Fallen Joker (Fallen Lords MC 2nd Gen #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Clove

Pain dragged me back into my body.

Not all at once.

It started as pressure—dense and pulsing, like my skull had been packed with sand. Every heartbeat echoed inside my head, slow and heavy. Each one thudded hard enough to make my vision flicker, even though my eyes were still closed.

I groaned, or at least I tried to.

The sound barely made it past my throat and came out as something thin and broken that scared me more than the pain did.

My tongue felt too big for my mouth.

That wasn’t good.

I forced myself to breathe slowly through my nose, the way Mom always told us to when we were little and hurt. In for four. Hold. Out for six.

The air smelled off.

Stale. Metallic. Like oil and old fabric and something sour underneath it all.

Not the clubhouse. Not home.

My heart kicked harder, and I tried to wake the rest of me up now that my brain had caught on that something was wrong. I cracked one eye open.

Darkness.

Not complete darkness, but close. Dim gray light seeped in through cracks somewhere I couldn’t see. The ceiling above me was low. Canvas, maybe. Or plastic. It bowed slightly in the middle, like it had been pressed down too many times and never quite bounced back.

I frowned, and pain flared sharp and immediate.

I hissed and squeezed my eyes shut again and rode it out until the worst of the dizziness passed.

When I opened them again, I took my time.

I was lying on the floor.

Cold linoleum pressed against my cheek. It stuck slightly when I shifted, like something had spilled and dried there. My shoulder throbbed when I tried to move it, that made my stomach roll.

I tried to lift my hands. I focused on my wrists and discovered they were bound.

Thick rope bit into my skin. My hands were pulled together in front of me, not behind, which would’ve been a small mercy if the fear hadn’t already settled into my bones.

I swallowed hard and tested them again, carefully this time.

No give.

My ankles were tied too.

I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to breathe through the spike of terror threatening to climb my throat.

Okay.

Okay. You’re tied up. You’re alive.

Start there.

I shifted my head slowly and took in my surroundings.

The space was small. Smaller than a room.

Narrow. The walls were close enough that I could’ve touched both sides if my arms weren’t restrained.

One wall bulged inward slightly, dented and scratched.

The other was lined with shallow cabinets, most of them hanging open, with their contents spilled onto the floor.

Clothes. Empty bottles. Crumpled paper. A broken flashlight.

The place was trashed. Not messy. Destroyed.

Like someone had gone through it looking for something or someone and didn’t care what they broke along the way.

My stomach twisted. This wasn’t a room. This was a camper.

A pop-up camper, I realized slowly. The kind you towed behind a truck. The low ceiling. The cramped space. The thin walls that did nothing to block sound or temperature.

And then I heard voices.

Muffled, but close.

Men.

Outside.

My heart slammed so hard it made my head throb again. I went still, barely breathing, and strained to listen past the ringing in my ears.

“…bitch better wake up soon.”

A laugh followed. Low. Ugly.

“Good. Wouldn’t want to miss the look on her face.”

My skin crawled.

They weren’t whispering.

They weren’t worried about me hearing them.

That told me everything I needed to know about how safe they felt.

I shifted slightly and tested my body. My ribs ached when I breathed too deeply. My head felt like it was floating just a fraction above the rest of me, disconnected and fragile.

A concussion.

I’d had enough of them growing up around the club to recognize the signs. The fog. The nausea. The way the world felt delayed, like everything was happening half a second after it should.

I tried to remember what had happened.

The girls’ night. The stupid raccoon costume. Laughing so hard my stomach hurt when I saw Eden in her cow blow-up costume. I was trying to get my costume on to join the fun then suddenly I wasn’t when someone grabbed my arm.

Pain flashed behind my eyes, and the memory cut off there.

“Hey,” a voice called from outside, closer now. “You alive in there, sweetheart?”

I clenched my jaw.

The door to the camper banged open so hard it rattled the thin walls. Light flooded in, harsh and blinding, and I squeezed my eyes shut with a whimper I couldn’t stop.

Boots thudded against the floor.

“Look at her,” one of them said, amused. “Still breathing.”

“Damn shame,” the other replied.

I forced my eyes open.

Two men stood over me.

Both wore masks. Not ski masks, but those cheap fabric ones you could buy at any gas station, stretched tight over their faces, and the eyeholes uneven.

One was taller than the other and broader in the shoulders.

The shorter one leaned casually against the doorframe like this was just another stop on his day.

They didn’t bother hiding.

Didn’t bother crouching or looming dramatically.

They didn’t need to.

The taller one nudged my leg with his boot. “Wake up, princess.”

I flinched before I could stop myself.

He laughed. “There she is.”

My mouth felt like sandpaper, but I forced myself to speak. “Let me go.” The words came out hoarse and weak, barely louder than a whisper.

Both of them burst out laughing.

“Oh, that’s rich,” the shorter one said. “She’s got jokes.”

“I’m serious,” I said, swallowing around the pain in my throat. “Let me go, and nothing will happen to you.”

That earned me another shove with a boot, harder this time. Pain shot up my leg, sharp enough to make me cry out despite myself.

The taller one crouched in front of me, close enough that I could smell him through the mask. Sweat. Tobacco. Something sour and unwashed.

“Listen,” he said, his voice dropping. “You don’t get to threaten us. Not now. Not ever.”

I met his eyes, refusing to look away even though my vision swam. “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Oh, we know exactly who you are.”

My stomach dropped. But I didn’t know who the hell they were.

The shorter one stepped closer and crossed his arms. “You’ve got a lot of mouth for someone who’s gotten her ass kicked twice.”

My breath hitched.

Twice. They said twice. This was the first time I had ever been hit, let alone twice.

“You really don’t learn, do you?” he continued. “Should’ve stayed down after the first time.”

My mind raced.

They thought… They thought I was Star.

I kept my face blank, even as my heart started pounding for a whole new reason.

They didn’t know who they had.

They thought they’d taken Star.

The realization settled over me slowly, terrifying and strangely clarifying all at once.

I didn’t correct them.

“Please,” I said instead, letting my voice tremble just enough to sound convincing. “You already did what you wanted. Just let me go.”

The taller one straightened, shaking his head. “Nah.”

“No?” I echoed weakly.

“No,” he repeated, almost cheerfully. “You’re not getting away this time.”

The shorter one reached down and grabbed something from the floor. A plastic bottle. He lobbed it at me without warning.

It hit my shoulder and bounced, spilling water across my chest and the floor.

“Drink up,” he said. “Gonna need your strength.”

My hands shook as I stared at the bottle.

They turned and walked out like they hadn’t just shattered my world. The door slammed shut and plunged the camper back into dimness.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling, and my body trembled uncontrollably now that they were gone.

Okay. Okay. You’re alive. They think you’re someone else. And they are very obviously stupid.

That last thought was the only thing keeping the panic from swallowing me whole. They were stupid, and they might have been able to grab me, but I knew the club was going to find me. These guys were going to mess up, and I would be out of here soon.

My head throbbed harder, and the edges of my vision blurred. I squeezed my eyes shut, and tears slipped free despite my best efforts.

I focused on breathing.

On staying awake.

On anything that wasn’t the fear curling tight in my chest.

But exhaustion crept in anyway. My eyelids drooped, my thoughts slowing until they became nothing.

I fought it as long as I could.

Then the dark took me again.