Page 28 of Vengeance

“Something’s wrong!” she shouts as screams fill the room from the apartments. “I can’t get into any of your rooms.”

“Lex!” Colt shouts, jumping up and knocking his chair to the floor as he runs after Shep towards the apartments, the girls screaming bloody murder.

His hand grabs the door handle, and he finds it locked like Tess did. Except he didn’t lock it when he walked out, and he pulls out his keys. Trying to unlock the door, he stares in shock. It doesn’t work.

“My key won’t work!” Shep shouts as he pounds his shoulder into the door.

“Mine either!” Jace adds as Melanie and Heidi scream in hysterics.

“I’ll get the master!” Zane shouts over the screams and runs back to the office.

Jace slams against his door and bounces back, surprising everyone. If anyone could break down a door, it would be him. Ky joins him, and they hear the wood crack, but they don’t make it into his apartment.

“Why the fuck can’t I break this down?” Jace asks, and Ky shakes his head with similar confusion.

Colt stares at Jace’s door. “Why are the goddamned hinges on the outside of the doorframe?”

“Mine are, too!” Shep shouts. “What the fuck?”

“It wasn’t that way when I walked into the Chapel. Wait... Does this mean… Does this mean the Slashers were in our fucking clubhouse?” Jace asks, his face paling as Melanie and Heidi continue to scream.

No one has answers, and Colt stares at his door. Lex stopped screaming. What the fuck is happening?

Chapter Nine

Griffin’s Beach

Lex

When Lex opens her eyes, she can’t see a thing. The room is pitch black, and she doesn’t remember falling asleep. She knows for a fact she didn’t turn off the bedside lamp that she left on so Colt can find his way to the bed. And she’s pretty sure she’d remember if she somehow shackled herself to the goddamned bed to lie spread eagle and unable to move.

This cannot be good.

She only screams until she hears Colt, and she sighs a breath of relief to still be in the clubhouse. Her biggest fear is waking up in another basement somewhere without a way for Colt to find her. As long as she’s here, she’s safe. Well, she used to be safe. No, it’s not feeling so secure.

I don’t remember falling asleep. And I definitely did not turn off the bedside lamp. How long have I been in here?

“Heidi! Melanie! Stop screaming!” Colt shouts, and Lex hears the panic in his voice. “Lex, baby, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” she says, her voice much more controlled than she feels.

“Okay, baby, can you come and unlock the door?”

Rolling her eyes, she pulls against the restraints to try and let him hear the metal. “If I could get up and unlock the door, don’t you think I would have?” she asks as she tries to control her annoyance and sarcasm. He’s just as scared as she is, probably more so. “I don’t think the three of us would willingly stay locked in a dark room if we had the option to walk out of it.”

“Why can’t you unlock the door?”

His fear grounds her, and she feels a little guilty. “I’m tied up. Shackled. It feels like metal, and I’m pretty much spread eagle on your bed.”

“How the fuck...” he trails off.

Footsteps walking up to the door give her hope of being free very soon. The door jiggles, but instead of light from the hallway, she remains in darkness. “The master key doesn’t work,” Zane says, and she hears the disbelief in his tone. “Let me try the others.”

Her heart sinks. This is really bad. This means... shit. The Slashers were in the clubhouse. Our clubhouse.

“That’s not possible,” Jennings says, and Lex sneers in the dark, flipping him the bird with both hands.

Then why doesn’t it work, asshole?

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