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“Time to wake up, old man.” He doused him with a bucket.

Thick amber liquid splashed over Reaper. I thought it was piss, at first, but then the strong smell of gasoline reached me. With a cough and gasp for breath, Reaper woke up, his body shaking as he tried to raise his head.

“Have you all met?” Crow asked conversationally, gesturing between the three of us.

“Rick, this is Reaper and Scythe. The ones who hired you to spy on me. How’d that work out?”

“And you two…Tsk tsk.” He waved his finger dramatically.

“I thought you were all about preparation, confidentiality. Didn’t take us long to find Ricky here. We barely had to touch him to get him to flip.” He grabbed Rick by the hair, yanking his head back at an awkward angle. The man winced before freezing, clearly trying to hold himself still.

“He’s been quite the helpful little rat. Cooperative. Told us everything he knew about you guys. It wasn’t enough, though, not nearly. He compromised my safety, my spot. That’s unacceptable. But hey, I’m feeling charitable. Since he fucked ya’ll over, too, you can have first dibs at him. What do you say, psycho? I know you get a hard-on for blood.” Crow stepped toward me, a knife in his hand just out of my reach.

“No!” Rick yelled. I kept my expression blank, not giving Crow the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me. Instead, I shrugged, twisting to wave my cuffed hands as a response.

“I didn’t think you’d let something like that stop you. Reaper’s personal executioner. Fucking puppy dog, following him around, doing all his dirty work. Damn shame, having a pathetic little cuck for a son. No wonder your daddy beat the shit out of you.” Crow bent down, making sure to look me in the eyes as he taunted me.

Sure was easy for him to feel like a big man when we were all chained up and he still armed himself with weapons. A taunting chuckle left Crow as he turned his head to speak to one of his lackeys.

“Can you believe—” He let his guard down just enough, and I slammed my face forward. When it was life or death, everything was a weapon. Crow’s flesh between my teeth, the taste of blood hit me, and for the first time since waking up in that fucking cell, I felt a jolt of excitement.

Crow howled like a bitch, clumsily plunging a knife into my upper arm, but it didn’t stop me. It wasn’t until his guards intervened, ripping me off of him—and part of his earlobe in the process. Spitting it on the ground at his feet, I smiled. Blood coated my face and teeth, dripping down my chin.

“Guess that means Reaper should’a hit you some, then?” I taunted before spitting out a glob of blood and tissue.

“Don’t put this on me. Blame his real daddy. Pussy little bitch had no problem beating up on someone smaller than him. Sure was a different story when he was facing me, but look where that got him.” Reaper’s voice was deceptively calm as he spoke, drawing Crow’s ire away from me.

“So you admit it! You knew the whole time!” In an instant, Crow was in Reaper’s face, gesturing wildly with his knife. He was streaked with blood, and his eyes were manic. Ricky was rocking in the corner, cuffed hands over his head as he muttered to himself. Pain made itself known, rocketing through my body from all of my injuries. Adrenaline lingered, and I tried to latch onto it.

“Wasn’t sure at first, but these last few years…That’s when I knew. Never stepped up. Always too busy trying to prove you were tough or burying yourself in pussy and club girl drama.” Reaper sneered.

“You think that you’re some evil mastermind? That you went unnoticed? Fuck off. I saw everything. You were weak, spoiled. You expected the patch, the club, and the respect to be handed to you. But you never did shit to earn it. Always the fucking victim, and nothing’s changed. You had to bring three times as many men and set up a trap to get us here. If you’re gonna start talking about the truth, make sure you start with yourself.”

Before anyone could reply, a knock on the door had everyone freezing. The guy closest to the door stepped out for less than a second, his face visibly pissed when he returned.

“Prez, we gotta go.” Crow whipped around, outrage on his face.

“What the fuck?” The buzz of bikes could be heard like a swarming army.

“I thought you checked them for trackers!” Crow growled.

“We did. Nothing. No signs of implants or anything. Took all electronics off of them.” They defended themselves, outraged.

“Boss, you gotta go. They’re already through the gates.” The door swung open, bikes fleeing in the opposite direction as Crow cursed, stepping toward the door, ready to flee the scene. At the last second, he turned on his heel, gun pointed as he shot Reaper in the chest.

“For my father. The real one.” Reaper wasn’t moving, his head hanging limply as blood slid down his chest and legs, pooling under his feet.

“Kill them, then get out. Don’t let them out alive,” he ordered before running out of the crate, pulling a helmet on before the door swung shut. During all of the commotion, I had managed to get to my knees. Leaning back, I pressed my palms against the bent metal and pulled one knee up until my foot was flat on the ground. As the men approached, I took a deep breath before using whatever energy I had left to push to my feet and rush forward, using my shoulder to plow into the closest one. We fell to the ground, my torso on top of his.

“Get off of him!” the other shit screamed, reaching an arm around my neck to pull me up. I dropped my head forward, letting him pull me to my feet before snapping my head back, connecting with his nose.

“Fuck!” The man dropped to his knees, and I was surprised that Ricky scrambled behind him, using his cuffed wrists to choke the man. Yanking his hands back, his wrists already raw and bleeding, he held on tight. The man I tackled—the one I thought was knocked out—had one arm raised, his gun still pointed at Reaper. With a roar, I launched myself at him right as the door swung open.

The men poured in—more bikers, more unfamiliar faces. After a quick glance, the one closest to me shot the man I had pinned in the head. He went limp in my arms, his blood spraying my face. I didn’t need to recognize them to know they were our brothers. Same patch, different charter.

“Fucking hell. Get him down! Now! Get these cuffs off.” Orders were barked, and I barely flinched when I felt someone at my wrists. Once my hands were free, I turned to watch as they cut Reaper down. He was dead weight in their arms, and he looked like a slab of meat that had been beaten and stripped down till there was nothing but blood and bones.

“Is he alive?” I asked, the words sounding far away. I think they responded; mouths started moving, but then everything tilted sideways. Thuds echoed in my ears, my eyes blinking but unable to clear the black filling my vision. Fight. Have to fight. Save Reaper. Get back to Lilah. What my mind hadn’t realized was that my body had already given out. There was no fight left in me. My eyes blinked open for the last time before the darkness took over, sweeping me away.