“Where’s Ally?” he shouted to be heard.
“Don’t know. We got here and the Skull Nation fired on us as soon as we pulled up.”
“Fuck,” Lord muttered. She was probably already dead. Dread and panic consumed him. “We need to finish this. Tank’s bleeding out in the house.”
They took a breath and charged into the barn with guns blazing. His other men followed, creating a line of fire. Nothing could survive that much lead.
When it didn’t seem they were being fired at, he stopped shooting.
“Stop!” he called out.
Silence.
“Brick, check it out. Make sure they’re all dead,” Lord said. He went to check on Rancher. “Where are the women and kids?”
Gunpowder still lingered in the air, creating a fog similar to a battlefield. Rancher’s leg was shot up. He couldn’t move. Without medical help, he’d bleed out the same as Tank.
“I never made it to the house,” he said. Then he swallowed hard before continuing. “I heard Ally calling for help, but those fuckers had already surrounded the house. I couldn’t get to her.”
“Called from the house?”
He nodded.
Lord clapped his old friend on the shoulder before rushing off. They’d controlled the scene, but what about the house? There had been a body by the door and Tank had been shot in the kitchen. He didn’t want to find Ally’s body.
Reaper ran with him. They did a sweep of the main floor. Tank was still holding on, but he didn’t look good.
“Call the club. Get a truck here with a doctor. Right fucking now,” Lord told Reaper before taking the stairs alone. As he burst into room after room, he heard a muffled cry coming from the end of the hall.
Lord stopped dead.
He slowly neared the door. Judging by the location, it had to be the room he saw from the street, the one where the light had turned off as he’d approached the house. He took measured breaths, but the squeaky wooden floorboards gave him away. Gunfire sprayed the door, but he kept out of the line of fire. There was at least one Skull Nation motherfucker still breathing. He couldn’t give him more time if he had a hostage. Whether he lived or died, he had to end this now.
****
Ally kept hugging her stomach, hoping to somehow protect her unborn baby from harm. After the firefight outside ended, she began to lose hope again. But the prez of the Skull Nation was firing at something now, so that meant whoever was on the other side of the door was on their side. If it was Lord, she prayed he wasn’t hit by all the gunfire.
“Don’t fucking breathe,” he whispered in warning. He had a gunshot wound to the side of his body and hadn’t been doing too well in the last twenty minutes or so. The skin of his face had blanched unnaturally white. Betty’s first and only shot had done the damage, but they didn’t even realize until after he’d nearly knocked them both out. He’d tied Betty’s wrists to the sink leg and he had a rope around Ally’s neck, the other end firmly in his fist. Whenever she whined or squirmed, he’d tug it hard enough to steal her air.
There was a bang on the bathroom door, making the prez panic and spray the door with bullets again. She shielded her head and face from the splinters of wood. As soon as he stopped firing, what was left of the door burst open. He yanked her leash tight, pulling her in front of him as a shield.
It was Lord.
She felt her entire body melt and her knees gave out completely. He was a beautiful sight. Before the prez could react, Lord moved impossibly fast, lunging forward and wrapping his hand around the man’s neck. He slammed his head against the wall with force. The medicine cabinet crashed down into the sink. Betty shielded her head. With Ally’s rope on the ground, she quickly crawled over to untie Betty.
“You have my woman tied up like a fucking dog?” Lord rammed his head into the wall over and over, the sounds sickening. Some of the brothers from the club appeared in the doorway, but they didn’t move to interfere.
Ally was worried about Rancher and the kids. Seeing Lord in the flesh felt almost like a dream after the night she’d had. He’d found her. Saved her.
She sat on the floor with Betty, keeping her eyes averted as Lord literally beat the man to death. He was a powerhouse, an unrelenting beast of vengeance. All she could see in her peripheral vision was red.
When everything went quiet, Betty nudged her. She looked over and saw Lord covered in blood. He looked like the devil himself. But he wasn’t, she knew that more than anyone.
After wiping his hands on his jeans, he beckoned her to stand. She was hesitant. They’d been kept prisoners in the bathroom since this attack started. The prez had wanted to kill her in front of Lord, so he could watch him suffer.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” He pulled her close and she tried to ignore all the blood and accept the comfort. “Did he touch you?”
“No.”
“You were right. I never should have left you behind.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d come.”
“I’ll always come for you, Ally.” He pressed his forehead to hers, and despite their circumstances, she could feel the love and intimacy from the simple act. They had each other back.
“Where’s Rancher?” asked Betty.
“He’s in the barn. The doctor’s probably here by now. He’s shot in the leg,” Lord said. Betty rushed out the bathroom door. She heard the footfalls all the way down the stairs.
“I thought I was dead. Thought I’d never see you again,” she said.
“I’ll take good care of you.” As he led her out of the bathroom, his men parted for them. They were heavily armed and she finally felt safe that the club had come. At the bottom of the stairs, she saw Betty reunite with her kids before heading out back. They’d been excellent, staying in their secret place without a noise the entire time.
“Should we stay?” she asked.
He shook his head. Lord looked exhausted. “We’ll check in tomorrow. I’ll leave a couple guys here tonight on watch, just in case.”
She didn’t argue. All she wanted to do was get back to the club, take a shower, and sleep for a week. He held her hand as they walked out to his bike in the darkness. The air was crisp at this time of night, soothing after being holed up in the small bathroom. It had been too claustrophobic for her liking.
“Will it always be like this?” she asked.
He mounted the bike and helped her climb on behind him. “Like what?”
“Knowing I can lose you every time you ride away.”
Lord leaned back in his seat enough so they could kiss. It was a soft, gentle kiss. “This is over now. We learn from our mistakes, and from now on you stay by my side.”
“Good. That’s where I want to be.”
The bike was kicked to life, and the familiar rumble of the engine reminded her of Lord. Together, they rode back to the club with some of his men behind them. She held him tight around the waist, feeling safe and relieved to be heading home. The nightmare was over and, as far as she knew, no Straight to Hell men had been killed.
As they approached, the gates were opened for them. They all filed in, and the gates were securely closed behind them. She’d hated this place when Lord had brought her here, but now it was her sanctuary.