Wild Heart- Extended Edition (The Wild Heart Series) (31 page)

“You know what your piece of shite club did to my old lady?” Knox asked.

“Listen, man, I didn’t have anything to fuckin’ do with that,” the man answered nervously.

“Know they kidnapped her, beat her, raped her.” Knox could see Charon go rigid next to him.

“I’m serious, man, I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that!” The man squirmed anxiously in his chair as Knox pulled his switch blade knife from his back pocket.

“I don’t really give a shite anymore.” Knox cut the man’s shirt open, running the end of the blade along the man’s flesh with just enough pressure to scratch him but not fully cut him. “You’re club hurt my woman. So, now, I’m gonna hurt every last one of you cockroaches.

Knox backed off slightly, as if he were going to find a lesser evil to pursue, but then slashed his knife across the man’s stomach, opening his flesh and spilling the man’s blood out on the floor.

“Fifteen minutes, brother,” Charon said, looking at his watch.

The man gurgled, trying to breathe through his blood filled lungs. “Don’t need fifteen minutes for what I’m gonna do to you.” Knox took his knife and slammed it forcefully into the man’s collar bone. The man’s body squirmed and twitched in pain, screaming through the blood bubbling out from his mouth. “I’m gonna make sure that every night, you’re fucking club fears me. Because I’m gonna show up in the middle of the night like the grim reaper and I’m going to cut every one of your throats.”

Knox dwelled in the fear radiating from the man’s eyes, hoping to find peace and solace there. Hoping to find his answer there. One last swing of his knife and the man’s throat was cut open and spilling blood down the front of the man’s chest. His body went rigid and then slumped down into the chair.

“Gotta go, prez, time’s almost up,” Charon said.

“Aye, brother,” Knox answered. He reached down with his leather glove and dapped his finger into the man’s blood. He tilted his head back, letting it roll without control back. Across the man’s forehead he placed a crude hand drawn Celtic cross and, just like they’d come in, they left covered by the safety of the darkness.

They made it a few roads down as a large ball of flames came barreling up into the sky followed by a large angry explosion. Knox looked over to Charon and let out a deep breath as the two made their way back to their bikes. Somewhere in the gravel of the abandoned parking lot the two buried the knife and then took off back toward Coker Creek.

By the time the sun was coming up, he pulled back into the driveway of the cabin. He went to the outer house and pulled his clothes off, throwing them into the small wood burning fireplace and throwing a match in after them. He made his way to the shower and cleaned the last of the Renegade’s blood from his skin.

He grabbed a pair of sweats and a t shirt from a small closet in the outer house and made his way inside the cabin. He found his way to the bedroom, opening the door gently in an effort to not wake Ani. For the first time in two days, she looked peaceful as she slept.

He crawled into bed next to her and laid his head on the pillow. He stared up at the ceiling, feeling the weight of his lust for revenge and what stood in front of him. He reached over and pulled her to him, gently she nuzzled into his chest. He reached down and grabbed her hand, twisting it up to his mouth and placing a gentle kiss on the back of it. He laid there, holding her, gently running his fingers through her hair as she slept.

He was about to bring his soul as close to hell as it could go, and she was going to be the only thing there to save him in the end. This was the beginning, the start of their healing. This was the start of the rest of their lives. It was going to be messy, and at time their hands would tremble and their voices would be shaking. But they were going to start and never stop, no matter the amount of doubt they felt at time. He would be there to protect Ani and she would be there to protect him.

Because like in the game of chess, a queen always protects her king, no matter the cost.