyes lock, and something zips between us. Not romantic, exactly. More like recognition. Like we both know what it's like to stare into the dark and come out different on the other side.
"Police will be here soon," Reaper barks, already on his bike. "Time to move."
Blade guides Kelly to his motorcycle, his hand lingering at her waist a beat too long. She wraps her arms around him without hesitation, leaning into him like they've done this a hundred times before. My eyebrows shoot up despite my swollen face. Well, that's new.
Viper walks over to me, moving slow and deliberate like I'm a spooked animal he doesn't want to startle.
"You'll ride with me," he says, his voice gentler than before. "You okay with that? With your injuries?"
I straighten up, ignoring how my ribs scream in protest. "I'm good."
He studies me with those sharp green eyes, like he can see right through my bullshit. "Tell me if anything hurts too much. We can stop."
It catches me off guard, this hint of consideration from a man who probably has other people's blood under his fingernails. These guys just shot their way through a compound, killed God knows how many Vultures MC, and now they're running from sirens, but he's worried about my comfort? Is he really a bad guy?
"I'm tougher than I look," I say, trying to smile but wincing when my split lip stretches.
"Yeah," he says simply. "I know."
He leads me to his bike. Sleek, black, all power and danger, and hands me a helmet. "Ever been on one before?"
"Nope."
"Hold onto me," he instructs, swinging his leg over. "Lean when I lean. Don't fight the bike."
