Wild: Tiger's Blood MC (24 page)

“And I’m glad we did,” I said simply. “Bitch.”

With Vero bleeding on the ground and Persephone wounded, I knew I had to move fast if I wanted to get out of there before the cops showed up…again.

“Come on,” I barked over my shoulder. “Get that dead bitch from the roof and bring her down here.” Calvin trotted upstairs and I heard him lugging Brienne’s body down. She had a shocked expression on her face, like she couldn’t believe that she’d somehow died while patrolling. I had to look away—I didn’t like violence, but sometimes it was necessary. And if I was being honest, it gave me a thrill. Guns gave me a thrill, they made me feel powerful, even in a way that leading Tiger’s Blood didn’t. Guns were an evil invention, but I knew that I couldn’t survive without one or two around all the time.

“What do we do now?” Nero looked up at me.

I shrugged. “We make one hell of a crime scene for the cops to find, and then we call them, I guess,” I said over my shoulder as I jogged over to Persephone. She was still sitting in the same painfully tight position; I guessed that she didn’t have enough blood flowing through her body to try to move. When I reached behind her back and cut the plastic zip ties binding her wrists, Persephone moaned softly and collapsed against me.

“Elliot,” Persephone moaned. “Elliot, I’m in so much pain.”

“You’ll be okay,” I told her tersely as I cut the binds around her ankles. I grabbed one of her hands in my own, ignoring the spark of lust that flashed between us. With Persephone’s blue eyes locked on my face, I began rubbing the skin and massaging it, trying to get the blood flowing through her hands again. After a few moments, Persephone began to murmur and whimper in pain. I hated hurting her, but I knew that it was working. Without this, she maybe could have lost a hand.

“What happened?” Persephone looked at me. “How did you know to find me?”

“Vero called me,” I said. “She said she had you here and she wanted me to give up all the arms I got from Dima earlier today.”

Persephone’s lids closed slowly over her blue eyes. It took me a moment to realize that she’d passed out—just from shock, I figured. It wasn’t terribly surprising, considering everything that she’d been through over the past couple of weeks. I could imagine that finding out Vero’s true motivations had been a real blow to Persephone’s spirit. After all, she and Vero had built the Amazons from the ground up. Now it was looking like Persephone was the only one out of all of them who wouldn’t be going to prison when this whole thing was settled.

“Boss,” Tony said in a heavy voice. “What do we do with her?” He pointed down to Lydia, who lay silently on the ground. Aside from her sobs, she wasn’t even moving. Her face was bright red and streaked with hot tears of anger and embarrassment. “She’s gonna make a lot of noise once I take the gun away,” Tony said in a threatening voice. “We have to do something—and
quick!
”

“I have a plan,” I said darkly. “Come on, guys. Go to the van and get some of the guns. Not all of them, say maybe about a third or a quarter. And bring that towel we keep in the back.”

Tony and Nero nodded and jogged through one of the concrete cracks in the warehouse. I kept massaging Persephone’s hands until the color looked almost normal. Her skin still felt cool and clammy to the touch but I could tell that she was going to make it out of this and be totally fine.

“You’re gonna be okay,” I told Persephone in a ragged voice. “Vero’s going to prison, if she’s still alive. And this little bitch is tied up.”

Persephone didn’t wake. Her breathing was calm, even. It reminded me of when we were kids, back when she was still Grace, and I used to sneak into her room. For a moment I was transported back to the time when she loved me. I closed my eyes and listened to the soft, even sound of her breathing, imagining that we were in the same bed. Persephone had always been the lightest of sleepers and I’d had to be very careful as not to wake her.

“She alright?” Calvin walked over to me and glanced down. “I mean, is she gonna make it?”

“She’s been through a lot,” I replied sharply. “How’s Anya? Did you see her here?”

Calvin shook his head. “I don’t think she bought into Vero’s bullshit,” he said. “Thankfully. She’s back at the clubhouse with a couple of the other girls.” Calvin let out a low whistle. “I can’t believe these tricky bitches,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life.”

“Tell me about it,” I said, rolling my eyes. Suddenly, all of the Tiger’s Blood problems seemed like nothing compared to what Persephone had just gone through. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to know that my best friend and confidant had been working against me from the beginning. It was a devastating blow. I wondered what Persephone would do after she recovered.
She’ll probably want to get the fuck away from LA
, I thought.

Part of me was sad at that thought, and I couldn’t articulate why. Thankfully, Nero and Tony came running back through the warehouse at that exact moment, their arms loaded up with guns and assault rifles.

“This is some of it, boss,” Tony said. He was breathing heavily and he dropped the guns down on the floor. “What do you want us to do?”

“Get the towel and wipe down every single fucking gun in here,” I said sharply. “We need to make it look like an Amazons shoot-out.” I took one of pistols and wiped it clean of fingerprints before grabbing Lydia’s trussed hand and shoving the gun inside. “Hold onto this, bitch,” I said with a grin. “Or don’t, I don’t really care. As soon as the cops get your prints off it, they’ll know you were involved.”

Lydia let out a squeal of frustration and rage and I chuckled. There was something about seeing her down that really cheered me up. Vero was obviously evil, she had been from the start. But I was guessing that Lydia had been the innocent of the group, someone who had really played up her cuteness.

“You’re not gonna be so cute in prison,” I told Lydia with a smirk. “Everyone’s gonna see you for the snake you really are.”

Lydia’s face twisted into a fearful scowl. “Fuck off,” she said in her tiny, high-pitched voice. “I don’t need you!”

I chuckled again. “So, we need to drop the guns around here and make it look like the Amazons did, well, something bad,” I said. Vero was still lying motionless on the ground. She was breathing, but blood was flowing from her leg at an alarming rate. I walked over to make sure she was breathing and was startled to see her eyes open and a lazy grin on her face.

“You think you can take me down?” Vero sneered.

I laughed. “You’re already down, bitch,” I told her with a grin. “Now you just gotta wait for the cops to show up and take you to your new home. At least you’re already gay, you won’t have to worry about turning in the pen!”

Vero growled and snarled like a dog. I kicked her in the ribs and she started whimpering and rolling around, clutching onto her leg and looking pathetic.

“Elliot?” Persephone’s soft voice floated across the open air. “Elliot, are you there?”

I rushed to her side and got down on my hands and knees. “We’re getting you out of here,” I told her softly. “Don’t you worry, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”

Persephone no longer looked dazed. She looked very much aware of her surroundings, albeit uncomfortable. “I want to leave,” she said under her breath. “But first, I need to do something.”

I nodded. “Whatever you need,” I told her. “I’ll be right over here.” I walked over to Nero and Tony who were busy setting the guns up on the floor. They’d dropped another gun near Vero and they were wiping it clean of their prints, trying to make it look like she was the one who had shot Brienne. “You guys almost ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Nero said. “We gotta get another ride out of here, though. The tires on the van are blown from driving over that chain wire.”

I swallowed. “We gotta get rid of it,” I said. “We can’t leave it. They’ll trace it to us. Do we have any rags?”

Twenty minutes later, the guys, Persephone, and I watched as the van exploded into a mass of red-orange flames. They licked up towards the dark sky, giving off a wall of heat that smelled like metal and oil. I had to step away from the burning van; the fire was so hot that it was making my face feel scorched and red.

Calvin had walked into town to look for a ride back. Now, we were waiting until he showed up. I’d managed to put a makeshift tourniquet on Vero’s leg to slow the bleeding, but I could tell that she was going to be just fine. In a couple of weeks, she’d even be transferred out of the medical part of prison and into the regular pen. I grinned. Revenge was a dish best served cold, but I couldn’t deny that I liked it hot, too.

Persephone

After I watched the van burn with Elliot and the others, I walked back inside the warehouse. Vero was still tied up and wriggling at her bonds, but Lydia lay silent. I didn’t even feel like speaking to Lydia but I knew that I had to get something off my chest. As I approached her, she closed her eyes and sighed in disgust.

“I know what you’re gonna say, Persephone,” Lydia said in an obnoxious and whiny voice. “You’re gonna tell me that you’re disappointed in me for lying, and that I should have been more loyal to you.”

I shook my head. I was starting to feel better, but I was still pretty dazed. Being tied up for hours will do that to you, I guessed. I hoped that the guys had bound Lydia and Vero as tightly as she’d bound me; I wanted them to hurt just a little bit.

I squatted down and cocked my head to the side so I was staring into Lydia’s pretty eyes. Her pale, pretty face and hair were twisted with grime and grease. Even though she looked horrible, I could imagine her turning her doe-eyed look on the arresting officer and somehow winding up with much nicer accommodation than Vero.

“I need to tell you something,” I hissed under my breath. “It’s something I thought I’d never say to you. I’m not disappointed in you, you little bitch. I’m disappointed in myself for believing you.” I shook my head, feeling like a real fool. “I listened to you, and I trusted you all those times when I thought Vero wanted you out of the club.”

“We were too smart for you,” Lydia said. She smiled and I reached out and slapped her hard until she was whimpering in pain. “That doesn’t hurt as much as you want it to,” Lydia said. She grinned at me and winked. “Don’t forget, I’m the one who hurt myself,” she said. A sickening feeling came over my gut and crotch, like I was suddenly the one being assaulted. “I lied about everything, and it felt good,” Lydia said in a quiet, soft voice. “It felt good to be so injured and to have everyone cooing over me. You have no fucking idea how amazing that felt, Persephone.”

I rolled my eyes. “Enough from you,” I said, standing up. “You’re always gonna be a psychopathic bitch, and as soon as the other women in prison realize that, I’m betting anything that you won’t survive that fun little experience.”

Lydia frowned. “I’m not going to prison,” she said. “Someone will save me. I just know it.”

I laughed. “You’re fucking delusional,” I told her. “You staged an assault that left you barren, tried to blame it on an MC that had literally nothing to do with us, and then worked with Vero to
murder
me. You don’t think you’re gonna get convicted for at least
one
of those things?” I shook my head sadly. “You’ll be in prison for a long time, Lydia. And you’re never going to see Vero again. They’ll know better than to put the two of you together, where you could actually hurt someone.”

Lydia smirked. “You’re not getting anywhere near me,” she hissed. “And don’t even think about it, Persephone.”

“I’m done with you,” I said as I wiped my grimy hands on my jeans. “I’m not speaking another word to you, even if I have to testify against you in court. I’m done, Lydia. I stuck up for you when no one else did, and I believed you because you came from another MC family. But I never should have believed a goddamn word out of your lying mouth,” I added, turning my back on her. Behind me, Lydia whimpered and cried. For a moment, the cries tugged at my heart until I was able to harden myself and keep moving.

Vero lay in a twisted pile of blood and limbs on the ground. There were guns all around her, wiped clean of the Tiger’s Blood fingerprints. Vero gazed up at me with disgust on her face. I shook my head.

“And you, you bitch,” I said softly, walking around her in slow, lazy circles. “You really had it out for me, didn’t you? Why the fuck would do you something like this, Vero? We used to be friends. We used to care about each other.”

Vero stared straight at me and I felt the same chill that she’d always managed to inspire in my body. “This ain’t about you, Persephone,” Vero said slowly. “This ain’t about what you want. It’s always been about me.” She cackled. “I’ve always wanted the Amazons. Back when you and I first became friends, and you were so desperate to find those thugs who offed your parents, well, I thought I could probably push you into behaving one way or another.” Vero’s smile twisted into a scowl. “But that wasn’t the case. You were too damn good, too damn stuck to your goddamn morals.”

I frowned. “You pretended to love me,” I said sharply. “You pretended to love me and then you fucking tried to have me killed! You would have done anything to get rid of me!”

“That’s right,” Vero said. She wriggled on the floor so she was laying on her side. Even though her position looked painful and strained, her face was free of anguish and suffering. “That’s right, I did try to get rid of you. I thought the Amazons would be better off without you,” she added softly. “I always thought you were a shitty leader. Too soft on your enemies and not kind enough to the people who buttered your bread.”

I rolled my eyes. “Vero, this is too much, okay? Just cut the shit. Why did you do this?”

“Because I loved you,” Vero said. She sucked her teeth and then spat a great gob of iridescent slime on the floor. “I loved you so fucking much. But when I realized I couldn’t have you, then I didn’t care. I wanted to make you pay. I wanted to make you suffer for not loving me, and I wanted to make the Amazons the biggest group in LA.”

I blinked at her, suddenly feeling nervous. “Vero, you know I’m straight,” I said softly. “We could never have been together, you do realize that, right? I never would have loved you the way you loved me. I like men, Vero.”

Vero laughed. It was a sound that surprised me—both hollow and loud—and as her laughter bellowed across the room, I shuddered. I realized that deep down, even bound in rope, I was still afraid of the woman I’d once called my best friend.

“You’re a dumb bunny, Persephone,” Vero said softly. “You may have killed the assholes who killed your parents, but I guess you never got around to looking into who they were working for.”

A feeling like being submerged in ice water came over my body and I had to glance away. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Vero grinned and laughed again. “Honey, they was working with me,” Vero replied. “They was always working for me. I had to find a way to make you trust me, and helping you find those guys was so easy. I knew where they were because I was the one who hired them, you dumb bitch.” She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “You always hated me, Persephone. You never thought I was worth keeping around. And well, I had to do somethin’ to change your mind, didn’t I?”

My jaw dropped. Years of pain and hurt came flooding back tenfold in my body and I shuddered. “Are you kidding me?”

Vero smacked her lips. “Of course I ain’t kidding you,” she said defensively. “I had to find a way to make you need me, to make you love me as much as I loved you.” She shook her head bitterly. “I thought if I gave you what you needed, then finally you’d come around and love me back.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat. I couldn’t believe it. “After all this time, you had my parents killed because you wanted me to
trust
you?”

Vero nodded. “I ain’t proud of that, but look how far we came, baby. Look at what we built together,” she finished, sounding triumphant. “We did all this together, Persephone. Just you and me.”

I stepped closer. “We didn’t do shit,” I snarled in her face. “I did everything myself. And I’m gonna do everything myself again, without you.”

Then I turned on Vero and stalked out of the warehouse. As I left, a faint smile of satisfaction crept upon my face. I knew that leaving Vero like that was one of the most frustrating things I could have done; she
hated
not being able to get the last word in after an argument. And true to form, as soon as I turned my heel, she started screaming and hollering, doing anything to get me to turn back around and face her.

I almost wanted to spit in her face. But I couldn’t give her the satisfaction of letting her know how deeply she’d affected me.

By the time I rejoined Elliot and the others outside, I was feeling exhausted. The day had consisted of some of the biggest adrenaline rushes I’d ever felt, and I was ready to crawl into bed and sleep for days. I didn’t ever want to think about Vero or Lydia or Brienne ever again, but I knew that my club was in need of some serious help and restructuring.

We waited for about an hour, until Calvin drove up in an old SUV. “This was the best thing I could find,” he called from the driver’s side window. “A friend of mine loaned it to me, so we’re good to go.”

Elliot helped me climb in the back seat. He hadn’t spoken directly towards me, and I had a slight feeling that he was trying to avoid me, at least while the others were around. But still, I felt a pull between our bodies, like an invisible thread that was keeping us tied together, or at least tied together for now.

What’s going to happen after today
? I wondered.
Am I ever going to see Elliot again? Should I leave LA and form a new MC somewhere else? Should I stay and do something else with my life?

It was all so hard to think about.

The drive back into town took more time than I was expecting. Calvin was careful not to speed, even though Elliot was riding his ass the whole time. Tony and Nero had escaped without a scratch, and my hands were finally starting to feel normal again. I wondered if I’d have any permanent nerve damage from how tightly Vero had cinched my wrists.
I probably deserve it
, I thought woefully as Elliot pulled into the parking lot of the Amazons’ clubhouse.
I probably deserve worse
.

To my surprise, Elliot hopped out of the car and opened my door. “Guys, I’m sticking around here for a while,” he said in a smooth, calm voice. “You can head on back and do whatever, take the rest of the night off if you want.” He winked. “I think you guys deserve it.”

Calvin hopped out of the SUV, too. “I want to see Anya,” he announced. “Yeah, you guys go on back. I’ll get a ride later.”

I hated to admit it, but my hopes fell down as soon as Calvin strutted inside. I figured that with him around, there was no way Elliot was going to single me out and try to talk to me.

Anya ran over from the corner of the club, hugging me first and then Calvin. While the two of them were wrapped in each other’s arms and kissing, Elliot turned to me. “I assume you wanna talk to your girls, get them caught up?”

I turned to see Anya. Calvin’s tongue was in her mouth and she was pressing her body against his and moaning softly.

I wrinkled my nose and turned back to Elliot. “I think they’re busy,” I said sarcastically. “I’ll have to catch everyone up tomorrow.”

Elliot laughed. It sounded nice—a real laugh, none of Vero’s horrible cackling. “I bet,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

Suddenly, the air between us turned tense once more. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and glanced up into Elliot’s eyes, feeling nervous. “You don’t have to stay,” I said honestly, looking at the floor. “I mean, I know you have a ton of shit to do today, too. Is your club gonna be okay without those weapons?”

“Yeah,” Elliot said. He stretched his muscular arms over his head, making his torso stand out. I had to turn away so I wouldn’t start to blush—I couldn’t look at his delicious, muscular body without feeling painfully aroused. “We are. It’ll be rough, but this way, less competition.” He winked at me. “You’ll be able to get the Amazons up and running again. Don’t worry about it, Persephone. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

I swallowed hard. “I know,” I said. Suddenly, my eyes teared up. “I know things are gonna be okay, but they don’t feel okay right now,” I said. “I made some really stupid mistakes, Elliot. What if Vero was right? What if I don’t even deserve to lead the MC?” I shook my head, feeling dazed. “She was always out to get me, right from the beginning. She always knew, Elliot. She knew that she had to pull something big to earn my trust.”

Elliot laughed out loud. “Vero wasn’t right about anything,” he said sharply. “She was a dumb cunt who thought she could beat you at your own game, and she lost. She’s going to prison, and I doubt she’s ever getting out.”