Loading the ammunition clip into the sniper rifle, I glance through the scope to find my first target. Five men coming through the tree line. Lining my sight with one of them, I pull the trigger. I don’t even flinch as the first one goes down; however, this starts the escalation of them coming in hot.
Men yell and shots are fired.
I line my shot up with and take another man out. He is on the ground as I pull the trigger taking another one out. There’s no way in hell I’m about to let anyone near this clubhouse, nor my son.
‘They want Matthew.’
That shit’s not about to happen. I know what they want him for and I refuse to allow him to be used in anyway. Dixie tried to do it when she got pregnant with him. Then she tried to say he was Blaze’s when in truth he was Blaze’s little brother. As fucked up as it sounds, I should be thanking her for giving Matthew to me. Then again, I took him from her as I never intended for her insane ass to touch a hair on his head.
The way I see it, they want him they’ll have to kill me and everyone else to get to him and that is not going to happen.
Chapter Eleven
Raven
As gunfire ceases, I know it’s not over with.
Not by a long shot. Those men were just the first wave. This was war and they were coming in using war tactics.
Slowly, I stand to my feet and move to the lattice I’d climbed up and make my way back down. I need to get ready for what they send our way next. My head is pounding with the screams filling it.
“Raven, you need to get inside,” Venom snaps.
“I will, Venom. Just give me a minute to listen. I need to focus and see what’s coming at us,” I say, my chest heaving and my body throbs. I had a baby for crying out loud. I should be in the hospital cuddling my newborn rather than here without him. And since I’m here, the best thing I should be doing for myself is laying down.
Birth isn’t something easy you just write off like it’s oh, I’ll pop out the kid and slip on my pre-pregnancy jeans and go out dancing. Yeah, that’s not how it works. You’re supposed to rest and allow your body to heal from a trauma of pushing out a bowling ball from your vagina. Shit, some women end up pushing out two or more. I applaud them for it. I know I sure as hell couldn’t do it.
“Hurry up,” Venom growls. As a member of the club, he takes his position serious when it comes to defending family. “I don’t want you out here in case they have their own sniper.”
“I know,” I murmur, closing my eyes trying to decipher what I’m hearing.
‘Battle is done but blood has yet to spill more is coming there’s no stopping them from doing what they’ve come to do. The reaper is lying in wait to take those he deems necessary.’
Shit. Shit. Shit. On a monkey stick.
“It’s not over with. Not by a longshot. If you’re able to I’d get a message out to Stoney or Shadow. Let them know what’s going on here,” I say, pretty sure one of them already did it.
“Already done,” he grumbles.
“I figured.” Giving him a nod, I go through the back door and head down the hallway to get to the room the kids are in with the other ol’ ladies. Glancing into the main room I notice Victoria peeking through the doors.
“More’s coming our way,” I say, gaining her attention.
“Alright, want me to take the roof?” she asks, her face void of all emotions.
“No, what we need to do is get the kids and the other women out of here. It’s not safe,” I say, feeling it in my soul. They’re going to try to take out everyone including the women and children. No one will be safe until this is over.
“I’ll take them to the Pocket,” she states, mentioning the place the club handles club business and I’m not talking about the stuff they talk about in church but where they work over their enemies. I’ve felt the pain of those who have suffered in that room.
“Let me text Venom and the rest of the guys to let them know what we’re doing so they can cover you,” I mutter.
While she takes them down there, I’ll stay up here, I can’t handle that area.
Nodding, I walk with her into the playroom.
“Ma-ma-ma-ma,” Matthew squeals seeing me. Smiling at him, I walk around the kiddos who were playing in the middle of the room.
“Hey, buddy. Love you,” I whisper, leaning down to give him a kiss.
Straightening, I look around the room and meet all the ol’ ladies’ gazes, even the clubwhores. “We need to move for everyone’s safety,” I declare.
“Why the hell do we have to listen to you?” Jezebel snaps.
“Because she’s an ol’ lady. You either do as she says or get your shit and get out,” Rachel sneers at the same time slowly getting up off the couch she was sitting on. “Cara, can you get Sebastian?”
“Yeah, I’ll get him,” Cara says, moving to do so.
Tinsley grabs hold of Luca’s small hand but Lips, one of the clubwhores who’d been around awhile, moves to lift him up in her arms. She’s one of the only ones any of us can stand to be around. “Here I’ll carry Luca and Dana can carry Corinne,” she says.
“Thank you, Lips,” Rachel says.
“Let’s get moving,” Victoria states, holding her little boy to her side while in her other hand she has her handgun press to her thigh.
Nodding, I guide them to the back door. Peeking out, I notice Bear, Cane, and Aries waiting.
“Come on time to move. Fist has the entrance open and waiting. Once it’s locked none of them can get out until a member unlocks it,” Cane states.
“Good.” I nod and step aside and turn to the ol’ ladies and clubwhores. “Move quickly and keep your heads down.”
Each of them nods somberly and start to move.
Momma B is in the back and the last one to exit. Bear and I follow close behind planning to make sure she and my son got to safety.
A split second before we make it to the entrance to the Pocket, the wind screams at me once again.
No.
The shots come in fast and I don’t get a chance to tell everyone to get down. Blood splatters all around me. Momma B falls to the ground slumping to the side.
“No,” I scream dropping down to her. Matthew cries, his body covered in blood. “Please don’t be gone. It should be me, not her.”
“Grab Matthew,” Bear commands gravelly.
Nodding I take my son from Momma B’s now limp arms as Bear lifts her into his arms. “Back into the clubhouse, Fist already locked the others in the Pocket,” Cane states.
This is all my fault. I caused this. Making our way back into the clubhouse, tears spill down my cheeks as Bear carries Momma B into the main room and lays her on the floor. I hand Matthew over to Cane knowing he won’t let him go. Kneeling down next to Bear, my shoulders droop.
“I’m so sorry, Bear, I’m so damn sorry,” I sob.
“I know, kid. I know,” he says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and cries with me.
I’ll never again hear her smart off to one of the clubwhores or tell one of her crazy stories.
Why?
Why did it have to be her?
She doesn’t deserve what has happened.