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As I find a spot allowing me to scope the men hiding behind their trucks, I tug my phone free from my pocket. I see a message from Armor saying the club’s under attack.Yeah, no shit.Swiping through the messages I learn Nomad’s been shot.
Ruin and Tomcat were jumped near our president’s house and are currently hunting assholes in the bush. Our people have gotten a lockdown warning. For a moment, I see Xenia again. She becomes more real. My worries return. I have to strangle my love for her just to think straight.
In the messages, I learn Armor is pinned down near Main Street. Smokey and Walla Walla are on their way to help Goose who is racing the back roads with a truck on her ass.
With no cavalry on the way, Eagle and I will need to kill these guys. If Yagger or Dice are seriously injured, can we even safely take them to the hospital right now?Hell, does the Steel Berserkers Motorcycle Club even run McMurdo Valley at this point?
I text Eagle, asking him to draw attention to himself so I can line up my shots. He fires once. The men respond. He hollers in pain as if hit. It’s a ruse we used back in the day. I hear him howling my name as if dying.
Seeing a chance to finish off Eagle, the men creep around the side of their second truck. As they pass the dead guy, I fire once and end the taller of the two assholes. The other one falls back, unsure where the shot came from. He fires wildly. First in Eagle’s direction, then toward where I think Yagger’s hidden in the high grass. Finally, he fires randomly at the woods. Even with me hiding behind a tree, a ricochet tears through my thigh.
I holler in pain while lining up my shot. The final asshole gets cocky enough to stick his head out to look for targets. That’s when his brain leaves his skull.
Checking my thigh, I find blood and pain but not enough damage to keep me from moving. A text to Eagle later, we leave our spots and stalk toward the trucks. Halfway there, I find Yagger covered in blood. I’m certain he’s dead until his eyes pop open and he tries to lift his gun to protect himself.
“You’re alive,” I tell him as I push his gun away and tug off my shirt to press against his chest wound. “Just stay still and keep breathing.”
I call out to Eagle to say I’ve found Yagger. Keeping low, he moves faster across the road and toward the assholes. I see him checking pulses and removing their weapons. He drags the rifles along with him to where I am.
Reloading an asshole’s rifle, Eagle mutters, “I don’t know what the fuck we’re supposed to do now.”
“Fuck if I know, either,” I reply, checking my own rifle before texting Armor.
A shellshocked Yagger mumbles, “Where’s Dice?”
Eagle looks at me and then around the area. “No way did he go down on this side of the roadblock. There’s nothing on my side of the road.”
“Might be hidden like Yagger is,” I say, applying pressure to the kid’s chest wound. “Tell Ruin what’s happening. We need to know what to do.”
Eagle texts quickly as he mutters, “Irina and the baby are at Fiona’s house today. They’ll be safe with Rogers’s security team around.”
Hearing his fear, I start wondering again about Xenia. She ended up on her ass when that old bitch attacked her. I can’t imagine how she’ll handle this situation.
“Ruin sent Glenn to protect Xenia,” Eagle tells me as he shoves his phone in his pocket. “He’s called in help from Todd Rogers. Erik Halvorson is in the hospital. These assholes jumped everyone today. The cops are in the mix now. Ruin wants us to find Dice. He’s sending ambulances. We’re supposed to stay together.”
Eagle sounds pissed about that last part. I get why Ruin spelled out how we shouldn’t run off to protect our women. Irina’s safer on the Rogers estate than most places. Glenn is a tough fucker. He’ll keep Xenia safe. We shouldn’t worry. If our president isn’t racing home to protect his family, we need to remain berserkers, too.
I’m on autopilot now. Like Xenia gets when she’s overwhelmed, I’m back to the asshole I was before meeting her. I can’t even picture her face anymore. She feels like a dream I had long ago and can barely remember anymore.
Noticing Eagle cradling his ribs, I ask if he’s okay. He shrugs, seeming unsure if he should complain.
“The assholes opened fire on me as soon as I hit the ridge. In my hurry to find cover, I banged up my ribs when I went in the ditch. Nothing to whine about,” he explains and stands to search for Dice. “Are you okay?”
“I got a few flesh wounds. Painful but survivable.”
That last word feels harsh as my shirt against Yagger’s chest soaks up his blood. I don’t want to look at the kid’s face. He’s scared in a way I don’t remember ever being. Or maybe I also looked just as fucking terrified as he does right now. My memories are a blur.
“I found him!” Eagle calls out as I realize Yagger is bleeding from more than just his chest. “He’s alive!”
“Hear that, Yagger?” I ask the younger man who stares at me with dazed eyes. “Berserkers get their asses beat down and shot up, but we don’t quit.”
Pep talks aren’t my strong suit. No one ever told me happy shit when I was growing up. As a man, those kinds of words felt like a lie.
Except Yagger is scared. He didn’t go down in a battle. His adrenaline never started pumping. Unlike the fight at the burger joint, he couldn’t fight back. Yagger got ambushed, went down fast, and can’t seem to move. He had no chance to let his berserker side distract him. Instead, he’s feeling everything that I turned off when I chose to follow Eagle.
“I’m glad you found that cupcake lady,” Yagger whispers like he lacks the strength to speak any louder. “She’s really nice and likes you a lot.”
I want to say something reassuring. Maybe talk about the past when he was at his best. Except I’ve become a stranger to my club family over the last few years. Only Eagle and I talked on a regular basis. Rather than family, Yagger feels like a kid I saw around the Pigsty from time to time. Somehow, I let myself lose important connections without even sensing what I’d given up.
