“Get the kids out of here!” War roared, standing beside me, the two of us watching Ice burn while he screamed in sudden agony.
I dragged my gaze away from the horrific sight and down at Chaos, Grayson, Kara, and Hayley Jade. My stomach plummeted, bile rising in my throat. “Are they hurt?”
They were both drowned in gasoline, their eyes red, and their skin had to sting, but I couldn’t see a burn on them. Grayson turned Hayley Jade around, covering her ears and eyes.
Chaos held Kara in his arms, dragging her away from the flames. “He’d stepped away enough that the trail of gasoline was broken. The flames didn’t get to them.”
“It burns!” Ice screamed, limbs flailing as he tried to put out the fire he’d created. “Kill me!”
His screams pierced through the night, churning my stomach.
There was no more talk of the Lord or Josiah or rebirth.
There was nothing left but a burning man in utter agony.
He’d tried to kill my woman. My daughter. And for those sins, I couldn’t pick up the gun to do as he’d asked. “Only the prez can shoot within the clubhouse gates.”
The acrid stench of burning flesh filled the air, and I covered my mouth and nose with my arm, coughing as the disgusting smell permeated everything.
War picked up the gun. Pointed it at Ice, who’d collapsed on the ground.
But he was too late.
Ice’s cries quieted.
He stopped moving.
War shook his head, emptying the weapon of bullets and throwing it into the flames with him. “Enjoy your eternal life, Ice. I don’t think it’s going to be behind pearly gates. Say hello to Josiah when he gets there.”
The media caught wind of Josiah’s death by the next evening. I sat in Hayley Jade’s hospital room while she played on her iPad, fingers moving deftly across the screen like she’d owned one all her life.
I stared down at my phone and the massive headline that read:Cult Leader Found Dead in His Prison Cell.
I flashed it at Chaos on the other side of the room. His eyes flicked side to side while he read it and then nodded. “Your guys work fast.”
I wasn’t sure if it was one of our guys in the prison who’d been the one to repeatedly shank Josiah and leave him bleeding out on the concrete floor of his cell, or if it had been someone Vincent and Scythe knew from their time inside.
Either way, I didn’t care.
Only that dickless Josiah was now six feet under, his eternal fucking soul sold to the Devil to do as he pleased.
I fucking hoped he got exactly what he deserved.
It didn’t feel like a victory though. Ice’s screams for me to kill him echoed over and over in my mind, guilt swirling inside my belly.
I’d already vomited twice in the last twenty-four hours. I was pretty sure I wasn’t done.
Chaos snapped his fingers at me. “Stop it.”
I screwed my face up at him. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re blaming yourself. I can see it.”
I sighed heavily, glancing at Hayley Jade, but she had her headphones on and was fully engrossed in whatever YouTube video she was watching. “If I’d just patched him in earlier…”
“Fine. Let’s talk that out. Why didn’t you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Something always felt off. The others wanted me to, and I kept finding reasons not to. But maybe if I’d just patched him in, given him the family he so clearly wanted…”