Page 22 of Rogue’s Vow

I wish I had grabbed Rogue’s oversized chaps to keep my thighs protected as I take the slide. I hit the ground with a thud, thankful it’s not full of cactus thorns and instead just sunbaked dirt, which is hard enough on my feet.

The Royal Bastard bikes are out in front. I’m tempted to jump on one of them and hightail it out of here just like in the movies, but nothing in my experience has taught me how to ride a motorcycle and getting myself killed before I get to my sister is not going to help anyone.

Instead, I take to the shadows, avoiding the front where the sentries are still watching just in case the Scorpions show up again. I’m careful to duck against the building to avoid the cameras I know show up on the little screen on Rogues’ watch. “Rogue said to lock everything down tight. Him and Hayze are heading out shortly to go get Angel’s sister from the Scorpions. We’re going to have a skeleton crew here for a while.”

My chest tightens so hard I can barely breathe. The Scorpions will be able to hear the rumble of their bikes far down the road. I’ve heard other crews roar into the desert and the Scorpions always knew way ahead of time whether they were friendly or not. Every sound causes my chest to tighten, trying to stay still, scanning the surroundings, trying to find a way out of the club grounds Rogue has had completely surrounded in his efforts to keep me safe.

The front and back are both covered. I’m sure his men will have the alley across the street guarded so I head toward the adjacent neighbor’s fence. A tall neighboring barrier keeps my sights on finding anything I can use to propel myself up and over. At first glance there’s nothing. I begin to panic, caught in the middle of the property, sure to be found and stopped at some point by Rogue’s men, but desperation kicks in. At some point I’m just going to have to go no matter how hard my heart is pounding.

There has to be a way to get to my sister before those bastards hurt her, and they will if Rogue shows up without me. All I need is to find a way to one of their bars again, this time without Rogue’s interference. I know the Scorpions will take me back. At least for my sister’s sake I have to hope the deal is still on and the safety of their own sorry asses is on the line if the buyer finds out they’ve lost me and aren’t getting me back.

Either way, I have to get to my sister before the guys leave on their bikes to head across the desert and try to rescue my sister. What if they can’t find her, what if the recruit told them exactly what the Scorpions wanted him to think and the Royal Bastards ride right into a trap that’s been completely orchestrated.

No matter how much I try I just can’t dispel the thought of the evil Scorpions talking amongst themselves that night. Don’t worry, we have a backup plan. Jed will tell them whatever we want him to say. It’s all that I keep thinking about as I drag an old wheelbarrow tucked into the trees, apparently a practical place for the guys to do a little hauling in the backyard, but right now, the only way out of here for me.

I drag it close to the fence, grateful turning it over is easy and standing on top of it gives me the easiest and most opportune way to get some height, hoist myself up and over the fence and run like hell, trying to disappear in the night.

Even having to backtrack, the bar the Scorpions used to bring me to, make me dance, and collect a little cash isn’t terribly far. This time, I don’t take any chances of being caught or deterred from what I came here to do. I walk right in the front door, glancing around to find one of the Scorpions and when I see him it’s all downhill from there.

“Help me! Please!” I scream through the open door.

Every person in the club, the Scorpion fucks in the back, the others sitting at the bar enjoying a drink, the half-dressed dancers on the bar, even another woman the Scorpions bring here sometimes, and the bartenders serving drinks all stop what they’re doing as I belt out another scream.

The two Scorpions move quick, but I’m faster. I don’t want an audience, I just wanted their attention and now that I have it, I move, racing back out the front door, down the street, and then run the opposite way I came knowing they’re right on my ass.

I run until I’m spent, letting them think what they want, but without a prayer in hell of not being caught in the next couple of minutes, if even that. When one of them snatches me by the hair, he yanks, drawing me to a stop, panting, out of breath and with only one hope in the world. That they’ll take me to the Scorpions and that I’m not too late and they’ll still have my sister to trade.

24

ROGUE

It takes longer than it should have to get the plans laid out, and I only have a few hours to sleep before we ride out. I glance at my watch. Two hours or less before Bolt and his crew from Tijuana meet us in the desert. I climb up the stairs, tired and ready to curl up to my Angel. The minute I see the empty bed and the open bathroom door my chest tightens.

“Angel?” It’s a quietly spoken word because the cold dread flooding my body tells me that she’s gone, but still I check the bathroom and closet anyway. The holster hanging in my closet is gone and my gun is sure as shit not where it should be. In my haste I almost miss the chair under the window at the end of the hall. I pivot, closing the distance fast, leaning out the open window hoping to see Angel somewhere in the shadows, but she’s fucking gone.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together or know exactly where she’s going. I race downstairs. No matter how much I love her, and I fucking do whether I’ve told her or not, how much I’ve tried to help her, she’s been hurt far too much to trust anyone, even me.

“Angel’s gone, grab your weapons and let’s ride!” The entire crew is glued to my hip as we high- tail it to our bikes, revving the motors of our powerful machines as we ride into the night. I take the lead, my glider rumbling through the streets, in no position to slow down as I weave between spaces of cars in the city congestion until I make it to the offramp and head out of town, into Scorpion territory hoping that Bolt and his crew are making the journey without any hold up at the border.

We can’t worry about that now. There’s no fucking way I’m letting the fuckers hurt Angel or her sister. The minute we get close to the cutoff in the desert that will lead us to the fuckers, I signal for the crew to pull over and regroup before pounding out a message to our lookout. We’ve spent hours going over the plan and one of our crew who’s been here for the last twenty-four hours scouting replies to my text in less than a second. All Clear.

I scan the distance, unable to see our guy. We may not be able to see him from here, but that’s a good thing because it means neither have the Scorpions and we need every advantage we can get right now.

I blow out a breath, about to urge the glider and my crew forward, when the sound of a bike in the distance catches my attention. We hang behind the large cactus, staying quiet in the dark until I know exactly who it is.

Bolt pulls his bike to a stop. I walk my bike back out to the road just as he pulls out a cell phone while the crew he brought hang back behind their enforcer. I point to the area in the distance, beyond the old cactus and dirt-packed trail that disappears behind a red rock canyon.

I close the distance and give my old friend a one-armed embrace. “Damn it’s good to see you man.” I gesture to the crew. “You remember Hayze and the rest of the crew? The fuckers are holed up about four miles into the desert. We’re going to start seeing sentries about two miles in, and my men up top will wave you through before that. If they see anything suspicious a gunshot in the sky will let you know they’re coming and to take cover.”

Bolt and I let the crews introduce themselves and walk a distance. “Anything I should know about this woman we’re going in for?” he asks.

“The Scorpions have a deal with a buyer to sell her. She and her sister escaped, but they got her sister back. Now my Angel is in there trying to rescue her by herself.”

Bolt’s eyebrow raises. “Angel belongs to you?”

I nod at my old friend, sure he never thought he’d see the day when I was torn up by a woman. “She’s fucking mine.”

Bolt gives me a nod. “I know what it’s like when a woman gets under your skin. I never thought I would get turned around by a Beverly Hills’ princess.”