Chapter 14
LILLITH
Tank had convinced her to stay with him at a little safe house that the Royal Bastards provided him.
He had met the guys, and they all seemed to hit it off.
She had to admit that having family and friends in their corner seemed to change Tank in some way.
He seemed less stressed out and was more himself.
Sure, he was still bossy as hell, but she was seeing a whole new side to Tank, and she liked it.
They were going into the Royal Harlot’s clubhouse to talk to Ember, and something about the day felt off to her. Lillith couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she felt as though something was about to happen—something bad.
She got out of Tank’s truck when they got to the church, and her gut felt as though it did a little flip-flop inside her.
Everything happened so quickly, she didn’t have time to think.
One second, they were walking inside the clubhouse—planning, and trying to figure out what the hell they were going to do next.
And then, everything went to hell. Lillith didn’t even realize what she was hearing at first. She thought it was a car, and maybe a second one, but all she heard was engines.
There were too many, and they were very loud.
Tank went still beside her, like something inside him flipped.
“Down,” he snapped. That was all it took for the room to shift instantly around her. The Royal Harlots moved like they’d done this before—chairs scraping, bodies dropping low, hands reaching for things Lillith hadn’t even noticed were there. Weapons—actual weapons.
“Get inside the room, now!” Ember barked. Lillith didn’t argue. She didn’t even think. She just moved as Ember had ordered, but she didn’t get far. Tank’s hand caught her arm, yanking her back just enough to stop her.
“No,” he said.
Her heart slammed. “What do you mean, no?”
“You stay with me,” he ordered. That should’ve scared her, but it didn’t. Instead, it grounded her.
“Okay,” she said. Outside, doors slammed, and she heard men’s voices. There were more than a few of them.
“Shit,” someone muttered behind her.
“Positions,” Ember ordered, already moving toward the side of the room like she owned the chaos. Lillith’s pulse was roaring now, adrenaline kicking in so hard it made her hands shake. This was real. This wasn’t just Tank’s stories, and not just tension, warnings, and paranoia.
“They found us,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Tank said, his voice low and focused. “They did.” A loud bang hit the front doors, and Lillith flinched. The wooden doors sounded as though they would crack completely apart as another blow landed. This one was harder.
“They’re not wasting time,” Tank muttered.
“Good,” Ember shot back. “Neither are we.” That got Lillith’s attention.
She turned slightly, just enough to see Ember—gun in hand, eyes sharp, and completely calm.
Her sister was acting like this was just any other day, and Lillith was beginning to see that she didn’t know her sister well at all. Ember was fierce.
“Lillith,” Ember said without looking at her.
“Yeah?”
“Stay behind something solid,” her sister ordered.
“Define solid,” Lillith muttered.
“Anything that isn’t you,” Tank growled. There was another slam against the door, and the hinges groaned in protest.
“Tank,” Ember said, quickly. “You got a plan?”
“Yeah,” he said. “We don’t let them get inside.”
Lillith looked at him as though he had lost his mind. “That’s the plan?” she whispered.
“It’s simple, and it works,” he muttered. The door splintered as the wood cracked down the middle, and light from outside spilled through.
The first man came through the doorway, and everything exploded around her.
Deafening gunfire rang out as Lillith dropped instinctively to the floor, as chaos ripped through the room.
The Harlots didn’t panic. They moved with precision, and Lillith couldn’t seem to take her eyes off them.
They were like a machine that had been waiting for this exact moment.
“Left side!” someone shouted.
“I got him!” another voice snapped. Tank moved in front of her, shielding Lillith from the danger that surrounded them.
“I guess you're my something solid,” she breathed.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
“I am down!” she snapped back, her voice shaking despite her best efforts. Another man pushed through the door, and then another. There were too many, and Lillith panicked.
“They’re flooding in,” Tank muttered.
“Not for long,” Ember shot back. Lillith risked a glance at what was going on, which was a horrible idea. A man lunged forward and went down hard when one of the women took him out with a clean shot. There was no hesitation or second-guessing on her part, and for that, Lillith was thankful.
“Holy shit,” Lillith breathed. Yeah—she was definitely not in California anymore.
Tank grabbed her shoulder, pulling her tighter behind him as another round of shots rang out. “Don’t look,” he said.
“Too late,” she muttered. Another crash sounded behind them as glass shattered everywhere.
“They’re trying to come up on the sides!” someone yelled.
“Cut them off!” Ember barked. Two of the Harlots broke away instantly, moving toward the side hallway without question.
Lillith’s heart was beating so hard it hurt.
This wasn’t supposed to be her life. This wasn’t supposed to be—a body hit the floor in front of her, cutting off her train of thought.
She flinched, her breath catching, and Tank’s hand tightened on her shoulder.
“Stay with me,” he said.
“I’m here,” she whispered. Another shot rang out close to them, and then it was silent.
Lillith blinked, her ears ringing. “Is it—” she started.
“Don’t,” Tank cut her off. Because of course it wasn’t over. A groan came from the doorway. It was one of the men, and he was still alive.
Tank moved before she could process it, stepping forward to grab the guy by the collar and hauling him up just enough to make him groan again.
“Who sent you?” he demanded. The man laughed—actually laughed.
“It doesn’t matter because you’re already dead,” he rasped. Tank hit him hard.
“You came into the wrong place,” Tank said, his voice low and deadly. The man spat blood at Tank’s feet.
“You think this is over?” he choked out. “That was just—” Tank hit him again before he could finish what he was saying. And this time, he didn’t get back up.
Lillith swallowed hard as the room slowly came back into focus. The Harlots were still standing.
“Everyone good?” Ember called. A chorus of answers came back.
“Clear.”
“I’m good.”
“Two down on the side.”
Lillith pushed herself up slowly, her legs shaky but holding as she looked around. The clubhouse was damaged and littered with bodies. She looked at the other women, her sister, and Tank, and thanked God that they were all right.
“You okay?” Tank asked, turning back to her. She stared at him—at the man who had dragged her into this. He stood between her and everything that had just tried to kill her. He didn’t run this time.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice steadier than she felt.
She took a breath and added, “I think I’m done running, too.
” That got his attention, which worked for her because if this was her life now, then she wasn’t going to be the girl hiding behind walls.
If having to deal with all of this meant that she could be with Tank, she’d take it.
She’d fight alongside him. And from the way Ember and the Harlots were watching her, they’d back her one hundred percent.
The silence after the fight didn’t feel like a victory—it felt like a warning.
Lillith stood in the middle of the clubhouse, her ears still ringing from the chaos that rang out around her.
Lillith’s pulse finally started to slow as the reality of what just happened settled in.
She was in shock; she had to be. A part of her wondered how they were all still standing—every single one of them.
All the Harlots were safe, and that was what mattered most, even if the clubhouse was a little worse for wear.
“You good?” Ember asked, stepping up beside her.
Lillith nodded, even though her hands were still shaking. “Yeah.”
“Liar,” Ember muttered.
“Yeah,” Lillith admitted. “But I’m still here.” That earned her a small nod from her sister.
“Yeah,” Ember said. “You are.” Across the room, Tank was pacing. She could tell that his tightly held control was slipping. It was like something inside him just couldn’t seem to settle. Lillith watched him for a second before pushing herself forward, weaving through the mess until she reached him.
“Hey,” she said softly. He didn’t stop pacing. Tank didn’t even look at her.
“Hey,” he muttered back.
“Tank,” she whispered. Somehow, that got him to stop. He turned to look at her, and for a second, she saw the part of him that was still ready for the next hit.
“They’re not done,” he said as though plainly stating a fact.
Lillith swallowed. “I figured.”
“They don’t do half measures,” he added. “That was a test.”
Her stomach dropped. “A test?” she asked.
“Yes, to see how we respond,” he said. “They wanted to see what they’re up against.”
“Good,” Ember cut in, stepping closer. “Now they know that we can handle our own.”
Tank’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, but now they’ll escalate.”
Lillith looked between them. “Then we don’t wait,” she said. Both of them turned to her, and she worried that she had said something wrong.
“What?” Tank asked.
“We don’t sit here and wait for them to come back with more men,” she said. “We end it, now, on our own terms.” Tank stared at her like she’d just said something reckless, and maybe she had.
“You don’t ‘end’ people like this,” he said, looking around the room at the bodies on the floor.
“Why not?” she shot back.
“Because they don’t just disappear,” he snapped. “The men who want me dead have endless resources. You take one down, someone else steps in. There is no end to this—not until I’m dead.”