Page 31 of The Queen of Nightmares

Doc moved to his side, and Barrel stepped back, a sad expression on his face as he looked down at me. I glanced over at Doc as he reached for me. I allowed him to slide his arms under and lift me. As I stared at his profile I could see the same features that both he and Jack shared. I squeezed my eyes closed to shut out the image as a fresh wave of tears began to fall.

“I hate you,” I whispered.

Doc heaved out a heavy sigh. “Not as much as I hate myself, little Red.”

A few minutes later, I felt myself being lowered. I felt the familiar leather of the couch in Jack’s office under me. I almost begged for him to take me anywhere else, but when he placed the throw over me, I got a whiff of Jack’s scent on it and pulled it closer. Quiet sobs took over, not allowing me to say anything else.

A hand rested on my shoulder. Doc’s deep voice was soft as he told me to sleep. “We’re going to be in Church, Red. I swear, we are going to do everything we can to get my brother back.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and strode out of the room, the door closing behind him with a soft snick.

I hiccuped as my heart ached so much it felt like my chest was literally being ripped apart. I had to rub there just to make sure I wasn’t bleeding out all over the leather.

* * *

DOC

We sat around the conference table. Every patched member of the Devil’s Nightmares filled the room. Every seat was taken, and a few were leaning against the walls. Several men were chain-smoking, making the air in the room hazy as we discussed the situation. Each of the men were filled with rage. We all pretended to ignore the empty chair at the head of the table.

“We have the aerial footage of the compound. I say we ride over there with every single weapon we have and blow the whole fucking compound to hell.”

There were several agreements to the biker’s suggestion. Fuck, I wanted to agree, too. But we had to be smart.

“We can’t just ram into them like two virgins on prom night,” Shock spoke quietly, a grim look on his face replacing his usual smile. He played with a knife as he kept his eyes on the table in front of him. I knew he was feeling a fuck-ton of guilt for not having stayed with us when we all went into the maze. At the time, he thought it would have been better to stay outside to keep an eye on anyone entering. Jack had agreed, no one knowing the threat lay on the opposite side.

We had been discussing this shit for what felt like fucking hours and had gotten nowhere. I was tired, emotionally and physically. Barrel sighed and pulled at his green hair. “The Boogeymen know what we were planning. We have to do something else. We have to be smart about this.”

Tech had already scanned the room for bugs and found two. That fucking bitch who had played Red had likely planted them at some time. She’d been around the club for two fucking years, so there was no telling what kind of damage she had done or how much The Boogeymen knew about our club. It was no wonder they had been able to cause so much mayhem over the last few months. They knew every move we were making before we even made it. It was also clear now that she had been the one behind the delivery of the insects all along. I wished she were alive and standing in front of me right now so I could put my own bullet in her forehead.

Still, though, I looked around the table. It was a real possibility that one of the men in this room was another mole. “Does anyone have any other suggestions?” I asked, heaving out a sigh as I sat back and crossed my arms. “The longer we leave him there, the worse his chances are of survival. What about the other clubs? Didn’t Bones have an agreement with them?”

“What if…” one of the guys leaning against the wall spoke up as he stared pointedly at the empty chair.

“Don’t fucking say it,” I growled, slamming my fist on the table in front of me.

He held up his hands as several club members turned to glare at him. “I’m just saying. We have to be realistic. There is a possibility that he’s already dead. Sending the rest of us in there to retrieve a dead body will just end up killing off the rest of the club.”

“He’s not dead.”

The quiet voice coming from the doorway had everyone turning to look at her. Sally looked gaunt with dark circles under her puffy eyes. Seeing her had me trying to swallow past the lump in my throat. My little brother was in love with this woman when he hadn’t let a single other soul past his walls. A part of him was with her. I glanced down at her belly, the slightest curve to her lower abdomen visible through the T-shirt she was wearing.

The biker who had spoken before she came in scoffed in derision at her words. I took a close look at him, trying to remember anything about him, but came up blank. He was average height, maybe five foot ten, with a bit of a beer belly. He was likely in his mid-thirties. But I had no idea how long he’d been a part of the club.

“I get that you want your man back, sweetheart, but get your head out of the fucking clouds. No way is the Boogeyman President going to keep Bones alive.”

Sally’s expression hardened as she stepped forward. “Don’t call me sweetheart.” She walked right up to the man, and my whole body stiffened as I watched him clench his fists. “He’s. Not. Dead.”

“You can have your fucking delusional dreams all you want, but I’m not dying for anyone.” His words had everyone in the room bristling with anger. A club only worked when every member cared more about the club than they did themselves. It was part of the reason I hadn’t joined years ago. I knew I didn’t have the time to make such a commitment.

I was about to jump to my feet when I watched in what felt like slow motion as Sally brought her hand up, the glint of steel shining under the bright light in the room. She held the blade to the man’s throat as he snarled down at her. I stood slowly, along with several others, as we watched and waited. This was something Sally needed to do, but if he made a single wrong move toward her, I was going to slice his throat myself.

I watched as she lowered the blade a few inches, then sucked in a breath as she slid the knife under the name patch on his chest and began sawing.

“What the fuck are you doing, bitch?” He made to move into her, but before I could round the table to get to them, the bikers on both sides of him grabbed him by his arms. With them holding him steady, Sally continued to cut until his name patch that read Bear was hanging by a thread. She pulled back the knife, and while staring into his eyes, she used her free hand to grip the patch and pull, breaking the last of the thread and tugging it off the leather. Everyone ignored his curses as he ranted the whole time she was slicing.

“I may not be a member of this club, but even I know what it’s supposed to mean to be in a brotherhood. You don’t care about your President? Then you’re not a part of this club either.”

The man looked ready to commit murder. He looked up, glancing around at the faces looking back at him with disgust. “You all are going to let this bitch come into Church and do this shit?” His gaze settled on me.

I sat back in my chair with a grin. “Yep.”

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