Page 58 of All's Fair in Love & Chaos
“And the second?” Malice asks. I turn and look him dead in the eye, giving him the go-ahead he’s going to enjoy.
“We burn it all. Burn their safehouses, burn their deals, their clubhouse, we burn their fucking name off the goddamn map. Full decimation.” The room hums with anticipation and approval, low and savage. I continue, my voice calm and hard as steel. “We’ve bled to hold our territory, they’ve come into our home and tried to take what belongs to us, what we’ve worked hard to build, and now they want to come for mywoman. They’ve spit in our faces, and it’s time they pay the ultimate price. We’re going to make the ground drink their blood for even thinking they could challenge us.
“Ride or die, Prez,” Wrath says, slamming his fist to the bar top. The others follow in unison. I turn toward Saige, her body rigid and fierce, rage rising to the surface as if she is just as energized as the men. She was made for this. Grabbing her hand, I lead her from the room. I need a few moments alone with her. Then we have a war to end.
Chapter Twenty-Three
SAIGE
It’s pretty ironic that I’m the only female here who can actually fight—better than most of the men—yet I’m the bait. I relish the look on men’s faces when they see their demise was brought to them by a woman. The weaker sex, my ass.
The moon hangs low, full and bright in the sky as I walk down Amberwood’s Main Street, just as I have the last four nights. Two drinks at a bar, served to me sans alcohol by a prospect moonlighting as a bartender at The Starlight, then walking down Main Street and back to the small motel I’m staying at.Rinse and repeat. Letting them think I’m comfortable when we know they’re here, waiting in the dark like the lowlife creeps they are.
But tonight feels different. Cold air nips at my skin as I pull my leather jacket tighter around my body, zipping it up to my collarbones. All night, I’ve felt eyes on me, watching my every move, dark, foreboding, and uncomfortable. Thekind of feeling that makes your skin prickle, making you desperate to crawl out of it.
I make it halfway down the first block when I hear someone behind me, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, it’s someone from the Widowmakers. I don’t need to look back to confirm what my body is telling me. It sure as shit isn’t Camden stalking me.
Every muscle in my body is coiled tight, no fear anywhere within me, my heart a steady thrum beneath my ribs, Camden’s voice ringing in my head as I continue to walk forward, my boots clapping against the brick sidewalk.
“You’re strong, you aren’t alone anymore. I’ll have eyes on you the entire time. Let them think you’re the easiest target they’ve ever fucked with. Then unleash, baby.”
Feeling alone is something I’m gravely used to, but vulnerable? Something I’ve never allowed myself to be. I track a flicker of movement across the street to my left, nothing more than a shadow slipping through, but I tense, especially as headlights cut through the darkness, headlights that grow brighter and closer, a motorcycle engine roaring to a stop a few feet away. Boots on the pavement echo, moving in on me from behind, the shadow to my left coming out into the open. The bike is all black, sleek like a panther on the prowl. The rider dismounts, taking an irritated look over my body. It takes all my effort not to roll my eyes.
“Well, well, well, if we don’t have the Willow Killer out here in the middle of the night by herself. I thought you’d know better than to be out here drinking at night all alone.”
I force a smile at the idiot running his mouth in front of me, his hubris much too large for his short, stubby body. I inch myhand toward the small knife tucked into my jacket, keeping my voice steady.
“That’s cute, you think I’m scared of some big bad boogeyman?” The short man in front of me smirks, but his eyes, dark and calculating, narrow as the three men start to circle me. I can feel them watching me, waiting for their moment to strike.
“You think you’re some kind of hero, little girl? Out here trying to play the game with the big boys? Got some big vision that you’re making the world a better place after each and every one of your kills?” I can’t help it, I laugh, dark and maniacal. Which, of course, pisses him off further and forces him to react irrationally—exactly what I want.
He lunges suddenly, grabbing my arm, twisting it behind my back in a painful hold, his breath hot and rancid on my neck. My pulse spikes for a split moment as the other two imbeciles move closer, the weight of them closing in palpable.
“If you want me that badly, you’re gonna have to try harder than that,” I taunt as I jerk against his hold, my grip on my small knife tighter than before. The man just laughs, tightening his grip on my arm. It’s a pathetic position, really, and one I have no doubt I could easily maneuver my way out of, but that isn’t the plan.
“I’m not here for a fight, beautiful, but you know what? Maybe I’ll have some fun between your pretty legs first.” He starts to drag me into the alley, and I brace for the fight I’m going to have to have here. There’s no way I’m about to be gang raped in an alley by three dumb fuckers who have no idea who they’re messing with.
The light of the moon slowly starts to diminish the farther we get from the street, the three big bodies blocking out any lightthat could leak in. Fine by me, darkness it is. The man shoves me against the brick wall hard enough to make me involuntarily gasp for breath, but I don’t lose my wits or control.
I spin around quickly, coming face-to-face with Pestilence’s replacement, a sorry excuse for one, I might add.
“He begged, you know. Pestilence. Your beloved, wicked president. He begged and pleaded while he held his throat in his hands as he bled out and drowned in his own lifeblood. Ironic really. The very liquid that keeps us alive filled his lungs and killed him. It looked painful, but I’m sure you figured as much when you found his cold, dead body.”
The slap comes hard and fast, rattling my head as my neck snaps to the side from the force. “You stupid bitch. Do you know what you’ve done? The war you’ve started?”
“You mean the war he started. He attacked Hell’s Heathens. He killed and raped innocents, and you’re all involved in fuck knows what else. And you? You think you can just step into his shoes and pick up where he left off? Well . . .” I laugh, wiping the blood from my lips. “You’re mistaken. You’re all going to die tonight. Every. Single. One. Of. You.” I punctuate each word, taking a confident, sadistic step in his direction. He’s roughly my height, but he’s got me about double the weight. The other two assholes stand at the exit, their evil, soulless eyes watching, beady and empty as the night.
“You keep wishin’ that, bitch. It’s you who’s gonna end tonight.” I smile at him, brightly and without restraint, as I move quickly, the blade of my knife stabbing into his carotid artery and pulling out before slashing it across his throat. Just like every other time, his eyes widen in shock and horror, but he doesn’t put up afight. Disappointing.
“Like I said, you evil piece of shit, you’re all going to die tonight.” I kick him hard in the chest and watch as he tumbles over, gurgling and silently gasping for precious air that he isn’t going to get.
“Fucking get her!” a man with a shrill voice yells from the entrance to the alley. The two men advance on me while I stand there and flip my knife in my hand. A low growl echoes through the darkness, deep and demanding, a cocky smile playing on my lips.
“Oh, oops! Did you think I was alone?”
“Touch her and it’ll be the biggest mistake you fucking make,” Camden’s voice thunders through the alley as the men freeze. The air seems to hold its breath as my heart skips rapidly in my chest. The man in front of me isn’t Camden, the sweet, tender man who cherishes and loves on me; this is Chaos, the President of Hell’s Heathens Motorcycle Club.
Camden steps into the moonlight, his stance broad, his eyes wild with fury. The rest of the crew should be breaching the Widowmakers’ gates as we speak, while Camden and I take down their new president and their crew. Camden looks at the two idiots, ready for blood, ready for vengeance.
