Page 13 of Rough Choice

“Not today,” Kye snapped. Grabbing the shard of glass from the floor, he stabbed at the only part of Max he could reach. The glass sliced through Max’s cheek, and when the old man screamed in pain, Kye drove the sharp end into his eye. Blood splattered on Kye’s hands and forearms, and the sickening squish of flesh being mutilated mixed with Max’s horrified shouts.

Kye kicked Max in the chest and flew to his feet. Retrieving the knife, the door banged open behind him. Kye turned to see a startled Dhal in the doorway. Dhal looked from Max’s motionless body on the floor to Kye. He grinned realizing he was now free to kill him.

“You should have drawn sooner,” Kye said when Dhal reached for his gun. Kye launched himself forward and drove the knife straight into Dhal’s chest. Beneath the force of the blow, Kye felt Dhal’s ribs crack. His eyes went wild, and blood filled his mouth as he gaped at Kye, his mind unable to comprehend the trauma and pain. When Kye yanked the knife free from his sternum, Dhal collapsed to the floor.

Without waiting, Kye grabbed the handgun from Dhal’s hip and, despite his hatred of the man, he fired two shots into his head to end his suffering. Kye was breathing hard, and he felt nausea overwhelm him as he looked from the brains splattered on the floor to where Max lay. His once intimidating and massive form was crumpled on the floor in a pile of blood, the jagged glass still sticking out of his eye socket.

“Goodbye, old man,” Kye said, swallowing the bile in his mouth. He turned from the room and closed the door behind him. When the lock clicked into place, Kye felt momentary relief. He was free from that room at least.

The cell he’d been in was at the end of the basement. Kye was quick to exit the hallway and wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when he made his way upstairs. There was only one exit to the clubhouse and that was through the main room upstairs. Judging by the light streaming through the windows, it was nearing midday.

Kye made it three steps into the room when the first club member noticed him. The shocked gasp was the proverbial record scratch that drew the rest of the room’s attention. Kye must have been a sight. Bruised, beaten, and covered in two men’s blood, Kye had Max’s knife in one hand and Dhal’s pistol in the other.

“What do we do?” a prospect whispered as Kye slowly made his way through the room. The onlookers watched him as he moved with the singular focus of leaving. There was a mixture of awe and shock on their faces. Their titan and once leader turned abdicator had survived Max’s torture room.

Kye stopped when he saw Riggs and Hamilton along with two other men walking toward him. Lifting the pistol, Kye didn’t hesitate to shoot Riggs straight between the eyes. The Wall Kats screamed in horror, and every armed man in the room drew their weapon. Hamilton had his gun aimed at Kye who lifted his hands in surrender.

“I was brought into this club by blood,” Kye called loud enough to the room as he held his hands in the air, his shoulders still burning from captivity. “I’ve paid the blood price to leave.” Silence overtook the room once more. Some members seemed torn between aiming their guns to shoot Kye or to defend him.

“You’re leaving?” Hamilton asked as he stepped over Rigg’s dead body as though it was no more than a doormat. Kye nodded.

“Either in a body bag or on my feet, I’m not staying,” Kye said, matter-of-factly. Hamilton considered him for a moment and glanced around the room.

“Kye Driscoll,” he called loudly, “You’ve seen fit to withdraw your position in the Screaming Demons. As you came into this club by blood, I hereby accept your resignation and payment in blood. Brothers, let him leave.”

The collective sound of guns uncocking was the only sound that could be heard. Kye’s boots clicked loudly on the ground as he moved the rest of the way, pausing only briefly at Hamilton’s side to surrender Max’s knife. Handing it to him hilt first, Kye met his eyes and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Do better,” he bid, and Hamilton nodded with the slight glare at Rigg’s dead body.

The sun felt warm on Kye’s face, and the breath of fresh air was a godsend. He saw his bike parked where he’d left it, and shuffled that way before he realized he didn’t have the keys.

“You’re going to need these.” Kye turned and saw Jez standing behind him with the keys dangling from her fingers. She handed them over, and Kye held her hand firmly when he took them. “I didn’t tell Max,” Jez said, her watery eyes fixed on him. Kye searched her face for a moment and nodded once. He knew all too well what it was like to be caught in Max’s web, but he also knew she was telling the truth. “I’m going to miss you, KD.”

“Do yourself a favor, Jezebel,” Max said, straddling his bike. “Go find your son. He’s your future.”

“And Eliana is yours,” Jez replied with a soft smile. Kye returned the gesture and kicked his bike to life. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek before stepping back and watching him ride away.

Eliana was sick of being in a vehicle. Currently stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire, with darkness rapidly approaching, Grier seemed just fine spending another night sleeping in the back of the SUV. Eliana, however, was ready to crawl out of her skin.

“Best to leave the flat on and change it in the morning,” Grier said, pulling the long nail from the tire and tossing it into the brambles. They’d managed to make it to Oklahoma in the last day, and it seemed as though Grier was spending less time doubling back and more time driving. Silently.

“I can’t take another night in the SUV,” she said firmly.

“Sleep outside then,” Grier said, opening the back and unrolling his sleeping bag.

“I’m not kidding. I’m going insane,” she said, raking a hand through her hair. “Day in and out, we’ve been at this for four days.”

“Feels more like five,” Grier replied, but his tone was clearly sarcastic.

“Please just change the tire. We can find our way to a town and get a nice motel room with a real bed and a hot shower.”

“I’ll change it in the morning,” Grier said, climbing inside and stretching out in the back. He crossed his legs and tucked his hands behind his head as though he was reclining on a king-size mattress in a five-star hotel suite. Eliana let out an angry growl and started fumbling with the toolbox.

“Forget it, I’ll do it myself,” she muttered and started pulling items out of the red box.

“Do you even know how to change a tire?” Grier asked without opening his eyes.

“I went to Harvard Law School, I think I can figure out how to change a tire,” she threw back at him. “Now… where is the thing that props up the car?”

“The jack?”