The Club’s Consequence (Sons of Lost Souls MC #17)

Before

It doesn’t matter how long I stare at the bodies, they’re not coming back. Their chests aren’t moving with breath. Their bodies aren’t twitching. Only their blood pooling around them.

Slade.

Dex.

Shane.

The prospect.

All dead.

My hand trembles as I inhale on my cigarette until it burns down to the butt.

“What the fuck are we waiting for?” Zach bellows. “We should be hitting the road, chasing them down!”

“They’ll be long gone!” Myles argues.

“They killed my dad!”

“Doesn’t change the fact that they’re long gone, brother.”

Mason steps forward. “You need to go tell your mom.”

Dex, someone will have to ride out and tell Libby.

Shane, he has parents that I will need to call.

Sparky falls onto his ass, not taking his eyes away from Slade.

Dad lights cigarette after cigarette, staring down at our brothers, not taking his eyes off of them.

“Babe, what’s going on?” I hear Holly but before I can get her away from here, she cries, “Oh my god!”

Everything is slipping through my fingers, but I move into action and collect her in my arms, shielding her from the blood and death. “You shouldn’t have come out here.”

“I heard them ride away, I came to check on you.”

I push her back, needing to see she is okay and then pull her back against me. “You should go home.” I stop when Harper comes around the corner and learns who’s on the ground.

“Not Uncle Slade,” she murmurs.

She shakes her head, and doesn’t stop, not even when JJ goes over to her. She pushes him away and runs over to Slade. She drops to his side and gingerly runs her hand over the bullet holes.

“No, no, no,” she sobs.

JJ drops to her side and this time, she lets him hold her for a brief moment. She looks across to Zach and then goes over to him. She holds onto him and as her tears stream down her face, he holds onto her back.

“What about Shane’s son?” Holly asks me.

“I think one of the club girls is with him.”

She pulls away from me. “I’m going to get him. Without Shane paying or fucking her, she won’t be interested in hanging around.”

It’s the last concern I have but I say, “Okay, take him home and please stay there.”

“I will.”

I wait till she has turned the corner before I turn back to the death surrounding the club. There's been too much of it lately and I don’t know how much more it will take before the club can’t bounce back.

An hour passes and then another, brothers not wanting to leave. My phone rings and I don’t recognise the number.

I hit answer and turn my back on everyone.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” I hear from Hopper.

Rolling my lips together, my blood boils. All I want to do is shove my gun down his throat and unload the clip.

“Are you there or are you too emotional to speak?” he goes on, adding, “Doesn’t matter, you only need to listen.

I offered you an out and you refused. Not only did ya refuse, you thought you could fill your daddy’s boots and come wipe me out in one night.

It would’ve been impressive, only to get your hands on my house, you need to get yours in order. ”

I fist my hand, hating what has gone down and what is yet to come.

“Tell me who it was, and it will give you more time to live, because I will kill you and I'm not even gonna threaten to do it slow, I'm just gonna riddle you with as many bullets as I can lay my hands on. It'll be quick and it’ll mean nothing.”

His laughter fills the line, and my grip tightens around the phone.

“Big words, Leo. Big words,” he boasts. “But they mean shit when you can’t even run your own club. This is a man’s world, boy.”

“We’ll see. This is far from over.”

“Oh I agree, we’re only getting started, baby.”

The call ends and I struggle to breathe. Closing my eyes, I get a hold of myself and focus on what needs to be done.

“Mase, Myles.”

They jog over, and I go to open my mouth when Myles says, “Yeah, we know, get rid of the bodies.”

Mason frowns. “I don’t know if Zach’s gonna let us.”

“Let me deal with him.”

Walking over, I kneel and place my hand on his shoulder. He drags his eyes away from his father’s body and pins them on me.

“You need to tell your mom.”

“Do you believe he’s with India?”

He's got to believe it, so I nod. “As much as he’ll hate being away from you, and your mom, he’s with your sister and he’s been waiting to see her for a long time.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” he murmurs. “Mom ain’t gonna see it like that, it won’t bring her any comfort.”

I couldn’t give a shit about Kristen but still, he’s my brother and he feels differently about her.

“She’ll have you,” I urge. “I’ll drive you myself. Come on.”

I stand and help him up to his feet. I don’t give him a second to change his mind. Turning to my dad, I say, “I’m gonna take Zach to Kris’s, can you hold down the place until I get back?”

He lazily pulls his eyes my way. “There’s fuck all left to hold down.”

He looks back to the bodies and I sigh, as Zach tells me, “I’ll drive myself. You need to tell Rayna and be around for Harper.”

“Brother...”

“I’ll be fine. I'll take Shane’s truck in case anyone’s still around.”

“Call me if you need anything, I mean it, anything.”

He nods and I watch as he walks over to the truck. He sits behind the wheel for a couple of minutes and then brings the engine to life.

Once he’s gone, I nod to JJ and then down at Harper.

“Take her home,” I mouth to him.

“I’ve tried,” he mouths back.

Taking a deep breath, I ignore the pain returning in my chest.

“Harper,” I say and get her attention. “We’ve got to move him, you should go home. JJ will go with you.”

“You can’t move him yet...”

“He’s already been out here too long.”

She looks up at Dad, and a tear rolls down her cheek. “Tell him, tell him to leave him for a little while longer.”

“I don’t like it either, but he wouldn’t want to be laid out here like this.” He holds out his hand, and she begrudgingly takes it.

“Mason and Myles will look after him,” he assures her.

My sister points her glare at me and tells me, “Find out who did this, Leo.”

Someone caused this and I'm not going to stop until we find out who it is.

“Sparks, come on, let’s go.”

I look to Dad. “Where the fuck are you going?”

“Someone has to tell Libby, and it won’t be you.”

Sparky slowly heaves himself up from the ground, and with one last sorrowful glance at our fallen brothers, he joins Dad and I remain watching them leave.

I stand, rooted in place, overseeing the twins respectfully remove the bodies of our brothers.