Page 47 of Vapor's Blaze

When he turns, I rush over to him. Before I can say anything, he opens his arms to me. Relief surges through my whole body. Once I’m locked safely in his warm embrace, he whispers, “I heard about your grandfather and came as soon as I could.”

“How did you know where I was?” I ask, still shaking.

“You don’t think I’d give you back the phone without putting a tracker on it. It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he pauses and gives me a pointed look reminding me that I’m the one with trust issues. I motion for him to explain why he’s tracking me, “The Hounds and the Diggers are sneaky fuckers, I wouldn’t put it past them to do something like try and take you. Okay, there’s a chance they’d toss the phone, but it was all I could think of aside from getting you chipped.”

“Chipped?” I ask, having horrible visions of microchipped animals.

“Exactly what it sounds like. Many of our club members and their families have a small tracking device inserted. We did it when we were having problems with a ruthless organization called the syndicate, it saved lives.”

I left that hanging, I really didn’t like the idea of having a tracking device on my person. Changing the subject, I addressed the elephant in the room, “I’m sorry I left without sending you a text. When I checked my messages, I kind of panicked.” We both knew that wasn’t the full extent of the story, but he didn’t push me to talk about why I didn’t trust him to let me come to the hospital. In retrospect, I should have, but I guess I’m gonna have to work on my trust issues going forward.

Chapter 17

Vapor

I’m trying to keep my cool about Trix rushing off this morning, feeling her warm body pressed up against me as I hug her, feels like coming home.

After seeing her confronted by Decker it totally brought home what could have happened. Luckily that fucker seemed to be looking out for her and her family in some messed up way. But it could have been worse, and I’d have been unable to stop something happening to her.

We knew something big went down at the Hounds clubhouse yesterday after we let Jamus, and the other Hounds go. I’d had to ride over to Heartsford to pick up some new needles for the shop, and it was only on the ride back that I’d learned what happened to King. I’d called Haze to get him to check on Trix and he told me she’d gone. Thank fuck Zen had put the tracker on her phone.

After a few minutes Trix pulls back a little and says, “My grandfather is probably in emergency surgery. I want to find my brothers. I know they’re here somewhere waiting to see how he’s doing.”

I hit the buzzer for us to be let into the Emergency Room. It only takes me a minute of talking to one of the nurses to figure out there’s a trauma waiting room for families and where it’s located. Trix is silent as we walk along the empty corridor.

The second we walk in the trauma waiting room, Jamus’ face falls.

“How’s he doing?” Trix asks, her voice shaking. I know she’s expecting the worst. Given what she told me about that fucking bastard I don’t understand why she’s so upset, but I guess there’s still a lot of complicated trauma for her to unpack.

Jamus responds quietly, “King’s still in surgery. It’s not looking good.”

“You just can’t seem to keep yourself from running headlong into every dangerous situation that presents itself, can you Trix?” Tracker mutters, sounding both anxious and irritated.

There’s another guy there, he’s around seventeen or eighteen, so I guess he’s her younger brother. He looks like he’s about to burst into tears, and his voice is shaking as he speaks, “You were supposed to run. We ganged up on Gramps and forced him to make a deal with the Savage Legion that got you clear of this mess, and you came running right back into the line of fire. Even with a member of the Savage Legion at your side, you’re not safe right now.”

Tracker explains, “Decker and his family are still super pissed that you rejected that marriage alliance. Tell me you understand that much?”

“Leave her the fuck alone. Don’t put this on her when all her problems are directly related to the men in her life being fucking outlaws,” I growl. I’d never considered what life could be like for a woman in a motorcycle club before. In the Legion we treat our women with respect, but all of these discussions about marriages and alliances just pushes home the fact that pretty much every damn person in her life treated her like a possession, and it makes me so mad.

Jamus motions to Trix. “We can argue about that another day, Vapor. Get over here, girl, before Decker or one of his men finds you.”

We’re the only people in the tiny waiting room, so I follow Trix over to where they’re sitting. We huddle in a corner and talk in hushed whispers. Trix leans forward, “Too late. Decker already found me. He ambushed me the second I walked into the hospital.”

“How the hell did you get away from him?” Tracker asks.

Jamus responds roughly, “How the fuck do you think? She’s now the property of a brother from the Savage Legion. Vapor protected her. Decker must be flat out stupid to keep coming for her.”

Tracker shoots Jamus an irritated look. “Trix is still the bridge between two clubs. Decker was humiliated by her sending messages to his brother, and his father believes she belongs to one of his two sons and doesn’t seem to care which.”

“Well, I can tell you right now that Decker doesn’t give a damn about me. He never did. Just now, he explained his version of what went down, and I could hardly believe my ears. He said King tried to kill him, and he shot in self-defense. Then the Diggers patched over the Hounds. That can’t be right. The brothers would never agree to that, right?” Trix says.

I reach over and take her hand. She’s practically vibrating with a mixture of anger and fear.

Tracker explains quickly, “Decker let his brother and old man barge in on us when we were having church. They called for a patch over by the Diggers, made a good case for King being past his prime and weak when it comes to taking territory back from the Legion. They were getting more insults until they offered the sign-on bonus. That turned the fucking tide in their favor.”

“Yeah, everyone handed over their cuts like fucking little pussies. They took those the second the votes came back in their favor. As it stands now, there is no more Hellfire Hounds. The brothers turned on us for money. The Grave Diggers offered them ten grand sign-on bonuses, and every fucking one of them except Tracker and myself took the bait. I guess they’ll be happily changing out the sign on the Hellfire Hounds clubhouse at the first chance they get,” Jamus says.

“Decker said he shot King in self-defense. That can’t be true, right? What happened?” Trix asks.

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