3. Natty
THREE
NATTY
PRESENT
A firm grip on my elbow was the only thing grounding me as I walked through the halls of my prison. This wasn’t a motorcycle club; it was a small house. One that had no furniture and no people. Likely a safe house. The ceilings were low, the floors were made of wood and the walls were all covered in forest green wallpaper.
Alec hadn’t let me go since Fable arrived, as if he knew his father would take a bite of me, all teeth and nails the second he released me. Fable was nearly as tall as Silas with short gray hair, slicked back, so only small pieces fell across his brow and similar eyes to Alec. Gray thunderclouds swarmed in those irises while his face was sun-kissed and wrinkled, showing his age. His expression was twisted angrily, as if he’d tasted sour milk, and the look of disgust froze over the stern set of his jaw.
We finally stopped walking once we reached the dining room.
“Sit.” Fable ordered as Alec gently led me to a chair.
The room was sparse, with just the table, four chairs and a hutch against the far wall. The windows were all covered with white sheets. It was still early enough that it allowed in natural light. The walls were so similar to what was in the Stone Riders clubhouse, it had an ache gaping open in my heart. A pleading prayer coming right after it .
Please let everyone be okay.
Let them be alive.
Fable’s stern voice cut into my thoughts. “Tell me your name.”
I had a suspicion that he already knew my name, which was why he’d taken me but maybe I was wrong.
A woman pushed through a side door, leading to the kitchen. She had dark hair, green eyes, and a willowy frame. Her gaze quickly scanned the space, inspecting each of us while holding the wooden tray in her hands. She made her way to the table and set a bowl of soup down in front of Fable then let the tray hang by her side.
“Rachel. Please bring bowls for our company.”
The woman…Rachel, peered over at me, giving me a blank expression before turning toward the kitchen once more.
Alec took a seat next to me, pulling my chair directly next to his so our knees touched.
I bristled, trying to create space, but he only held firm to the back of my chair.
Fable watched us, taking sips of his soup.
“Your name,” he repeated.
I watched him swallow his soup, wondering how I might kill him in that position then sadly recalling I couldn’t even kill a man using a gun when he was directly in front of me. For all of Silas’s efforts to prepare me for likely this exact moment, I was completely useless.
Alec cleared his throat, his hand on the back of my chair moving to my shoulder.
I tried again to push him off, but he held firm.
“Alec, encourage her to speak.”
The man next to me tapped a lazy finger against my shoulder as if his father’s command didn’t matter. Regardless that I knew it did in fact matter, especially to someone who had become a glorified errand boy for his evil father.
I did what Silas told me and cleared my head, then started counting.
I could take it. Whatever he was about to do to me, whatever punishment, or pain…I could take?—
Warm lips pressed against my ear as Alec’s hand traveled down to my hip, wrapping around it .
“He’ll watch me do unspeakable things to you, Artie. Don’t make me do that. Just tell him.”
I wanted to rip out of his hold and glare at him. Throw back in his face that he didn’t have to do anything his disgusting father wanted. Instead, I leaned forward and leveled Fable with a glare.
“Nomen est Caelum.” My name is Heaven.
Fable’s eyes lit up, his spoon dropping to the bowl with a clank. He waited three seconds before he burst into laughter before replying in Latin.
“Caelum non est verum.” There is no Heaven.
My smile faltered the smallest bit; regardless, I wasn’t surprised in the least he spoke Latin fluently. I was still hoping he didn’t. I waited for him to continue. He’d asked for my name, I’d given it, I had nothing left to offer him.
“Your full name.”
The smallest flicker of unease slid in through my ribs.
“Natty Langford.”
Fable suddenly stood and shoved a hunting knife into the wood table, making me wince.
His eyes were wild, his mouth open as he seethed, “Try again. Last chance.”
Alec looked between the two of us.
My mouth parted with an answer then it shut again. There were limits on what I was willing to give. Silas used to warn me not to fold easily, especially not over secrets. Information is worth more than blood being spilled, or skin being bruised. Details put in the hands of the devil, become weapons.
Fable pulled his knife free. “Natalia Nikole….” He paused, waiting for me to finish.
I searched his face acting confused.
“Langford.”
Fable’s gaze narrowed. “You lie almost as well as my son. You’re his most guarded secret, and yet I have you. To do with whatever I want.”
“What is it you want?”
Rachel came back in with two more bowls and a few slices of bread. She was calm as she set each bowl down and arranged the dishware. Her green eyes flicked over to me a few times before bustling back out of the room.
I looked down at the soup and felt my stomach grumble but resisted grabbing the spoon. Alec, however, dove into his meal without looking up.
Fable continued to watch me.
“You think I can’t break you?” His eyes narrowed.
I shrugged. “You can’t break what’s already been broken.”
Alec froze next to me while Fable rose from his chair.
“You don’t look broken to me, pulchra.” Beautiful .
My face heated as he drew closer, until his finger caught my chin, tipping my face up.
“Broken, is your mouth dripping with my cum, your veins stuffed with heroin, and your will completely gone. Is that what you want, Caelum ?”
The way he said my nickname mocked and jostled the stable place inside me that was already starting to crumble, the one that had previously boasted with confidence.
He let my chin go. I stared at the bowl of soup in front of me.
“You will help me. You’ll either be in my bed tonight, or Alec’s. I’ll allow you the chance to decide, but you will bend to our will, or we will take it by force. Do you understand?”
Fear gripped me so tightly it was hard to breathe but I managed to nod.
Silas had trained me to deal with many things, dealing with his father wasn’t one of them.
My belly was full because I was determined to keep my strength up. Besides, I had no idea if one of Fable’s intimidation tactics would include starvation. I didn’t do hunger well. Sasha had once mentioned that my mother didn’t feed me for a whole week when I was little. Apparently, Sasha put my mom in the hospital when she found out, then made a bed for me in her house, in the same room as Silas. She had to feed me saltines slowly for two days straight while I sipped on water and 7-up, before I could eat real meals again.
Now as an adult, any hint of hunger had my hands shaking and my nerves raw. It was partly why I decided baking would be a fun way to reinvent myself. There would always be a little morsel of food at my fingertips, and I’d never have to go hungry. It also helped to keep my mind busy…like right now, I’d give anything to escape into the kitchen and pull out some flour and sugar.
“This is my room here.” Alec gently touched the door near my face, pushing it open.
Without saying anything, I walked inside and kept my arms folded close. A simple queen-sized mattress sat in the middle of the room, decorated with a comforter the shade of cobalt blue. Four fluffed pillows sat against the wall for lack of a headboard. There was a singular dresser to the side, but nothing else.
I inspected the room as Alec shut the door behind me, then locked it.
“Surely there’s another room I can sleep in. In fact, I’ll even go back to my cell.”
I faced him, silently pleading with him to agree.
Alec’s ashen eyes avoided me as he moved around the room. His leather cut came off, leaving him in just a t-shirt, and then his boots, revealing a pair of white socks.
“Alec.” I tried to get his attention again as he moved to his dresser and clicked on the lamp. The window in his room was only letting in muted colors from the strange opaque glass blocking out my surroundings.
He moved again, this time slipping into the small, attached bathroom. Water flowed from the faucet as Alec brushed his teeth and my eyes roamed to the bedroom door. It was unguarded. I waited for when I heard the faucet turn off and then the toilet seat lift. He began relieving himself, and I hesitated.
Run.
Run, Natty. Just get to the door.
My eyes burned as I stared, my left foot shifted the smallest bit and then as I blinked, I ran for it, pushing myself forward as quick as I could. My fingers came around the brass handle as a shaky breath left my lungs.
The knob turned the smallest bit right as an arm came around my middle, lifting me off the ground.
Alec shut the door with his foot and began pulling me toward the middle of the room.
“If you step outside of this room, Fable will find you and trust me, Artie, you don’t want him to find you.”
I pushed against his arm, digging my nails in as hard as I could.
“Ouch. Fuck.” He dropped me, inspecting his torn skin.
I spun on him, seething. “Stop calling me Artemis. Stop flirting with me. Just fucking stop. We’re not friends, Alec. We are enemies.”
He smirked. “I’m not your enemy, and what…only Silas gets to give you nicknames?”
“Yes.”
His gaze searched mine before letting out a huff of air and spinning away from me. “You chose the mean one, Natty. Darkness, anger and bullshit. I’ve known you for just as long, and you’re acting like we don’t have just as many memories.”
We had nothing compared to what I’d built with Silas. He wanted to bait me into conversation, but I wouldn’t give him that. Instead, I walked over, grabbed a pillow, pulled the top layer of his blankets off and made myself a bed on the floor.
Alec watched me, then let out a heavy sigh as he slid into his bed, muttering, “Not like we haven’t shared a bed before.”
I screwed my eyes shut, facing away from him as the hard floor bit into my hips. A very low time in my life had provided me with little options and a gaping hole I needed filled. I had never had sex with Alec, but he did hold me for one very lonely night.
He promised he’d never speak of it, and that was fine because in the end, I had.
“You don’t need to remind me. That was the worst night of my life.”
The silence in the room was a comfort. Tears burned the backs of my eyes as hope seemed to flatline in my chest. I was supposed to be home by now…if there even was a home left to return to. I wondered how Pen wa s doing, how baby Connor was…if he got hurt during the blasts. If Silas…
A hot tear leaked through my lashes as I inhaled a shuddery breath.
“Did you tell him…” Alec asked, breaking into the silence, “about that night…does he know that it was me?”
A smirk curled my lips as I turned over on my side and looked up at him in the bed. His arms were tucked behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.
“Yes, I did.”
Alec’s face quickly turned toward me. “Yet I’m still alive…explain that.”
“It was the only concession he’s ever made. He was the reason my heart broke…it was complicated, but he understood the reason I had done it. Besides, he knew I’d never let another man fuck me. If you had, you wouldn’t be alive.”
He laughed while letting his arm fall to the floor, dangerously close to my blanket.
“You assume he could kill me. You doubt my skills, Artie. I spent more time with my father than Silas did.”
“True but you’re forgetting Silas was also raised by Sasha and she’s a different breed of monster.”
Alec’s smirk slowly fell away as his arm returned to the bed, tucking back behind his head.
“That is true…I had no mother worth remembering, but neither did you, so we’re similar in that way.”
I turned on my back, staring at the ceiling wishing again that this bad dream would end.
“We’re not the same, Alec.”
The darkness came in and with it, a tiny bit of planning. Once Alec fell asleep, I had a chance to escape.
His chuckle invaded the dark like a nightmare.
“Why aren’t we the same, Artie?”
There was a light that shifted near the window, and it made me wonder if someone was keeping post outside. A tiny ping in my gut told me I should try to get close to Alec just to get information, but he was a record played and shattered years prior, and not anything I wanted to start up again.
There was also the vow I made to Silas that terrible night I had confessed what I had done. That I had fallen asleep and was held by his brother. I had never seen Silas broken until that night, and I vowed I would never again do that to him. Not with anyone, no matter how long it took Silas to come back to me, or how isolated I became.
I turned on my side again, wincing at how hard the floor felt under me.
“She became my mother too. While I had them both, you only had the one monster.”
The blackness in the room amplified as did the sounds of Alec’s breathing until he was softly snoring. The light outside the window made another pass, and I timed it to every twenty-three minutes. Someone was keeping post. Likely several people.
My options were slim, but I felt like I had to fully investigate all of them if I were ever going to get out.
Slipping out of the soft blanket, I cursed Fable for taking my shoes and padded lightly to the door. The lock slid easily to the side and the door opened without a single sound.
Out in the hall was nothing but shadows and darkness, being illuminated by the random flashlight beam through a window. I stepped into the hall and gently closed the door behind me. I veered back toward the direction I had come from earlier. The kitchen would likely be my best bet, as the space would have an exterior door for deliveries.
There were a few doors down the hall, all of which were closed, so I kept to the side of the wall while searching for any movement. I made my way toward the dining room, passing the table and chairs, and placed my hands against the swinging kitchen door right as a hand came over my mouth.
“I’m not going to hurt you, but we have to stay quiet.” The voice at my ear was feminine.
I nodded against her hand then felt it fall away. I couldn’t see her in the dark, but I felt her hand on my elbow as she pushed ahead of me into the kitchen. We walked until we were tucked away inside a pantry. A click sounded overhead, and Rachel came into view. She wore the same clothes she had on earlier, her hair still braided back and her eyes still alert…and oddly familiar.
“We don’t have much time before Fable is done with his women.”
I watched as Rachel moved around the small closet, pulling on the lid to a large white bucket. “Here, these are where your boots are being kept. When the time comes, you’ll need to know where to go to get your things. I’m leaving a backpack in here too; it will have water and food. You’ll be on foot for at least three days.”
“Wait, I don’t understand.” I moved with her, tucking my frizzy hair behind my ears. Hope inflating my chest so much I thought I might die.
Rachel paused for only a second, her green eyes assessing me heavily.
“You’re on the outskirts of Rockland, which is a few hours by car from Rose Ridge. There are five scouts outside during the day and only two during the night, which is why you’re going to have to wait to make your escape until we can be sure no one is watching.”
I turned with her, confused and elated all at the same time. I had so many questions and I felt like she would just disappear the moment I asked one. I wasn’t even sure which one to ask first. What was Fable’s plan, how come she was with him, what was Alec’s part in all this. Why was he doing this now? What was his plan for me?
I settled on, “Why are you helping me?”
Rachel paused, and the way the small light illuminated her eyes nearly had me frozen in place. I knew those eyes. I watched them come alive for the first time when Laura arrived at the club all those months ago. I watched them as they adjusted to becoming president and mourned during Simon’s funeral.
“You’re…” My mouth opened and paused before realizing I had already asked her a question and she was about to answer.
“I’m who?”
I shook my head. “Why are you helping me?”
Rachel took a step closer. “What were you going to say?”
My voice was nearly a rasp as I glanced behind me at the door, knowing our time was limited, and if I was wrong, she might decide I wasn’t worth helping.
“Are you related to Killian Quinn? You have his eyes. ”
She looked as though I’d slapped her. Her eyes flickered, her mouth gaped, and she backtracked into one of the shelves.
“Do you…” she started, but had to clear her throat. “Do you know him?”
“Very well actually…he’s the president of the Stone Riders. He’s also my friend.”
Tears tracked down her face as she tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob.
“He’s good then, like you’re good?”
My heart nearly broke in half as I realized this was Killian’s mother. His long-lost mother that he had loved so very much.
Stepping closer to her, I gently reached out for her hand and held it tight. “He’s very good. He found happiness and love. He’s happy.”
Rachel sobbed again and pulled me into a tight hug. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him. To be good and happy. To find love.”
I had no idea why she had decided to leave her son all those years ago. From what Laura had told me, she left him when he was just nine years old. Killian’s dad went to prison shortly after, so he was raised by Simon Stone.
There was a buzzing sound coming from her pocket. She pulled back, swiping at her face while inspecting her cell.
“It’s Fable. I need to get back. Listen to me, Natty.” She pulled me by the shoulders and leveled me with her teary-eyed stare. “You need to wait this out for a few days. Fable doesn’t have a plan for you; he just wants to keep you here until he’s ready to face off with Silas. He knows it will mess with his head and force Silas to react rashly. He’s likely going to take pictures of you with Alec and try to force Silas to act first. So, wait it out, see if you can get Alec to aid you.”
I shook my head. “He won’t.”
“You have to try. Fable is leveraging his hold over the Sons of Speed. If he doesn’t have them then he’s not strong enough with just the Destroyers. Especially if you say Killian is the president now of the Stone Riders. Silas has the Death Raiders…Fable will be too outnumbered. He has to take the Death Raiders from Silas, it’s his biggest play.”
“But why?” I shook my head not understanding why he just popped up out of nowhere after all these years and suddenly wanted power .
Rachel’s phone buzzed again, and she clicked the light off, plunging us into darkness.
She whispered briskly, “Watch the patrols, lunch will be the safest, or early near six when they trade positions.”
“Come with me,” I whispered back, but she was already opening the door and slipping out.
I bit my lip, knowing I had to be quiet. Rachel slid out of the kitchen, leaving me behind. I grabbed a few cookies from the pantry and then snuck out behind her. I was nearly to Alec’s door when it suddenly swung open, and a pair of angry gray eyes greeted me.