Page 46 of Diary of a Biker Queen

Telling my brothers what had happened was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. They argued with me for a good ten minutes, swearing that what I was telling them wasn’t true. And when they finally did believe me, they’d both left immediately to go find our father.

I was glad. I didn’t want him to be alone. And I didn’t want my brothers to have to identify her body.

I was the eldest. While the twins had always gotten to be free spirits who did as they pleased, I was the responsible one.

The Slayers’ van was parked outside my shop, and I got into it, sitting in the back with Nyah wrapped around me, the only warmth I could feel through the cold that seemed intent on seeping into my bones.

Luca drove us back to the compound, and I was grateful because I was sure I couldn’t have driven myself.

He eyed me nervously in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure you want to do this? You can wait until they’ve moved her body and cleaned her up.”

I shook my head. “I need to see what he’s done to her.”

Luca sighed and focused back on the road. We drew nearer to the Slayers’ compound, and Nyah squeezed my hand, reassuring me she was right there with me.

But all I felt was the cold seeping in, trying to ice over the warmth she tried to rub into me.

She was fighting a losing battle. I was there in body, but inside, I was drowning. The guilt washed over my head, each wave whispering I was to blame for this. That she had been fine, working at the Guerras’ place until I’d gotten involved in that world.

And now she was dead.

We bounced along the road until, in the distance, the Slayers’ gate loomed. A crowd of people stood outside it, most dressed in their black club jackets, though there were a few others, like Queenie and Amber, who stood among them in regular clothes.

Luca parked the van, and we all got out. I moved like I was a hundred years old. Every inch of my body felt stiff and broken, so much so I wasn’t even surprised when Luca put his arm around me, holding me up more than offering comfort.

“I got you.”

Between him and Nyah, we moved around the van until I faced the Slayers. They stood in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, all of their heads bowed.

War stepped forward and looked me in the eye. “We haven’t called the cops yet. We wanted you to be able to see her for yourself, if you wanted to. But we’ve all been here, since the moment Luca and Nyah found her. We form a circle of protection around our dead. I’m so fucking sorry, man.”

I nodded at him, but my gaze kept drifting past him, to the gap he’d left in the circle of people who shielded my mother’s body from the elements and animals and from sight. I wanted to thank them all for what they’d done, but I couldn’t find the words.

None of them seemed to need them. They stepped aside as Luca and Nyah and I approached.

I sank down into the dirt at my mother’s side and stared at her, taking in every cut and mark on her body, every scratch and claw-shaped carving in her skin.

There was no mistaking the calling card he’d left on her back.

I murmured one of the prayers I’d learned as a kid, the words not intelligible, and I’d forgotten a lot of them because it had been so long since I’d last stepped foot inside a church. But I muttered them all the same.

And then added a few extra vows of my own.

“I’ll end the man who did this to you. That I solemnly swear.”

Lynx could run, but he couldn’t hide forever.

16

NYAH

Dear Diary,

He warned her about the wrong monster.

Cops swarmed the clubhouse within minutes of War calling it in. They came with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

The media followed. Cameras and microphones were shoved in the faces of anyone they could find, and War ordered everyone, me, Luca, and Dax included, back behind the gates. He locked them tight, telling Fang and Hawk, who stood like soldiers staring out at the carnage on the other side, that no one entered without a warrant.