Page 15 of Avenging Devil: Part 2

Chapter Five

Niran

I’m alive. I’ve got to be thankful for that. Staying breathing means I have a chance of getting Saffie out of the jaws of the Crazy Wolves. I’m not an idiot, it won’t be easy, may not turn out to be possible at all. I’d played a long shot, and it had paid off. Instead of lying dead alongside Kid in her shitty apartment, I’ve been transported across state lines and into their den.

I’ll need to keep my cool and make the most of any opportunity afforded to me. One thing I can’t do is think Duke is a fool. There’s a reason he’s brought me here, and it’s not because he believes me. I’m Black in the heart of a white supremacist club.

So why did he let me tag along? Even if Duke thinks my story holds water, even if I have skills that he might want, I openly admitted to betraying my club, something MCs take very seriously.

A man prospects to earn the patch, to prove his loyalty to the brotherhood. What they’d see looking at me is a man who either lied or changed his mind. A trust gained and given so lightly is worth fuck all to any club, whatever type of operation they’re running. If the Satan’s Devils hadn’t been a good fit for me, I would have seen that while I was on probation. An honest man wouldn’t have deceitfully taken their patch.

Honour among thieves to us isn’t just a saying, it’s the way we live.

Duke must have seen something that he considers useful. Or I’m some sort of entertainment for him, like a mouse to a cat. If the latter, I don’t hold out much hope for my chances. The question is, how long will I be of use to him before the claws come out and I’m ripped to shreds.

I only need long enough to save Saffie.

As I pace from side to side in the room I’ve been locked in ever since I arrived, I try to come up with some kind of plan, but it’s like playing a game where I don’t know the rules. One thing I know, even to save my life, or Saffie’s, I’d never betray the Satan’s Devils MC. If I were of that mind, I doubt the Crazy Wolves would be interested. Our nearest chapter, Vegas, might be in the same state, but we don’t have any dealings with each other, and are literally hundreds of miles apart. If they want info on Vegas, I’m not the man to give it. I don’t know that chapter well enough.

My entrance to this club had been illuminating, if I’d needed to be enlightened that is. As I’d been marched through the clubhouse, I’d kept my eyes scanning around, noticing that the expressions on the faces of the assembled members had spoken volumes. I’d interpreted some anticipatory glances viewing me as fresh meat to be tortured, others somewhat confused, but the majority looked on with utter disgust. It was those unhidden looks of repugnance which gave me an uneasy feeling.

But if Duke wanted me dead, he’s already had ample opportunity to kill me. For some reason, he wants me alive. And whatever that reason is, I don’t think I’m going to like it.

Fuck, I hate knowing how much Saffie must loathe me. Right now, I expect her to be thinking about me with disgust. I don’t doubt she believed me, everything fit too neatly. The number of people who knew where she lived was very limited and known only to me and members of my club.

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that I was betrayed by Susie of all people, maybe helped knowingly or not by Cyn. Two women who selfishly want what I can’t or won’t give them. But how did they know her address?

I pace, pondering it. A note pushed under Saffie’s door, words designed to make her flee… Damn it. The answer comes to me. Trigger an exit and then wait to follow her home. Tracking a distressed woman would be easy.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I snort. It’s a bit too late to remember that. I take a certain twisted pleasure in knowing if Susie thought getting rid of the competition would draw me to her, me losing my life would certainly not advance her agenda.

While I know it’s highly likely my remaining time will be short, as long as I’m still breathing, I vow I’ll find some way to help Saffie escape. Even if I die before she knows the truth about me. I’d had no option but to lie, and I don’t regret it. It wasn’t to preserve my own life, but so she doesn’t lose hers.

I’m here, presumably in the same building as she’s being held. Maybe there’s some way I can see her and offer her some hope.

The only positive is that my brother Devils will move heaven and earth to find me. Hopefully they won’t arrive too late to save either me or her.

Bracing myself, I practice deep breathing, keeping my heart rate calm and oxygen feeding my brain. I’ll need every one of my wits about me to live out this day, let alone any that come after.

With no phone or watch, and no convenient clock, I measure the time passing only by the light filtering in from underneath the door, the room being windowless. It gradually darkens, then lights suddenly, with a different hue than before as electric lighting replaces the dying sunlight.

More time passes, and rowdy sounds reach my ears. Where I’m being held can’t be far from their clubroom. I hear laughter, shouts, voices raised in argument, then cheers as if a fight has been won. More than once, I hear a woman’s scream, and not one of pleasure. Not Saffie, it can’t be.

Knowing I’ll go crazy if I interpret the cries as hers, I blank my mind and focus on differentiating voices. I try to get an idea of numbers. When I’d walked in earlier, there had been about a dozen men. Now it sounds like there’s more of them.

Listening avidly, I don’t miss the footsteps approaching the door, nor the key turning in the lock. Pulling back my shoulders, I take a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever I’ve got coming.

Duke enters, which I expect. What comes as a surprise is the woman he’s dragging in with him. He throws her at my feet. “I hope you appreciate this. It was some trouble to get her here.”

It’s Susie.My eyes widen in disbelief while simultaneously I feel relief that at least it isn’t Cyn. But how did they get her here this quickly, and what does she think she’s doing?

Whatever, no good would come from anything out of her mouth. It’s up to me to take the initiative. Thinking fast and reaching down my hand, I pull her to her feet. “You did good, Susie. I’m proud of you.”

Though my words to her wouldn’t make sense, like I hope, my appreciation makes her beam.

Duke’s brow creases and he looks like he’s been knocked off balance. Pulling Susie around to face him, he demands, “He told you to contact us?”

Susie looks at me and flutters her eyelids. “Well, not in so many words, but I always know what he means.”

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