Page 8 of Vengeance

"I don't take orders from strangers,” she spat.

"So I’ve noticed," he muttered. She looked at him and realized that he wasn't even watching her anymore. His attention was fixed outside as he calculated his next move, like he'd seen attacks like this before.

"Three SUVs," he murmured to himself.

"What?" she asked.

"They're missing one,” he said.

Her stomach tightened. "What do you mean they're missing one?"

"They always run four, and there are only three SUVs,” Vengeance said. How did he know that? Before she could ask, he spun toward Bowie. "They're setting up a second breach!"

Bowie looked furious. "You seem awfully damn familiar with their tactics."

"I told you I know how they operate,” Vengeance shouted.

"You know too much,” Bowie said.

"No shit." The front doors suddenly burst inward, and three masked men stormed inside, firing automatic weapons.Everything happened at once as the Royal Bastards opened fire. The room erupted into a hail of bullets. One of the attackers fell almost instantly. Another disappeared behind an overturned pool table, and the third grabbed a flashbang from his vest.

Vengeance's eyes widened. "Down!" He threw himself over Chloe again just as the device detonated. A blinding flash swallowed the room. The explosion was followed by an ear-splitting bang that left Chloe completely disoriented. She couldn't see or hear, and everything spun around her.

Hands grabbed her—strong hands. She looked back and realized that they weren’t Vengeance's. Chloe screamed, or at least she thought she did, but she couldn’t hear anything. A rough arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her backward. She fought wildly, elbowing whoever had hold of her, and the man grunted as she stomped on his foot—hard. His grip loosened just enough that she was able to twist free and stumble blindly into another body.

Large hands caught her shoulders. "Easy,” Vengeance breathed in her ear. She recognized his voice even through the ringing. "They're trying to take you!" She blinked until shapes slowly came back into focus. One of the masked men had ignored everyone else. He ignored the gunfight, ignored Bowie, and ignored the entire club. He'd come straight for her. The realization hit like a freight train.

"They weren't just attacking the clubhouse," she whispered.

Vengeance's expression darkened. "I know."

"They came for me.” Another burst of gunfire echoed through the room. The attacker who'd grabbed her was dead now, lying only a few feet away. His mask had slipped during the fall. He couldn't have been older than twenty-five. Chloe's eyes landed on the tattoo peeking above his collar—a black veil, wrapped around a skull. It was the symbol from the photographs of the Black Veil Syndicate.

Vengeance crouched beside the body, his face hardened. He reached into the dead man's pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "What is it?" she asked.

His jaw clenched. "Nothing."

"Liar." He looked at her, and for the first time since they'd met, she saw fear—real fear.

"Give it to me,” she ordered.

"No,” he breathed.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because once you read this, everything changes.” His voice was barely above a whisper. Before she could grab it from him, Bowie stormed over, blood running down one side of his face from a cut above his eyebrow.

He ripped the paper from Vengeance's hand. "What the hell's so important?"

Vengeance actually reached for it. "Bowie, don't—" Bowie unfolded the single sheet, and his face went completely still. Every ounce of color drained away.

"What is it?" Chloe demanded. He didn't answer. Instead, he slowly turned the paper toward her. Across the top was a recent photograph of Chloe, and beneath it, typed in bold black letters, were five words that made her blood run cold.

CAPTURE ALIVE. DO NOT DAMAGE.

And beneath those words was a signature. Just one name?—

Dante