Tank shook his head. “Don’t think he does. Those assholes were collateral, lower level soldiers. Landry won’t give two shits that we sent them to Hades, you heard as much back at the rally. Fucker probably thinks we saved him a job. He’s cleaned out the Klan, as far as my contact says. Getting rid of all the dumbfuck rednecks and recruiting the true soldiers.”
“True soldiers?” Smiler asked.
Tank nodded. “Put it this way; like Hitler, he used his thug, idiot Brownshirts to get him to Grand Wizard, taking out anyone in his way, and now he’s purging them, slaughtering them in cold blood, just like Hitler did, and he’s bringing in the higher order, the Blackshirts…”
We all looked at him like he were stupid. I never paid no attention to European history in school, too busy being led by my dick and learning how to be a Hangman.
Tank sighed. “SS motherfuckers, Totemkopfs—deathheads—the real sadistic bastards who wanna see a fully white and Aryan world realized. And just like the ones that had no problem torturing and murdering Jews and any other fucker they didn’t like back in World War II, these soldiers will do whatever Landry says. Landry, to them, is their Fürher. We’re talking real threat to the club here, Styx. This new Klan Landry is making could really fuck with us… if they haven’t already started.”
There was silence from around the table as Tank’s words sank in.
More threats. Fuckin’ great.
“Then why all the fuckin’ theatrics? Why the IED? Why the distraction?” I asked and leaned forward, watching as Tank ran his hand over his shank scar. Landry had ordered that hit when Tank lost faith in the Reich and got the fuck out.
“Something bigger’s gotta be coming. They want us pissed. They want us to go after them. Looks like they’re gearing up to start a war.”
A chair skidded on the wood floor, crashing against the wall. Flame stood up, fists clenched, new slashes on his arms. “Then we go to fuckin’ war! I couldn’t give a flying fuck about those motherfuckin’ Jew killers. I’ll fuckin’ murder them all myself. Let them try to take the Hangmen down. They fucked with my club… my brothers… my Madd—”
Flame froze, cutting off his words before he could say more, his crazy black eyes wide. His flame-tattooed neck tensed and his face turned a crimson red before he let out a loud as fuck scream and, reaching into his boots, pulled out a blade and threw it into the wall.
Vike and AK got up and went to stand by the panting Flame, one on each side, flanking him in support. Cowboy and Hush followed, the five of them fuckin’ seething and thirsting for Nazi blood.
Were they a fuckin’ psycho quintet now?
Styx stood and slammed his fist on the table; all eyes shot straight on the prez. His eyes flickered to me, and I waited for him to sign.
“I get y’all are ready to fight. I’m with you, brothers. We will get our revenge on the Nazis, but right now, I’m with Tank and I say we wait. See what the fuck the skinheads are up to. Get intel, take our time, then crush them to dust when it’s time.”
Tank, Bull, and Smiler all nodded their agreement, and the worst, surely the most fucked-up boy band in the world, sat their stupid asses down.
“Tank, what’s up with this contact you got? Why’s he giving up the Klan? You think he’s playing us? Feeding us shit?” Styx signed as I addressed Tank.
Tank shook his head. “Nah, he’s legit, prez. Brother met a bitch, wants her, and she ain’t no fuckin’ Aryan. Landry finds out one of his officers is gone for a Latino, a fuckin’ cartel princess at that, and he’s dead. He’ll do anything to see those fuckers brought down… anything. We got a pipeline of pure intel for as long as he keeps his personal shit hidden.”
“Cartel princess?” AK questioned.
Tank shrugged. “Never got no more details than that. Brother ain’t into sharing, but yeah, she’s princess of the cartel or some shit. A fuckin’ Nazi and a wetback. Real fairytale shit, huh?” he said sarcastically.
Styx leaned back in his chair and sighed, eyes to the ceiling. The brothers and I watched him, waiting for instruction. Finally, he sat forward, elbows on the table.
“Tank, get in touch with your skinhead brother and find out why the hell we got no front gate and three fuckin’ corpses on our hands. We wait, work out the end game, and then take these bastards out. Yeah?”
“Aye,” I pledged, along with all the brothers, going around the table one by one.
“Tonight we take shifts protecting the compound. Get your bitches to the club. We’re on lockdown until we know where we stand. AK, Cowboy, Vike, and Hush, you take first shift. Flame.” Styx paused and Flame shook his head slowly. Styx sighed. “You keep watch over Maddie.” Flame relaxed and stared at the door. The brother was itching to get back to stand guard outside Styx’s apartment.
Styx hammered the gavel down on the table and the brothers moved out, Tank with his cell to his ear, calling for intel. I jumped from my chair as quick as possible and turned for the door, but Styx’s hands grabbed at my cut from behind and I was hurled up against the wall.
“What the fuck!” I shouted.
Styx was crazy fuckin’ pissed, his eyes insane. “I-I-I t-told y-you to st-st-st-stay the f-f-fuck outta her c-c-cunt! Y-you m-m-made her your f-f-fuckin’ wh-whore!”
Whore? This time rage swept through me, and I shoved on Styx’s chest, knocking him back against the table. In seconds, I was on him, my hands gripping the edge of his cut.
“Brother or not, best friend or not… prez or fuckin’ not, you ever speak about Lilah like that again and I’ll stab you through your fuckin’ heart!”
Styx stared at me, and I braced myself for a fight, but then a shit-eating grin spread on his face and I reared back in confusion.
“What the fuck you smiling at? And what the fuck was all that about, you prick!” I snapped.
Styx picked himself up and came to stand right before me. “Y-you fuckin’ l-love the b-b-bitch.”
“Shut the fuck up, Styx,” I replied, my chest as tight as virgin’s pussy.
Styx laughed. “Sh-shit. Y-you d-do. N-never thought I’d s-see this f-fuckin’ d-day.”
Walking back, I rested my back against the wall, arms crossed over my chest. I looked up to Styx, who was looking at me like I was a damn freak. “Fine, I fuckin’ love the pilgrim bitch. You happy? Can’t get her outta my head. Can’t see anyone but her.” I laughed in disbelief and ran my hand down my beard. “She’s fuckin’ brainwashed, no doubt loves Jesus more than me. Randomly throws herself on the ground, wailing some religious shit I can’t ever work out. She dresses and speaks like she just got off the motherfuckin’ Mayflower. But that bitch shines so fuckin’ bright to me I can’t snuff her out. She’s under my skin, prez. I’m so fuckin’ gone for the bitch I go insane if I ain’t near her. And now that I’ve been inside her, I’m sunk.”
Styx raised his eyebrows and dropped the grin. “Sh-she l-love y-you?”
“Yeah,” I breathed and raked my hand through my hair, laughing. “Yeah, she fuckin’ does. Fuck… she loves me.”
Styx nodded and laid a hand on my shoulder. I met his gaze. “How the fuck did this happen? I love her, Styx. She fuckin’ owns me. Me! My old man will be turning in his cold grave.”
“M-Mae owns me, b-brother. F-Fuck wh-what our f-fathers said or d-did. I wouldn’t ch-change being with M-Mae for sh-shit.”
Tipping back my head, I sighed and said, “In love with a bitch so removed from this life it ain’t funny. How she ever gonna be an old lady? We’re the damned, Styx; she’s looking to be saved. She ain’t gonna find no salvation with Hades.”
“M-Mae’s d-does. B-Better with us th-than with th-that c-cult. Sh-She’ll c-cope w-with it.”
“Mae’s different to Lilah. She ran. Li wanted to stay. Mae tried to learn this life, wanted to for you. Li is scared of her own damn shadow. Mae don’t have her faith no more, Styx. Li still lives for that shit, sprouting scripture like a pastor.”
“Sh-she n-needs t-time. Sh-she’ll
g-get u-us eventually,” he assured and punched me on my arm. “G-go be with h-her. W-we got l-lookout in a f-few.”
“Yeah,” I replied and pushed off the wall.
Styx suddenly turned around. “D-don’t f-fuck her o-over,” he warned.
My jaw clenched. “Fuck off, Styx.”
He grinned again and said, “Cunt-struck!” then fuckin’ walked off.
If I didn’t wanna fuck my woman again so bad, I’d have gone after the cunt just to shove my fist in his cock-sucking mouth. As I entered the bar, the place was getting busy, brothers and bitches everywhere.
Lockdown, what a fuckin’ treat.
Practically running to my room to get to Li, I burst through the door. “Baby, I’m back. Time to get buck-ass naked again!”
Shutting the door, I turned toward the bed, but Lilah wasn’t there. The sheets were all over the damn place from where we’d made love, but she was nowhere in sight. “Li? You in the washroom?” I shouted to the partially shut door.
No answer. Frowning and a tight feeling beginning to coil in my chest, I strode to the bathroom and pushed open the door.
Nothing.
Lilah’s clothes that she’d left on the floor were gone—her dress and that god-awful fuckin’ headdress.
Mae. She’d be with Maddie or Mae.
Shooting out the door, I ran down the hallway to Styx’s room, hammering on the door. I could hear moans and groans coming from inside, then Styx swearing and storming to the door.
The door flew open and Styx was buttoning up his fly. “Wh-what?” he growled at me, a pissed expression on his face.
“Is Lilah in here?” I demanded.
Styx frowned and shook his head.
“She’s not in my room. I came back and she wasn’t in bed and her clothes are gone. I thought she’d be with Mae.” Styx’s frown turned to concern, and suddenly Mae was at the door, wrapped in a sheet, her black hair messed up and her face flushed.
“What is wrong? Where is Lilah?” Mae asked, panicked.
Running my hands down my face, I looked up and down the hallway and said, “Maddie?”
Mae nodded nervously and gripped Styx’s arm. “You go and look there now, Ky, and we will dress and follow.”
I didn’t stick around a second longer and took off for the back stairwell. Smashing through the metal door, I rounded the stairs to see Flame sitting on his chair at the top. Hearing my approach, he jumped from his chair, his blades at his side ready to strike.
“Calm the fuck down. It’s me,” I said and climbed the stairs two at a time. When I made it to the top, I said, “Is Lilah in there with Maddie?”
Flame stared at the door like he could see through it and said, “Not that I know of.”
Spinning, I pounded on the door. “Maddie! It’s Ky. Open up.”
Flame moved behind me until he was practically flush against my back.
“Flame, back the fuck off. I ain’t got time for your crazy right now.”
“I ain’t moving nowhere, fucker. Making sure you don’t scare the bitch.” Flame spun his blade in his hands past my face. “She screams, I make you scream.”
Gritting my teeth, I moved to tackle Flame, but footsteps on the stairs pulled my attention.
“Flame! Please move!” Mae shouted, running up the stairs dressed in her usual tank and black jeans, Styx following behind.
“Maddie won’t open up, and I’m about to kill this cunt if he doesn’t back the fuck off!” I hissed, never breaking Flame’s glare.
“Flame! I need to get in there for Maddie and Lilah. Please let me past!” Mae shouted.
The psycho grunted in response and stepped back, his back hitting the wall.
Mae turned the knob and pushed through. Maddie was in the middle of the room, staring timidly toward the doorway. “Maddie! Is Lilah in here with you?” Mae asked. Maddie shook her head, her green eyes huge as she stared at the group gathered in the hallway.
Mae looked back at us and she’d turned white. “Styx?” she whispered, a fuckin’ desolate expression on her face.
“Sister?” Maddie whispered from her place behind Mae, dressed like Lilah in her gray long dress.
Mae looked to Maddie. “Yes?”
Mae swallowed and tears built in her eyes. “Where is Lilah? Has something happened to her?” Maddie’s breathing hitched and she stumbled backward. “Are they back for us? Has Prophet David returned and come to take us back to be saved?” Her voice built in volume and she cried. “Have they taken Lilah? Have they recaptured Lilah?”
Mae jumped forward and held a shaking Maddie in her arms. “No! They have not returned. They are gone, sister.”
Maddie pulled back and shook her head. “No! Prophet David said he would return if he were to ever be killed. He was to be resurrected to seek retribution on those that wronged him! He has returned, Mae! I know it, and he has taken Lilah! Mae, they will kill her. They will make an example of her desertion!”
Maddie was almost screaming now, and Flame was losing his shit behind us, pacing, a constant fuckin’ growl under his breath. I wasn’t far behind, hearing the shit spewing from Maddie’s mouth. That cult had completely head-fucked those bitches.
Mae whipped her head around to look at us as she tried to calm Maddie in her arms. “The river. The only other place she could be is the river.”
I was running down the stairs before Mae even finished the sentence, Styx following. I smashed through the exit and sprinted across the yard. AK, Vike, Cowboy, and Hush pulled out their Uzis.
“Fuck! We almost shot you!” AK shouted, but Styx and me didn’t stop. “Where you going?” he shouted, but I was too busy breaking through the line of trees, my heart fuckin’ racing faster with every step.
Why the hell would she come to the river when we’d just been attacked? What if something had happened? I almost stumbled when I panicked that it could be because we made love.
Shit!
I could hear several sets of feet following me now as I ran through the woods, ignoring the low branches whipping and scratching at my face. I kept to the dirt path leading to the river, pushing my legs to move faster, when I heard the rush of water in the distance.
“Lilah!” I shouted as I broke through the line of trees to the riverbank. But there was nothing. I ran to the edge, looking down into the water, the current rough and strong.
“Fuck!” I bellowed, my hands on my head. Styx gripped my arm and pulled me around. I met his questioning eyes. “She fuckin’ comes down here to pray, then goes in to cleanse herself or some shit.”
Styx’s expression hardened and he released me to begin searching the water. I ran about twenty-five yards and recognized the slope where Lilah would lay her clothes. Eyes to the ground, I searched every inch… and my heart fuckin’ fell when I saw a white piece of material tucked under a rock.
Bending down, I pulled on the material, freeing it from the rock, and picked it up—Lilah’s headdress.
“No!” I yelled, head tipped back in fury, and clenched the material in my hands.
AK, Vike, Cowboy, and Hush approached, Uzis high as they scoured the area. My knees felt weak, and before I knew it, I was on the ground, fuckin’ head between my knees.
Styx kneeled down before me and put his hand on my shoulder. I glanced up and held out her headdress, rasping, “She was fuckin’ here, prez. She was here.” I felt the material in my hand and looked to the river. “What if she’s fuckin’ drowned?”
All I could feel was a huge gaping hole in my chest where my heart should be. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Lilah, my Lilah, my fuckin’ pilgrim blonde… my old lady, fuckin’ gone.
“Ky!” someone shouted, and I saw Styx shoot his head in that direction. But all I could do was stare at that motherfuckin’ river and think about my bitch.
Lilah… baby…
A familiar whistle caught my attention. I looked to my left to see AK crouched down on another dirt path, one that led to the backcountry road. Styx signa
led for me to come over.
Jumping up, I ran to where they were all gathered. AK looked up and pointed to the dirt. “Footprints. A lotta them.”
Inhaling a ragged breath, AK stood, his eyes narrowed. “People were down here, Ky. Looks to be about five or six men, judging by the size of the boot prints.”
“How you know all’a this?” Hush asked.
“Special forces, six tours,” AK replied. “Whoever they are ain’t smart enough to cover their tracks.” He knelt down again and tilted his head. “Fuck!”
“What?” I snapped.
AK glanced back at me. “Two sets of footprints are deeper.” He stood and, sticking to the edges of the path, walked up about ten yards into the trees. He nodded to himself, then said, “They were carrying something to give them more weight.” AK met my eyes and exhaled. “Something weighing about a hundred and ten pounds I’d say.”
“Lilah,” I whispered. “The fuckers took her.”
An angry roar split the silence of the riverbank. Turning, I saw Styx fuckin’ raging, mouth and muscles tight. Fixing my attention back on AK, I tried to keep a level head and asked, “Anything else you can see?”
AK frowned as he studied the footprints, then his expression changed and his head snapped up. “Military boots. Some serious heavy-duty military boots. And a smoke.” AK picked up the half-smoked cigarette and shook his head. “Still warm but cool enough to tell me whoever it is will be long gone with Lilah.”
“Who the fuck would be wearing boots like that ‘round here?” Cowboy asked.
“N-N-Nazis,” a voice sounded from the side. We all looked to Styx in shock. He’d spoken again. That’s how pissed the brother was. His fear of talking was overtaken by pure rage.
“He’s right. Those cunts all wear ‘em,” Vike said, and I closed my eyes.
“The distraction,” I said, everything now making a shitload of sense.
All eyes snapped to me. “Fuck!” Viking shouted.
“Tank. I need to speak to Tank,” I said and set off running through the woods. Just as I broke through into the yard, Tank, Bull, and Smiler were already running out toward us, faces hard as stone.