Blood (Dark Riders Motorcycle Club)
Read Blood (Dark Riders Motorcycle Club) Online
Authors: Elsa Day
Tags: #urban, #mc, #outlaw rebel, #travel, #motorcycle club romance, #biker, #Bike, #college, #motorcycle, #Action adventure, #alpha, #new adult, #gang, #man
Frontmatter
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Table of Contents
Blood: Dark Riders Motorcycle Club
Other Books by E
lsa Day
Chapter 1
In that moment, nothing made sense. Not me. Not Venom. And not Asher.
Looking up at Venom's grin made me sick to my stomach. What did he want from me? Should I smile? Is that what he thought I would do?
My eyes were still tearing, and even though I didn't want to cry in front of him, I couldn't help them pouring down my cheeks. My eyelids felt raw and red.
"Oh, what's the matter?Are you tired of playing our little game?" Venom asked. "Don't worry, it's almost over."
I turned away from him but he grabbed my head and pulled me back to face him.
"Besides, when Wild is put away, we'll have
a lot
more time to get to know each other. Won't we?" Venom said.
Venom brought his face close to mine and dragged his tongue up my cheek. I grimaced, trying to pull myself out of his grip, but Venom's hands just dug into my body and held me down.
His hands reached for my shirt when he was interrupted.
"Hey, Prez?"
Gritting his teeth, Venom turned around. It was just a younger biker. He looked small and innocent comparison to some of the others. When he saw the look on Venom's face, his grip on his clipboard started to shake.
"What do you want?" Venom asked. His voice was nearly a growl.
"Keg told me to look for you," the newbie said. "He said they are ready for the final check."
At that, Venom relaxed. The smile came back to his lips and he turned to me again.
"Well, aren't you lucky?" he said. "Looks like you're going to get the grand tour."
Venom stood up. He grabbed me by the arm and jerked me upwards until I was standing too.
"Well, let's not keep them waiting."
Chapter 2
I had never seen so many Tarantulas at once. It seemed like the entire club was there, rushing around at Venom's orders.
What exactly
did
they have planned?
It almost looked like they were gearing up for war. Cases of guns and boxes of bullets were leaving the clubhouse and being loaded onto cars and trucks. Even the bikes had more than their usual amount of firepower. But who exactly were they planning to go to war
with
?
I clenched my fists until my knuckles went white. My fingernails dug into my palm, breaking the skin just enough to hurt. The Dark Riders. They were getting ready to go to war with the Dark Riders. And there was nothing I could do about it.
Venom brought me deep into the bowels of the club. I'd only been there twice before. Once as a prisoner, then once walking by on my way to the bar. Neither time was I able to get a good look.
This
time, it was the main attraction.
Everyone was too busy to worry about me, so I could look all I wanted. In fact, it seemed like Venom wanted me to see what he had planned.
He took me into one of the rooms where they seemed to have some kind of factory. The floor was lined with white bricks of what looked like powder. Some of them were wrapped in plastic and others were wrapped in brown wax paper. They had strange symbols stamped all over them.
It was almost like a laboratory. I watched someone open one of the brick packages, chip away a chunk of the white stuff, and put it into two tiny beakers. Using tiny pipettes, they dropped liquid onto the chunks and stared at the glass. Finally, a bright pink color appeared and they smiled.
Other guys were grinding the bricks into powder. They spread some other kind of powder on top of it and packaged the stuff into bags. More bikers were heating up some kind of liquid with the powder dissolved in it. Gradually, chunks of material appeared at the bottom of their transparent pots.
Venom walked over to one of the stacks of white bricks. He pulled out a knife and jabbed it into the package. When he pulled it out, it was coated In white powder. Venom stuck out his tongue and dragged the knife over it. It was almost like he was licking a lollipop.
"That's some good stuff," Venom said. Then he turned towards me. "Wanna try?"
I shook my head, stepping back and bumping into someone who was rushing by. They gave me a look, but stopped when they realized who I was with.
"I just thought you might want to see what this is all about. This is just the beginning of our production. Joel already has an entire room in the Dark Riders clubhouse full of this stuff. We even stamped it with their symbol, see?"
Venom picked up one of the bricks and tossed it at me. It was so heavy that I almost dropped it on the floor. I looked at the package, and he was right. Staring back at me was the same image the Dark Riders used on their jackets.
"When the cops find these, it will be a little hard to explain away those stamps, won't it?" Venom said. "And then when they are gone, we'll be free to make all the money we want with the rest of it. How much better could it get?"
Venom laughed.
"We don't even have to get our hands dirty, and all the blame will fall on them," he said. "But that's not all."
Venom grabbed me again and pulled me out of the room. The men doing their work didn't even look up as we left. They were too busy with their own problems.
He took me down to a place that was a bit quieter. While the earlier rooms had been full of people running back and forth, there weren't many people here. It was darker. Calmer. Colder.
As we walked deeper into the depths of the club, a smell assaulted my senses. It made my stomach heave, filling my mouth with a bitter taste. I knew that smell. I had smelled it before in that very same place.
So when we turned to a row of what looked like cells, I wasn't completely surprised. A few doors down and we finally stopped. Venom slid the peephole open.
"And
this
, is part two of our plan."
I looked inside and what I saw made me want to scream. It was a girl. She couldn't have been out of high school for too long. Her body was thin, the limbs looking like they barely fit together. Every place that should have been fat and plump was sunken in and dark.
That wasn't all. On top of everything else, there were the
bruises
. They dotted her body like splotches of ink, deep and purple. She looked at me, and I expected her to be desperate. I expected her to plead, cry, anything. But she didn't. Her eyes were dead.
Finally I noticed the yellow pool beneath her. She didn't even try to avoid it. Of course.
That's
what I had been smelling.
"She ran away that one time, but we taught her never to run away again," Venom said. "So she'll stay put until we're ready to use her."
Use her for what? I couldn't tear my eyes away from this girl. She had nothing to do with this. There was no reason for her to be there.
That's when I saw it. Mav's bandana. Tied around her thigh. The one they made me get. The realization of what they were going to do to her hit me. I tried not to cry.
"When they find her body-"
"Hey, Venom?"
I was surprised to hear a woman's voice, so I left the peephole. It was Cam.
"Keg wouldn't tell me what's going on, but he says he needs you upstairs," she said. "Something about the plan you guys have for today."
Venom looked from me to Cam, and finally started to walk away.
"You keep an eye on her until I get back," he said.
"Understood?"
"Of course," Cam said.
For the first time, I saw Venom hesitate. He lingered in the hall, looking back and forth between us. Then he was gone.
As soon as he left, my mind went back to the girl. If I did nothing, she would be dead. I wasn't sure when, or how, but I was certain that was their plan. They'd kill her and plant her at the Dark Riders' club house.
Could I let that happen? How could I live, knowing her blood was on my hands? I struggled with my thoughts, then finally came to my answer. I was done being passive. I was going to save her.
"Cam, you trust me right?"
"Yeah, you seem like a nice kid."
"Even though you know I'm supposed to be with a different club?"
"Yeah but…" Cam looked at me, cocking her eyebrows. "What's up, sugar?"
"Do you have the keys to the doors in the club?" I asked. By now, the desperation in my voice was probably obvious. Cam backed away from me a bit.
"Yeah, I have some," Cam said. "Lilly, why don't you tell me what's bothering you, huh? I'm sure we can fix it."
"There's a girl in there who's going to die because of me!" I screamed. I couldn't hold it back anymore.
"I'm sure she's not going to die. Keg and Venom wouldn't do that.…"
"Just give me the keys!" I yelled. "Give them to me and run away. Just go. If anyone asks, say I took them. I don't want you involved."
"But Lilly," Cam tried to put her hand on my shoulder. I pushed her away.
"Give them to me!"
Finally, she gave up protesting. Cam dropped her ring of keys on the floor at my feet. For a moment she opened her mouth and a sound came out, as if she was going to say something. But she never did.
Cam backed away from me slowly. Then she turned around. And then she ran.
Now there was only one thing left to do.
I picked up the heavy ring of keys and got to work. I didn't know which one would fit, so I ran through them one by one. Finally, one clicked in the keyhole and the door unlocked.
I pushed the door, and it swung open. As soon as she saw me enter, the girl scrambled away. She curled up into a ball and refused to look at me.
"Hey,it's okay," I said in a soft voice. I held up my hands so that she could see I had no weapons. "I'm not here to hurt you."
I tried to pat her head, but she hit my hand away.
"I'm Lilly," I said. "I'm setting you free. We don't have a lot of time, so you have to get out.
Now
."
The girl peeked over her shoulder at me. She looked around to see if anyone else was there.
"We're alone," I said. "What's your name?"
"Heather," she said. Her voice was barely loud enough for me to hear.
"Well, Heather, I'm going to stay behind, but I need you to do one thing for me. Can you do that?"
Heather nodded her head.
"I need you to run. I need you to run and keep running until you find the town where the Dark Riders are," I said. My voice cracked as I started to choke up. "A lady named Olivia Clarkfeld lives there. Can you find her and tell her that Lilly loves her?"
I wiped away the tears that threatened to pour out of me. Heather nodded.
"Good," I said.
I pulled her to her feet. It wasn't hard, since she was light as a feather. When we left the cell, I pointed down the hall.
"Everyone is busy in that direction, so run down this way and no one should spot you," I said. "Now hurry!"
At first, Heather didn't move. She hung back, looking at me. Her large brown eyes teared up. She brought her fingers to her lips and nodded at me one last time before waving and running away.
I waited until I couldn't hear the sound of her footsteps to relax. I was all alone. I looked into the empty cell and felt a wave of relief. At least she was free.
But what about me?
I felt selfish thinking it, but I couldn't help it. What would happen when Venom came back and found out the Heather was gone? I remembered the feeling of his hand crushing my throat. He didn't seem like the type of guy to give out empty threats.