Chapter 34
34
Sienna
“Move! You stupid bitch!”
Diesel had me in his claws, dragging me from the van over a jagged path of dirt and rocks. Pain radiated all over—from the sharp stones biting into my bare foot up to the fistful of my hair snarled in his hand.
I couldn’t think beyond the terror as he shoved me along towards an old cabin. The pain in my jaw from his version of saying hello ached into my gums.
He pulled me to a stop; the adrenaline coursing through me made my entire body shaky and wobbly. I caught sight of the man helping him, pushing the despair deeper into my mind.
Bones was a ruthless son-of-a-bitch, a lifelong member of the Double Daggers, but he’d always held a sweet spot for me which made seeing his face all the more confusing. Our eyes caught in the darkness as his boots crunched along the gravel path towards us.
“Why are you helping him?” I spit out at him.
The coward looked away.
“Shut up!” Diesel snapped, yanking my hair again.
I felt it break away from my scalp, driving years of repressed anger into my muscles. I spun and drove my shoulder—the one he’d damaged years ago—right into his gut as hard as I could. He tried to get me into a chokehold but I grabbed his arm as it came up and bit down with everything inside of me. All the rage. The abuse. The agony. I wanted him to feel it. All of it.
The taste of blood wet my tongue as he shouted and shoved me to the ground. His agony never tasted so sweet.
“You fucking bitch!” Diesel glanced at the wound on his arm and then lunged for me. I scrambled across the graveled ground, grasping for anything I could use as a weapon. I tossed a handful of rocks and dirt into his face and then desperately clawed for more, hurling sticks and anything I could reach.
No more. I refused to stay stuck in the terror and evil trying to end me. If today was my last, I’d spend it fighting. I’d survived this storm before. I could do it again. I would drag him right into Hell with me.
Diesel reared his arm back, all two hundred plus pounds of him ready to deliver another blow. I covered my head on instinct, anything to lessen the impact. I was all too familiar with the power and violence he delivered. If he knocked me out, I wouldn’t be able to fight back.
Bones rushed over, stepping between us. His meaty hand clamped painfully around my arm as he pulled me to my knees. “Get up, Syla.”
“Get her inside already.”
My head snapped towards the house. The female voice was unexpected, yet familiar. As Bones pulled me up, a light from within illuminated a slender body in the doorway. My feet stumbled up the wooden steps as she came into view.
Tammy smiled at me, that maniacal insanity of way too many years of drugs and hard living curling her lips.
“Miss me, bitch?” She laughed.
“Get your ass inside,” Diesel ordered.
Confusion made everything hazy.
“You are going to get your due, bitch. And I’m going to love every second of it,” Tammy cackled.
Bones gave me a shove, tossing me onto a rickety, old couch that creaked below me. It smelled disgusting, like a mix of mold and cat piss. Probably had a dose of Tammy’s skanky club whore vagina in there too.
Diesel grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the table, tipping it back. Some things never changed. His hair was much shorter now, slicked back with sweat and grease. He was thinner too. Guess prison food would do that to you. Gone was the attraction I’d once held for him. He used to be gorgeous; now he was pathetic and in need of a bath.
My mind drifted to Asher holding me in the shower, washing all the memories of this scumbag asshole off of me. Asher’s voice echoed through my mind. It was a soothing balm to my pain, reminding me I was strong. How his lips had been next to my cheek as he’d given me the skills to be lethal. How I was never to fear anything ever again.
“You are gonna get yours!” Tammy shouted again.
I looked back at the dirty whore, taking her all in. Scraggly blonde hair. Deep circles under her eyes. She was skinny as hell—the kind of skinny achieved from a steady diet of meth and alcohol. Her ripped-jeans-on-boney-thighs-look wasn’t working for her. To top it off, she was wearing my old cut; the Property of Diesel patch up on the top right. I knew it was mine. The top corner of the patch was still stained with my blood.
“You took him away from me for four. Fucking. Years!” she screamed at me.
I glanced over at Diesel, who was busy rolling a joint now. Guess he needed to be drunk and high to exact his plan of revenge.
“Don’t you just look fantastic , Tammy.”
“Fuck you!” she screamed. She was so jittery and jumpy, tweaking hard on something, she could barely stand still.
“Take a good look at me, Tammy ,” I said through my teeth. “You’re wearing my cut. What do you think he’ll do to you in four more years?”
“Shut the fuck up, Syla,” Diesel snapped. He lit the joint in his mouth and then started gathering rope up off the table.
“I was in the wind, D. Gone!” I yelled. “You’re out. You have her. I never did anything to you!”
He slipped a gun from the back of his pants, hidden under his leather cut, and waved it at me. I shoved deeper into the couch, as if it could protect me from this nightmare.
My eyes cut to Bones, watching any semblance of care for me drift from his. He slipped a pack of smokes from his Double Daggers cut and shoved out the door, taking any possible hope of my survival with him.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” Diesel squatted down in front of me, tapping the muzzle of his gun on my thigh. “Because of you, my club took a hit. I took a hit. But in a few hours, you’ll pay me back. I have a buyer who’s willing to pay fifty G’s for you. Knowing you’ll suffer long and hard makes me stiff.”
The reality of his true intentions caused my heartbeat to turn into a full gallop. I needed to run.
He pressed the muzzle deeper into my thigh. “You think changing your hair color would keep me from finding you? You always were a dumb bitch. One call from daddy was all it took to make you come running. I’m still thinking I might rather just kill you, Syla. I’m sure your calls to the DEA made you feel real good.”
My head shook so fast, I felt dizzy. “No. I never…”
His hand cracked me across the face, tossing me sideways. “Don’t. Fucking. Lie to me, Syla!”
Pain rattled up through my skin as the bitter taste of fresh blood flooded my mouth. I winced through it, wishing death would be swift. He’d taken all the love I’d once had for him and turned it into seething hate. Murdered it. And now, instead of just ending me, he was going to make me disappear.
A loud blast sounded out behind the cabin, rattling the windows and jolting my nerves.
As soon as Diesel turned away, I lunged for the gun in his hand. I’d rather die swiftly than face the fate he’d cursed me to.
Instead of seizing it, my hand skimmed over the weapon as I crashed to the floor. Diesel cursed as the gun dislodged from his hand and skidded across the hardwood past Tammy’s feet. The front door exploded with a thunderous boom and loud gunfire cracked through the air. I covered my head as Diesel twisted around, shock coating his face. Another blast echoed out and he flew backwards, landing flat on his back. Blood trickled from his head and down over his ear.
Tammy’s scream pierced the confusion as she scrambled across the floor for the gun. Before she could even grab it, another ear-splitting crack rippled through the room.
Tammy rocked back and crumpled to the ground; her eyes wide, staring blankly at me as blood dripped from the hole in her forehead.
Asher’s black cargo pants stepped past me; gun raised as he went through the rest of the house. I tried to push up from the floor but my muscles weren’t cooperating.
Another set of boots and black cargo pants swam into view; gun raised just as high.
My mind accepted what my body hadn’t. The relief at seeing Zip’s face too made me crumble into a boneless pile.
“Clear.” Asher’s deep voice .
“Clear.” Zip’s almost identical deep voice .
I couldn’t stop the sobs erupting from my throat. It felt impossible to breathe.
Asher’s knees landed next to me. “Sienna!” He made quick work searching me, pulling me into his arms. “Oh, thank God! I’m here, baby. I’m here. Just breathe. You’re okay.”
His lips were warm and soft on mine. His gloved thumb wiped my chin. He’d come for me, through the darkness. Through the explosions. Through it all.
My vision narrowed on his chest, on the black straps and gun and knife and… and all the blood on him.
Panic flared in me. “Ash. Are you bleeding?” I needed to fix him. Stop the blood from wherever it was coming from.
Asher held my roaming hands still. “Easy, babe. Blood’s not mine. Don’t touch it.”
Zip grunted from the doorway. “She good?”
“Yeah, Bro.”
“Could use some help here,” Zip groaned.
Asher helped me sit up and then the reality of what they were doing hit me. The two of them were carrying Bones’ body into the house. His neck was streaked brown and red.
I felt like I was going to throw up.
Zip didn’t have a stitch of blood on him. Asher… Asher had done that.
No, I couldn’t feel bad. Diesel was going to sell me, and Bones was going to just stand by and watch it happen.
They dropped his body next to Diesel’s.
“Got to make this quick,” Zip told Asher.
“Give me a minute. Get his phone.” Asher disappeared into the kitchen. “Dad’s phone too.”
Zip searched Diesel’s prone body, feeling pockets.
I managed to get on my feet. One shoe on, one shoe off, I shuffled across the floor to stare down at the devil. One hole in the center of his head. One hole through his black heart. Good.
“Careful, Sienna,” Zip warned. “Don’t step in the blood.” He pulled phones out of Diesel’s pockets. He slipped his own phone out of a holder, clicked a button, and one of the phones rang. “Got Dad’s phone.” He slipped it into the pocket on his thigh.
Asher was busy in the kitchen. Drawers slid open. Something scraped across the floor. What the hell was he doing? Now was not the time to make a sandwich.
“Bro, spent brass,” he ordered.
“On it.” Zip searched the floor, picking up something. He walked in a circle, bending again. “Two?”
Asher closed another drawer. “Three.” He came out of the kitchen with a wire in his hand. “Got them?”
Zip bent again. “Yep.” He shoved things into his pocket.
I was so confused, but Asher seemed to be on a mission. The sweet smell of propane started to fill the air.
“Bro, get Sienna out. Now.”
Asher’s stern order made my spine go stiff.
“Time to go, babe.” Zip bent and tossed me up over his shoulder.
The microwave started to beep.
Zip jogged with me over his shoulder down the dark road. The trees thinned out farther down the lane, glowing soft with the approaching dawn.
He deposited me next to a dark van and started stripping off weapons and gear. “Front seat, Sienna. Now.”
I didn’t want to move. Not until I saw Asher was coming. What was taking him so long?
And then I spotted his outline in the darkness. Asher tucked me under his arm and carried me to the passenger seat, helping me in. He opened the back door and jumped in.
Zip drove slowly down the dark, dirt road until we were out on a main street.
“Time to make a call,” Asher said.
The phone in his hand beeped and then on the third ring, an enormous fireball lit the side of the mountain.