Page 53 of Eden's Joker

He stuffs the chain in the pocket of his jeans and points at a door at the far end of the room. “That’s the bathroom.”

Then he strides to the door.

“Thank you,” I call after him. Not even sure why. Maybe because of Roxie’s teachings. Or maybe because being chained up, hungry and threatened all day broke me worse than I want to admit. And maybebecause I think he might understand all that. “What’s your name?”

He stopped dead as I said it and it takes him few moments to turn. The look in his eyes isn’t hard at all as he nods. “The name’s Scorpio. But don’t try to make friends with me. I’m not your friend. Never will be.”

“Got it, you were messed up because of something the Devils did too,” I say, no idea why. “And now you want me dead.”

His face turns hard again. “I’d like to see the Devils eat some of their own medicine, yeah. That’d go a long way.”

He turns and opens the door. “It can’t change the past.”

“Yeah, I know that too.”

Then he leaves, slamming and locking the door behind him.

I stand up, stretch, and walk around the room. Being able to do it suddenly means everything to me. I even feel worlds safer now that I can move. How sad is that?

Almost as sad as being stuck here at the mercy of men who want me dead and wishing the one who did this to me would hurry up and get back here. It’s too early for me to have Stockholm Syndrome. So feeling this way must be just some kind of garden variety insanity I was born with.

30

Joker

I asked as many of my guys as I could find whether anyone told the Forsaken about where to find this town. Most of them just stared at me blankly and shook their heads, some got pissed off that I was accusing them of being traitors. I came away from those exchanges reasonably sure this town is still a secret from the Devils. Then I spent the rest of the night making sure the guard detail was on point. Even though we’d locked down this town so many times before all of us could do it in our sleep.

In the end, I fell asleep leaning on one of the few trees on the hills overlooking the small town of Justice. I have no idea what it was originally called. I named it and it’s a very fitting name. Seeing as this is where I will finally getmy justice.

The tree where I slept is an oak and at least five bodies are buried under it, going by the homemade, roughhewn tombstones which have all been weathered down to a smooth surface, whatever names they once bore now forever lost. That’s why I didn’t chop down this tree or remove these tombstones. Because it’s all that’s left of the people who built this town. And it’s kinda peaceful up here.

I have no idea where my parents ended up getting buried. Their families didn’t claim the bodies just as none of them wanted me, and my father’s MC brothers all went the way he had. I kinda like to think this is their gravesite. When I’m in a weird mood like today.

The cold of dawn woke me and ever since, I’ve been watching the half circle of white light rising from behind the hill at the back of the farmhouse where Eden is. I should go and get it all over with. As soon as I realized I’d fallen asleep and left her chained up all night, I wanted to rush back to the house. That urge sickened me to my core. And made me drown in doubt and things I can’t explain, even to myself.

That’s why I didn’t go. Why I stayed here to watch the sunrise thinking of nothing.

But now it’s time.

I rise and my legs feel like they’re made of lead as I walk to my bike. I roll it down the hill and to the front yard, because I need the exercise to warm me up, and also because the sound of a chopper this early in the morning would echo across the whole town andbeyond. I don’t want to cause any kind of unwanted panic.

Scorpio’s bike is parked in front of the house and the door is unlocked. I find him sleeping on the dusty old sofa in the living room, a couple of empty bottles of bourbon on the floor beside him and the ornate coffee table littered with the remains of his dinner.

He calls this keeping watch on Eden?

But I’ll deal with him later. If I don’t go up to see her now, another day might go by before I try to again.

This house creaks if you breathe on it, but I still manage to not make very much noise as I climb to the first floor and walk down the hall to Eden’s bedroom. Light is coming through the crack beneath the door, but I can see that the black curtains are still covering the windows when I open it.

I don’t put two and two together right away. Until I do. The overhead light is on and Eden is sleeping peacefully in the huge bed, her long hair spread out all over the pillow, looking like some kind of princess under that fluffy white duvet. There’s no sign of the chain. And one of the nightstands is littered with the remains ofherdinner.

I don’t slam the door on the way out, but I want to. I do remember to lock it though.

Downstairs, I have to punch Scorpio in the arm pretty hard before he finally wakes up.

“Did I say you could feedher?” I ask.

He’s sitting up, but has the worst trouble keeping his eyes open and focused on me.

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