Page 49 of Dragon Strife
While he grips his face, I grab the switchblade I know is always in his cut pocket and roll off of him and out of the way. Since we were kids, Jaeger has had this blade with him. My father gave it to him the year he came to live with us to help him sleep at night. He used to have night terrors about his real father coming back to kill Claire.
“You broke my fucking nose!” he hollers as he sits up.
I’ve cut through the rope by the time he gets back to his feet and then I watch as he turns to look at me, the shadowed outline of his body tight with tension. His face is darkened with blood and I can see it dripping onto his cut.
With a growl, he stalks toward me with a hand clutching his jaw and the other curled at his side, unaware that I have his knife in my now unbound hands. His anger is clouding everything else and his eyes are focused on my face as his rage forces his sight to tunnel. He knocks back his fist, and it gives me the perfect opportunity to stab him in the chest, but I fucking chicken out at the last second and instead, slice across his cut and shirt. The knife is sharp and I know it slid through the leather like fucking butter.
Jaeger jumps back and I slowly move around him with the knife held out in front of me. “You’re going to die for that, bitch,” he whispers, the sound nasally from his broken nose. I hear the leather of his cut as I imagine he’s gripping his hand through the destroyed front.
“I no longer fear death, Jaeger,” I tell him with conviction, meaning each and every word. “When you traded me out to become President, Barrett had me locked in a basement, like this one, and used my body until I was nothing more than a bag of flesh and bone. Then he left me there to rot and I would’ve if Diego hadn’t found me.”
He staggers a bit at my words, and I can just picture his brow falling slightly in confusion. “That’s not what I had planned—”
“I was raped! Repeatedly, Jaeger!” I scream, the sound bouncing around us as I stop to stand in front of him. “That’s what you sacrificed to gain the position you’re in. Your sister and her well-being just so you can play king on someone else’s throne!”
His hands curl back up into fists as his mouth tightens into a straight line. “I wanted you to be taken out of Arizona with a warning to never come back. That was the deal.”
“How could you ever think that band of fucking psychos would hold up their end of the bargain?” I shake my head, my sarcastic laugh filtering throughout the dark room. “Regardless, Jaeger, I don’t hate you for that.”
“That wasn’t the deal I made with Barrett,” he snarls. “I’m a cruel bastard, I’ll admit it, but do you think I would actually request you be raped and killed?”
“You killed my father, Jaeger,” I remind him calmly. “The man who raised you as his own and trained you to continue his legacy. The second you felt threatened, you turned your back so quickly.”
“You don’t know anything,” he snaps. “You weren’t there for any of it. You only know what you saw that night.”
“I know I saw you shoot my dad in the head! I know you handed me over to be raped and left for dead! And I know I will fucking kill you for it too!” The pitch of my screams is only accentuated by the steel walls as they vibrate with the sounds and my eyes fill with tears.
I made a mistake. I let in the despair.
My vision swims with the fucking stupid tears and I’m not quick enough to dodge him when he rushes forward, grabbing my throat in his hand. Panic overcomes me and any training I had flies out the window. My back meets the wall as his other hand hits the steel by my head, and the knife falls from my hand, my body trembling with fear-fueled anger.
Jaeger’s face comes in close to mine, his teeth bared as he growls, “Your father asked me to kill him because he was already dying from stage-four brain cancer. He told me when the time came, I would know it and to put him out of his misery.”
My hands wrap around his wrist as his fingers bruise my tender flesh.“You’re a fucking liar!” I shriek at him, my throat working around his hand.
“Why do you think he was making you President?” He snickers before tightening his hold on me. “Surely you couldn’t have thought you were qualified? He wanted to make sure his precious daughter was protected because she didn’t have the means to do it for herself. Daddy’s spoiled princess doesn’t know how to take care of her-fucking-self! Clearly!” he screams into my face and that’s when the fear subsides and all that’s left is pure and potent anger.
While he’s busy degrading me, he doesn’t pay attention to anything else, so when my knee slams up into his groin, the shocked look on his face has me cackling as he stumbles backward. I don’t waste another precious second as my hands snag into his hair and I slam his face into the same knee. He slumps to his knees and then falls forward, his face hitting the steel with a sickening crack. I can feel my arms dotted with fresh blood and I bet I look like I’ve visited the gates of Hell, barely making it back alive.
When he doesn’t move, I use my foot to flip him over and begin to quickly search his ruined cut’s pockets for the keys. My heart beats as anxiety filters in. I need to get out of here before he wakes up. My fingers brush along the cold metal and I exhale my breath when I pull out his key ring, then I grab his gun from the other pocket, just in case. I get up and dart for the door as I pant, struggling to drag air into my lungs.
Malik will be so proud of me, and as long as they have Delia safe and sound, we’ll celebrate my victory. I yank open the door and rush into the hallway, slamming it shut behind me, and then I shake as I raise the key ring. Shock has white noise slamming through my ears, and my mouth dries as I see my name on a keychain. It’s mine from my own key ring, and I swallow down the assumptions of what it could mean. Why would Jaeger have my name on his key ring? I begin to test the keys on the ring until I find the one for the door, noticing it’s a double, and quickly lock it. I stumble away from the ominous, metal door and hit the wall across from it just as my adrenaline wanes and every ache comes tumbling back.
My pants are dried and stiff from my own urine, my face hurts, my scalp is bleeding, and my throat is so sore from screaming that I know it’s going to be hard to fucking speak.
I need a stiff drink.
As my body screams in agony, I slowly make my way down the hallway, uncaring of my appearance and scent. The Steel Assholes can fucking deal with it. I let the key ring hang from my finger as I grip the gun in my palm so that my other hand can wrap around the railing beside the stairs, and then I steadily climb the basement steps. As soon as my hand wraps around the thick, metal handle, I breathe out all the anxiety and fear of being trapped and helpless. This time, I got myself out.
I push open the door and step out into the corridor as nostalgia hits me in the chest. The construction around me is brand new, but the look is still the same. I have images of Jaeger and Quinton trying to find a way to ditch me as I follow them everywhere, then the memories of being older and coming here with Claire to help with cleanup, and then finally my showdown with Quinton and Carrie not too long ago. All of it makes me choke up with the realization that I’m no longer that girl, but I force it back down, knowing I have to continue forward. She truly died in the Hell’s March basement.
My feet drag along the hallway as I tuck the keys into the back of my jeans pocket and keep my eye on my surroundings. I won’t be caught off guard, and if anyone tries me, I’ll shoot them without issue. My grip tightens on the gun, knowing it’s a very real possibility. This isn’t my club, but it will be, and they’ll know just what it means to disrespect me. I stop at the end of the hallway and look out at the main room. All of it is shining with a newness but the rot inside is still festering. You can dress up a mutt, but the blood will remain impure.
The music is playing at a low decibel and most of the brothers are missing with only a few scattered about. Most of them are older brothers who were once so very loyal to my father, and it’s that I’m hoping will stop them from making me use this gun. I walk into the room as my boots scuff over the floor, but I stay vigilant as I make my way to the bar. The chatter gradually dies down as one by one they all turn to stare at me, none of them seeing me as a threat even though I have a gun in my clutches. Jaeger learned the hard way what it was to underestimate me, and I don’t mind if I have to do it many times over to achieve the same result.
“Genni?!” Chip scrambles from around the bar, his eyes wide as he rushes to me.
I lift the gun and point it at his head, hearing the room fall deathly silent save for the few whispers of who I am. “Back behind the bar, Chip,” I warn. “Nice and easy, and if you would be so kind, grab me a bottle of fucking whiskey.” The need to wet my dry throat is overwhelming and so is the need for alcohol.
