Chapter Thirty-Five
Banshee
I woke up in the back seat of the club’s SUV. The pounding in my head continued on as we bounced down the road toward the clubhouse.
“How are you feeling, brother?” Patch asked, turning around in the passenger seat while Johnny drove.
“Like I got shot and someone beat the shit out of me.”
“Good. That’s how you should feel.”
I carefully sat up in the seat and looked behind me.
“Where’s Kyllian?”
“Who?” Patch asked.
“The girl who was in there with me?”
“Oh, Firestride’s old lady. He took her home.”
Fuck!
“How far until we’re home?”
“Not long,” Patch answered. He turned back around in his seat and muttered, “Oh shit.”
I leaned forward to look through the windshield. I had to close my eyes against the flashing lights on the police cars and ambulances that were in the lot. The SUV had been at the back of the pack. I watched as brothers threw down their bikes and ran inside.
“What the fuck happened?”
Johnny pulled in and shut off the vehicle without parking in a spot. He shoved his door open and ran to the clubhouse.
“Skinner set a trap. He knew King and Morpheus wouldn’t only send two people, and he attacked while we were gone.”
“Aspen,” I whispered, as I shoved my own door open. Patch met me outside the vehicle and caught me as I swayed.
“Easy, brother.”
He put my arm over his shoulder and helped me inside. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the bright lights. Bodies lay throughout the main room.
Many of them were wearing Death Dog cuts, but we hadn’t gone unscathed. My eyes searched through the chaos.
Gunner was in the corner holding Haizley. She had a bandage on her arm. Bane was at a table stitching up Ace’s shoulder, while Ben, Shotgun and Romeo sat waiting their turn. They each had their own wounds.
Cash sat at the bar with Kytten, who cried on his shoulder. They both looked uninjured. King stood with them, his arms around Grace.
“Where are the old ladies?”
“Beck and Sam were up at Jack’s place with the babies.
Jack, Blade, and Derek were with them. A couple of Death Dogs broke off and made their way back there, but they took them out pretty quick.
Ryder and Ellie and the girls were at home in town, thank God.
Haizley and Indie were here. And thank fucking God Indie was,” Archie said.
“She was fucking scary.” He held a rag against his head.
“What happened to you?”
“Bullet grazed my head.” Patch lifted the rag to check his wound. “I’m fine.”
“You need stitches,” Patch argued.
“Others are worse. Bane needs help.” Archie cocked his head in Bane’s direction.
“Where’s Aspen?” I asked with a tremor in my voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the covered bodies on the floor, but I refused to look at them. Those were our people. They were covered out of respect.
“Banshee!”
I looked up just before she crashed into me. As I let out a grunt and a groan, she pulled back.
“Oh my God, what did they do to you?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed, baby girl.” Holding her in my arms, I checked her over, thankful she seemed okay, before finally looking at the bodies. “Who?” I asked; it was the only word I could muster.
Aspen followed my eyes. “Hash, Jade, and Crystal.”
“Fuck!” I hissed. I looked around and found Dec talking to Nav. Maureen would be devastated. She and Hash had gotten close.
“Also, Erebus and Kharon.”
I turned back to Aspen and noticed the tears in her eyes.
“Baby girl, I’m so sorry.”
“I didn’t know Kharon; he was a prospect. But Erebus...” She buried her face in my chest. I knew they were close by the way he looked at her. I suspected he was the one who’d taken her virginity, and while I was sad Zeus had lost a man, the asshole in me was glad she’d never be near him again.
“Baby girl, I need to ask you something.”
She looked up at me, worry on her face. I kissed her forehead and asked, “When you lived with Pepper, did you know a girl named Kyllian?”
“She was married to Pinch, I think. I didn’t know her, but I saw her with him a few times in town. Pepper didn’t bring me to the clubhouse. Why?”
“I’ll tell you in a bit. I need to speak to King first.” I limped over to where King stood holding Grace, the pair talking to Cash.
“I need to talk to you both,” I said.
“There’s a lot of shit to go over. But it can wait until tomorrow,” King said. “I need to head up to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“Tank and Keys are both in surgery. Bane doesn’t think Tank is too serious, but he has a rare blood type. Patch has a stash of his blood we need to get up there.”
“Isn’t that what blood banks are for?”
“Blood banks don’t have this kind of blood. There’s only something like fifty people on the whole fucking planet who have this blood type. It’s why Patch has been stockpiling it,” King explained. “You should probably come with us and get your head checked out.
“I’m fine.”
“You passed out from the sound of the gunshot. You’re not fucking fine,” King argued.
“It was from the pain. My head is fine.”
“At least get Bane to clean your wounds. Patch can get you an antibiotic, make sure infection doesn’t set in.”
“I can clean him up,” Kytten offered. “Let my father help the others.”
“Thank you, Kytten.” King glared at me. “Get some rest; we’ll talk tomorrow.”
“What’s Tank’s blood type?” I asked before King moved away.
Mine was B negative, which I knew was pretty rare.
But as far as I knew, O negative was a universal donor and everyone could accept it.
Between the Silver Shadows and the Gods of Mayhem, one of us, or maybe a few of us, had to have that blood type.
“RH something.”
“RH null,” Kytten said. “Sinclair is actually one of those fifty people.”
“How do you know that, Rose?” Cash asked.
Kytten looked up at us. We all stood staring at her, waiting for the answer.
“Val mentioned it. She hated Sinclair and said all someone had to do was stab him and let him bleed out because the chances of him getting blood were nil due to how rare his blood type was.”
“Goddammit,” King cursed. “Cash, call that fucker and get him here just in case.”
“And Keys?” I asked.
“Not sure. He hit the alarm just before they shot him. Him and Tank were already gone when we got here.”
Kytten cleaned my wounds, and while King wanted me to rest, Aspen and I went to the hospital with everyone else once Bane had them stitched up. We filled the waiting room, all anticipating news of our brothers.
And we prayed.
Because we couldn’t lose anyone else.
Hours passed as we waited for news about our brothers. Aspen sat beside me, her mother on her other side. Tank and Keys had both come to us after we started the chapter in Diamond Creek. Rhea didn’t know either of them, but it was nice to see her here, giving her daughter support.
Diana had stayed back at the clubhouse to help the Gods of Mayhem clean up the main room.
King wanted her to lie low. As far as we knew, none of the Death Dogs had made it out alive.
Which meant Diana’s return was still unknown in the biker world.
Bane had come to the hospital with us, hoping to throw his weight around and get us answers sooner.
So far, it hadn’t worked.
We didn’t know anything more than we had when we walked in and filled the room with bikers. We’d been sitting here for a few hours when a man I recognized walked in wearing an expensive suit. King stood from his chair, and Cash went with him, Kytten following behind.
“Don’t think for a minute that you’re here for any reason other than saving the life of my brother. And saving his life doesn’t absolve you from the shit you pulled when you walked into my fucking house.”
Sinclair stood tall, his eyes on King.
“Sinclair,” Bane called from down the hall. “This way.” Sinclair nodded at King and turned to follow Bane.
“That was weird,” Ace said.
“What was?”
“When Sinclair showed up at the clubhouse to take Pippen, he was arrogant and talking in riddles. He showed no fear when King pointed his gun at his head. He didn’t strike me as the kind of man who would back down to anyone.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to cause a scene in the hospital.” I remembered that day, and I had to admit, the man seemed off. Then again, this was only my second interaction with him. Maybe he was just compassionate to what we were going through.
“Family of William Simpson?”
We all stood and waited as King spoke with the doctor. His head dropped, and I expected the worst. Keys was a good kid, and he would make a good brother. He had skills unlike any we had seen.
Keys told us he had no family. Nav had done a thorough check when he applied to prospect, and found his mother was dead. No father listed on his birth certificate and no siblings.
We were his family.
“Thank you,” King said to the doctor, who nodded and left.
“Well?” Colt asked.
“Keys is in a coma. Medically induced. He was shot five times. They had to remove a kidney, and a piece of his liver,” King explained.
Holy shit.
“Will he survive?” Jack asked.
“Doc says he thinks so. They have him under to give his body time to recoup. Doc said it’d be at least a week,” King stated.
“We’ll set up a rotation. Have someone outside his room and inside until he wakes up,” Gunner offered.
Keys was young, and he was strong. I had to believe he would be okay. Tank was the one to worry about. I’d looked up information about his blood type, and it was no joke. If not for Sinclair, we probably would have lost him.
There was a chance we still would.
We all sat back down, waiting for news about Tank. Aspen and Rhea went to the cafeteria with Johnny and Archie. Normally prospects would stay at the clubhouse and wait for information, but the three of them were close. Joey and Jonah had both stayed back to help Zeus and his men with the bodies.
Bane walked down the hall, and he looked tired and worn out. We all jumped up from our seats as he entered the waiting room. Patch walked in a moment later.
“How is he?” King asked.
“He’ll be okay. The bullet wound was minor. The problem was, it hit a small artery. They got it sewn up quickly, but by that time, he’d lost a lot of blood.”
Bane looked at Patch and nodded.
“What?” King asked.
“Sinclair saved his life. If he hadn’t gotten here when he did, we would have lost him.”
“Son of a bitch. What the hell was Tank thinking joining a fucking club? He should know better than to put his fucking life on the line.”
“He took the bullet for Brandy,” Grace whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“The girls were trying to get behind the bar with me and Aspen, but Jade and Crystal didn’t make it. Tiffany had just joined us; Brandy was right behind her, but Tank must have seen something she didn’t because he shoved her down, and that was when he got shot.”
“Him and his fucking hero complex,” King hissed. “I’m gonna kick his ass once he’s better.” He pulled Grace into his arms as she cried, and I wondered if this attack had finally gotten them both to pull their heads out of their asses.
“Alright, everyone. They’re both going to be okay. Go home, help with whatever is left to do, and get some rest. This is only the fucking beginning.”
I waited for Aspen and her mother to return, and I filled them and the prospects in on what we’d learned. Johnny and Archie both offered to take the first shift watching over Keys, while the rest of us went home.
Ignoring everyone else, I grabbed Aspen’s hand when we returned to the compound and dragged her upstairs to our room. I needed to hold her. Feel her in my arms. And talk to her about her dead husband and what that now meant for us.