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With a newfound determination, I get to my feet, my muscles protesting after hours of immobility. I creep over to the door, pressing my ear against the cool wood. Silence. Either they’re gone, or they’re waiting.
I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what’s to come. Then, with one last glance at the rusty pipe that granted me my freedom, I reach for the door handle.
CHAPTER13
Slash
I openmy eyes to the steady beep of a machine pulling me out of the black void. The sharp sting of an IV needle in my arm and a dull, throbbing pain in my side makes me wince. My mind is foggy, my body heavy. For a moment, I can’t remember what happened or how I got here.
I try to sit up, but a hand gently pushes me back down. “Easy, Slash. You’re back at the motel. We couldn’t move you home like this. You’ve been out for a while,” a voice says. I squint against the light, recognizing Bones’s grim face hovering above me. He’s our resident medic, a former army doc who found his place among the Reapers after his discharge.
“What happened?” I rasp out, struggling to piece together my disjointed memories.
“You were shot,” Bones replies, matter-of-factly. His expression is unreadable, but I can see the worry in his eyes. “Shoulder’s torn up bad. You’re lucky the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs. But you lost a lot of blood.”
Shot. The word triggers a rush of fragmented images. The chase, the sudden pain, the world spinning out of control. And Sadie... My heart clenches as I remember the terror in her eyes as she was taken away.
“Sadie,” I croak. “Where’s Sadie?”
Bones’s face falls. “We don’t know, Slash,” he admits, his voice heavy with regret. “We’ve been looking, but we haven’t found her yet.”
A cold fury replaces the fog in my mind. “I have to find her,” I insist, trying to sit up again. The room spins and I grit my teeth against the wave of nausea and pain.
“Slash, you’re in no condition—“ Bones begins, but I cut him off.
“I don’t give a damn about my condition. Sadie’s out there, and I’m going to find her.”
As my mind starts to clear, something doesn’t add up. The Serpents had been ready for us, ready to snatch Sadie and take me down. If they hadn’t known there were more than just me, Ghost, and Shark, they wouldn’t have bothered with explosives. There were at least ten of them out there—they could have taken down the three of us much more quietly.
They fucking knew. The realization hits me like a sucker punch. There’s a rat in the MC—in my fuckingfamily.
“Who’s out looking for her?” I demand, my voice rough with urgency.
Brick answers me. I notice him for the first time, standing in the corner. “Stray, Angel, Ghost, and Riot are out looking.” He’s shaken, I can see it in his pale, sweaty face.
“Are you hit?” I ask.
Brick drops his head into his hands. “Ace is gone,” he whispers. I try to sit up, but it’s too fast, and I fall back against my pillows with a wince. “Fuck,” I say. “Fuck!” Ace was Brick’s best friend. He was a brother to all of us, but he and Brick had an even deeper bond.
“Get everyone else in here,” I tell Bones. A few minutes later, all my brothers are crammed into the room—except Vegas.
“Where the hell is Vegas?” I ask, my voice tight with suspicion. There’s no answer, just a tense silence that fuels my growing suspicion.
“I’ll be back,” I growl, tearing out the IV and pushing myself off the bed despite Bones’s protests. I stumble a bit as I stand, but I refuse to show any weakness.
I make my way to Vegas’s room, the pain in my side a dull roar now. I kick the door open and find the traitorous son of a bitch in a frantic rush to pack his belongings. He must have heard I survived and decided to cut and run.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snarl, crossing the room in a few strides. I grab him by the collar and slam him against the wall, ignoring the blinding pain. My knife is still attached to my belt, and I whip it out and press it to his throat in one swift move. “Where is she, Vegas?” My voice is deadly calm.
Vegas’s eyes widen with fear. “I... I didn’t have a choice, Slash,” he stammers, tears pooling in his eyes. “They went to my mom’s nursing home. They video-called me, showed me they were there with her. They threatened to kill her if I didn’t give them intel.”
My grip on his collar tightens, and I slam him into the wall. “So you gave them Sadie?” I hiss, my rage nearly toppling me.
Vegas nods, a single tear slipping down his cheek. “I didn’t know what else to do, Slash. I’m sorry. They won’t hurt her, will they? They just want to fuck with you.”
For a moment, I contemplate ending him right here. It would be easy—justified. But a decision like that can’t be made under pressure. Even in my current state, I know I can’t kill a brother like this.
“Send me the address right now. And you’d better fuckingpraySadie is alive,” I say, low and dangerous. I drop him to the floor and stagger away, my mind focused on one thing—finding Sadie.
