Chapter 31
Morning light filtered through the high narrow windows of my room, but it didn’t feel warm. Just pale, washed-out grey, stretching long sharp shadows across the blankets on my big bed.
I blinked awake, heart thudding fast and hard against my ribs like something was wrong. I lay still a while, listening. Usually by six this place was alive – voices drifting, doors banging, the brothers laughing or shouting over breakfast.
But today? The silence was loud.
Thick, heavy, like something pressing down on my chest. Made the hairs on my arms stand up. The whole place felt… cold.
I threw the covers off, the chill hitting my skin straight away. Pulled on an oversized hoodie and old dark jeans, didn’t even bother brushing my hair. That twist of dread in my stomach got tighter with every breath. I pulled my door open and stepped out into the hall.
Passed Rage’s room. The door was standing ajar. I stopped, glanced through the gap. The bed was perfectly made, sheets smooth and untouched. He hadn’t been in it at all.
I thought of him yesterday – that rough, desperate edge to his voice when he swore he’d keep me safe. Said he’d stay close all night. If his bed hadn’t been slept in… something told me this wasn’t just normal club stuff he was sorting.
I hurried down the hall, pushed through the big double doors into the main room.
It was nearly empty, dim and grey. The jukebox was off, the long tables where we’d all eaten lasagna last night looked like no one had sat at them in hours.
Only the kitchen bar had any sign of life.
Aysel, Diamond and Rose were sat round the little table there. Rose wrapped in a soft dressing gown, hands curled tight round a mug. Diamond stood stirring porridge on the stove, none of her usual bright energy left.
The soft thud of my socks on the floorboards made all three turn at once. Their eyes went wide, shoulders pulled up, and their faces smoothed over like they were hiding something. I could feel it in the air.
“Morning Danika,” Rose said. Her voice was bright, but too high, too quick. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Up early today.”
“Where is everyone?” I asked straight out, not bothering to be polite. I glanced round the empty room, then back to them. “Where are the men? This place feels like a ghost town.”
Diamond turned round, holding out a mug of fresh coffee across the counter. “The lads had to head out early. Something came up they needed to sort before the roads get busy for the weekend. Nothing for you to worry about.”
I wrapped my fingers round the warm mug but didn’t take a sip. I looked right at her, saw the tight little pull at the corner of her jaw.
They thought I was just some soft, protected girl from the city. That I didn’t know what lying looked like. But I’d spent nineteen years learning exactly how people act when they’re hiding the truth.
“This isn’t just something coming up, is it?” I said quiet, steady. The kitchen went dead still.
Just then Ivy came through the side door, carrying a basket of clean towels. She stopped short, sharp eyes flicking between us.
“What’s going on?” Ivy asked, setting the basket down and resting a hand gentle over her bump.
“Danika’s worked out our men aren’t just out on a job,” Rose said softly, the fake cheer dropping right away. She sighed, leaning her chin on her hand. “She sees straight through us. They left just after two this morning.”
“And Rage?” My voice cracked a little, my heart giving a sharp painful thud.
“He’s with them,” Aysel said, steady and sure. She looked right at me, calm and solid. “They’re making sure no one gets close to this family. That’s all you need to know, k?z?.”
Making sure no one gets close. Those words sent a shiver right through me. I thought of the man watching from the old oak tree. The bloke my father sent to find me. What if they’d come back? Or worse… what if they’d tried to get in?
“Did they find me?” I whispered, fear suddenly tight in my throat. “This is my fault, isn’t it? I’ve brought all this here. Put all of you, your babies, everyone in danger. Did my father’s men come here last night? Is that why they’re gone?”
Rose was on her feet in a second, walking straight over to me. She took my hands in hers, squeezing tight, so hard it felt like she was trying to push strength right into me.
“Listen to me Danika,” she said, firm and steady, voice nothing like the quiet playful one I’d heard before.
“You have nothing to feel guilty for. Nothing. Your father is a monster who thinks he can buy and sell people. The Iron Angels don’t bow to men like that.
If they came sniffing round… the lads are dealing with it.
We don’t talk about the details. It’s safer that way. ”
“But what are they doing to them?” I asked, my mind racing with every worst-case thing I could imagine.
“They’re someplace safe, sorting things how we do,” Diamond said softly, coming over to rest a hand on my shoulder.
“And you? You stay right here with us. We’ll finish getting breakfast ready, put some music on, and keep this home running.
That’s our job. The lads look after the streets… we look after each other.”
I looked round at them – four women who’d all seen things most people couldn’t bear to imagine, standing together like a solid wall. I took a deep shaky breath and felt some of that panic start to fade.
“Alright,” I whispered, a little spark of fight coming back. I looked up at Rose. “What do we need to cook?”
All of them let out a long quiet breath they’d been holding. Ivy grabbed the speaker and turned it up loud, filling the kitchen with rough loud rock music, while Diamond handed me a knife and a bag of potatoes.
We set to work. Chopping and peeling, the everyday small things wrapping round us like armour.
But as I glanced out the window at the mist still hanging over the yard, I knew one thing for certain: the girl who’d arrived here a few days ago was gone forever.
And whatever was happening out there… the Iron Angels weren’t hiding from it.