It was another mile or so down the road that everything went to absolute shit. It was there, in an old dirt patch that hadonce upon a time been a field of crops, that I saw an effigy on a post. The figure was propped on a bicycle surrounded by straw, and flames were already licking at the tires of the thing as a kid stood to the side, squirting lighter fluid all over it. It was eerie how maniacal his smile was. Even from a distance, I could see the intensity of his stare and the joy he was getting out of the destruction.
The closer we got, the more I recognized what I'd missed only moments earlier. The figure of straw straddling the bike was wearing a hoodie with the Hounds’ patch emblazoned across its chest. This patch was not a cheap knock off, but one they'd curiously managed to get from the club.
I knew Drew wasn’t going to be able to let that go, and I would never have asked him to. The club was an extension of him, and those punks had taken it beyond the point where he could simply ignore it. Whatever battle he had been warring with himself at the signs of disrespect, he couldn’t ignore that blatant contempt towards the pack and everyone in it. Especially not when the culprit was standing spraying liquid over the straw figure so it, and the cotton of the sweater, suddenly roared to life with the twisting angry flames of the inferno.
I felt the back wheel lock up under me as Drew’s fingers closed around the brakes. It was only seconds later that the wobble took over the back end of the bike and had me burying my face in the patch of Drew’s cut as the tail slid out to the right. The rubber screamed as gravity took control, and by all rights, we should have been laid down on the asphalt after a move like that, but Drew was an experienced rider and had been from the time he could walk. There was no way in hell he would do that to his bike or, I realized a little too late, me.With this newfound confidence, I looked up just in time to realize we were already facing the opposite direction, still on two wheels, and now staring at the back of the kid running away from us with everything he possessed.
At least he had some brains.
I didn't need the pat on my hands to warn me what was about to happen, or the reach of Drew's arm around my back as he pulled me closer. My thighs were already locked in around him, and my hands were gripping the wrist of the opposite arm as he found the gear he needed and almost lifted the front wheel from the gravel as he took off. The yip I let off wasn’t in good fun, it was in panic.
As much as I trusted Drew on his bike, he was angry enough for me to sense it through our bodies. I could feel it in his posture, in the way he twisted the grip on the handlebars and kicked up the dirt as we chased the kid toward the rows of broken and forgotten warehouses in the distance.
I wasn't honestly sure how much I could take as the bike hurtled over the field. My body bounced painfully, my back screaming as we caught air and landed hard, but there wasn't much I could do other than cling onto him for dear life. Scrunching my eyes closed and burying my face in Drew’s back, once again, all I could do was wait it out and wish for the ride to be over.
Even if I could understand the need for this kind of speed and the desperate urge to catch these little bastards and show them what fear truly was, I couldn't physically stop the roll of the hot damp tear down my cheek. This was something big, something unpredictable, and I suddenly wanted nothing more than to get to the boy and find some back up. Drew needed to teach those kids a lesson. I just wished it hadn’t been thatnight, or off-road with speed that the devil himself couldn’t keep up with.
For the second time in a matter of minutes, Drew slid the bike to a stop. This time the ping of stones against the fenders and the click of the hot engine expanding made my ears ring as he killed the engine. The kid was still in sight, hoofing it to the closest rolling door on the right. I couldn't see anyone or anything in the dim light. Even the moon seemed to be hiding.
“Drew, we need to call someone,” I said a little too calmly as he dismounted the bike with ease.
Snapping his head from side to side, he frantically looked around and tried to calm his breathing. “I don't know what the hell is happening,” he wheezed out. “But this is ending now. No fucker disrespects my club or my brotherhood that way. No one.”
“I get that, but maybe we should call Slater or Jedd?”
He paused, moving to reach into the pocket of his jeans before his face creased in anger and he growled. “Fuck. My cell’s in The Hut.”
“So is mine,” I whispered in disbelief. I’d wanted this night to be perfect without any distractions. Just one night alone with the man I love. “Maybe we can go find help.”
“We don't have time. This kid is herenow.”
He stopped and turned to face me again, his hands gripping both my cheeks as he leaned in closer.
“I need to end this tonight, Ayda. He's just a kid. Just… a kid.”
I blew out all the air in my cheeks and searched his eyes with mine. If there was anything I was confident of, it was that he could handle it. I just didn’t like the sudden unease as we sat surrounded by dilapidated buildings in the dark. The chillof the night air was bad enough, but there was something more making all my hair stand on end.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, my last surge of bravado clawing from my gut and giving me the strength I needed.
“Stay here. If you see anyone or anything, run and don't stop until you get somewhere safe. But I should be back here within minutes. This kid has nowhere to go. Stay in the shadows, okay? Promise me you won't do anything stupid.”
I slid forward and onto the warmth of the seat he’d been occupying only moments before. I wasn’t sure whether he knew he was asking the impossible of me or not, but I found myself nodding anyway. My first instinct would be to run to him, not away, but I was in the process of convincing myself I would run for help when his hand cupped the back of my head and pulled me close, his lips meeting my forehead.
I didn’t like what was happening one little bit, but I could do as he asked and stay in the shadows.
“I promise, nothing stupid.”
“Nothing stupid,” he whispered against me before tearing himself away and looking up through hooded eyes. I knew him well enough to know that he was trying to curb his anger in front of me, but even as skilled as he was at doing exactly that, I could see right through him. His club was his heart, and someone had just dared to insult it. “I love you.”
Drew's hand slipped down onto my knee and he held my gaze for as long as he could. When he turned to walk away and I saw the tension in his biceps and shoulders, I knew he meant business.
The farther he got from me, the more my eyes seemed to focus on his figure. He walked with confidence, his shouldersrolled back and his head held high. Each step he took had his hands balling at his sides with the rage that filled him. There wasn’t much I truly believed Drew feared in life, and I envied him that, but thinking about his strength made me all too aware of my own weaknesses. When it came to loyalty and conviction, he had it in bucketfuls for his men and his club. That part of him eclipsed any doubts he had about walking into that place and teaching that kid a lesson.
When he finally neared the warehouse, I felt the distance between us. Every foot seemed like ten. I folded my arms around my body and narrowed my eyes to keep him in my line of sight, needing that lasting connection between us.
Drew needed to do this, and as his old lady, I realized I had no choice but to let it happen.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
