Chapter 17
REV
The ride into Virginia had been long, and the final approach took even longer because nobody was willing to rush the last piece.
I rode point, with Edge and Kane flanking me.
Drift took up the rear as tail gunner, while Axle followed in an SUV so ordinary it disappeared into traffic the second you looked away.
The darkness had fully settled, the shadows draping over the deserted road as we moved into position. The location we’d tracked Magnus to was isolated enough to offer concealment, but close enough to the city to provide easy access to the resources he depended on.
Magnus definitely had a type when it came to buildings. He preferred places that felt abandoned but weren’t truly. Structures with history embedded in the walls.
We spent nearly an hour watching.
Lights flickered occasionally behind covered windows, a side door opened once, and a shadow moved across an upstairs room.
Magnus was there. The bastard hadn’t run far enough.
I’d studied the blueprints of this building thoroughly, and they had become familiar enough that I could practically walk them blindfolded. Combined with everything I’d learned about Magnus, I had built a probable layout in my head before we ever arrived.
When the breach finally happened, it unfolded exactly the way I expected.
Magnus didn’t panic or grab a weapon and start shooting.
And he didn’t go charging to the nearest exit.
That wasn’t who he was. Organized offenders rarely chose chaos when they could choose control.
They followed plans and relied on preparation in all things, not just their killing rituals. They trusted systems.
And Magnus depended on his—which meant I knew where he was headed.
When we entered the building, I peeled away from the others and headed toward the eastern corridor. Not because I knew where Magnus was, but because I had figured out where Magnus thought he was going.
The hallway stretched long and dark ahead of me, and I heard footsteps. They were measured, like he was trying very hard not to sound hurried. A grim smile touched my mouth.
Got you, motherfucker.
I rounded the corner just as Magnus stepped through the emergency access doorway carrying a hard-sided archival case. He stopped cold when he spotted me ahead of him. Genuine fear flashed across his face. And recognition.
Yeah, the bastard knew exactly who I was. And he understood why I stood there.
The case slipped from his fingers and hit the floor.
For several seconds, neither of us moved, and then he actually sighed. Like this was an inconvenience. “Detective work is remarkably inefficient compared to proper scholarship.”
I just stared at him.
“You don’t understand what you’re interrupting.”
“No,” I replied calmly. “I understand it perfectly.”
His gaze sharpened. “My work preserves continuity.”
“My woman isn’t your work.” The words landed harder than I’d intended, probably because they were true.
Magnus opened his mouth and tried explaining again. Justifying, framing murder as reverence.
The entire time he spoke, I watched him carefully because the truly dangerous thing about Magnus was that he believed every word.
He genuinely thought he was preserving something beautiful.
That if people could simply understand his vision, they’d see the logic.
The righteousness. And that made him far more dangerous than a man motivated by greed.
Because zealots never thought of themselves as monsters.
When Kane and the others arrived, Magnus didn’t fight, and the bindings went on quickly.
As Axle opened the SUV, Magnus looked at me one last time.
“You truly don’t understand.”
I grabbed the front of his coat, just enough to make certain he listened.
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You mistook women for objects.” The words came out flat and cold. “And that mistake ends tonight.”
Then I shoved him into the vehicle.
The sun had already slipped low beneath the horizon, casting shadows across the parking lot at The Pit by the time we finally pulled back in from Washington, DC.
The drive home had been long and exhausting, but none of us were willing to risk pushing through the night after the events of the day.
Fatigue made men careless, and that wasn’t tolerated in our world.
Especially not now, with Magnus restrained in the back of Axle’s SUV.
The garage was mostly quiet as we arrived, the familiar sight of The Pit grounding me as I climbed off my bike and stretched my weary muscles.
Axle parked near the entrance to the underbelly, his expression unreadable through the windshield, though the tension was evident in the jerkiness of his movements.
Magnus didn’t speak or resist as we removed him from the SUV and guided him toward the hidden entrance. Instead, his eyes darted calmly, curiously even, across the surroundings, as if he was cataloging every detail and committing it to memory.
Nobody looking at it would ever suspect what existed two floors beneath The Pit.
The hidden underbelly swallowed sound, light, and secrets equally well.
With reinforced concrete walls, industrial-grade steel doors, and tiled floors meant for efficient cleanup, it was designed for containment and interrogation.
There was an open area near the entry, furnished simply with a couple of tables, chairs, and a counter complete with a sink for quick cleaning and disposal.
Two bathrooms stood ready, equipped with showers and cabinets stocked with clean sweats and essentials in case our clothes were too damaged from our activities to wear.
And beyond those rooms lay the cells and a separate, well-stocked room that held tools we hoped we’d rarely need but kept nonetheless for moments like this.
Magnus was secured in one of the holding rooms, where Edge and Gauge took their time extracting the information we wanted.
They moved methodically, balancing intimidation and just enough pain to keep Magnus forthcoming without tipping him over the edge into lies or hysteria.
They asked detailed questions, verifying and cross-referencing every piece of information he provided—locations of hidden victims, burial and disposal confirmations, and storage sites.
Every answer was documented and then immediately forwarded to Jax and Apex for further verification.
Throughout the process, I stayed near the edge of the room, observing silently, my arms folded firmly across my chest as I waited for the final piece of intel that would finally make Magnus expendable.
My presence was tightly controlled, yet every muscle ached with a deadly anticipation, readiness simmering just beneath the surface.
I was ready for the moment when justice could finally be delivered.
Eventually, after every loose end was thoroughly confirmed, Magnus Kinghorn became unnecessary.
At that moment, Edge stepped back, casting a meaningful glance in my direction.
I didn’t say a word—I didn’t need to. Instead, I moved forward calmly, approaching my target slowly enough that he could feel each measured step, until I stood directly in front of him, forcing him to look into my eyes.
Fear flickered across his carefully maintained expression. The look of someone who was finally coming to understand the reality of what awaited him.
I was a little taken aback when he tried once more to reason with me.
“You misunderstand what I’ve tried to do,” Magnus began softly, his voice steady despite the tension in his posture. “This is about preservation—historical reverence. It was never meant—”
“You took women,” I interrupted him. Each word deliberate in my ice-cold voice. “You treated them as objects. You convinced yourself it was preservation, but all you’ve done is twist history to serve your own obsession.”
Magnus opened his mouth because he truly believed that he could convince us that he was anything other than a monster.
“You’re finished.” I cut off his words before they could gain momentum. “You made your choice when you targeted Delaney, and tonight your mistakes have caught up to you.”
He drew in a shallow breath, the truth finally settling heavily across his face as he realized there was no room for negotiation and no way to talk his way out of the fate he’d earned.
Justice arrived swiftly. I’d prepared to drag it out, make him suffer, but in the moment, it turned out that all I wanted was for this shit to be done. To get back to Delaney and finally move forward with our future.
I nodded toward Edge and Gauge, who stepped forward and began securing him for final transport. Edge glanced toward me. “We’ll handle the rest.”
I nodded once, trusting them implicitly to finish it.
Without another glance at Magnus, I turned away, exhaustion finally seeping into my bones as I moved toward one of the showers at the end of the hall.
I stood beneath the hot spray, letting the water wash away every trace of the journey and the tension, as my muscles slowly unclenched under the pounding spray.
When I finally stepped out, I dried off and changed into clean sweats and a fresh T-shirt, feeling more human, more controlled, and far more ready to see Delaney again.
The clubhouse was quiet with the late hour, though a couple of the single guys always hung around. I walked through the halls toward my room, anticipation rising steadily within me as I reached the door and stepped inside.
Delaney sat up immediately in bed, her eyes finding mine as I shut the door softly behind me. I saw the relief wash through her expression, the tension she’d been holding finally easing at the sight of me.
“It’s done?” she whispered, her voice soft and hopeful.
I crossed the room without answering yet and climbed into bed beside her.
She reached for me, her arms wrapping around me without hesitation as I pulled her into my chest. Her body relaxed fully against mine, her breathing softening as the warmth of her skin sank into my own, anchoring me completely to the present.
“Yeah, angel,” I murmured against her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as I felt the last of the day’s tension fade. Her fingers slid gently across my shoulders, pulling me closer.
She didn’t ask questions or demand details. She simply held on to me, trusting that I’d handled whatever needed to be handled. I drew a slow, steady breath, feeling as if I could breathe freely for the first time since I’d found her on that dark, isolated road.
Magnus was no longer a threat. Delaney was safe, protected, and exactly where she belonged.
Finally, I could rest.
And for the first time since she stumbled into the road and crashed into my life, the future felt wide open.