Page 6 of Phoenix's Rising
The room feels colder suddenly. I knew Eli had history with the club, that's why I came here, why I thought he might help, but hearing him confirm it makes everything more real. More dangerous.
"Why?" The question slips out before I can stop it.
"Because they killed good men for wanting to stay good." His jaw tightens, the scar standing out white against his skin. "Because Demon turned the club into something rotten and anyone who objected ended up dead. Carter and I tried to stop it. We failed. We barely made it out alive."
The pain in his voice is old but not faded. The kind of wound that never quite heals, just scabs over enough to function around.
I understand that. I'm covered in wounds like that.
"I'm sorry," I whisper.
"Don't be sorry for me." He shakes his head. "Be sorry for the men we couldn't save. They deserved better than what Demon gave them."
Judge shifts beside me, and I glance over. His expression is neutral, but I can see the tension in his shoulders, the way he's holding himself too still.
"Cole will come looking for me," I say, because they need to know what they're getting into. "The Vipers don't let people leave. It's not about him loving me. I don't think he's capable of that. It's about the insult. I embarrassed him. Embarrassed the club. They'll treat it like I declared war."
"I know. Let them." Eli's voice is cold, certain, utterly without fear. "They come here, and they'll find out what war actually looks like."
The conviction in his words should terrify me. This is exactly the kind of violent posturing Cole loved, the kind of masculinity that always preceded someone getting hurt. But somehow, coming from Eli, it feels different. It feels like protection instead of threat. Like he's drawing a line in the sand and daring anyone to cross it.
Like he means it when he says I'm safe.
"I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me," I say. "I just need somewhere to stay. Somewhere to hide until I can figure out what to do next. I have money. Not much, but I can pay—"
"No." Eli cuts me off, but his voice is gentle. "You're not paying us to keep you safe, Ivy. That's not how this works."
"Then how does it work?" I'm honestly asking. I don't understand this world, these rules. The Vipers operated on fear and control and violence. What does the Iron Phoenix operate on?
"You came to us for help," Judge says. "You walked through that door asking for protection. That's all we need to know."
"But you don't know me. You don't owe me anything."
"We owe it to every person the Vipers have hurt," Eli says, and there's that pain again, bleeding through the cracks in his control. "Every woman Demon's men have touched, every victimthey've created. We owe it to them to be better. To do better. That starts with you."
I came here hoping for basic human decency, maybe a safe place to sleep for a night or two before I figured out my next move. I didn't expect this… This fierce, immediate protection from men who don't know me at all.
I definitely didn't expect it to make me want to cry.
"Thank you," I manage, and it feels inadequate. Too small for what they're offering.
"How'd you end up with Cole?" he asks, and there's no judgment in the question. Just curiosity.
I take another sip of water, organizing my thoughts.
"I was alone," I start. "My parents died when I was nineteen. Car accident. I had no siblings, no extended family. I was working at a diner in Viper territory, barely making rent. Cole came in one day and he was... charming. Attentive. He made me feel like I mattered."
God, I was so stupid.
"By the time I realized what he really was, I was already in too deep. Living in the clubhouse, surrounded by Vipers, completely dependent on him for everything. He made sure of that. Made sure I had no money of my own, no friends outside the club, nowhere to go if I left."
"Classic isolation," Judge mutters. "Control 101."
"He hit me for the first time three weeks in." The admission tastes like ash. "I thought about leaving then. Should have left then. But I was scared. Convinced myself it was a one-time thing, that he was just stressed, that I'd done something to provoke it."
"You didn't." Eli's voice is hard. "Whatever he told you, whatever he made you believe, you didn't provoke it. Men like Cole don't need provocation. They just need someone weaker to hurt."
How many times did Cole tell me it was my fault? That I made him angry, pushed him too far, deserved what I got? How many times did I believe him?
