Knight (30 page)

I ran through the roster of men in my head. Some I knew better than others. I wasn’t as idealistic as Luke. Anathema attracted the same cutthroat men who lived outside the law. Any one of the brothers was as dangerous as the other.

Luke exhaled. “I can’t take a chance that he’d hurt Anathema from the inside. He could target the women, the children. Hell, his problem might not even be political. He might be some disgruntled asshole looking to settle a personal score.”

“What if he’s there to kill you first?”

“Then I better shoot quick.”

“Jesus.” I groaned. “Listen to yourself. This is too dangerous.”

“What fucking choice do I have?”

The edge in Luke’s voice would have sliced through his veins if he aimed for his wrist. I wasn’t about to mop up his blood—self-inflicted or not.

But he didn’t let me speak, didn’t let me move. For the first time, that cool, charming exterior cracked, and I saw what existed inside Luke.

It wasn’t a knight.

It wasn’t a villain.

It was just a man, struggling with his own misconceived notions of honor and morality.

“I don’t want to kill anyone. I never did. None of the problems I caused were intentional.” Luke gripped his cut. “I tried to
protect
Anathema. A year ago, I saw a problem. I spoke out. Then things got out of control, and I was the bastard with the blood on his hands. I became the traitor who started the war, but now I’m the only son of a bitch who sees what we have to do to survive.”

“They won’t listen, Luke. To them, you’re the traitor who tore the club apart.”

“That split was going to happen whether I questioned Thorne or not,” he said. “The cracks were there, I was just the asshole who stepped on them. I didn’t ask to lead two dozen men, but I did what was necessary to prevent them from dying in the streets. I sacrificed myself, my honor, my fucking name on trying to keep Toviel Aren and his men from destroying us.” He pointed at me. “And it
worked
.”

“But Toviel isn’t in control of Temple now. Heathen is. And he’s pissed.”

“So am I!” Luke stalked towards me.

For the first time, I retreated from him.

“If Blade were still alive, everything would have worked perfectly. I organized the agreement so Temple would see the dangerous and unstable forces in The Coup.
Temple
would have taken out Exorcist, Priest, Lash, the whole fucking crew. The blood would have been on
their
hands, and Anathema and The Coup might have reunited.” He held his arms out. “It didn’t happen, and you know why.”

I raised my chin. “Because of Blade.”

“Brew’s alive, isn’t he? He killed Blade.”

“Don’t make me answer that.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it doesn’t matter now. Blood will spill either way.” I took his hand before he twisted in his own fury. I didn’t like this side of him. Luke was too smart for blind rage. “Do you think killing this traitor will end this war?”

His jaw tensed. “No. But if I don’t, more people will get hurt.”

I hated that he was probably right. “I’m coming with you.”

“Absolutely not.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Do you trust me?”

His smirk answered that. “I should ask you the same question.”

“You don’t have anyone else who can watch your back.”

Luke’s eyes lightened, amused. Like he thought only the bad boys knew how to fight. “You’re one hell of a woman, Lyn, but you’re not part of any MC.”

“Then I’ll blend in.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.” I pulled from him, raiding the drawer in my kitchen for one of the guns I stocked in my penthouse. I placed it on the counter. “Luke, you wanted me, now you got me. I’m not some gash who will wait for you in the safe house. You need help. I’ll cover you.”

“You sure you want to do this?”

I nodded. “This is a mistake we’ll make together.”

***

I never set out to murder anyone.

Usually, it just happened. Self-defense or protecting someone I loved. I didn’t know if that’d matter when the end came, but at least I could live with myself for what days I had remaining.

Luke needed me, and someone had to do something to prevent the war from escalating. Even if we couldn’t end it, at least we could protect more people from getting hurt. The Valley was going to need as many men as it could get—Coup or Anathema.

I didn’t count on many of them surviving the final war.

I dressed in black—covered head to toe. I ditched the heels for a set of flats. A gun tucked at my side. I slid behind Luke on his bike, wrapping my arms tighter than I needed around his waist. If he noticed, he was smart enough not to say anything. I wasn’t a woman who often revealed my fears.

But I was fucking terrified.

We rode out of the city and into the darkness, trading lights and traffic for stars and acres upon acres of Atwood Industries farmland. The road twisted beyond the mile markers, but Knight pulled off into a small parkette, complete with picnic tables and a burned out garbage can.

Luke parked his bike off the road and ordered me to hide in the brush. Not a place I normally rolled, but on a night as dark and terrible as this, I preferred hiding in the shadows to dancing in a spotlight.

An hour of silence passed before a lone headlight approached from the city.

I held the gun and waited, holding the weapon with two trembling hands as the leather-clad figure parked his bike and unwrapped his long legs from the seat.

He didn’t remove his helmet, a full visor obscuring his face.

Luke stared at him, his words immediately breathing into a coarse profanity. He didn’t defend himself, but he recognized the traitor.

And he knew he was a dead man.

His arms rose, but he laughed, callous and cold. “You son of a
bitch
. I should have fucking known.”

If it was a surrender, I wasn’t letting it happen. I crept from the bushes as the traitor gripped his helmet. It fell to the dirt just as my gun pressed between his shoulders.

Luke’s words rumbled, low and steady. “Back away, Lyn. It doesn’t concern you anymore.”

Like hell. I jammed the gun dead center on the patch of Anathema’s scarred demon.

The traitor turned.

I dropped the weapon.

I didn’t recognize my own voice. His betrayal ached through me, an invisible agony for every man and woman who would fall as a result of his treachery.

“
Thorne
?”

Lyn lowered her gun.

It was a mistake.

Thorne carried his own weapon. I hoped it was just for defense, but his trigger finger was twitchier than most. My former president valued loyalty, trust, the bond of blood.

I’d destroyed them all.

And now so did he.

“
You’re
my traitor?” I didn’t bother defending myself. If he wanted me dead, it was time to count the breaths. The gun didn’t fire, and Thorne didn’t speak. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think you’re Coup material.”

“You son of a bitch.” Lyn tucked her gun into the waistband of her pants. She stared at him, the bike, the patches. “I can’t believe this.”

Thorne met her stare, a blood-thirsty warlord facing an angry cobra in a pushup bra. He didn’t flinch. Lyn didn’t blink. I was the jackass still in shock, piecing together how the fuck Thorne planned to rebuild the club after he torched it to the ground.

“How could you do this?” Lyn didn’t pace, she dug in for the fight. She needed to shut her mouth, but neither of us ever figured out the magic word that stopped her from complicating club politics. “Holy shit, Thorne. Does Rose know?”

“Why would I tell Rose what I’m doing?” Thorne eyed me. “I have more sense than to involve my woman in this.”

Lyn’s boots crunched over the gravel as she stalked to Thorne. I expected her to poke his chest, but even she showed restraint. “Don’t you treat me like I’m some property patch. I’m your goddamned business partner.”

“Are you?”

“Not anymore. Can you blame me for leaving?”

“You had a temper tantrum and pouted your ass out of Pixie.”

Lyn didn’t pout—she punished. And if Thorne wanted to survive this meeting without getting castrated by a French manicure, one of them had to back down.

“I thought there was a traitor in your ranks. I feared for me and Sorceress and Anathema,” she said. “God, if I had known it was
you..
.”

“He’s not a traitor, Lyn,” I said.

“Like hell.”

Thorne ignored her. “I needed to talk to you.”

“I was always a phone call away,” I said.

“I’m not here for a
chat
.”

“You here to kill me?”

“I should.” His voice twisted. “I will, unless you call off your old lady.”

Words no one should have spoken around Lyn. She tensed, primed and ready to blow. But Thorne wasn’t some mindless savage gawking over her tits at the club.

He also wasn’t stupid enough to underestimate her.

Her voice hissed in warning. “Only one cocksucker should be getting the bullet. What the hell separates you from Brew?”

“Brew wasn’t acting for the club. Did his dirty work self-serving, to get Blade out of jail.”

“And this? How are you going to explain this to Rose while Brew…” Her words twisted, guarded, as though I couldn’t read through the hesitation. “While Brew suffered for his betrayal?”

“This is different.”

“How?”

“Because I got tired of waiting for someone with the common fucking sense to end this war.” Thorne nodded at me. “Knight fucked everything up, so I took initiative.”

I anticipated that. Didn’t mean he was right, but I was man enough to let the insult pass. “What was I supposed to do? I had a club full of men salivating for war and Temple on my ass. I tried to bring the clubs together to protect us.”

“And you nearly killed Rose in the process.” Just her name pissed Thorne off. “You’re lucky I didn’t chain you to our bikes and quarter you in the street.”

“I had to take her.”

“No, you fucking didn’t.”

Lyn reasoned with the unreasonable. “If he hadn’t, Priest would have taken her. Ruined her. For Christ’s sake, Thorne. That girl doesn’t deserve any more pain.”

“You don’t use my goddamned
queen
as a pawn.”

I understood his devotion to the woman. Not like I hadn’t offered my own heart, soul, and balls to the one who’d inevitably get me killed too. “I had no choice.”

“Men died because of it,” Thorne said.

“More men might have died. They didn’t.” I held my arms out. “You want to tell me why you were sending me goddamned messages about Anathema?”

“So you’d stay out of our fucking way.”

“That’s it?”

“You weren’t planning for war, but if your guys came across one of our runs? There would have been bloodshed. I wanted you to stay clear of us. It worked.”

“Didn’t sign your name.”

“Next time I’ll include stationary and some tissue paper.”

“You’re goddamned lucky I never took a match to Pixie while you were on a run.” I swore. “And if my men found those notes? Christ, Thorne. What the hell were you thinking?”

“This Temple shit is out of control.” Thorne dropped the attitude for something much worse—his honesty. “The feud is killing my men. More people are gonna die if we don’t stop it.”

A lone car traveled up the highway. We both shifted Lyn from the street, tossing her behind us and the bikes to avoid being seen.

Or gunned down.

At least we hadn’t lost our optimism.

“This could have been real easy,” I said. “Temple was lookin’ for the man who killed Blade Darnell.”

“Ain’t finding him here.”

Lyn arched an eyebrow.

“No,” I said. “I’d say our murderer is masquerading as a ghost. Doesn’t make a difference. Blade said I’d be the one to kill him. Why the fuck would he blame me?”

“Because Blade was always loyal to Anathema.”

“He made deals with Temple.”

“Always had, and he knew that shit would eventually fuck us. He probably pinned you so Temple wouldn’t hit Anathema.” Thorne didn’t apologize for it. “You made a great target. Even my men thought it was your handiwork.”

I nodded. “And now that they know Blade abused Rose?”

Lyn answered for him. “We’re on the cusp of anarchy.”

Thorne frowned. “One good thing about a puddle of blood. If it gets big enough, we’ll never know who bled into it. I’ve got my men organized. They won’t question us on Blade.”

I envied his confidence but not the shit he dealt with. “Hard to keep them in line when you put a girl’s safety before her daddy’s role in the club.”

“Don’t pretend Blade is innocent in this,” Lyn said.

“To Temple he was,” I said. “They don’t care what happened to little Bud. Might blame her for opening her mouth and letting all those secrets out.”

Thorne shouldn’t have cared as much either, but hell. I wanted to rip off Priest’s cock for simply threatening Lyn. I couldn’t imagine if someone actually hurt my woman.

Thorne chose his words like he loaded a gun. “Temple isn’t getting anywhere near Rose.”