Page 100 of Diary of a Biker Queen

Other options were much scarier.

Like he’d run into his father or uncle or one of their enemies.

I forced the bike to go faster, the shadows of the night suddenly feeling like demons creeping in on me.

It was almost no surprise when I turned down the road to the Slayers’ compound and an orange glow blocked the only road in. I skidded to a stop, dropping my bike on the ground, not caring about the paintwork, and ran the last few steps.

But I couldn’t even get close.

The heat coming off the blazing fire was so intense it drove me back, while screams ripped from my mouth.

Luca’s car sat sideways on the road, fully ablaze.

A blackened, charred body, already dead behind the wheel.

30

NYAH

Dear Diary,

Handcuffs should only be for the bedroom.

Thumping and shouts echoed through the clubhouse. I sat up quickly and tried to focus on the door, right as someone’s fist connected with it.

“Everybody up. There’s a fire!”

I did a double take as the words tried to sink in, but when they did, I scrambled out of bed, pulling on my bathrobe. I flung open the door and was greeted with the chaos of men rushing around, all seeming like they had a purpose, while I stood there blinking in the middle of it, no idea what was happening.

Amber came to stand beside me and bit her lip, watching the scene with me.

“Are we evacuating?” I asked.

Indecision danced over her features for a moment, then nodded. “Come on. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to stand here waiting to get burned alive.”

We both joined the throng of men running for the door. I found a pair of flip-flops there and shoved them on my feet, while Amber plucked her car keys off a hook on the wall. Kiki clung to Kyle, and he had a protective arm around her as he put her on the back of his bike, so it was just me and Amber who hurried for her car.

I stopped short of getting into it and twisted, frantically searching the scene. “Wait. Isabella!” All I knew was that if Luca wasn’t here, I needed to take his place and make sure his sister got out safely. I couldn’t see any flames, but there was a definite smell of smoke in the night air.

“I’m here!” the girl called back, waving to me from the middle of the huddle made up of Kara’s family.

I breathed a sigh of relief. They were all headed for the club van, Hayden and Grayson carrying their younger two daughters, while Kara herded Little Jax and Isabella.

Her gaze met mine, and she nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ve got her.”

I nodded back. I had one foot in Amber’s car when a piercing whistle cut through the night.

All eyes turned to Hawk, his hands up in a calming gesture. “Everyone stop. We might have jumped the gun. There’s no fire on the Slayers’ compound.”

His reassuring words didn’t stop the nervous energy of the group, and I couldn’t blame them. I’d seen the blackened remains of the trees inside these gates. I knew they’d had a fire here at some point in the last couple of years that nature hadn’t quite fully recovered from.

And clearly, neither had the people who’d experienced it. Kara clutched at her sister, her fingers trembling so badly I could see it from across the parking lot.

“What’s going on?” Hayden called to him. “We can smell the smoke. There’s a fire somewhere.”

For some reason, Hawk’s gaze strayed to me, before flitting back to his partner. “There’s a car on fire up on the road, outside the area our cameras cover. Some of the guys are up there with fire extinguishers and are holding it at bay until the fire trucks get here. But it’s not going to spread. So everyone can go back to their rooms.”

Amber huffed grumpily and got back out of the car. “You couldn’t have worked that out before you traumatized us all, Hawk?” She muttered about once an asshole, always an asshole. “I still have nightmares about the last time.”