My hands flew to my head again, and I spun around in the bedroom, staring up at the ceiling like I was still waiting for those answers it kept promising me. But nothing ever came my way—not until I went to look at the one place I knew would give me some kind of motivation, even if it only made me even angrier than before.
Pete’s picture.
Scrubbing my face roughly, I stepped closer and kept my hands over my mouth as I stared at him and waited. It didn't take long for it to happen. There were no flashbacks of happier times, no hidden messages in what I was seeing, and I couldn't hear his voice for the other shit that was rattling around in my brain.
In that picture, Pete was alive.
In reality, he was dead.
In that picture, I was happy.
In reality, I was a mess.
And the only connection I could seem to make was that one thing led to both those tragedies. One word that killed Pete and one word that had turned me into what I was, when justa week ago, I'd promised myself I could be something more. Only one word standing in the way of what had been, what was, and what would be.
Emperors.
I took a few steps back before I really started to move. The decision was instant and I didn't waste any time waiting around to find a reason to pull myself away, think things through or worry for anyone else. It was all on me. I knew what I had to do and it was the only thing that would make me feel better. I didn't even care if I got caught doing it.
Grabbing my hoodie and my cut from the back of my bedroom door, I flung the door open and charged out of The Hut without looking at anyone. Their voices filled the air. Harry, Slater, Kenny, Jedd, those girls that I swore to Hades had to go by the next morning… I could hear them all. But I couldn’t see anything apart from the path that led to my bike.
Stepping outside, I jumped down all the steps in one go, landing on the ground with a thud before jogging over to my bike and somehow managing to dress myself along the way. I was confident enough that my brothers would stay behind and not follow me out. Considering Rosie was crying like she was giving birth, I knew they’d think this was about her and the stuff that had just gone down with Ayda. I guess it was in a way, but mainly this was about me needing to make the black turn to some kind of murky gray, just so I could see a something a little more clearly for a single minute.
I was so intent on moving, I didn’t even throw my helmet over my head before I kicked my feet along the ground to back up the bike. As soon as I felt those vibrations beneath me and the sound of her breathing filled my ears, that same old feeling of being indestructible came back to me in full force.
Then I was gone.
Every road I took was tackled with aggression and fuelled by anger. The pounding in my chest was almost as deafening as the roar of the Harley. I was so fucking pumped to do this for me. To do this for Pete. To do this for my pack.
Tearing through town, I kept my eyes focused on the path in front of me, not stopping at any lights or for anyone as I weaved in and out of cars and turned down smaller roads that I thought could get me there faster.
TheThank you for visiting Babylonsign flashed by me as I rode out of my safe zone and into the one place I knew I shouldn’t be more than any other place on Earth, considering that the day before I’d put everyone I knew and loved on lockdown. But there I was and once my tires had crossed that marker, I knew for damn fucking certain there was no going back. You don’t put one foot in the water and not dive in. Not in our world.
The Emperors’ base wasn’t anything like what we had. There weren’t any yards, safety gates, cameras, business lots or parking bays in place. For them, there was an old bar off the road with a garage to the side where they kept their bikes and some other stuff that I’d come across when crap had gotten real bad, right before Pete died. Back when we were forced to do jobs for the scumbags under the pretense that we could all work together for a better tomorrow.
Bullshit.
Unlucky for them, I’d been let through every room they occupied so many times, I had the lot committed to memory like I’d built the place myself. I also knew their routines, and right now, those fat fucks would all be in the bar, smoking joints, feeling high and forgetting about the possibility ofanyone turning up on their doorstep to cause trouble.
Sorry, boys.
I parked up a half a mile away and jogged the whole way down, moving along through the side of the trees in all black clothes so no one could see me. Every now and again, I’d stop to scan the streets, pausing if I heard a twig snap somewhere underneath an animal’s foot or take a second to make sure Harry hadn’t somehow managed to jump on my ass and follow me the whole way there. As soon as I saw the lights on, I ran around the back and charged straight for the building where the bikes were locked up for the night.
The place was surrounded by empty beer crates, and after dragging a few over, I managed to create myself a stack that allowed me enough height to get up to the window at the back.
My feet wobbled beneath me when I climbed up and straightened my back, glancing over both my shoulders one last time to check that no one was on lookout and that there were no boy scouts out here waiting to pop a bullet in my kneecaps. Once I thought I was clear, I brought my elbow up and rested it against the bottom right hand corner, as far into the point of it as I could. The adrenaline was pumping through my bloodstream so much, it took all the power and control I had not to fuck this up and just smash it wide open.
Patience. It was the first thing Pete taught me when we discussed enemies and tactics.
Quiet.
Count it in.
Take your time.
Go unheard.
Closing my eyes, I kept my elbow in place and took a deep breath inwards. Then I tensed my fist, raised myother hand up high and smacked down on my knuckles hard, sending my opposing elbow into the window panel with enough force to cause it to dislodge, but not shatter completely. It stung like a fucker and the pain of having hit my own limb full force sent shockwaves up the bone in my forearm, but it was worth it the moment I saw that the panel had come loose and I knew I could shake the rest of it free.
