Soul
The Shack sits at the back edge of the Twisted Kings compound. It’s small and smells like blood and bleach. If I close my eyes, I can hear the screams of those we’ve brought here over the years.
It’s a place of terror.
Of judgment.
But for me, it’s the one place I find peace.
A place I find answers.
A place where things feel attainable when so much time is wasted chasing dead ends.
Here, there’s a body to take out my aggression on. Skin to be peeled off. Teeth to tear out. Here, everyone breaks eventually, and I get the answers I’m looking for.
My fingers clench as I walk inside and evaluate the man chained to the chair ahead of me. One eye is swollen shut; blood drips down his chin. He might think that’s the worst of it, but his night is about to get much worse.
“Where did this asshole come from?” I ask Ghost, who is standing at the edge of the Shack, watching him while he waits for everyone to arrive.
“One of the sensors caught him shortly after Emery showed up at the compound. He was in a car at the back entrance, scoping out the property.”
“He was looking for her?”
Ghost nods. “Seems like it. His equipment was top of the line, so he’s well-funded.”
“It didn’t take Zane long to get a tail on her.”
“Which means he probably knew the second she left.” His eyes slide to me, and my teeth clench.
“Are you suggesting she knew they were tailing her and brought them here?”
“I’m not.” He crosses his arms over his chest, his face unflinching. “I understand why Steel has his doubts—it’s his job. But I was there when she came through the gate. I saw the look on her face.”
“And…” I push when he pauses, scratching his jaw with his tattooed fingers.
“And she was scared. There’s no faking the look in her eyes. She needs our help. That’s why I let her through. She’s here for you, Soul.” He lifts off the wall as the rest of the guys walk in, meeting Steel at the door to update him on the situation.
Ghost is a man of few words, so I know he’s not bullshitting me. And to hear him confirm what I already knew in my gut—that Emery is here because she needs me, not because she’s working for her uncle, only fuels my rage.
Zane kept her from me.
He kept my daughter from me.
I’ve been scouring Vegas for the past ten months looking for Emery, and he had her all along.
The girl I’ve needed like I’ve never needed anything. I knew in my bones—in my heart. And that mass of meat and blood hasn’t beat for anything in years. I knew she was meant to be mine.
I’ve chased every high in my life, tried almost every drug, accepted every dare, and fucked my way across the country. But nothing comes close to the rush I get when Emery looks at me. She doesn’t just see me or hear me; she makes me feel alive.
Emery is too good for a man like me, but here she is, and I’m keeping her. I’m keeping them both. End of story. I’ll burn my patch before I send them back to Zane.
I glance over at Steel, finding a hint of doubt lingering in his eyes. I fucking hate it, even if I understand it.
Chaos makes his way over to me while Ghost updates Steel, Legacy, Havoc, and Venom.
Venom is technically second in command to the six of us ranked members, but there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll be alongside us someday, which is why Steel invited him here for this.
“You look ready to draw blood.” Chaos grins when he reaches me, assessing the guy in the center of the room.
He’s conscious long enough to spot the smile on Chaos’s face, draining the color from his cheeks. I’m sure Chaos’s amusement is terrifying, but it’s the least of this guy’s problems.
He had his eyes on my girl—my family.
I’m not stopping until I bleed him dry.
Steel tips his chin up from across the room, finally ready to get started. “The floor’s yours today.”
“Lucky you.” Chaos tilts his head at the man in the center. “Not so lucky for him.”
I grab a knife off the table of instruments, spinning it in my fingers and waiting for it to level me, but it doesn’t, so I walk over to the man in the middle of the room.
“Name?”
He grins, and I wait for him to ignore the question like they usually do. So it surprises me when he answers. “Julian.”
He came here prepared to die if he’s giving up information that easily. He’s disposable, and he knows it. That can either work in our favor or against us.
“Why were you outside our compound?” I press the blade to his throat, and he grins.
“Taking in the view.”
Pulling back on the knife, I slam my fist into his face, breaking his nose. “You think this is funny?”
He spits a wad of blood onto the floor. “If you knew what’s coming for you, then you would too.”
“Oh yeah? And what is that?”
“Rick Zane.” Julian meets my gaze. “He’ll come for her, and when he does, you’ll pay.”
“So he knows where she is then?” I figured as much, but it helps to hear it.
“Of course he knows where she is. He was surprised she slipped out, but he’ll deal with that mess in-house.” Julian’s grin is pure evil. “You can do whatever you want; it won’t stop him from getting her back one way or another. You can’t stop him.”
“Seems like all we do is stop him lately.” I lean in, pressing the blade down on one of Julian’s knuckles with enough pressure to cut skin.
“First, we closed his strip club, which we both know was more than that. Then we took out his lackeys, the Iron Sinners. Next, we’ll dismantle his empire.
And when we’re done, his head will be on a fucking pike. ”
Julian grins up at me, blood pooling between his teeth. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. But your girl does, and she’ll wise up if she gives a shit about you. She’ll go back on her own if she knows what’s good for her and that fucking kid.”
I shove the blade through Julian’s finger, and his laugh turns to a scream as it falls to the ground.
“My fucking kid.” I move to the next finger, cutting that one off as well. “And he’s not getting to either of them.”
Julian wheezes as he fights through the pain, but it’s not enough. Nothing is enough to sate this rage barreling through me.
He needs to be hurting like I am. Like this beast in my chest, clawing to get out.
“She isn’t safe here, and you know it. She isn’t safe anywhere.” Julian spits blood onto the floor, then he meets my gaze. “Not from him. And not with you.”
Maybe he’s right. After all, that’s why I didn’t plan on ever having kids.
It’s not safe to bring anyone into the same shit my father brought me into.
The people around us are always at risk.
There’s always someone with a target on our backs, and they know the easiest way to get to us is through those we care about.
So I fortified my walls. Made sure I didn’t give a fuck about anyone but myself.
Until Emery.
Her eyes flash in my mind. Fear and doubt. But also trust. She’s here because she trusts me to protect her. So that’s what I’ll do, to whatever end. I’m no hero. I’m simply the better of two evils.
I’ll be a monster for her.
For Charlie.
Charlie, who I didn’t get the chance to feel kick in her mother’s stomach because Emery couldn’t tell me she was pregnant. Charlie, who I didn’t get to hear cry for the first time because Zane kept her from me. Charlie, who I didn’t get to hold the moment she was born.
Rick Zane took that away, and right here, right now, that is all I can think about. All I see is red.
I’m done talking. I’m done getting answers.
My blade continues the conversation. A stream of my rage pours out as Julian’s screams drown out my thoughts.
The time I missed.
The firsts I’ll never witness.
All because of them.
I start with his fingers. Then toes. Then I call Patch in to bandage them up and bring him back from being near death so I can start again.
A hand.
A tongue.
Maybe if I chop him up into pieces, my problems will shrink as well. They’ll become manageable.
It’s not until Julian is a bloody, shredded pile of flesh—long since breathing—that Chaos steps forward to finally pull me back. My vision snaps like I’ve been sucked into this black hole, and there’s no escape.
In front of me sits the proof I’ll never be enough for my girls. Yet, I don’t feel the least bit guilty.
“He’s done.” Chaos grips my shoulder. “He’s gone.”
I take a step back. I’m covered in blood as I glance back at my brothers. None of us is squeamish at this point, but we all know I took it pretty fucking far.
I couldn’t help it. Emery changes things for me. And for the first time since she walked into the clubhouse, Steel is looking at me like he understands. He nods once before heading to the door with Ghost and Havoc behind him. Venom stays to help Chaos with the body, while Legacy comes to my side.
“You good?” Legacy asks, watching Venom collect body parts from the ground.
I look over at him but don’t answer because I don’t have it in me to lie right now. And if I admit how not good I am, I might finally break.
“I get it.” Legacy clears his throat. “I understand how you’re feeling.”
“Oh yeah? How am I feeling?” An unamused laugh huffs out.
“Like you’ll never get back all the shit you missed.” His teeth clench. “Remember when Sera dropped Bea off on my doorstep?”
Sera was a patch bunny Legacy had a fling with years ago.
She got hooked on drugs and disappeared for a while.
When she walked back into his life, she was holding Legacy’s daughter in her arms. Like me, he had no idea he was a father.
And even if it’s a different situation, the feelings are the same.
He missed out on her birth. Her first cries. Everything.
“Fuck, man. I didn’t think about that.”
“Yeah.” He scrubs his hand down his face. “It’s rough, I get it. And you can never get some shit back, so you’re just going to have to deal with it. But word of advice?”
I nod, my teeth clenching.
“Move forward. For them, with them. Emery being here is your chance to make something of this, and you don’t want to fuck it up by being angry. We all know how that messes with a kid.”
A little too well. My dad was angry from the second I was born. Not at me, necessarily, but at everything. And it slowly ate our family one bite at a time.
“I’m here if you need anything.” Legacy grips my shoulder.
“Thanks, brother.”
He nods. “Now go get cleaned up. Just because we gotta be this for them doesn’t mean they need to see it.”
I glance down at my blood-drenched clothes—at the monster I am.
A monster I’ll be over and over for them if I have to. I don’t regret it for a second.