Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Steel
When the woman steps forward to speak to us, I can’t help thinking how brave—and beautiful—she is.
Her black hair has a bit of a wave to it as it falls just past her shoulders, with gray eyes that keep running over the three of us. I try to ignore her high cheekbones and pouty, kissable lips.
That’s not why we’re here.
It’s never why we’re here.
But I can’t seem to look away from her as she speaks, feeling drawn to her in a way I’ve never felt drawn to another, which is dangerous—and heartbreaking.
It doesn’t matter if she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, or that I’m drawn to her.
Not when I can never touch her.
As Der kopfloser Reiters, we’re meant to live a life atoning for our sins of the past. Yes, we warn people of impending danger sent to us via dreams, and we often stay to help the person or people fight off the evil coming their way. But there’s more to being a rider than that.
We’re meant to live alone.
We’re meant never to find love.
How do I know this?
Because our touch drains the life from the living.
The only love I’ve found during my long life is the love of the men at my back—at least as a rider. I’ve long forgotten my life before being given a chance to atone for my sins. Not that I’m able to forget the atrocities I committed, but I would like to.
Blaze and Titan? They’re what make this life worth continuing—as if I have a choice in the matter.
Without them, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.
It’s why the three of us founded the Headless Riders MC. It’s why we sought others of our kind.
Being alone while living out our punishment is just too hard. I’ve seen what we can turn into if we allow the darkness to overtake us—revenants.
Any chance of redemption for the crimes we committed during our lives is gone. No longer do we seek to help others.
Instead, we live to harm the living—to make them as miserable as we are.
Or we kill them.
It’s a miserable existence, and it’s why we made it our mission to end the revenants prowling this world.
There’s nothing worse than being forced to face what we can become if we didn’t have each other.
But maybe this is worse—facing down this woman who feels like she’s mine but can never be.
As the blonde woman introduces the other two women as her sisters, I find it hard to believe.
I’m not sure they could be more different. The only thing they have in common is their pale skin and light-colored eyes—but they’re not even the same color.
Dalia is the one I can’t keep my eyes off. She’s probably about five foot seven, if I had to guess, and slender. There’s no mistaking that she’s a woman with her gentle curves.
Snap the fuck out of it, Steel.
I force my eyes away from her to Phoebe, the cheerful blonde who’s the shortest of the three.
She can’t be more than an inch or two over five feet.
While she’s also thin, she’s all voluptuous curves—the type of woman I’m usually attracted to.
Her bright sapphire eyes seem to see everything—her voice is melodic.
If I didn’t know what she was, I’d swear she’s a siren.
Turning to the last sister, Morrigan, I smile. Though I’m glad she can’t see it.
She’s the tallest, at nearly six feet tall.
Her hair is a brilliant red that I would’ve thought came from a bottle if it were fifty years ago, but hair dye isn’t something easy to get your hands on nowadays.
Her pale green eyes narrow, and if looks could kill, we’d all be dead.
She’s just as gorgeous as her sisters, but everything about her screams she’s a warrior.
“Does the name Renwick Vesperine mean anything to you?” Blaze asks.
I suck in a breath as the air grows nearly frigid, lightning dancing across the sky that was clear moments ago.
I’m already off my bike and stalking toward Dalia with Blaze and Titan at my back.
Her pale skin has lost all sense of color as her body shakes. Those beautiful, icy gray eyes glaze over as she stares at nothing.
Phoebe and Morrigan move in closer, the redhead shaking Dalia as she calls her name.
It’s like she’s no longer in her body, and I hate it.
She needs to be okay.
As if that thought isn’t worrying enough, Jaeden lets out a growl that has me wincing. It sounds almost like rocks rolling together, making me wonder exactly what he is.
But it’s enough to snap me out of it, and I come to a stop.
When Titan and Blaze try to step past me, I slam my hands into their chests. “No.”
Both men turn their heads toward me. Behind his helmet, Titan’s nose flares as his eyes flash. He wants to argue with me, but eventually nods and takes a step back.
While no one else can see a reiter’s head, we can see each other’s. I don’t know how we’d exist if no one could see our faces—even if they’re non-corporeal.
“What the fuck, Steel?” Blaze demands as I turn to him, but his eyes aren’t on me. No, they’re on Dalia.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
It’s not just me who feels a pull toward her. It’s all three of us.
That’s not good.
Not good at all.
Finally, Dalia pulls out of whatever was holding her captive inside her mind after Blaze makes his smartass comment about it meaning something to them.
Except, he doesn’t sound like he’s being a smartass.
No, he sounds like he wants to murder someone—which I understand since I feel the same way.
She’s fucking glorious as she straightens her shoulders and lifts her head to stare at the three of us. “Tell me what is coming.”
Blaze clears his throat and glances at me. I incline my head to tell him to go ahead.
They need to know what is coming. They need to prepare themselves.
“I should first warn you, we don’t see everything in our dreams,” Blaze says slowly.
“I’m sure you don’t. Just like we’re not able to see everything any longer.” Dalia waves off his words. “Just tell me what you saw.”
Blaze nods. “He will come with just one purpose—to take back what he thinks is his. He won’t allow anything to stand in his way, and he will raze Iero to the ground if he has to. He has amassed quite an army. He plans to use everything he has to take back his ‘property’—his words, not mine.”
She nods slowly. “So he’s finally coming for me.”
“Like hell he is,” Titan growls, and Dalia’s eyebrows shoot up.
“Do you know something I don’t know, Titan?”
He shakes his head, but I can feel him practically vibrating at my side.
Yeah, this is going to be a big problem.