“Ah, beautiful and smart,” Genocide snips.
“I hope I’m alive when your face is ripped off and eaten,” I spit, sitting up on the cot. My legs are numb and there’s a tingling sensation in my hands from the restraints being on so tight.
“The good news is, you won’t be.”
“If you kill me, it’s murder.”
“Not if they can’t find your body.”
Like hell. I’m not letting this asshole hunt me down. “If you want to kill me, you can do it right here while you look me in my eyes; otherwise you’re just a coward,” I say, my lip curling into a snarl. I refuse to show him any fear.
“Oh, my little pretty,” he says, running his finger down the side of my face. “The hunt is so much more fun.” Ack, it’s revolting, he’s revolting.
I pull my head back. “Don’t touch me,” I growl.
He doesn’t listen and runs his finger down my face again. When he tries to run his thumb across my lips, I bite down hard. Since he’s treating me like an animal, I might as well act like one. I don’t let go; I hold on until I taste his blood.
He yells and rips his thumb from my mouth. “Bitch!” He grunts, backhanding me, sending fire over my cheek. His bony fingers fist into my hair, yanking me violently up off the cot and onto the cold concrete floor. The abrasive concrete scratches against my skin as he drags me across the tiny room to the door. “Get movin’,” he orders, shoving me out the door towards the stairs.
I have no socks or shoes, no jacket or blanket for protection from the cold. Once I set foot outside, I won’t stand a chance against the elements. I’ll freeze to death before I have any chance of survival. I decide to fight back the best way I know how. I get up in Genocide’s face and spew my venom. “Clearly, you’re a giant cock wad, coward. Sending a girl out into the snow with no jacket or shoes just shows you’re afraid that I might actually get away from you.”
Genocide turns towards the cot, bending at the waist and reaches underneath it. He tosses me my slipper-boots, the ones I was wearing the night I was nabbed. “Here.”
They land at my feet and I quickly put them on. “What, no jacket?” I sass.
“Get goin’. One hour.”
I bolt away as quickly as I can, up the stairs, just like before. I run out the door at the top of the stairs, down the long hallway I took only a day ago, through one more doorway before I’m out in the cold. It doesn’t take long for me to get my bearings. Once my feet hit the snow, I’m running, and I keep running until I find a place I can hide—a place I hope Genocide won’t find and Salvation will.
55
Salvation
I wake up in a cold sweat. I heard every word she spoke to me in my dreams last night. I now know her name is Maximus and I’m going to make her tell me why that’s her name, it’s not one I’ve ever heard before and I bet it fits her, too.
I decide that today’s the day I will start my mission to find this woman and save her from whomever is threatening her. She’s being hunted, and I’m the only one that can save her. I toss the covers off me and stand to stretch the sleep kinks out. My panther yawns, stretching his claws. It’s too early for this, Salvation, my panther grunts.
I scrub a hand down my face and plod to the bathroom. I flip the light on and take a long look at myself in the mirror, noticing that my blue eyes are a little dim with dark circles underneath. My facial hair is way out of control, but I’m not in the mood to shave. I take extra time in the shower, letting the hot water work out the tension in my shoulders. I get dressed and pack up my shit as quickly as I can for the ride, making sure I have enough money to get me where I need to go, and enough to get me home if I make it out of this alive.
Leaving sunny Texas for the coldness of the mountains is something I’m not looking forward to. As I pack up my Harley for the drive, I think about her and hope she’s okay. I’m coming for you, Max. Just hold on.
I felt her pain last night, while she was taunted and abused. Her cries for help hit me directly in my heart so hard, it knocked the breath from my lungs. I woke up with a crushing pain in my chest; it made it damn near impossible to breathe.
I stuff the last of the supplies I need into the saddle bags and mount my bike. The engine roars to life and rumbles beneath me and my panthers stirs awake again. The urgency for this woman has him clawing his way to the surface, and if I’m not careful, I’ll lose complete control.
Once on the road, I stop by the clubhouse and talk to Lux for just a few minutes. The guy has always had my back and has given me no shit about this insane quest to find a woman named Max.
Lux nods when I enter his office. “Salvation.”
“Lux,” I say, moving from the doorway to his desk.
“You headed out?”
“Yeah.”
“You have everything you need?” he asks, leaning back in his chair.
“Yeah, but in case I don’t come back…” My voice trails off as I shed my kutte, laying it across his desk. “I need you to take care of this for me.”
“What do you mean, if you don’t come back?” Lux stands and rounds his desk, coming face to face with me.
“If I die, bro, I need you to take care of this for
