The truck took off, roaring into the night. She was gone . I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or horrified, but I'd done my job. Christa escaped.
I closed my eyes and let them lay into me. I didn't bother wasting energy fighting as they held my arms and legs, carrying me inside like a sick animal. I closed my eyes just as the gate growled shut in the distance. Before I opened them, the stink of the clubhouse interior hit me again.
“You're dead now, bitch. Dead! Do you fucking understand?” A man roared in my face and pushed his cruel fingers around my chin.
It hurt. But I didn't look at him until they hurled me back inside the room. I crashed right into the chair where Christa had been, rolling over my tender new bruises until the wall stopped me.
The door slammed shut like a tomb. I felt for my wallet and the lockpick I'd shoved into my pocket on the way out with Christa. It was gone in the mess. The assholes holding me were as sloppy as they were savage. Even they wouldn't fuck up twice.
It didn't bother me that it was gone. If I still had it, they'd never leave that door unattended again. Not before somebody on one side or the other was dead.
The killer who screamed in my face was probably right. The relief I expected from helping Christa refused to relax my chest, replaced with another sadness.
I didn't care about dying if that was the price of helping her go free. But when I thought about how Jackie or Brass would react to my dead body if they saw it, the pain drove deep, a new dagger I had no way to pull out.
God! God damn it.
If only I hadn't frozen, if I'd been a few seconds faster...
The crappy room finally felt like a prison for the first time. The realization bit harsh, bitter, and merciless, gnawing on my head and my heart.
There was no getting out of this. No peace until death. If they killed me quicker and easier than Christa – and I knew they wouldn't – Brass would burn. So would my poor sister.
Yes, I'd saved the teacher. But now I'd damned myself and everybody stupid enough to ever love me.
X: Nuclear (Brass)
Hours Earlier
“Hold him down, dammit! Just don't break his fucking wrists.”
The whole world went red the instant Shelly told me what happened over the phone. I flipped my shit at the Devils' clubhouse, hopped in my truck, and tried to plow right through their gate. The bastards caught up to me when I wouldn't tell them why I was ready to go, why I had to blow town right that fucking instant.
Missy. My Missy.
My woman, losing her fucking mind and heading to Redding alone. Scared. Determined. And definitely no match for Fang, the fuck I swore I'd kill with my own bare hands.
He was gonna die, that much was sure, long before we even headed up to Devils' territory. But now the only question was whether I'd get my hands on his fat neck before he seriously fucked up my old lady.
It took all three senior officers in their club to drag me back inside. I was about to ram my truck right through their fucking gate, but they were quick. Shot out my tires and ran to my door, ripping it open, pulling me out, throwing me to the ground.
I fought them all, kicking and screaming like a mad man. Even colossal Tank strained to hold me down, pushing me to the ground with all his might, snarling like a wolverine as he kneed me in the spine and grabbed at my hands.
Fuck. The asshole finally managed to get a strong hold on me and I couldn't move. Stinger and one-eyed Moose stepped away cautiously, leaving me face-to-face with Blaze. The Devils' Prez grabbed me by the forehead and turned my head up, forcing me to look at him.
“Saffron just spilled the fucking beans,” he growled. “My old lady got her goddamned truck jacked by yours, but you don't see me going nuclear. Damn it, boy, settle the fuck down.”
My muscles were shaking. I forced myself to relax – the only damned way I was getting out of this. Blaze looked me up and down, then nodded to Tank, who gave a reluctant grunt and released me.
I stood up, brushing the dirt off my cut. All four Devils looked like they wanted to cut my ass to pieces every time they saw my colors on their home turf. Too fucking bad, because this wasn't coming off except when I stripped down and showered, or fucked my girl senseless.
And now, because I hadn't stayed with her, I might never get to fuck her again. Fuck!
I spun and clocked Tank right in the jaw. The giant's head snapped back, and I pushed through them before any of the others could grab me, heading for my truck's open door.
“Jesus Christ!” Blaze roared. “After his stupid ass!”
I had one foot in the driver's seat before Tank caught up to me. I knew I was screwed before the giant's fist found the back of my skull.
One deafening blow and the blackness swallowed me, turning everything jagged and red to smooth, dark shadows.
“Brass.” Someone snapped his fingers next to my ear. “Wake your ass up!”