Page 89 of Daughters of Chaos

Jesse's eyes are wide as he addresses Mason. "We got one."

"One what?" Stitch asks.

"One of the Bastards. Followed him when he left the warehouse all alone," Jesse answers. "He went to some dump amile away, and we jumped him. We have him tied and gagged in one of the Devil's rooms." He sends a wary look my way.

My heart skips a beat. They've kidnapped one of the Bastards. He's here now—our link to Raven, our key to getting her out.

Acid churns in my stomach as the realization hits—how they'll have to get the man to talk. What they'll do to him. It's ugly and violent, but they took my sister, and none of the rest matters now. It's wrong, I know that, but I can't bring myself to care.

Jesse leans in, whispering something to Mason, who pales at the news. His eyes meet mine, and I know something is wrong. "What is it?" I ask, afraid of the answer.

He shoots Jesse a look before pulling me to the side of the bed. "Nix."

"Tell me," I croak, my heart picking up its pace.

Mason swallows hard as he holds my hand. "The guy they picked up, the Desert Bastard from the warehouse . . . Baby, it's Martin."

My heart stops.

Martin.

It can't be. The Bastards beat him to a pulp and threw him on our doorstep with a warning. He was my friend, Kat's boyfriend, he'd never—

Oh, my God.

"Kat." Tears fall from my eyes as Martin's lies start to piece together.

From that first day in the parking lot and the library meet-up, it was all a plot to get closer to me and the Sons. Dating Kat, her sudden drug problem, her disappearance, Martin's 'attack'. All of it was orchestrated for Scar and the Bastards. Every time I ignored my gut feeling, every time my intuition tried to warn me and I shrugged it off I was helping him.

I fed right into his hands.

"Oh, my God. Kat." I break down in Mason's arms, devastated at the truth I'm now facing. She's been gone for weeks now, and if the Bastards had her this whole time—if she's still alive—

I can't process the horrors they must have put her through during that time.

Mason holds me until my tears no longer fall. After the sadness, I feel numb. Then, I feel angry.

"Take me to him," I say with a trembling voice.

"Nix, I don't think—"

"Take me to him!"

Jesse and Mason exchange a look as my fingernails dig into my skin. Blistering anger and hate-filled rage consume me for the man who lied to me and hurt my friend. The same man whose friends were now holding my sister captive. I want to look into his eyes and ask him 'why'. Then, I want to watch as my family destroys him.

"Take me," I say once more, and they obey.

We find Reaper pacing outside the room, fists clenched, looking like the Devil himself. I wonder if Martin is already dead, taken out by the beast of a man before me. But there are no bruises or wounds on Reaper to be found. No sign that he's seen the man I once called my friend.

"He's waiting until we're ready for the last phase of interrogation," Mason tells me. "If Martin doesn't give us what we need, we'll unleash Reaper on him."

Part of me wants to tell him not to wait. To send in the club's enforcer now and stop wasting time, but I know there's something I have to do first. I need to face him and get answers of my own. Then, I'll let the boys take over.

Mason and Jesse pause outside the door, eyeing me carefully. "You sure about this, Phoenix?" Mason asks.

I nod. "I need to do this." With that, Mason opens the door with great reluctance.

Inside, Martin is bound and tied to a chair with a bag over his head as two men in Devil's cuts stand guard over him. All the furniture is against the walls, and thick plastic sheeting covers the floor.For the blood.

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