Page 4 of Axe
He was close with Tank, too. I knew he considered him a best friend, if you will. Even after all that shit that Tank had said to him before he took off, Diesel was still here. He didn’t hold any of it against Tank. I knew this couldn’t be easy for him, but yet, he still came.
We made our way inside, and without stopping, headed for Brass’ office.
“This is a mess,” Brass said as soon as we all gave our greetings. “I have no idea what the hell to do. I got her down in the basement and Knight watching over her. I have no clue who she is or why she was with him. She won’t talk.”
“How’d they get here? You said Tank was out cold when they showed up.” Loch said taking control of the conversation for all of us.
“Yeah. Drove up in Tank’s truck. Scary lookin’ woman, man. She has deadly written all over her. Tank was slumped in the seat, bleeding from his side. Frannie said the shot only grazed him, he’s patched up now. Only explanation he could give to why Tank’s still out is that maybe he was drugged with somethin’.”
I blew out a harsh breath. Finding out Tank was good relieved some of the tension in my neck but it still didn’t mean that this was about to get easy. In fact, knowing I was going to be the one dealing with the woman in the basement almost made me sick to my stomach.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said as I put my game face on.
With a nod, Brass led me through the clubhouse and to the basement. I tossed my cut over the banister at the bottom of the stairs. I knew the rest of the guys were going to go see how Tank was doing and I had mixed feelings about doing this on my own.
See, I always knew I walked a razor wire in life. I knew the demon was right there, hovering over my shoulder, ready to possess my soul at any moment. There were times when I was alone that I let him in. I would turn my brain over to him and let the dark thoughts take root for just a bit. I honestly had no idea why I did. Maybe I thought that if I knew what was hidden there in the dark corners of my mind then I could prepare myself for them. But sometimes they would threaten to take over at the worst moments.
And that was what I needed to avoid at all cost right now.
As I walked along the wall to where the cells were, I noticed someone sitting in the corner. He tilted his head when I approached.
Shit. I almost didn’t recognize the fucker.
Knight.
Hadn’t seen him in four years. Once he was off to college like a big boy I would have sworn I’d never see him again. But there he was, proving that this life just ran in some people’s blood.
I approached the cell bars with quiet, easy steps. Her eyes were already on mine as I stepped out of the shadows. It was like she already knew I was there. Her body was sitting relaxed on the bed, but the way she held herself told me that she was ready to strike if need be. I wouldn’t let myself be fooled by her nonchalant act.
Damn, Brass was right, there was something about her that made the air feel like a knife cutting my lungs. Deadly was almost too calm of a word for it.
“Who are you?” I asked, keeping my face as flat as my tone.
Her eyes narrowed at me.
“How is he?” she asked, her tone matching mine.
“Who are you?” I repeated.
Her eyes blinked slowly as if I was boring her to death.
“What happened to him?” I tried to change direction. I just wanted something from her.
After a long standstill of silence, I could feel my blood heating up. I wanted some Goddamn answers and she seemed to be all out of fucks to give.
“Who shot him?” I asked, somehow keeping my cool.
“Is he okay?”
Why did she want to know? Why the fuck wasn’t she telling me anything? This was beyond infuriating and I knew I was going to get nowhere with her.
Suddenly, I was glad for the bars. I was thankful that I had no way to get to her. Because as the red started to cloud my vision, images of her on the floor covered in her own blood flashed in my mind. My hand bloodied and swollen from punching her flesh until it split open. My clothes splattered in red. And I could almost feel the crunch of her bones against my fist as I beat her face in.
I could see it like it was all real. Like I wanted tomakeit real. I could smell the copper in the air even though it wasn’t there. My skin prickled as if there was a draft in the room, but I knew better. It was always in my head.
I looked down to my hand and flexed my fingers. The ring that was in my vision wasn’t there in reality. It wasn’t me, I wasn’t that monster, even if I reveled in the bloodlust of all that my mind conjured up.
That led to the questions that always came up.
