Seven Sunsets (9 page)

Scar

Goddamn it! I hated to leave Emery here, knew she wouldn’t be happy about it. I went after her, into the clubhouse. Freedom stopped me, handing me a bottle of prescription pain medicine.

“It’s ‘bout time. General told you to bring them to me last night.”

“Maybe you’ll know the pain you caused me,” she pouted, pushing out her big chest, bigger now with her implants.

Popping a pill in my mouth, I shoved her out of my way to get to the bar. It looked like Emery had gone upstairs, but I needed a drink. Needed time to let the pain pills work before I found her. Wanda poured me some whiskey. “Glad you’re home, son.”

I raised my glass to her, but I’d never felt anything for the woman. She was cold and hard, the General had made her that way. Legs and Shirley were the ones who’d been good to me, not the General and his wife, even though they liked to claim me.

“I’ll keep an eye on your girl while you’re gone. Maybe when your sister is settled, I can plan another wedding.”

“Maybe,” I answered her. She never wanted me with her daughter, Freedom. It’s why I never took the girl seriously and broke her heart. Maybe Wanda would keep Emery safe from Freedom while I was gone, just to keep me away from her daughter. If anything, Wanda loved a wedding more than the world. “Go ahead and start planning. I’m fixing on asking her when I get home.”

Wanda smiled big before she went back to slinging drinks.

The General had given me his word Emery would be safe while I was gone, but I didn’t trust Freedom at all. The man had no power over his strong willed daughters. Wanda may have been the only one who could reign them in.

Bones and Cowboy got off with a warning. Bones was staying here to recover from his gunshot wound, but Cowboy could leave to go back to Louisiana at any time. Not that he wouldn’t stay and have his way with Anarchy first. The bitch had ruined him for all women, double-crossed us and still I had no doubt where he was tonight, in her bed.

I’d made a deal with the General for mine and Emery’s life. The General said he’d pay Serpentine what I’d agreed to and I’d ride alone to get Halley, on one condition—I come back, be his second again. Take over for him if anything ever happens to him. Meaning Emery, Halley and I couldn’t run. He’d said he’d be watching the girls like a hawk and that I’d be parked for a while until I earned his trust again. I had to agree. I was on my knees getting ready to get the shit beat out of me by fourteen of my brothers and then take my lashes. Didn’t have my motorcycle now, no how. I’d be taking the General’s old Harley to California.

After a couple whiskeys, whatever I’d taken was working. I felt almost as good as new. I climbed the stairs to find Emery crying on the bed. She was already fragile. I’d been hoping my news hadn’t broke her. It destroyed my heart to see her the same mess she’d been when I met her, complete with new cuts on her arms. Sitting, I brought her to me the best I could, into an embrace. I wanted her, even if I hurt all over. Needing to make love to her tonight, I kissed her. She didn’t kiss back, only balled back into my chest. “I love you, and it’s killing me to leave,” I howled, lifting her chin and staring into her eyes but she looked a million miles away. “Emery, do you hear me? I love you and I’ll be back. We’ll leave here somehow, I promise.” She was too far gone, miserable, tears pouring from her eyes like rain. I held her to me, wanting to take her away, make her smile again. She cried herself to sleep in my arms, and I held her all night despite my own pain. When the sun lit the room, I wrote her a note and left her sleeping to head to California.

Halley

Lying in my bed, listening to the clock tick, I let my mind lock on a picture. Sometimes I can picture him. He’s far away, calling to me. I can hear him, but I can’t see his face that I imagine looks a lot like mine.

It’s no secret here that I’m the spoils of war. Well, it isn’t anymore. When I was young, I didn’t even know my real name. Growing up as simply Star—Fuck, things were good back then. But Serpentine’s a cruel man. The cruelest thing you can tell a young girl is her life is a lie, you killed her parents and she has a brother who’s fighting to get her back—that you’ll never let it happen. You’ll never let her go. You’d kill her first. No, Serpentine really was the devil he proclaimed to be.

The first time the Asphalt Gods MC got too close to rescuing me, I was thrown in this basement, locked away. It’s where I’ve been for five years. My life stopped when I was fifteen, but things could be worse. I put my head under the pillow, blocking the ticking, the sound of the clock, a cruel reminder my time is almost up. When Serpentines old lady died in a gun fight in the summer, he made a deal with me. I don’t know if her death softened him or it was just another cruel game. He said if my brother paid what the Coyote Ghosts MC owed him plus interest, he’d let me go. If not, I’d become his old lady without a fight. 

Hell yes, there’d be a fight, but I agreed anyhow. Trying not to think about that, I remembered my brother’s voice. Serpentine let me listen to my brother, Scar’s voice as he made the deal over the phone and then I’d spoke to him this week. In the last five years, not many people had cared about me enough to go up against Serpentine. I could tell how much Scar cared from the desperation in his tone. He’d come through for me or die trying. Sometimes I’d imagine I was a princess locked away in a tower but instead of my prince charming, it was my brother who’d rescue me. But, fairy tales weren’t going to save me. I’d already waited for Scar for five years, and I had no illusions that Serpentine would keep his word. My brother was being called to slaughter. I had a backup plan. I planned to save myself.

The door opened, letting a block of sunshine in. Snakebite came down the stairs with my dinner. Since last night, when I tried to escape, I’d been handcuffed to the bed. Snakebite had taken a liking to me, more than his brothers who liked come down and humiliate me, rape me, run a train on me. They weren’t allowed to do that anymore that Serpentine decided he wanted me for his own. I blocked a memory of last night out of my mind. He’d visited me, drunk. The sixty-year-old man wasn’t waiting until we were married to violate me. I fought him, but it didn’t matter, that’s what he liked. I’d made it to the door, and that’s when he cuffed me to the bed. Snakebite would let me out of the cuffs. He’d take care of me.

After he let me go, I cleaned up. At least I had a bathroom with a sink and a toilet. I practically took a bath in the sink, wanting all of that old man off me. I wasn’t hungry, but I ate. If I ever were freed, I’d need all my strength. Plus, I needed my strength for what I was about to do.

Snakebite kissed me softly on the forehead, like he always did before he’d leave. Only a few years older than me, he’d grown up with me. The spiky haired boy always cared for me, but it was hard for me to think of him as anything more than a friend. He grew up hard, becoming a big tough man. If I didn’t know him, I’d be scared shitless. His muscles and tattoos were intimidating enough, but it was his split snakelike tongue that frightened most people.

Besides a few of the women, he was the only one to think to feed me, to check on me. Too bad he hadn’t cared enough to stand up to his brothers and Serpentine though. Nevertheless, I knew he still cared because unlike the others, he never took me against my will.

“I love you,” I told him, grabbing his hand. It was a lie. He was my way out, if he weren’t such a chicken shit. My eyes pleaded with his. I closed my eyes and went in for a kiss, finding the bulge in his pants with my other hand. He responded, hardening as I unzipped his pants and pulled his warm erection out. I laid back, tugging him forward. “I want you to love me.” I felt tears sting my eyes. Part of it was true. I longed for some tenderness, but more than that, I wanted Snakebite to finally care about me enough to get me out of here.

He took his time and kissed me all over. This I could take, but still, I found silence. I set my thoughts out to far off destinations as he made love to me. He said he loved me. I imagined his arms were the sun, warming me. Jumping into a lake, I swam in cool water when he entered me for the first time. His breath on my shoulder, his hands clutching tenderly, I started to come back to reality. Snakebite’s face hung above mine as he stared into my eyes. “I want to take you away from all of this.”

“Please. Take me away, tonight?” I begged, clinging to him as he pumped.

He shook his head. “I’ll get you out before your birthday, I promise you.” His lips crashed onto mine, and I let myself be in the moment. I let myself feel, something I haven’t done in so long. It felt like love as I had the first orgasm of my life. We lay our arms and legs jumbled together. He was sweating. I wiped his brow, thinking if I could love anyone it’d be him.

Snakebite kissed my forehead again, but this time he cupped my face. Again he confessed he loved me, his whisper giving so much meaning to the words. “By the end of the week, I promise,” he stressed before he left.

“It’s either that or I’ll be your step mama,” I muttered under my breath.

Serpentine’s son, Snakebite going against his devil of a daddy, even for the love of a woman was a long shot, but tonight I was almost convinced.

Scar

I’d driven this road so many times to rescue Halley only to come back empty handed. Just outside of San Diego, I knew the way to the Sons of Satan’s clubhouse by heart. I’d ridden all day, getting a bad case of monkey butt on top of my burning back and sore jaw. It was almost suppertime now, the time the devil said he’d meet with me. The setting sun reminded me of all I had to live for if I made it back alive. Emery would almost make living at the clubhouse bearable, but I knew she didn’t want to be there. I didn’t want Halley there either, just to end up someone’s whore.

Wired on pain meds and caffeine, I was ready for anything that was about to go down. Pulling into the Devil’s Den, I handed Serpentine’s enforcer, Claw my gun.

“Was told I’m meeting him alone,” I said, my arms raised as another man patted me down.

“You are. We’re not allowed in. Go on back.”

Alone my ass, there were four of them out front surrounding my motorcycle. It was their clubhouse after all. Armed with only my blade in my boot, the dumbasses forgot to check, I found Serpentine sitting alone at the bar.

“Got the money wired this morning.”

Something was wrong. Halley wasn’t here. “You’ve got your money. Where’s Halley?”

“We’ll go get her in a minute. Sit down son. We need to have a chat.” He poured me a whiskey.

I sat. “What about?”

He took a drink of it and passed it to me. Guess he was proving it wasn’t poisoned. “About your mama.”

“What about her?” I didn’t pick up the glass.

“I didn’t think you knew. You can have Halley after you listen.”

“I’m all ears.”

“You seem to think I’m a bad man, worse than the General.”

“Nope. You two are about the same.”

He smiled. “See, I never wanted to kill your mother. I was just following orders.”

“Guess you never wanted to kill me either.”

“Following my orders, son. I wasn’t President back then, Diablo was. Your mama had run from the life, had run from Diablo too.”

“What?”

“Your mother was a biker brat. Didn’t you know?”

I said nothing, not sure I could believe anything that came out of the man’s mouth. I’d watched him kill her, had felt him try to kill me. Serpentine was an evil man and trickier than the devil himself. I’d listen, but I wouldn’t believe him. “Go on.”

“Katherine was Wolverine’s daughter.” He took in my wide eyes. “Yes, the old President of the Coyote Ghosts. Before our feud, they were the powerhouse around here. Before the Gods went and patched over ever fucking bumkin who owned a bike in the U.S. of A. It was the SOS against the Coyote Ghosts.”

I knew that much, but not that my mama was any kin to any of them. Thinking of her family in Oklahoma, her native blood, it started making sense. I shook my head, knowing that the devil always made sense—it didn’t mean you ought to believe him. “What does she have to do with you?”

He laughed. “I’m not your father, don’t worry about that. It was Diablo who’d captured her from the Coyote Ghosts, those red devils. He was smitten with her you see.” He paused for too long. “But he wasn’t the only one. Someone broke her out of here, and she disappeared for a good long time. Diablo never said who’d done it, but one day I got the call, she’d been spotted. When I lifted her shirt that day in the diner, I found out who’d broke her out. It was the General who’d put his brand on her.”

It was all too much. My mother branded by the General. But for as long as I’d known she’d been with my father. Hanging my head, I took a breath. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying you blame me for an old feud between the General and Diablo that I have nothing to do with. They both wanted the same woman who just happened to belong to the Coyote Ghosts. I’ve decided to put an end to it, making this deal with you. We voted and the club wanted what the Coyote Ghosts MC owed them originally, plus interest in exchange for Halley. I was hoping you could talk to the General for me. Imagine my surprise when he calls, initiating the truce. Feud’s over, boy,” he held out his hand.