Page 91 of Ares

“But—”

“Stay here,” he growls.

I turn to Dolly for help, but she clearly agrees with them, and I watch them all walk out of the clubhouse.

Clearly, there are rules when you belong to a motorcycle club.

But right now I don’t give a damn about their rules.

Not when Ares’ life is in danger.

I grab my car keys off the bar and race out of the clubhouse. By the time I peel out of the parking lot, I can only just see Dakota Joe’s taillight up ahead.

It’s a perfect summer evening. The stars are out, and there’s a warm breeze in the air. But as I near the part of town where they keep the cannabis fields, the sweet tang of burning marijuana hangs heavy in the air.

In the distance, an orange glow cuts into the fading light. As it gets closer, a new wave of fear washes through me when I see the bellowing smoke and ferocious fire. The barn is completely engulfed. Flames flare into the evening sky, and a rain of glowing embers falls onto the field below, catching trees and plants alight.

Dakota Joe pulls up next to Venom and Ghoul. They’re off their bikes by the time I come to a skid beside them.

Doc is already on the scene and treating Gambit who is bleeding from bullet wounds. Further along, two men who I have never seen before lie still in the grass.

My stomach rolls and I can’t breathe.

“Is there anyone still inside?” Dakota Joe asks Venom and Ghoul.

“Jack and Ares,” Venom replies.

Just as he says it, the barn roof collapses, sending ferocious flames high into the sky.

Ares.

My heart screams his name.

There is no way anyone can survive a fire like this.

“Fuck this,” Ghoul growls.

He tries to run toward the barn, but Dakota Joe thrusts out an arm, and Ghoul slams into it. “You go in there, and it’s suicide.”

“Our sergeant-at-arms and our president are in there.”

“You’ve got an old lady now and a kid on the way. You stay out here.”

“I’ll go,” Venom says.

“No one goes,” Dakota Joe growls.

As the fire rages, the embers rain onto the cornfields, and they catch alight too. Within seconds, the dry crop is fully ablaze.

I watch on helplessly.

I want to be sick.

The sound of approaching fire trucks wail in the distance, but they’re too far away.

I can’t watch this happen and not do anything.

Without thinking, I take off toward the burning barn. Dakota Joe reaches out to stop me, but all he manages to grab onto is my shirt which I leave behind in my wake as I run through the scrub. I don’t have a plan. At this stage, I’m running on pure adrenaline. All I know is the man I love is inside that burning barn, and I can’t stand around and watch it consume him.

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