Page 58 of The Devil's Pair

“I know,” Scars said. “But that’s my point: what if it’s all connected somehow? Like what if Violet goes back to the cult?”

“Howcanshe?” Wolf said. “They're scattered to the four winds and she has no clue where they are.”

“What about New Mexico?” Dux chimed in. “Briley said that she and Elle and Violet talked about the desert compound branch more than once, so what if Violet hauled ass out there?”

“Fine.” Wolf sighed, ran his hands through his hair, making it stand up on end even more. “I'll have Ice check the airport and train and bus stations, and try to get some information on her. OK? I mean, I don’tthinkshe’s made a bee-line back to the damn cult, not after beggin’ Briley to get her out. I agree she didn’t like it here with us, or workin’ at the bar, but I ain’t convinced that she wants to return to the fucked-up mother ship. I figure she’s probably passed out in some loser’s bed, less than a fifteen-minute drive from here, and she’ll wake up to a huge hangover and some serious regret that she blew up her chance here with us.”

“You think?” Drake said.

“Yeah, man.” Wolf nodded at Elle, signalling desperately for a coffee. “I really think.”

Chapter Fifteen

Outskirts of Salt Lake City, Utah

Highway Hellions Safe House

At the exact moment that Wolf was speaking those words, Violet was kneeling on a filthy floor in front of the Right-Guardian.

She had shown up in Utah in the wee hours that morning, after a tense wait on stand-by at the Denver airport. ThankChristshe’d gotten last minute on a red-eye to Salt Lake City, then she’d spent a frustrating few hours on the streets, asking around about The Highway Hellions clubhouse.

When she’d finally presented herself there at about five a.m., she’d immediately been taken to a beast of a man named Viper. He’d been suspicious yet intrigued when she’d explained that she was seeking the Right-Guardian Michael, and that she had very important information for him about a situation in Denver.

Viper had pressed and pushed, but Violet had been adamant: she would talk to the Right-Guardian only. He’d retreated to what looked like an office to make some phone calls, then re-emerged five minutes later looking grim. That was when he’d bundled her into a van, driven her about two hours out of the city, and pulled up at what must have been a lovely lake house, once upon a time.

So at last, now here she knelt. Her head was bowed, her hands clasped, her eyes averted. Her knees and thighs under her ached from holding the position for so long, but she couldn’t move until the Right-Guardian told her to.

And it all felt so familiar; it felt so right.

I’m back where I belong.

“So,” the huge, terrifying man next to the Right-Guardian said; she reflected that he most surely was the infamous Crusher that she’d heard Scars talk about. “Tell us everything, right from the beginning.”

Violet stayed silent, her eyes nailed on Right-Guardian Michael’s feet.

“Are you deaf, bitch?” the man snarled. “Or do you just have a fucking death wish?”

“She won’t talk to you,” the Right-Guardian said. “She doesn’t have my permission.”

“Seriously?” the man scoffed. “Jesusfuck, Web… drop the pathetic little power trip and get the cunt to talk to me.”

The Right-Guardian stiffened at that, and Violet almost looked up in shock at the blatant disrespect that had been shown to him. She had no say here, she knew, but she vented her feelings about the big rude pig by glaring at the floor.

“Woman-servant Violet. Look at me.”

Right away, she snapped her head up to meet Right-Guardian Michael’s eyes.

“Now,” he said softly. “Tell us everything, right from the beginning.”

Without any hesitation, Violet did exactly that. She told him about Briley rescuing Iris from the Garden basement, then taking Violet from the Garden, then the drive back to Colorado. She told him how Iris was going by the name Elle, and she was working for her own money and living with a red-bearded mountain of a man. She told him all about The Road Devils, and their depraved lifestyle and behavior, and finally – her voice hoarse by now – she told him about Briley appearing in Denver the night before, suddenly and out of nowhere. Violet wasn’t sure where she had come from, or where she was staying, but she assured the Right-Guardian that Briley Crosswasin Denver,and she was still connected to The Road Devils somehow and for some reason.

She fell silent now, her wide green eyes searching Right-Guardian Michael’s face for approval. It was all she wanted now, because if he gave her that, then she could go home.

He gazed down at her, saw the hope on that beautiful little face, and he smiled.

“Thank you, Violet.” He reached for her with both hands, ran his fingers over her curved cheekbones. “You’ve been very helpful.”

She stared at him, her eyes beseeching, and he sensed that she wanted to say something.

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