Chapter Sixty #4
“Just kill as many as you can and try not to get yourself killed in the process!” I shouted, rushing past him and into the fray. Clutching my machetes in both hands, I made quick work of the dead fuckers coming for me. Reaper wasn’t the only one good with a blade.
Still, I had to give it to the fucker; he was proficient.
Blood sprayed across my sleeves as I spun, narrowly dodging a grasping hand.
The chaos was deafening—gunfire, screeches, the sharp ring of steel splitting bone.
I glimpsed Cerberus laughing maniacally, bullets tearing through the advancing horde.
The adrenaline coursed through me, sharpening every sense as we fought side by side, just like in the old days.
Everything was changing. I knew, and so did Cerberus.
Our time was quickly coming to an end, and soon, I knew the younger generation would take over. There was still a lot they had to learn, and until they all knew the real truth, I couldn’t walk away. Besides, I still needed more time with Firestride.
That thought stopped me.
Looking around at the chaos, I frowned, then shouted at Cerberus, “Where is Joshua?”
“Haven’t seen him!” Cerberus shouted, firing off more rounds as a bullet caught him in the arm. “Haven’t seen the others either!”
“Hold down the fort. I’ll be right back!
” I ordered, steamrolling through the dead men walking as I quickly made my way up the stairs.
Storming down the hallway, I kicked open Firestride’s door and stopped dead in my tracks as I stared at the blood-soaked bed he was lying in, watching as his blood slowly dripped into a pool on the floor.
Apollo
I watched as she sliced his neck. I stared as he fell to the floor, and I studied her as she walked away, as if what she’d just done had no effect on her.
She was no longer the person I knew. The scared little girl I’d found in the park and taken under my wing had grown to be a strong, confident woman. The precision she used to take him out spoke of years of training.
There hadn’t been enough time from when I found her to now for her to learn the skills she used. She slipped through the shadows in the room, taking men out one by one. There was a lot I didn’t know about Indigo Cambridge. Like her real name.
Indigo was the name I’d given her. The blue tips at the end of her long platinum hair had become a trademark for her. Indigo seemed to fit.
Who was she really?
Where had she come from?
And how had she learned to kill?
Was it training or necessity that honed her skills? What was her body count? She had the grace and precision of an assassin, but that couldn’t be.
She was young. She would have had to start her training as a toddler to be that good. Unless it was natural talent. That was possible. She disappeared while I was lost in my thoughts. Only to emerge once more, behind me.
“I know you saw me,” she whispered.
I didn’t turn; despite what I’d seen, I trusted her. Instead, I aimed my gun. If I got distracted, I would be dead. “You’ll have to answer for what you did,” I countered.
“And I will. When the time is right. I need you to trust me.”
“I don’t know that I can, Indie.”
“You know me, Apollo. You know who I am.”
I turned around and looked into her eyes. I saw her there, the girl from the park. The one who drew so beautifully for a few bucks to put food in her belly. The one who was hurting, vulnerable.
Before I could answer her pleading, I felt a sharp pain in my back. I stumbled forward into Indie’s arms. I opened my mouth but no words came out. Then I saw the fear in her eyes turn to stone.
I dropped to the floor as she took my gun. Aiming over my head, I heard the report of the weapon as she shot the man who had shot me. Then she fell to her knees beside me.
“Please don’t die, Ford.”
Her cries were the last thing I heard as the darkness swallowed me whole.
Hemlock
I watched him from the shadows, picking off whoever I could, never taking my eyes off him. When all was done and settled, I’d have my time with him. I was a patient man. I had to be considering everything that had happened over the years.
But I knew my time was coming.
Someday soon, I’d have my vengeance.
It still rankled me to no end knowing he was the one who put a bullet in my brother’s head. And the fucking hothead didn’t even fucking bury him properly. I hated that the most. But I didn’t blame him for that. My brother had chosen the wrong side, and I couldn’t blame Reaper for protecting Remi.
I would have done the same.
Still, it hurt. Even more so when the fucker looked me dead in the eyes and didn’t see the truth standing before him.
He never could look past the end of his own nose.
So much had changed over the years. Everything was different.
Lines were drawn in the sand now, and the truth was stumbling out faster than Pops could contain it.
The day of reckoning was near.
Even for me... because when Reaper learned the truth, I was almost positive he would do to me what he did to my brother, just because I shared his face.
Then again, being identical twins had its advantages, and fuck me hard.
.. did Pops use that to his advantage. The world we inhabited had no room for forgiveness, only for debts to be paid, and I intended to collect.
Moving from my spot, I didn’t waste time taking out the Death Dogs or any remaining Satan’s Angels in my way. They were a scourge on the Earth and needed to be eradicated. Stepping up behind a dead man walking, I smirked, placing my gun at the back of his head as he aimed his gun at Reaper.
“I wouldn’t do that, little fella,” I drawled before firing, dropping the man instantly.
Reaper spun around, his eyes wide as he asked, “What the fuck did you just say?”
I smirked, shrugging my shoulders. “I didn’t say anything, boss.”
Hades
I’d been waiting for the call. Zeus and the others had been gone for weeks. We talked daily, keeping each other informed on what was happening in Nebraska, as well as at home in Texas.
Things hadn’t been as quiet as we’d hoped here. And as much as I’d wanted to help, we couldn’t spare more than a few men. Sending everyone would leave the clubhouse vulnerable, and with the fucking Cartel up our asses about missing shipments, we couldn’t take that chance.
I hadn’t planned on going myself. Zeus and Atlas, my president and SAA, were already there. We needed someone here to be in charge. But when Poseidon called and filled me in on what Zeus left out, I made the only choice I could.
Our road captain, Hermes, was now in charge. He argued that as road captain he should have gone with Zeus weeks ago, but Rhea had made the decision. It was her daughter Diana who had finally been found after two decades, so I kept my mouth shut.
That was Zeus’ sister.
His family.
But when Poseidon told me everything Zeus hadn’t, I knew he was too fucking close to shit to see the truth. As his vice president, and his best friend, it was my job to pull him back from the fucking edge.
And save his fucking life.
We pulled up to the clubhouse lot to the sound of gunfire. There were men everywhere.
“Fan the fuck out,” I ordered. “You know who the enemy is. Make your kills count, brothers.”
I slipped through the gate as quickly as I could, taking out men as I made my way to the front door. The door that was no longer fucking there.
As I entered the clubhouse, I saw Zeus fall. With a roar that shook the depths of Hell, I stormed into the fray.
They didn’t call me the God of the fucking underworld for nothing!
Reaper
Stumbling over the bodies littering the floor like discarded trash, I systematically took out another Satan’s Angel. Vile fucking bastards should have been eradicated last year, had Montana honored his fucking marker. But that was neither here nor there.
What was done was done.
I couldn’t change the past, but I sure as hell could change the future.
This war had been years in the making. I knew it, and so did the others. Who would be the last fucker standing was anyone’s guess, but I was damn sure it wouldn’t be them. Those sick fucks might think they had the numbers, but I had a literal ace up my sleeve.
I just needed to hang on until the cavalry arrived, and they would, or I would gut every fucking one of them.
Every move I made was calculated, each step fueled by the promise that this bloody path would lead to something better.
The taste of vengeance was thick in the air, sharp and intoxicating, but I kept my focus razor-sharp.
The Death Dogs and Satan’s Angels underestimated just how far I would go to protect my blood—and that would be their downfall.
“MAX!”
I ducked instinctively, trusting my old man, letting the adrenaline surge guide my next move.
Bullets ricocheted all around me, and the stench of gunpowder mixed with blood clung to my skin as my old man fired his gun, taking out another dead fucker inches away from me. “Keep your head on a swivel, boy!”
The chaos around me was absolute, but in that moment, I knew I was fighting for something more than survival—I was fighting for family. Grunting, I flipped my old man the one-finger bird as I jammed my blade into another fucker.
I was so fucking tired of this goddamned mess.
A mess I didn’t create but was being forced to fucking clean up.
Scanning the carnage, I quickly took stock of who was down.
King was still on his feet, wounded and bleeding, but still taking out fuckers easily.
Montana was down, and it didn’t look good as Mercy and Torment tried to get him to safety.
Indie sat on the floor, her eyes cold as steel as she held a Gods of Mayhem brother in her arms, while she continued to take out who she could.
Morpheus, like me, was death incarnate as he barreled through those standing, slicing and dicing them like butter, when out of the corner of my eye I saw several Gods of Mayhem storm into the clubhouse firing at will, quickly followed by the cavalry.
Sighing, I slowly lowered my blades as Ace and the rest of Harbor Security rushed in, helping the Gods of Mayhem. Walking over to me, Matthew Law lowered his facemask. “Got here as soon as we could.”
“Better late than never,” I muttered.
“Brought reinforcements. Disturbed is taking care of the perimeter. Where do you want us?”
Looking at the highly trained military man before me loaded down for war, I smirked. “You any good with those guns?”
Matthew Law grinned. “What do you fucking think?”
Nodding, I simply said, “Then make sure the bad guys don’t live.”
Turning, Law shouted, “No prisoners!”
In the next instant, the brothers from Harbor Security pulled their weapons and started firing, ensuring that no Death Dog or Satan’s Angel survived. I had to admit, I liked Law’s style.
Finding a seat at the bar, King walked over to me, he too covered in blood from head to toe as we watched Harbor Security and the Gods of Mayhem take out the remaining rabble.
“You know this is just the beginning, right?” I said as I surveyed the carnage in the room.
King sighed and answered, “As long as we’re the ones standing when it’s over.”