“Ash, don’t you fuckin’ . . .”
I spin around, my eyes wild. “Here’s something for you, Krypt. Go and fuck yourself, because I sure as hell won’t be doing it again.”
I shove through the door, running towards my safe place—the trees. When I get to them, I slide down a trunk, not caring that it scratches my back. I drop my head and struggle for air. I should have known better. I was never meant to be here, and now I know why. I sob loudly.
I want to go home.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I sit out there in the cold for a solid few hours.
Then I know I have to go back. There is nowhere for me to run. I can’t go into the wilderness at night, because that’s risking my life, and I won’t do that. So, I do the only thing I can. I get up, take a deep breath, square my shoulders and walk back into the house.
The bikers are in full swing when I get inside. There are half-naked girls, beers being shoved around, and laughter filling the small space. I walk straight past them, heading towards the hall. A hand lashes out and grips my hip as I pass, and I look down to see Maddox with his hand on me.
“Let me go, Maddox.”
He tilts his head to the side. “What crawled up your ass and—”
He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because I shove my hands on his chest and shove him back. “Do not finish that sentence. I have had about enough of you bikers for a lifetime.”
He takes my wrists and pulls me down closer so I fall onto his lap. “That’s a piss-ass answer, stop your bullshit and pull yourself together.”
“Oh, bite me.”
He smirks and leans in, doing just that. I squeal loudly as his mouth closes over my neck and he bites me. The motherfucker makes it hurt, too.
“Ow,” I scream. “Maddox, you bastard.”
He laughs as he pulls away, and I can’t help but grin back.
“There we are, pretty smile returned. Now get off me or I’ll change my mind and bite you in other places.”
I smile at him, not because he’s being sexual again, but because I think it’s the first nice thing he’s done for me. I shove off his lap and stand, catching a glimpse of Krypt standing at the bar. His eyes are on mine, fierce and deadly. I lose my smile and walk off down the hall, giving him nothing.
It’s clear we’re done.
He’s ashamed of me. He doesn’t want his precious Penny to know about me, and that’s fine, but I don’t have to accept it.
I won’t accept it.
~*~*~*~
I’m woken in the morning to a high-pitched scream.
I jerk up out of bed as footsteps pound down the hall. I rub my eyes, trying to listen, terrified to even move. That wasn’t a good scream, it was the kind of scream you hear when someone finds a dead body.
“Fuck, shit, get her inside,” I hear Maddox bark.
“What is it?” another voice yells.
“Howard left us a present. Where’s Ash?”
Krypt’s voice.
“Sleepin’. Who is that?”
“I don’t fuckin’ know, but he’s in a bad fuckin’ way.”
He?
I get out of my bed, pulling a pair of jeans on before walking through the house and out the front door.
What I see has my entire body skidding to a halt.
There is a man slumped outside of the gates, but all I can see of him is blood. He’s covered in it. My eyes widen, and I begin to tremble as I force my legs to take me closer. The bikers are rushing about, some of them on the phone, others standing back and watching with disgust.
Maddox and Krypt are leaning down, touching the man, no doubt checking for a pulse. Santana is standing to the left, her hand pressed over her mouth. Penny is beside her, her face pale.
I turn my attention back onto the man that’s been dumped. As I near, I see his arms, that tattoos winding up them. I freeze in horror when my eyes fall on an all-too-familiar tattoo of a skeleton with a name wrapped around the skull.
I scream before I think, running full-throttle towards the body.
Krypt spins around, and so does Maddox. They both stare at me in confusion for a minute, until they realize my eyes are trained on the body. I am sobbing wildly by the time I skid to a stop. I drop to my knees, reaching out. “Leo?” I whisper.
“You know this man?” Maddox asks.
“Yes, oh God. Leo, honey, wake up.”
His entire body has been beaten; he’s covered in blood. His eyes are puffy and there is a split under his cheek that’s gaping and dripping with blood. His lips are busted up. He looks terrible.
“Leo,” I croak.
“Get her inside, now,” Krypt suddenly yells, an urgency in his voice that has me panicking.
“Krypt?” Maddox questions.
“Fuck, now!” he roars.