Page 49 of Bound in the Dark

She tapped her ear then handed him an earpiece.

He slipped the device in. “Thanks.”

“They won’t be the only ones coming in through the back. Hopefully they will be heading towards the Clubhouse and not making any stops.”

The houses weren’t between the breach and the Clubhouse so he wasn’t concerned about them endangering anyone yet. Luckily Tek had long ago wired most of the grounds with cameras and trip wires. They had seemed pointless when all that had ever been caught was wildlife but his forethought was really paying off now.

‘Outer scouts have five armored SUVs heading our way less than ten minutes out,’ Hawk's voice rumbled over the com.

‘Drones are launching to do a sweep of the p-perimeter to see who else we have trying to sneak in the back d-door,’ Cami’s voice was calm and cool.

Highdive keyed his mic, ‘I’m heading west, Smoke and Rooster continue shadowing and wait for Diana and me if you can before you engage. Everyone else hold position.’

He had four Brothers and a prospect covering the Northern perimeter. Gears and Decaf were to the east. Hannibal, Ink, and Dragon were covering the house the Old Ladies and Children were in from sniper perches. Nadya had hopefully made it back to the house and would take up a defensive position.

‘Stay tight and keep your heads on a swivel,’ Hawk commanded.

Highdive jumped on his bike expecting Diana to climb on behind him. Instead she jumped on a cherry-red softail he had never seen before.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” Highdive asked as he kicked his bike to life.

She smiled as she started up the Harley. “My sister is staying here with Hawk she won’t mind me borrowing it.”

They raced off across the field. Riding the motorcycles killed any hope of stealth but the compound was just too large to remain on foot and have any hope of covering the distance effectively. He had thought riding into combat with Diana would have felt wrong.

It went against every instinct he had to be bringing her into danger with him. But seeing her riding focused beside him erased most of those feelings. Like she was one of his Brothers he had confidence that they would have each other's backs.

‘We’ve got six men trying to cut through the northern fence with what looks to be a combat knife and two separate groups of four doing the same to the east. At the rate these idiots are moving it might take them a while but they all have ATVs so once they get through we have less than five minutes before they can reach the houses. It looks like they are packing more than just rifles on those things.’ Tek paused in his update. ‘I’ve got a positive ID on at least two of the men. They're wearing fucking Bloody Blades colors.’

Damn it. He had known those assholes couldn’t be trusted. Highdive braked and Diana stopped beside him. His Brothers to the north and east would need their backup more than Smoke and Rooster. The ATVs and whatever they were carrying changed the equation. There were more enemies to the east but north they could use the road to close in fast.

The plan had been simple. Use a quarter of the Dark Sons forces to patrol the outer territory and pick off anyone trying to sneak in. They had hoped that since Petrov only had forty men he would focus on the Clubhouse. They would use that focus to pull him in and take him out from the sides.

But with the BBs in the mix that was a possible addition of twenty men. Not quality men but they were well armed and probably tweaking on their own product.

‘Smoke you two are on your own. Get behind them and take them out if you can or meet up at the rally point with force at the range.’

‘Rodger.’

“You go East, I’ll go North,” Diana shouted over the noise of their bikes.

“That wasn’t the deal.” Fear and anger raced through him like Olympic level athletes. She had agreed to stay with him and follow his orders and here she was at the first opportunity trying to rush off.

“But you know it is the right decision. I’ll follow your orders like I promised but really think before you choose.”

Damn it, she was right, but he couldn’t say the words. If he sent her off on her own and she got killed he would never be able to forgive himself. Highdive wanted to scream his frustration to the skies and tell fate to go fuck itself. He needed to make the right call.

If he kept her with him simply because he didn’t trust her skills would she ever forgive him? If people died that she could have saved it would be almost as bad as if he lost her.

‘They’ve breached to the north and the men to the east are almost through. Crash and Rubble are moving to engage.’ Tek’s voice cut through his inner monologue.

“Don’t die.” They were the hardest two words he had ever forced out of his mouth.

Diana gave him a short nod. “I love you, too.” She raced off towards the woods and his heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.

He turned his own bike around and headed to the east. Praying every second that he hadn’t made the wrong choice.

Chapter18