Chapter Thirty-Three
SIENNA
The second Axel slipped out the door, I woke up.
Not fully, at first, but enough to listen to the low murmur of the men down the hall talking, their boots scuffing against the hardwood floors, their guns being checked, then, before I was ready for it, the engines rumbling awake outside like thunder.
My heart splits in two knowing what he’s heading into, who he’s going to come face-to-face with.
I lay there for hours, worried, making myself sick to my stomach when there’s a low creak. It’s not close enough to be in the hallway, but it’s close enough that it was unmistakable.
A feeling starts to crawl over my skin, slow and inky, everything tightening.
Something’s wrong. I can feel it deep in my bones.
The danger isn’t out there waiting for the Heathens to arrive.
It’s here. That familiar companion coils around my ribs until breathing feels impossible, my heart hammering so hard it hurts.
Every instinct in me screams to move, but fear pins me in place and I can’t.
I stare at the bedroom door, listening to the silence, willing it away.
But then it happens again, a floorboard creaking somewhere, closer this time.
Axel’s voice rings out in my head, his comforting woodsy and citrus scent surrounding me.
“Move, baby girl!” I’m moving before I realize it, quietly slipping off the bed and digging through my duffel bag.
Fear still claws at my throat, but I push it down, finally grabbing the gun from the bottom of my bag where Saint stashed it the night he dropped me off with them.
I hold it with shaky hands and quickly check the magazine, making sure it’s loaded.
The click is loud in the quiet room, and I hold my breath, my pulse thundering in my ears.
I quickly try to remember who stayed behind, but the only people that come up are me, Kinsey, Saige, and some trusted men, but I can’t remember who.
I creep toward the door, every nerve and cell in my body a live wire, every instinct sharp and dangerous.
He’s here. I know he’s here. And I’m not going to let him hurt me or someone I care about.
I guarantee he thought the men took the threat with them when they left. But he was dead fucking wrong.
I turn the handle of my door so slowly it’s almost painful, but when I can finally pull it open, the hallway is empty.
I slip through the door, walking on my tiptoes with my heart in my throat.
I reach Kinsey’s door two down from Axel’s and quietly open it.
The room is completely dark, but just as I take a step in the direction of the bed, there’s a crash from the main room, the sound of something heavy falling over, followed by shattering glass.
Kinsey sits up fast, reaching quickly for her end table. “It’s Sienna!” I hiss as I drop to the floor so I don’t accidentally get shot.
“Sienna? What the hell is going on?”
I scramble onto the bed, just as she’s cocking her handgun. “They’re here. Cain.”
“Someone set them up.” My heart sinks, knowing everyone is going to assume it was one of my brothers. But I can’t think about that now. We have to take care of this.
“What do we do?”
“You’re sure they’re here?”
“I can feel it, Kinsey. He’s here, just trust me.”
“I trust you. Okay. Well, you have a gun, so that’s a start. Do you know how to use it?”
“Yeah. My brother taught me, plus our dad was a club president; he made sure I knew how to drink whiskey and shoot a gun.”
“Good. Saige is probably already awake from the crash. Noose, Rave, and some others were left behind. There’s a chance you may have to fight back, Sienna.
I need to know you’ve got this. Got my back.
I’m pregnant,” she whispers, putting her hand over her belly.
“Reid doesn’t know yet. I need to know you’ve got this with me. ”
Fear chokes me again, and I nearly lose my breath.
I nod. “I’ve got you.” There’s too much to lose if I don’t.
The door opens a moment later, and Kinsey slaps a hand over my mouth as I gasp.
Saige and Morgan slip through, shining a light from a cell phone as they shut the door and lock it behind them.
“Someone’s here. I’ve already tried to reach Camden and Crew, but they aren’t answering.
They’re either on the road or already dealing with shit there.
It’s up to us to handle this. We’re their fucking queens, and we’re going to goddamn reign like it.
They aren’t taking us, and they aren’t taking our club. ”
“I know it’s Cain. I know he’s coming for me.”
“My apparent brother-in-law? The man who sent the hit out on Jesse. Oh, he’s going to fucking die today.”
“Well, let’s take them down together.”
There’s another crash a moment later, and we all nod. Saige hands her gun to Morgan and then pulls out her knife. Kinsey and I get out of bed and brace ourselves.
Saige nods at us all as she opens the door, another crash of shattering glass echoing down the hallway, followed by several grunts.
Then I hear his voice calling out to me.
Every muscle in my body locks, fear slicing through me like a blade, cold and familiar, carving through this new version of me.
For a split second, I can’t breathe. Then I hear Axel’s voice again in my head, smooth and steady, pushing out that hold Cain has on me.
“You’re so fucking strong, sweetheart. Don’t let him win.
” My fingers tighten around the grip of my Glock until my knuckles turn white.
I force myself to move with them, our bare feet gliding across the old hardwood floors as we head down the hallway.
Sunlight pours into the main living space; someone I don’t recognize behind the bar, pushing the alcohol onto the floor with a loud shatter of glass. Six men stand off to the side, a man in a Heathen’s cut lying face down in a pool of blood on the floor. My eyes scan the room, and then I see him.
Cain.
He’s older now but still looks the same.
Dark hair shaved down almost to the skin, soulless eyes that are near black.
My stomach twists so violently and so quickly that I might actually throw up.
I fight against it, my body swaying, just as Kinsey touches my arm.
“Stay with us. You’re a badass. Wear those scars like armor.
” Fear presses so hard against my ribs, I’m certain it’s trying to crush me from the inside out.
Every terrified part of me wants to run and hide, but I ignore it.
I can’t let him get a hold of me, because I know exactly what will happen if he finally gets his hands back on me.
And the only way to do that is to fight back.
“Sienna, Sienna, where are you, my little pet? I’ve come to bring you home!
” His voice sounds like a knife cutting through lace, sharp and cruel.
The girls and I stay huddled together at the edge of the hallway, Saige counting down for us to walk in, but then Otto appears from around the corner to the kitchen, firing off his gun, which gets us moving.
Morgan steps out first, quickly firing two rounds off into the group.
She hits both targets, one in the neck, his blood squirting out and spraying everywhere, the other in the shoulder.
It gets their attention, though. Cain darts quickly around a corner as Saige bolts into the room.
She moves fast, dodging a hit as she ducks around them, jumping up on their back and slicing her knife right across their throat.
Blood gushes immediately, pouring down his neck like a river.
Kinsey darts in next, firing her gun, the noise reverberating through the room. I’m completely aware how stupid and impulsive it is, but I run after Cain. I can’t let him leave here. I can’t let him win. This has to end.
My footsteps pad against the wood, and I hold the gun out in front of me as I walk into church, finding Cain way too relaxed, leaning against the large oak table, his arms folded across his chest like he was waiting for me.
For a moment, I’m right back in that room, drugged, helpless, unable to fight back.
My stomach turns with the thought of what he did to me, how he beat me, assaulted me, disfigured my body.
Then I remember what he did to my mother and father, the damage Maddox has to live with, how he took Jesse from Morgan, all the women and men he’s hurt.
The room clears around me, and I stand up a little taller.
I’m not back in that room anymore. I’m not scared anymore.
He doesn’t get to win. I hold the gun out in front of me, steadier than it’s ever been in my hands.
“You won’t do it. You’re weak. You’ve been alone this entire time, just like I said you would. Those scars may have destroyed your pretty looks, but once we get your hair back to normal, I’ll look past it.”
“I’m not fucking weak. You are. Men like you are a scourge on the Earth, to humanity. Every day that you get to breathe is too long.”
“We’ll see about that. You’ll feel differently when I’ve got your pussy wrapped around my cock in my bed. Or do you want a repeat of the floor?”
“Fuck you!” I fire the gun at the same moment Cain lurches for me.
He jerks as the bullet flies straight past his head, barely missing him.
He grips my wrists, shoving me backward, my gun falling to the ground as my knee reaches up, hard, connecting with his crotch.
He grunts loudly, the scent of decay and evil assaulting my nose, turning my stomach.
It gives me a split second to twist from his hold, my arm having just enough room to punch him in the throat.
He gurgles as he stumbles backward for a moment.
Pain spreads through my hand and wrist, but I push it down.
“You stupid fucking whore! Just like your mother, only good for one fucking thing. A hole for my cock. I’ll fix you, and then my men will fix all your pretty friends, taking turns until there’s nothing left of any of you.”
Everyone flashes behind my eyes, and I know that no matter what happens right here, this is the end, one way or another. Cain can’t get to any of them. Crashes and yells echo behind me; grunts and guns. It’s a fucking war zone.
“I’m not yours. My mother was never yours.
Maddox isn’t fucking yours!” I scream at the top of my lungs.
Then I dive for my gun, just as he grabs my ankle, dragging me back.
I flip quickly, just like Kinsey taught me, bringing up my other foot and kicking him in the face.
The grasp on my body releases as blood sprays from his nose, a terrible crunch from cartilage and bone breaking.
I scramble for the gun, picking it up and quickly standing, holding it out in front of me.
Cain laughs sardonically, blood dripping down his face. He looks truly terrifying, but his expression morphs as we both hear the rumbling of bikes. I feel it in my bones. Those aren’t his men. They’re ours.
“You don’t have any power here. This is where you die.
” I hold the gun straight out with both hands until woods and citrus envelope my senses, a familiar warmth stepping up to my back, his hand sliding down my arm and cupping around where I’m holding the gun, the other wrapping possessively around my waist. I melt into him, my entire body relaxing.
He’s home. Everything’s going to be okay.
“I’m here, baby girl,” he whispers as he kisses my neck, soft and sweet. Then his tone changes. The one he reserves for people like Cain. “You deserve a slow, painful death. It should last a lifetime. But she’s right, this is where you die,” Axel says. “Are you sure you want to do this, baby?”
I look at the man in front of us and know that I want to watch the light leave his eyes. I want to know firsthand that there’s a bullet in his brain and that he’s unable to hurt anyone ever again.
“I’m positive.”
“On your knees, Cain. It’s time to pray to your God, even though no forgiveness will come to you.
” Axel guides my hand when Cain doesn’t move, firing off a single shot into Cain’s knee.
The spot practically explodes, and he falls to the ground with a scream that could shatter glass.
“I said knees. Now bend them and bow to my fucking queen.”
Cain’s expression is pure evil, and even though his face has haunted me for years, I feel nothing but vengeance and peace right now.
I look down at the man who took everything from me from the arms of the man who gave it all back. And then I pull the trigger.