Page 54 of War

Lies.Lies.Lies.

Quicker than lightning, Monster is behind Carver, wrenching his head back with a fist in his hair, a jagged hunting knife at his throat.“Be careful with that lying tongue or I’ll cut it from your mouth,” Monster warns with a sadistic hook of his lip.

Bear’s hands shoot out.“Everyone, take a breath.We don’t want trouble.”

“Trouble found you,” Cutter announces.“We want that piece of shit—or we can start slicing into people.Your choice.”

“I’m telling the truth.We don’t know where he went.He got a call, packed a bag, and was gone.”Bear looks at me, and my heart shatters at his feet.I want to go to him, to tell Callan to stop this, but I’m a King now.I love Callan.He’s my home and has a right to retribution.It’s imperative they know where my loyalty lies.

“What about you?Did he tell you where he was going?”Monster asks, tightening his hold on Carver, the blade pinching his skin hard enough to draw blood.

“No.”Carver blows out through pinched lips, spittle spraying the table.

“If he crawls out of the hole he’s scurried into, it would be in this club’s best interest to call me,” Callan tells Bear.“Your pres called a meet and left ours with three bullet wounds in him to die in the dirt like a fucking animal.Whatever bullshit story he told you to cover his ass is just that.”

Getting to his feet, Callan nods to Monster.

My mouth drops open, and my hand juts out.“No!”I call as Monster drags the blade across Carver’s throat, blood spraying out like a shaken champagne bottle.It splatters across the table, spraying Bear in a crimson mist.The brothers at the back of the room jolt forward, stopping when their eyes flit to something behind me.I know without looking that Grease is aiming his weapon at them.

A gurgle bubbles from Carver’s lips.

The metallic scent fills my nostrils and sticks to the back of my throat.His hand slips away from his neck, the thick red slash streaming a crimson river down his chest.

Callan grips my hand and nods to Bear.“Our blood was spilled, and now so is yours.”

CHAPTER14

CRIMSON TIDES

“Get on the bike, Rogue.”Callan’s voice scrapes across my mind like sandpaper.

I don’t even remember walking outside.The sun soaks into my skin as it streaks through a scattering of marshmallow clouds.I stand beside Callan’s bike, staring at his face.He’s so striking, just looking at him cuts deep.

Carver was an asshole, but I’ve known him almost as long as I’ve known Tyler.Watching Monster butcher him like a pig will haunt me forever.

“Rogue,” Callan repeats.

I nod, taking my helmet and slipping it over my head.Fire burns my eyes, and I’m grateful for the obscurity of my helmet.I sweep my leg over the bike, my gaze landing on Monster straddling his bike beside us.My eyes drop to the knife, now sheathed on his thigh, and my gut twists.

Chaos rages in my heart.Conflict pulls me in too many directions.If Tyler were here it would have been his blood sprayed across that table not Carver’s.And as much as I want answers I don’t have it in me to be part of his murder.

The engine roars to life, vibrating the seat, humming up my thighs.I wrap my arms around Callan’s waist and lay my head against his back, allowing myself a moment to remember the Devil in me who lost something today.

Not just Carver, but Bear too.

As soon as Callan idles the bike back at the King’s compound, I take off, crashing through the door and rushing down the hallway.The walls blur, my heart pounding in my ears.Jerking Callan’s bedroom door open, I head straight for the en suite.My knees crash to the tiled floor, my arms curling around the toilet seat as my body purges the small amount of food in my stomach.

Acid burns up my throat.Water streams from my eyes.My body heaves.A twinge of pain expands through my ribs as my muscles contract.Pushing to my feet, I wipe my mouth with my sleeve and move to the shower.Sweat coats my skin.It’s hard to breathe.

I peel the sweater from my skin then toe off my shoes and kick out of my pants.Stumbling inside the shower, I turn the knob to cold.An icy torrent blasts down on me, stealing the air from my lungs and dousing the fever taking over my flesh.I wish I could scrub the images in my mind away as quickly.

I stand there under the punishing flow until my body goes numb.

Switching the shower off, I step out, wrap a towel around my body, and wring out my hair.I sense Callan before I see his imposing frame in the doorway.

“We had to send a message, Rogue.”

“I know.”I shiver.

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