Page 86 of Daughters of Chaos

"Here," I croak, fighting the knot in my throat. "We're here."

Seconds later, Mason's arms wrap around me. "Thank fuck. We saw a few of them disappear and thought they made it inside, but they took off as soon as they heard the sirens."

Stitch holds Lace tightly as red and blue lights filter into the room. "Yeah, Rae told us to stay in the closet until someone came to get us. She was hiding out here because all three of us couldn't fit."

Looking around, I notice she isn't with us. Panic starts to set in as I see Jesse and Bones crouching over Archie's unconscious body.

No. No, no, no. Is he okay? Did the Bastards get to him? Did they get to Rae?

"Rae." My voice cracks as I spin around Mason, searching the space for my sister. "Rae. Where are you?"

Approaching footsteps sound as Reaper races into the room from upstairs. "I can't find Raven." His eyes are wild with fury as he bleeds from a wound on his arm. "Where the fuck is she?"

A cough sounds from the kitchen, and Archie's voice comes through weak and weary. "They took her. I tried—" He coughs again as his eyes roll back. " . . . too much blood. Couldn't stop . . . them." Archie loses consciousness, and his words leave me feeling hollow.

No.

No. It can't be true. They can't have her. What they'll do to her . . .

I stop listening, stop hearing anything as the news hits me like a freight train. Raven is gone. Taken. It can't be true.

"Their old safehouse on Maven?" someone asks.

"No, they cleared that out weeks ago. The shop off Main?"

"Empty."

Vomit inches up my throat as the reality sets in. The Bastards have my sister. They've taken her, and we have no idea wherethey've gone. I feel woozy and weak. This can't be real. It can't be happening. If that monster took her for revenge, he'd—

I can't finish the thought. Knowing what Scar and his boys have done to people before is bad enough. Imagining it happening to my sister is too much, too horrible to consider. If I let myself think about it, I'll lose myself in a spiral, and what good will that do her?

"Fuck this," Reaper shouts. "I'm getting her back!" He starts for the door as two cops sneak inside.

"No one's going anywhere," one of them says, glaring at Reaper. "We have a shot-up house, reports of multiple explosions, and a whole lotta questions."

The club's enforcer growls as he takes a step toward the officer. Mason and Stitch hold him back as the other cop says, "We sent a cruiser after them when we saw them hightailing it out of here. So, stand down and let us do our jobs. If anyone interferes, we'll lock you up."

Reaper sneers at them, looking as if he'll deck one or both of them in the face. Instead, he violently shrugs off Stitch and Mason, cursing under his breath. Guilt, fear, and anger radiates from him. For so long, he's been tasked with keeping watch on her. And now, she's gone. It must be eating him up. I know it is me.

The officers watch him closely but don't say more until they turn their attention to Mason. "So, what happened here tonight?"

Hours have passed since the shootout. Hours since my sister was taken by those monsters. It's been the longest, most brutal time of my life.

Shortly after the cops showed up, Dad and the others arrived, sans Devils, who'd split off to a motel for the night. They'd only been an hour or so behind the Bastard's attack. Had they been there earlier, who knows what the outcome may have been. I try not to think about it. It isn't his fault Scar's crew attacked us. He had no way of controlling what they did. But dwelling on it makes me angry. So, I try not to.

Once the cops clear out, we regroup at Bear's house close by. He and Dad spoke with their friends on the police force and let them know Scar's guys took Raven. They said they'd let us know if they found any tips on where the Bastards held her. Dad wanted to handle this himself, but having access to the police database could be our only way of finding her. The officers on Dad's payroll said they could give us a small head start if they found a location, but nothing substantial.

Having a few extra eyes looking out for her will be helpful, and I'm grateful for it, but we all know time isn't on our side. Dom and his boys managed to lose the cruiser that was tailing them. We have no idea where they ended up, just the general direction they were headed when the cops lost them.

We wasted so much time talking to the cops, and every second felt like another minute of Rae's life fading away. Tears slip down my face as the guys discuss the best course of action to get Raven back. Every second we wait to act is another second Scar and his boys could be torturing her. It kills me, but I feel helpless. There's nothing I can do until we have a plan in place. If we go after them without one, things could go wrong. She could get hurt or killed.

We don't even know where she is yet. How are we supposed to find her when she could be anywhere by now? The Bastards have had hours to steal her away to some remote location. Unless we find good intel, we have no clue where to start looking. The places we've already checked were long empty, and the cops aresniffing out what leads they have. Until we get new information, we have nothing to move on.

The voices start flooding in, crashing into my consciousness as I let my heartache consume me. I'm so distracted by it that I can hardly tell who's speaking. It doesn't matter though, not now. Not until we have a plan. Until we havesomethingto go on.

"We should go after them right now. Kill every last one of them."

"We need to be strategic about this."

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