Page 38 of Obey

Ahead of us, at least twenty bikes were cresting the hill, all of them moving just as quickly as Saraya’s had been, and it didn’t take any brains whatsoever to guess who those riders were and what they were after. I didn’t see Devil himself, but he was the only one with any reason to be chasing the girl like that, with so many of his men at his back. I recognized several of the bikes, too, as belonging to members of the Steed. And then I looked to the front of the group and recognized the stance of the lead rider. Devil had never ridden his bike sitting straight like a man. He’d always been hunched over, not exactly for aerodynamics but because he couldn’t be bothered sitting up straight. He’d told me once that he was sure it made him look more intimidating, more deadly, if he didn’t bother with straightness.

“People will know by my stance that I don’t care if they live or die,” he’d bragged.

I’d thought he was crazy then, and I still thought he was insane.

Now, though, I had more reasons. And I’d seen his insanity up close and personal on too many occasions to count.

Of course, none of that mattered. Insane or not, he was still right there, and he still had men at his back. I’d been hoping to find him alone, but that evidently wasn’t happening. Regardless, he was right in front of us, and this was our chance. We could take him out and end the war right now.

I could get revenge for Tinker and Brock. Revenge for what he’d done to Saraya.

Revenge for what he’d done to me.

The fury was hot as fire in my veins, the adrenaline sweeping through my body at the thought of taking him out once and for all. Finally, finally finishing this thing that he’d started between us.

He had twenty men. I had thirty.

And I had vengeance on my side.

“Charge!” I screamed, shooting forward.

My men streamed after me and we went full-speed toward Devil and his crew, who were now starting to slow. They’d realized that they’d come after Saraya and met a whole different enemy, and I laughed with pure spite at the thought. They’d thought they were going to take down a defenseless girl.

Instead, they were meeting men with guns, knives, and chains. And they were going to die.

We skidded to a stop mere feet from where Devil had stopped his men and leapt from our bikes. And then we charged, guns firing, chains swinging, and knives flashing, and as we met Devil’s crew head-on, I sent a prayer up for my men to be swifter and stronger than Devil’s, and then dove into the fight, looking for the man himself, my gun cocked and ready.

I wanted to take the bastard out. And I wanted to do it now.

CHAPTER 18

SARAYA

I’D PULLED TO THE SIDE of the road and cut the engine, every ounce of my being focused on what was happening behind me. I could hear the battle, the engines of the bikes cutting and the men screaming as they charged at each other. And then, the chaos of the two groups crashing together and doing their utmost to kill each other. Metal hitting metal, guns being shot, bikes being destroyed.

And the screams of men as they were wounded and killed.

I gulped, my instincts screaming at me to ride back up the hill and find Knight. Drag him out of there before he could get into any trouble, or get killed.

I’d just found him and lost him again, and I was now on my way back to his home turf. The thought of losing him for good was so heartbreaking, so crippling, that I could hardly stand it.

I actually turned the bike back on and swung it around, ready to ride into the fracas and find him. Then I realized how stupid that would be. He and his men were there fighting to give me a chance to get away from Devil—to get away from this place—and the last thing they needed was me running right into the fray and making myself a target. Knight would see me and decide he needed to protect me, and that would make him vulnerable. He’d be watching me rather than watching his own back.

He could die defending me if I was right there in front of him.

If I was gone, though, he’d be able to focus on what he was doing. He’d keep his eyes on the men trying to kill him rather than me, and if he was doing that...

He had a better chance of surviving and coming home to me.

With a growl of frustration, I swung the bike back around, threw it into gear and screeched down the road, my eyes on the dawn light in front of me and my mind on what might be happening behind me. My heart, I left with Knight.

I’d just have to trust him to bring it back home to me once he’d defeated Devil and his men.

I SKIDDED INTO THE parking lot of the clubhouse, gunning the engine so hard that I nearly ran into the building itself. I hadn’t seen anyone on my way here but I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was being followed—or at least watched—and when I got close enough, I slowed the bike enough to jump from it without getting hurt, and sprinted for the door.

It opened seconds before I got there and I shot through, heart hammering and lungs burning with tension. The door slammed behind me and I turned to see Gemini towering over me, his eyes glued to the window behind me.

“Were you followed?” he asked harshly.