Chapter Thirty-Five
Indie
I stood there, frozen, as Tank and Big Ben dragged Mimic out of the room. Something happened to Kytten. That had to be it. As soon as King heard she was gone, he locked Mimic up, knowing he would go after her.
“The rest of the officers in church, now!” King demanded.
“What’s going on?” Cash asked.
“Church now; I’ll explain then.”
King looked at me; something crossed between us. Something dark. Something told me he was going to ask me to do something I didn’t want to do. But if it meant helping Kytten and Mimic, the answer would always be yes. I nodded at him, and he turned and went inside.
Jack stopped beside me and slipped something into my hand. When the doors of church closed, I looked down at the key. My phone pinged, and I looked at the notification. Johnny shared his location with me.
I closed my eyes. Something nagged at my mind. The pieces weren’t locking together fast enough. I blamed my state of shock at seeing Mimic lifted off the ground and taken away.
“That’s the key to the cells downstairs,” Sam said over my shoulder. “Go now. Before King tells them what happened.”
“Do you know what happened?”
“No, but if he wants Kytten and Mimic locked down, and Kytten is gone. I would bet it has something to do with the man who took him.”
I stared at her. “You know?”
“Mimic told me. Not everything. But he told me enough for me to put the pieces together. Go.”
I didn’t hesitate another moment. I ran down the hall to the stairs, practically sliding down the railing in my haste.
When I yanked the door open, Mimic looked up.
His anger and rage boiled over at being locked in that cell.
They didn’t know what they were doing to him. But it still didn’t make it okay.
I didn’t speak. I slipped the key into the lock and turned it to open the door. “Let’s go.”
“What happened?” he asked, grabbing my arm.
“I don’t know. But Cash said Kytten was meeting Val. After they dragged you out, they went into church, but Jack gave me the key first. I think it has something to do with Dakota.”
We ran up the stairs. I opened the door at the top to make sure no one was there. “Come on.” I dragged him out the back, and we raced across the parking lot to his bike
“Where the fuck are we going?”
“I don’t know,” I cried, my hands locked on top of my head. “Wait! Johnny sent me a text; he shared his location with me.”
I handed my phone to Mimic.
“He’s moving. Do you think he’s following Kytten?”
“I would bet on it. No way Cash would let her go alone, not with the war on. Get on.”
Mimic swung his leg over his bike and started it up. I climbed on behind him, and we rode up to the gate. Archie opened it without question, and I wondered if he knew anything.
Johnny was only about twenty minutes ahead of us. We followed his path until we made it to a turnoff. We saw Johnny’s bike, but he wasn’t there.
“Where is he?” I asked, looking around.
“He left his bike, which means he thought it might be too loud. Let’s go.”
I climbed off the bike, and Mimic followed. We ran up the path until we saw the warehouse. There wasn’t much cover, but with the only windows on the second floor, we might be able to move in unnoticed.
We heard a woman yelling. “Go around back,” Mimic said, but when I went to move, he stopped me, handing me a knife. “They both die, Indie. I don’t want to put this on you. But I fucking need you. I have to save Rose.”
I kissed him hard. “You get your sister. I’ll take care of the bitch.”
I moved quickly and silently. Years of training took over. I was Kate Porter again. Only this time, this kill was on my terms. I was no longer locked in my subconscious, taking orders like a soldier. I didn’t know who this bitch was, but she dared to come after my family.
It was a mistake she would never make again.
On the back side of the warehouse, I found a hole in the wall. Sliding the knife into my boot, I crawled through the hole into what appeared to be an office.
I made my way to the door and slowly opened it, being sure not to make a sound. I had the element of surprise on my side. I slid my feet carefully along the concrete floor. Pallets and shipping boxes stacked up around the room aided my cover until I had the woman in my sight.
Then I saw him.
Dakota Stone.
I wanted him dead. What I wouldn’t give to make him my target, but what he did to Mimic was far worse than what he’d done to me. He was just one of many men who took from me what didn’t belong to them.
But what he took from Mimic was his security.
He’d made him believe his mother didn’t love him, and, in my book, that was so much worse.
Cuts and bruises healed. Physical scars were medals of a battle hard fought.
A symbol of survival. But emotional scars from years of manipulation and abuse, they never fully healed.
Words spewed back and forth. It was all white noise. My focus was on the woman. Dakota held a gun to Rose’s head. He used her body as a shield against an advancing Mimic, while I snuck up behind the woman.
Pulling my knife from my boot, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, digging my knife into her side and then ripping it out. Covered in her blood, I held it to her neck.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t slice your neck from ear to ear?” My voice was cold, a darkness echoing through my words. I’d never been allowed to speak when I killed. Never been allowed to truly play with my prey.
The woman shrieked, drawing everyone’s attention. Dakota swung the gun in my direction, and I hid my body behind the woman. She was tall, but with a bleeding stab wound in her side, she didn’t have much strength.
“Meredith!”
“Do something, asshole. Shoot this bitch.”
My eyes swung between Dakota and Mimic. He was still advancing. His sister was his goal. I held the bitch in an iron grip as she clawed at my arm, but she wasn’t going anywhere. The blade pressed into her skin, causing her to hiss in pain.
Dakota backed toward the way I had come. I couldn’t block his exit unless I dropped the woman. I knew I couldn’t let her go, so I had to let him.
“Let go of my sister, Dakota.”
“You fucking pussy. You think you can take me? Think you’re faster than a gun?”
He aimed his gun at Mimic’s feet, shooting off a round into the dirt.
“Shoot him, Dakota,” the woman shouted, and I dug the knife in further, nicking her skin until a bead of blood dripped down her neck. Her body tensed in my arms, and a smile slid across my face.
Mimic smiled too. It was one I hadn’t seen before, and I suspected it was only for Dakota.
“He won’t shoot me. I’m the one that got away.
I beat the shit out of him and left him bleeding on the ground, and then his father let me go.
He’s got a bigger ego than Montana. He wants to kill me with his bare hands. Thinks he’s strong enough.”
“I will fucking kill you. After I fuck you in the ass.”
“Poor little Dakota. Daddy wouldn’t let him fuck me. Is that the problem? Daddy told you no, and now that Daddy’s gone, you think you’ve got the balls to take me down?”
Mimic continued moving forward, one small, slow step at a time.
“I’m not that scrawny sixteen-year-old kid anymore.
And your father wouldn’t let you have me because he knew what a sick fuck you were.
It’s why he never told you about Rose. Daddy used you, Dakota.
He knew you’d never amount to shit. My father was the one he wanted.
” Mimic slammed his fist against his chest. “The one he respected. The one he wanted to reproduce. It was my legacy that held all the power. The fucking Stones are nothing, and George fucking knew it.”
“You son of a bitch,” Dakota sneered.
He threw Kytten to the ground, and a shot rang out from above, hitting Dakota in the shoulder. Mimic dove for Rose to make sure she wasn’t hit, and Dakota ran out through the back of the warehouse.
“YOU FUCKING PUSSY! HELP ME!” the woman in my arms screamed as she tried to buck me off her back. I swung my arm around her front, slicing her other side.
“I’ve got him!” Johnny yelled from above as he shimmied out a window and disappeared.
“Rose, are you okay?” Mimic’s hands roamed over his sister, looking for injuries.
“I’m okay. She knew, Thorne. Val knew what Syrena was doing.”
Mimic looked up at the woman, then at me.
“What did she do? How much am I making it hurt?” I asked, my voice not my own.
Mimic stood and helped Kytten to her feet. He walked over to me. His eyes bore into the woman in my arms. “You fucking knew? You knew what that fucking cunt was doing to my sister, and you didn’t stop it?”
The woman laughed and spat in Mimic’s face. “Oh no, bitch.” I swung my arm down, slicing into her thigh. Blood bloomed through her clothes, dripping down her leg.
“You fucking cunt!” Her pained curse was music to my ears. Her hand dropped from my arm as she tried to stem the bleeding in her leg.
“What else? I could do this all night.”
“She knows where Mom is. She’s alive, Thorne. Val helped Dakota take her away from us.”
“HE’S MINE, AND THAT BITCH CAN’T HAVE HIM,” she screamed in Mimic’s face, and he lifted his hand and punched her in the mouth.
“Where is she?” he growled.
“Gone,” the woman sneered. “Sinclair took her.”
“Wrong answer. If you don’t know where my mother is, you’re of no use to me.” Mimic looked into my eyes. “Can you do it? If not, I will.”
I looked at Kytten, who stood behind Mimic. “Who was Syrena and what did she do?”
Kytten swallowed as her eyes welled with tears. “Syrena was one of the Nyght Nymphs who lived with us. She sexually assaulted me for almost two years when I was fifteen.”
“Your legs? The cuts?” I asked, unsure I wanted the answer. Cutting was a coping mechanism. A way to handle the emotional toll of trauma. When Kytten nodded, I asked, “And this cunt knew? And let her?”
“I gave the little bitch to Syrena.” The woman laughed.
My knife sliced a line from one ear to the other. Her laughter turned to gurgles, and I dropped her in the dirt at my feet. Kytten stood there staring at the dead woman.
“Don’t give her another thought, Kytten. I know I won’t.”
As I stepped over the woman’s body, we heard the sound of pipes in the distance. Johnny came in through the back and said, “The club’s here.”
“Dakota?” Mimic asked.
“He got away, brother. I’m sorry.” Mimic grabbed Johnny and pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you.”
The sound of the bikes grew closer, and I asked, “How much trouble are we in?”
“ROSIE!” Cash’s voice rang out, and Kytten winced.
“A lot,” she said before turning and running outside.
Mimic wrapped me in his arms and whispered against my head, “Are you okay? I could have done it.”
I shook my head and looked up at him. “I was glad to do it knowing what she did to your sister. My conscience is clear.”
“I love you.”
Before I could say it back, King and Gunner rushed in, followed by the others. Mimic pushed me behind him as King got in his face.
“What the fuck did I tell you?” King growled, pushing him back with his chest. “This is the second fucking time you’ve disobeyed a direct order.”
“No one said I couldn’t kill Syrena.”
“I’M TALKING ABOUT HER!” King yelled, pointing at me.
“Oh.”
“Oh, he fucking says.” King looked down at the woman before turning his angry eyes on me. “You fucking did this, didn’t you?”
“Yup,” I said with a smile. “The bitch deserved it, and I’m pretty sure you know it.”
“Reaper’s gonna lose his fucking shit.”
“Why?” Mimic asked.
“Because she’s his family.”
“Tell him a life for a life. He killed my father. Now we’re even,” Mimic said, pulling me into his arms.
King growled at Mimic. “Get your ass back to the clubhouse and fucking stay there!” He turned his back on us and yelled, “Zero, clean this shit up. Get her body back to the clubhouse. Don’t fucking burn it until I figure out what to do about Reaper.”
King walked outside, and Gunner stepped in front of us. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes trailing over me.
“I’m fine. It’s not my blood.”
He crushed me against his chest. “You ever fucking do this shit again, you’re fucking grounded.”
Releasing me as quickly as he hugged me, he stormed off, following his president outside. My body shook with laughter when Mimic asked, “What the fuck was that?”
“I think my father’s mad,” I said as I smiled at Gunner’s retreating back.
“What?” Mimic twisted around to look at me, confusion on his face.
“I’ll tell you later. Let’s go home.”