“You’re m-mine,” I told her once more.
“And you’re mine,” she repeated with pride.
“We’re official n-now, babe, yeah? You and m-me together. This is y-your family. This i-is your club. You b-belong in this MC with m-me. Through hell a-and high water, you’re g-gonna be by my side, m-making shit good. M-my old lady for life.”
“Always. We start our lives now, Styx. Leave the scars of our pasts behind.”
I took her left hand and kissed along her ring finger. “And someday s-soon you’re g-gonna be wearing a r-ring, right h-here, telling the whole fuckin’ w-world you’re mine. And wh-when you do, you’ll n-never fuckin’ take it off.”
“Yes, Styx,” she whispered, tears dropping down her cheeks. “I am yours… only ever yours. Forever.”
“Fuck, babe… love you,” I growled, rubbing her tight little body against mine.
“I love you too.”
Then that fuckin’ nose twitched again.
And I sank back into my woman…
… a pair of wolf eyes bringing me home.
***
Rider
Cain
Two weeks later…
Utah, Undisclosed Location.
My eyes burned as I raced down the country road on my Chopper. Two weeks of hard riding. Two weeks of avoiding Hangmen chapters. Two weeks of thinking about what the hell to do next.
“Run. Please. Run… Save yourself… for me…” Mae had begged me, her fear for my safety shining through her crystal-blue eyes. Then she’d kissed me. She’d finally fuckin’ kissed me and it all but obliterated the few remaining fragments left of my heart.
FUCK!
The heavy iron gate to The Pasture, my childhood home, opened on my arrival, and I took a deep breath. I didn’t fuckin’ know who I was no more, where I belonged. The Order was not what I expected and my head was all over the place.
I cruised down the stone paved lane, pulling to a stop outside Prophet David’s farmhouse. I didn’t know where else to go, didn’t have anywhere else to go.
The door to the house suddenly swung open and Judah, my twin brother, sprinted to where I sat.
“Cain!” he shouted, pure relief on his identical face—same features, hair, beard, and build. Physically we were exactly alike…
I jumped off my Chopper and embraced Judah, his brown eyes tight and filled with a mixture of sadness and rage. Hell, I’d missed him. Five fuckin’ years I’d been gone; no direct contact.
“You live,” he said on a sigh. “We feared you had been killed also.”
“I got away,” I said, offering nothing but the barest of intel.
“Thank the Lord!” Judah said in relief but his head dropped, eyes to the ground. “They killed them all, Cain: Prophet David, the elders. They slaughtered our brothers. Only women and children survived.” My breath paused until Judah shook his head, meeting my eyes once more. “Cain, none of the original twelve remain alive.”
My gaze was impassive.
Judah swung his heavy arm around my shoulders and began leading me into the house, the house where we had been kept apart all our lives from others of The Order. Where we’d been trained since adolescents for a day such as today, no other family but each other, our mission as the heirs was our only purpose in life.
“We have begun to rebuild,” Judah informed. “We have found a new site for the commune to where our people can be moved. We are planning on uniting all the communes, creating one unified community: more guards, more people, and more guns. Then it will be time, brother,” he said meaningfully, squeezing my arm.
I stilled.
Judah moved before me and frowned. He had always been the most militant of us both, the most devout. He had never left The Pasture, believed one hundred percent in the cause.
“Time for what?” I asked vaguely.
Judah smiled in excitement and in response, a wave of dread set in my stomach. “For you to ascend… Prophet Cain.”
My heart stopped.
My eyes widened.
Oh… fuck…
The End
Playlist
To listen to the playlist, please check out my website: www.tilliecole.com
Metallica —Nothing else matters AC/DC — Highway to Hell
Nirvana — About A Girl
Guns and Roses — Knockin on Heavens Door Jonny Cash — God’s Gonna Cut You Down Tom Waits — I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You The Pretty Reckless — Makes Me Wanna Die Nine Inch Nails — Closer
The National — Gospel
Willie Nelson — Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain Pistol Annies — Hope You’re the End of My Story Bob Dylan — It Ain’t Me, Babe AA Bondy — The Mightiest of Guns The Eagles — Desperado
Rolling Stones — Wild Horses Depeche Mode — Personal Jesus Velvet Underground — Pale Blue Eyes Black Sabbath — Heaven and Hell
Acknowledgements
Dad, thank you for finally jumping on board the Tillie Cole express and for devoting a huge amount of your time helping me with this novel. Your notes on Psychology have been amazing and I look forward to the next one!
To my beta reader team—Thessa, Kelly, Rachel, Kia and Lynn. Thank you for reading a very badly edited, first draft version of this novel and for your amazing feedback. I adore the final outcome and it wouldn’t be where it is today without your brilliant input.
Thessa, for being on board from the very beginning, assuring me my book was not crap and for making me laugh through our emails. Oh, and for begging me to write Flame and Maddie’s story! We’ll see…
My husband, for putting up with my various meltdowns and moments of writer-insecurity. You’re always there and I love you to pieces.
Kelly Moorhouse for just being one of the best people I know. Book Blogger, tour organiser and now, beta reader, and of course, friend. You amaze me and I am beyond thankful for all that you do.