Page 85 of All's Fair in Love & Wrath

We ride into the outskirts of Autumn Bay, pulling into the same diner where I met Sienna just as the sun starts to crest the mountains. The sky is overcast, and I can smell the rain coming on the wind. Saint, Creed, and Deacon are sitting on their bikes waiting when we roll in like thunder, the ground shaking and trembling under us.

We cut our engines, Chaos, Sin, Malice, and I in the front, facing them. They’re wearing their leather cuts with the Kingsnake colors on the back, and I clock the moment Malice notices, his body stiffening, his head jerking to the side. These three have come through every time, but if they have us walking into a trap, they’ll be the first to die.

“You boys ready for this?”

There’s still something nagging at me, something I’m missing. I have such a strong pull to be back with Sienna, but I can’t put my finger on what I’m feeling. My intuition has never led me wrong, but right now, it’s not being fucking clear with me.

“We’re ready. Remember, I want Cain,” I demand, my tone lethal.

“Let’s find him, then we can take turns ripping him apart, how about that?” Saint offers. I nod, letting it go for now. We’ve got to find the fucker first, then bring him back to the compound, preferably by dragging him by his ankles behind my bike. There’s tension between the two of us, and I don’t know how much Sienna told her brother about us. He’s a smart man, and I know he can put it together. He had better understand this is a helluva lot deeper than just fucking his sister. What’s between Sienna and me happened way before I was ever inside her body.

Rain starts to drizzle down from the sky, the droplets splashing against my bike as we go over the plan again. It’s an ambush, an attack at their compound where we funnel in fast and hit them hard, but Saint has promised we’re going to get in through the front gates, something I’m unsure about.

I look around one last time at all our men, full well knowing there will be casualties. I’m not the type to go into these things thinking we’ll all make it out alive. The chances are slim, and that’s part of the life we’ve all chosen to lead. But it still stings. Especially so soon after losing Rolo. I still need to get it off my chest, tell Malice that I’m the reason Rolo went to his death that day. It’s just not a conversation I want to fucking have.

Everyone around me is stone silent, nodding, focused, ready, with one thing on their minds. Retribution. Except I’m fighting for more than just our fallen brother. We start up our bikes, the ground rumbling under our wheels as we head out, emotions thrumming right below my skin. Saint, Deacon, and Creed lead, the rest of us falling into a tight formation.

We’re a storm rolling in, the rumble of thunder that shakes the very foundation of everything around us. We know we’re giving them a heads up, but I want it that way. I want Cain toknow we’re coming. I want him to know his time is finally up. Wrath is coming, and there’s nothing he can do to escape it.

I tighten my grip on the handlebars as their clubhouse comes into view just beyond the trees. We’re officially in Kingsnake territory now, and I’m eager to burn it all down to the ground. Heathens are forged in fire, in blood, and sweat. There’s no better way to initiate these three men than with their rebirth. The Kingsnakes will die today, and the new Heathens will be born.

Just as Saint promised, there’s no one manning the gate, and as Saint, Creed, and Deacon roll through with Chaos and Sin flanking them, I pull out my gun, ready to meet them head-on. Their clubhouse looks like an old warehouse that could have been nice at one point, but now it’s dilapidated, like a corpse left out to rot in the sun. Broken windows, graffiti layered over graffiti, trash, bottles, and empty kegs littered over what was once a large yard. Their compound isn’t nearly as large as ours, but it’s still decent.

Rain starts to come down heavy now, just as some men in leather come running out of the main building with guns in their hands. Malice is off his bike before any of us, pulling out a machete and running toward the men, screaming like a fucking banshee. It catches them off guard, long enough for the rest of us to get off our bikes and storm in. Our boots hit the dirt, splashing into puddles, ready for the fight. Intense fury fuels me, but something feels fucking off, and based on the look on Chaos’ face, he fucking feels it too.

Malice cuts down the two men, leaving them to bleed out on the lawn. He enters the building first, but I’m looking around, my head on a swivel, my heart lodged in my throat. We walk in slowly, on guard, the stink of mildew and wet garbage assaulting my nose, but there’s nothing but trash, no one here to fight. It’s a fuckingghost town.

Our engines exposed us. They should have had time to prepare; they would have been out in the front already, circling us like the fucking snakes they are, ready to strike. But there’s no one. We go room to room, and as each one comes up empty, that fury sinks into the pit of my stomach, churning and curdling. The clubhouse is worse than the front let on, the roof half caved in, doors hanging off the hinges, stains climbing up the walls.

Chaos comes up next to me, his face stone cold. “Something’s off.”

“No fucking shit.” We push forward, going room to fucking room until I’ve finally had enough, that fury winning out. I spin on Saint, shoving him hard against a wall that half caves in from the impact.

“Where the fuck is everyone?” I scream in his face.

“I don’t fucking know! I’m just as surprised as you are! They were all here last night!”

“They’re all fucking gone now! Did you set us up? Where the fuck are they, asshole?” I pull my fist back, letting it fly hard into his face. The impact sends a jolt of pain down my arm, his head snapping to the side, blood spraying onto the floor. I get one more punch in before Sin is pulling me off of him, Deacon and Creed poised to fight, but Saint holds up his hand to stop them.

“If you set us up, I’ll fucking kill you! Do you understand?” I yell as Sin shoves me away from him. Saint wipes the blood from his mouth, but he doesn’t come at me to fight. He’s either a damn good actor, or he really is just as surprised as we are.

They’re gone. Every last fucking one of them. Voices start to talk around me as my head swims.

“Did they get tipped off?”

“Do we have another rat?”

“How the fuck did they know?”

“Light it up. Burn it all.”

I push out all the noise as another feeling starts to rise underneath it all.

Fear.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out fast, my gut churning. The caller is unknown, but I answer it anyway.

“Yeah?”