Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Twelve
“Are we done?” Keys asked before Absinthe or Czar could ask Lyric another question. His tone suggested they’d better be done. Tightening his fingers around Lyric’s, he pulled their joined hands to his chest and pressed her palm over his heart. “You keep pressing her, Absinthe, and she’s stated very plainly she doesn’t have any other facts for you.”
It was Czar who answered. “We appreciate your discussing what clearly is an uncomfortable subject, Lyric. Our club all but declared war on Headed for Hell in order to find Keys. That isn’t done between clubs. We went into their territory. We had to admit that Keys and Destroyer had been there for three months without wearing their colors or paying Sid his due respect. Headed for Hell has the right to go to the council and lodge a complaint against us.”
Lyric instantly tilted her face up toward Keys. “Those men were after me, Keys, not you. I got your entire club into a terrible mess.”
“That isn’t what I said,” Czar objected before Keys could respond. “As president of Torpedo Ink, I made the decision to put all of us in jeopardy to go after one of our members. At the same time, Keys made the decision to ignore the main rules we’ve had since we were children—having a partner and telling us where he was.”
“He wouldn’t have gotten hit over the head in the first place if he hadn’t been coming to see me that night,” Lyric pointed out.
Keys heard the pain in her voice and knew the others heard it too. He wrapped both arms around her head, hiding her from the eyes of his brethren. “Wildfire,” he breathed his nickname for her into her ear. “You aren’t responsible for any of this. Declan is. His people are. You didn’t set any of this in motion.”
“Keys is right,” Savage suddenly spoke up. “You’re being hunted, and we’d like to put a stop to it. We’re capable if you let us.”
Keys raised his head, his eyes meeting Savage’s. “You have information?”
Czar nodded toward Lyric. “She does. She mentioned a Russian helping Declan. That Russian went to one of Sorbacov’s schools. That ties him back to the Ghosts and the outfit involved with trafficking children that we’ve been pursuing for years. The fact that we had information about a pipeline being used in Headed for Hell territory, then the local militia, the one she suspects has something to do with trafficking, attacked Lyric and you, Keys, and it’s all too much to be a coincidence.”
Keys had to admit that was true. He didn’t believe in that big of a coincidence. Put together, the facts began to paint a very ugly picture of the people living on the mountain above Headed for Hell territory. The fact that Sid’s club was small and he didn’t have allies made them a prime candidate for the Ghosts to use. They went after clubs knowing law enforcement would never be involved.
The Ghosts tortured men, women, and children. They kidnapped wives or girlfriends of club members and held them hostage in order to get the club to comply with whatever their demands were. Once kidnapped, the women were subjected to gang rape and torture, even if their club agreed to aid the Ghosts.
“I don’t understand,” Lyric said. “If the militia are the ones using Sid’s caves to hold prisoners, what are they doing there? I don’t have enough imagination to understand why they would bring children and women to those caves.”
Again, it was Czar who answered. His tone was gentle, very soft and careful. Keys appreciated that he was feeling his way with Lyric, not trying to run over the top of her. He had to see she was neurodivergent. All of them were familiar with a woman, Rikki, who lived on the same property as Czar. Czar’s wife, Blythe, referred to Rikki as a sister of the heart. Rikki had rescued Lev, Czar’s birth brother, from certain death. She was autistic and well respected in Sea Haven and Caspar.
Keys appreciated Czar’s caution, but he was beginning to find that place inside him, the one that wasn’t so nice and would never be nice unless he was talking to his woman. He didn’t mind being the scary one, the one apart, as long as he could protect Lyric from any threat coming at her. That included whatever his club brought.
The more this went on, with Lyric in the spotlight, the more he felt her sliding away from the real Lyric, letting the mask settle over her. Once she was there, pulling her back was going to be a bitch. He’d brought her to his family, hoping for a quick debrief and then an introduction to the women, always much safer and more welcoming than all of the Torpedo Ink brethren. Even Alena and Lana could be harsh and shut down.