Page 13 of Sweet Revenge for the Bikers

“Anyone else got anything they wanna say? Floor’s open.”

There’s some grumbling, but I think it’s just people coming to terms with having to wait before they sink their teeth into someone. Eagle-eye’s right and we know it. With the way everyone’s feeling tonight, we’d be likely to lose at least a few men in the process.

King claps his hands. “Alright. Anyone who was there tonight, come find me, Shadow or Outlaw. I want to put together a list, even if you didn’t see shit.”

Church is adjourned, leaving Mad Dog, Rebel and me to walk off together.

“What do you think? Did Melody make it out of there okay?” I ask. “You haven’t heard from her yet, have you?”

Rebel shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“Shit, I hope she’s alright.” Mad Dog opens the door and waves us through, out into the warm August night. It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that a few hours ago we were fucking in a field, and now we’ve got a brother hovering between life and death.

“She must’ve,” I say, hoping I’m right. “We stuck around as long as we could, and she wasn’t anywhere near where we left her. She probably found the guy who brought her and got the fuck out of Dodge.”

“Fuck, she was something, wasn’t she? Innocent but knows what she likes, just the way I fucking like them,” Mad Dog says with a grin. “Getting pulled outta a pussy that good should be grounds for retribution all on its own.”

I grin. “She was good, boys. Fucking amazing.”

Mad Dog shoves me, laughing. “Fuck off. Next time, you can be the one jerking off while I fuck her.”

I wouldn’t turn it down.

8

MELODY

“Where do you live?” I ask, watching the city go by as Emily drives away from the hospital.

She smirks. “Southside.”

I don’t know why I asked since I’ve been here all of once before for a concert and it was years ago.

“You have no idea what that means, do you?” she asks.

“Nope. I’m from just outside Lake City. I was only in town for the rally. Honestly, I’m just really thankful you’re helping me out. I don’t know who those guys were, and the guy who brought me to the rally ditched me.” Well, I ditched him kinda, but he didn’t exactly come looking. “Mom used to tell me to always take my own car places, and right now I wish I’d listened.”

How did this become my life? Crap, I’m going to have to call in sick to work tomorrow. Hopefully Emily has a charger, or I can borrow her phone.

She glances over, glaring. “I would’ve tied you to the bed anyway if I knew you were going to try and drive home tonight. You’re what? Eighteen?”

“Almost twenty.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve all been there at some point. If anything, I’m just paying it forward. I was way more trouble when I was your age. Even younger actually.” She yawns, making me yawn too. “God, I hate these late shifts. We’ll get home, and I’ll get you set up in the spare room. It’s not much, but you can crash there for as long as you need to.”

“You’re going to be sick of me saying it, but thank you.” I smile, because I can’t remember the last time someone was so nice to me.

The neighborhood feels a little sketchy, but maybe that’s just what things look like inside the city. In the darkness, it’s hard to get a good feel for it anyway. The clock on Emily’s dash reads two in the morning, which doesn’t sound so bad until I think about how much has happened since Red picked me up yesterday.

Actually, Mad Dog, Riptide and Rebel were really nice, too. I suppose they had an ulterior motive, but even before anything happened, and—crap. Before I forget, I send Rebel a quick text. “Sorry! A lot happened, but I’m okay! This is Melody by the way. You probably figured that out. Sorry. Thank you for everything. XOXO”

My finger hovers over Dad’s contact. Is he okay? I want to call or text, but he was very clear about waiting for him to contact me. He’d probably just tell me to look up bus routes, but at least he might know what’s going on. I lean my head back against the headrest and immediately regret it. “Ow!”

“Watch your cut! We’re almost there, and then you can lie down, I promise.” Emily’s a lot younger than my mother was, but her gentle tone reminds me of her. It’s nice.

“Okay,” I whisper.

We stop at a red light, even though the only ones out at this hour are us. Emily glances left, right and then left again, then drives straight through it. I grab my seat instinctively as I look around frantically. “Did you just⁠—”