Page 19 of Reaper

“Lexi! Ace!” I call out.

Silence. Dread coils in my gut.

When I reach the room, I know something’s wrong. The door’s wide open, but no one’s inside. They’re gone. Maybe they hid?

I barrel through all of the rooms in the clubhouse, throwing open doors with a force that rattles the walls. Each empty space fuels my growing fury. She was supposed to be safe here. She was supposed to be under my protection. Lexi’s nowhere, and neither is Ace. A sense of fear slices through me sharper than any blade. Were they taken?

I spill out the back door, scanning the ground. There, cutting through the dirt, are two sets of tracks—one smaller, lighter, belonging to a child. My vision narrows as I follow them, praying they’ll lead me to her. Since there isn’t a third set present, I don’t think they were abducted. They left on their own.

The woods swallow me whole, branches clawing at my leather cut as I push deeper. But slowly the tracks vanish, swept away by the wind and the dense foliage.

“Dammit, Lexi!” I roar into the silence, my voice a thunderous crack against the sky.

She’s gone, slipped through my fingers like smoke. How could she do this to me? After everything I did for her.

When I return to the clubhouse, the weight of anger and confusion is a heavy cloak on my shoulders.

Scar’s waiting, his eyes sharp enough to cut steel. “Did you find them?”

“No.”

“Fuck! Church. Now.”

We pile into the room. Normally, it’s where tough decisions are made and where we lay down our laws and punishments. Today, it feels like a damn courtroom, and I’m the one on trial.

Scar slams the gavel.

“Lexi’s gone,” I spit out before anyone else can speak. “She took off, probably during the firefight.” My hand slams down on the worn wood table as my frustration boils over.

“Any idea why she’d bolt?” Talon asks, eyes sharp beneath his furrowed brow.

“None. She just vanished without a trace. Again,” I growl.

“Maybe she got scared,” Matrix chimes in, always the damn voice of reason.

“Scared … Yeah, maybe.” I lean back in my chair, and my muscles tense while my mind races.

“All right, let’s focus,” Scar commands. “First, we talk about the chaos that just rained down on us. Then we’ll get to Lexi and Ace.”

“He was with her. I saw their tracks,” I say.

“At least they’re together,” Matrix says, giving me a sympathetic look. I want to slap it right off his face. I don’t need his pity.

“Why’d the Demon Riders hit us?” Talon asks. “Why today?”

“Could’ve been a power play,” Nitro suggests, his brow furrowing as he leans back in his chair. “Asserting dominance, maybe?”

“Or a diversion,” Matrix says, his fingers drumming on the tabletop. The guy’s got a tactical mind like no other, always thinking three moves ahead.

“Demons have been silent lately,” Scar says.

“Too silent. It’s not their style.” Nitro leans back in his chair, nearly tipping it over.

“Lexi,” Scar says slowly, his eyes locking onto mine. “I got a hunch this is all about her.”

As the room pulses with unspoken agreement, my gut twists. Lexi’s absence is a huge red flag. Was she in on this?

“Reaper, what the hell did you do to make Lexi take off?” Matrix’s question slices through the darkness in my head.

---