Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“How about we get you to the hospital? I’ll get a buddy of mine to do the CT off the books. We’ll get you back to the clubhouse in half an hour if all is well.”
Thank God, Eagle didn’t have a skull fracture. True to his word, Stitches got us home in record time. Eagle refused help walking inside the clubhouse to his room, but we managed.
Stitches got him cleaned up and most of the blood out of his hair at the hospital, so when we finally stumbled into his room, he collapsed on the bed with a groan.
“Fuuuuuck.”
“Same.”
I undressed us both before crawling under the covers. Eagle reached for me and pulled me against him so my head lay on his chest, his fingers sifting gently through my hair. Thank God I’d been able to shower at the hospital as well because I didn’t want my hair to smell like pond water.
“Of all the things that happened tonight, you’re worried about your hair smelling like pond water?” I thought he sounded amused, but I was just too Goddamned tired and mentally exhausted to chastise him.
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Yeah, honey.” This time he actually chuckled. “You did.”
We lay there for a long time. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, but my mind was whirling a million miles a minute.
“We should do something for Rose when she gets home. I don’t know what, but something to give her some closure. I don’t want her to feel alone or like she has to keep it all inside.”
“We will. We’ll all help Atlas take care of her.”
“Do we know how Milo found us?” I had to know. I also needed to know he wasn’t just captured but that he was dead.
“Wylde admitted he underestimated Milo. Said he had several of the guards in lock up on his payroll and he overlooked it. They got him out through the back door. The system thinks he’s still locked up, so no one will even know he’s dead until Wylde unlocks his file or whatever. Even the guards who let him loose won’t know what happened. Not that they’d care. Their job was to get him out of jail. Not to track him afterward.”
“When will he die?” I had to know.
“Probably not long, if Stitches is correct. He’ll keep Milo alive for a while, but Sting will likely let him die sooner rather than later. Much as we want him to suffer for what he did to all of us, he knows everyone is safer with him dead. Never say his name outside these walls, Nyla. Not for any reason. As far as anyone can prove, we never knew the bastard.”
“What about the men who sent the drone?”
“They’re being taken care of. My guess is Atlas will make them all die extra hard for what they did to Rose. Brick too.”
Again we lay in silence. Then Eagle asked me a question. “You told us the day you got here Milo was with a man he called Dom. That this man was there when Milo was having a young girl undress.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ever hear mention of a club called Grim Road?”
I thought for a moment, trying to remember. “That name is familiar, but I’m just not sure.”
“I did a run with them right before you came to me. Grim Road takes down human traffickers. Dom isn’t an unusual name, but you also mentioned a guy named Claw. Both of them are members of Grim Road. If they were there, if they were working out a deal with Milo, then whatever Milo was doing was some sick shit. Grim Road only goes after the worst of the worst because they never leave anyone alive.” He took a breath. “I have… issues. When I was a medic in the service, I saw some pretty horrific things, but all that is nothing compared to the shit I’ve seen tagging along with Grim Road. I’m talking genocide and things so deviant it makes my skin crawl to think about them. I sometimes have nightmares and I lash out.”
“If you’re trying to tell me you might hurt me, I won’t believe it.”
“I admit, since meeting you, my mind has been so obsessed with you I seemed to have shaken off the last of the nightmares. I just want you to be aware.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
I was just about to doze off when he murmured into my hair. “I love you, Nyla. I’ll always love you.”
“I love you too.”
With those words, something inside me settled. I took a deep breath, let it out…
And slept.
* * *
Weeks later…
Eagle
“Owen… Eagle!”
I woke with a start, gasping. Sweat soaking my body. I leaned up, resting on my elbows while Nyla gently stroked my chest.
“Fuuuuck…” I collapsed back onto the bed, breathing like I’d run a marathon. I was surprised at the ease with which I woke. I hadn’t had the urge once to fight. Only to follow the sweet voice calling my name. “Sorry I woke you, baby.”