Page 116 of The Oath We Take

Butcher drops down in front of Maksim. “What did you want with my daughter?”

The man laughs. “She’s a pawn. Just like the rest of us.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Butcher applies the gun to his temple.

“What does it matter if I say or not? I’m going to get killed anyway.”

I release Ember for a moment and reach for the second man. “What about you? Do you want to be spared as the messenger? As the one man allowed to leave here tonight with a warning?”

He looks to the first man.

“Say nothing, Tolya,” Maksim says.

I look to Butcher, and nod. He shoots Maksim straight through the temple.

“No,” the second man screams. “That is Rurik’s brother-in-law. You have no idea what you’ve just done.”

I school my expression with indifference. “So, Tolya. You want to join the dead or escape to the living?”

He looks into the distance, where the violent gun fight at the clubhouse continues.

Tears spill over Tolya’s eyes. “Don’t kill me. Please. You’re on the path.”

“What path?”

“They need a clear trade route to shift things via road from Los Angeles up to Milwaukee. They need free access to the airports and the roads. You and your land and your club, you’re just in the way. And by discrediting the club, by showing how you can’t even protect your own, then the town will switch to our loyalty.” He glances up at me. “Are you the one they call Atom?”

I tap my patch. “I am.”

“They say your father is making plans to sell the land to Rurik Zakharov.”

“How? It’s not even his yet.”

Tolya shakes his head. “I don’t know how. Lev was supposed to infiltrate the club, undermine it from the inside.”

I swallow deeply, knowing this means the end for my father. He can’t cross the club and get away with it. And I hate to think how he was going to take the land from Grandpa. But I don’t have the bandwidth to process the feelings now.

I need to get Ember to safety.

I stand and look at Butcher, who pats Tolya down and takes his wallet before he slices through the ties on his wrists.

“Run back to your bosses,” Butcher says. “Tell ‘em whatever the fuck you like to explain why you survived. But make sure you also tell them this: Our town isn’t up for grabs. You come for us, we’ll come back harder.”

“And tell Lev he better sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life,” I say. “Because I’ll get my revenge, even if I have to wait for it.”

Butcher helps the man to his feet as we hear the rumble of more bikes in the distance. More of the club is headed our way. “We know who you are, and we’ll find out where you live. You’re basically an Outlaw now, Tolya. If you want to keep breathing, you’ll do anything we say. Do us proud,” he says, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

The three of us watch Tolya run across the field.

“He’s going the wrong direction to town,” I say, causing Ember to give a shuddering laugh that sounds a little like a cough and splutter.

“Come here,” Butcher says, reaching for Ember, but she doesn’t go to him.

“Did you two make things right?” she asks, looking up at me.

“Enough that there’s a path forward,” I say, tucking her hair behind her ear. There are smudges of dirt on her face and I try to wipe them away with my thumb. “We’ll figure out the rest as we go.”

Butcher looks to me. “I’m sorry, brother. Might need to take some time to figure out where the fuck I’ve been the last month. Take good care of my daughter. I’ll fix it, Em, I promise.”

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